In Wannes, Michaël Robberechts and Lisa Smolders chat with friends and admirers, musicians and students of the cabaret artist. Among the unexpected fans are Stef Kamil Carlens, Lucas Van den Eynde, Gene Bervoets and Jeroen Olyslaegers.
Admirers including Vera Coomans, Hans Kusters, Koen De Cauter, Emmy Leemans, Roland Van Campenhout, Bob De Moor, Axl Peleman, Dree Peremans Sr, Amparo Cortés, Bernard Van Lent, Tiny Bertels, Johan Thielemans, Mira and Jan De Smet are also featured.
Troubadour
The three great Ws were Walter De Buck, Willem Vermandere and Wannes Van de Velde. Three singers who, from the 1960s onwards, chose their own language over the swinging English. De Buck sang in the Ghent dialect, Vermandere in his West Flemish and Wannes in the Antwerp dialect, which he referred to in his own (always historically grounded) terminology as South Brabant.
Robberechts and Smolders have collected stories about the singer and writer who, ‘for the same money’, could just as easily have become a painter or sculptor.
Wannes, the Antwerp singer
In the 1960s, it was by no means easy to sing in your own dialect. It was the era of Standard Dutch and programmes such as *Hier spreekt men Nederlands*. And then, suddenly, along came Wannes Van de Velde, the singer from the heart of Antwerp, who spoke and sang in the language of his parents and the local pubs.
In episode 1 of 'Wannes', friends Bob De Moor and Dree Peremans Sr. take us back to Antwerp during the war years. Younger artists Lucas Van den Eynde, Axl Peleman and Stef Kamil Carlens look back on the unforgettable singer and mentor.
Museum Vleeshuis · Wannes | 1. Liefde voor het Antwerps
Wannes, the musician
Episode two focuses on Wannes as a musician. Wannes, the composer, flamenco guitarist and writer of ‘Ik Wil Deze Nacht in de Straten Verdwalen’.
Roland Van Campenhout, accordionist Bernard Van Lent, Gene Bervoets and flamenco singer Amparo Cortes discuss Wannes’s music. Publisher Hans Kusters and biographer Dree Peremans Sr. add further stories and details.
Museum Vleeshuis · Wannes | 2. Wannes, de muzikant
Wannes, the artist of life
Theatre, writing, and an unbridled commitment... Wannes was so much more than just a folk musician.
Bob De Moor, Johan Thielemans and Jeroen Olyslaegers talk about the singer and writer, whilst Lucas Van den Eynde, Gene Bervoets and Tiny Bertels reminisce about Wannes the teacher and mentor.
Museum Vleeshuis · Wannes | 3. Wannes, de (levens)kunstenaar
You can listen to the podcast on the Spotify channel of the Vleeshuis Music Museum, on Apple Podcast and on Google Podcast. Or on the Radio 1 app (iOs or Android).
