Group 1850 - Mother No-Head (1967)

In November 1964, Hugo Gordijn went to the basement of a bowling alley in Scheveningen, in The Hague, in the Netherlands to see a band called The Klits. Led by Peter Sjardin, the Dutch band hired Gordijn to be their manager. On New Year’s Day in 1966, the band renamed themselves Groep 1850, or, “Group 1850” if you prefer it in English. They consisted of Peter Sjardin on vocals, flute, and organ; Daniel van Bergen on guitar and piano; Ruud van Buuren and Rob de Rijke on bass; and Beer Klaasse on drums.

The band released six singles and two full-length albums in what remained of the 1960s, sans a year-long break-up beginning somewhere in 1968. They didn’t get a ton of exposure and predominately remained a “garage” type band, so it’s presumable that a career highlight for them may have been getting to open for The Mothers of Invention in September 1967 at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.

Written by Hans van Hemert and Peter Sjardin, this song was the A-Side of a single released by the band in late December 1967. Like the rest of the world, the band was heavily into psychedelic rock and fell into the more “acid” rock genre of the period. They sounded a bit like the earlier Pink Floyd, even featuring some progressive rock aspects which were far ahead of their time.



Group 1850 - Mother No-Head (1967)

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Lyrics:

Who is crying?
Who is dying?
She is mad
She is sad
It is Mother No-Head
It is Mother No-Head
She is dead
She is dead

Who is crying?
Who is dying?
She is mad
She is sad today
It is Mother No-Head
It is Mother No-Head
But she is dead
She is dead
Yes

Who is crying?
Who is dying?
She is mad and
She is sad today
It is Mother No-Head
It is Mother No-Head
She is dead
She is dead today

She is dead today
She is dead today…