The Actor

The Actor

It all started in 1980 with five musicians having a jam session playing only one chord (D minor). Singer and songwriter Marcel Reimer thought up the lyrics as he was singing. Thus unintentionally giving birth to “The Actor”, which was the main character in the song “Unreal Personality” that resulted from this jam session. Later, Marcel teamed up with Sander Horsthuis, whom he knew very well from Art School. The Actor had become a duo.

Exploded View (1982)
In the beginning of the eighties, a new phenomenon emerged: home taping. This way of making music resulted in a lot of noise. But that was less important then getting one’s music published. A well known dutch label for cassette bands in those days was Trumpett Tapes. They were the first to publish the music of The Actor, who became their top selling cassette band in 1982 and 1983. The Actor’s first release was Exploded View in 1982. The songs - sung both in English and German - often related to fashion, modernism, dancing and appearence. This made The Actor “quite fashionable.”

A New Concept Every Day (1984)
The Actor’s second music project was called A New Concept Every Day. It was the year 1984. The New Wave scene had reached its peak. A New Concept Every Day introduced a third band member. Sabien Jilesen was a good looking girl with a golden voice. This second cassette also introduced a new sound with the instrumental “Le Champ d’Honneur”. No funeral would ever be the same again. The song became the opening of almost every performance.

Covergirl on Mercury Records (1985)
With the increasing popularity of bands such as Everything But The Girl and Sade, The Actor adapted a more jazzy sound, introducing acoustic instruments. This was in 1985. The Actor had been offered a record deal by Phonogram’s Mercury Records. All time favourite “Covergirl”, appearing on both Exploded View and A New Concept Every Day (which even held two different versions of the same song), had been re-recorded to result in this final Mercury Records-version. The record featured Mathilde Santing as backing vocalist. Nowadays, Mathilde is one of the most famous dutch singers of all times. The single was produced by Erwin Musper.

The Actor’s rebirth The third millennium sees the rebirth of The Actor. Still using analog synthesizers (yes, the same as 20 years ago!), The Actor is back. Refining some of the old favorites and producing brand new songs.