Louis Neefs

Louis Neefs (born August 8, 1937 in Gierle , † December 25, 1980 in Lier ; actually Ludwig Neefs ) was a Belgian singer and presenter .

Life

Neefs trained as a technical draftsman at the University of Mechelen when he joined the local choir and learned to play the guitar. His musical activities were initially only for leisure purposes until he became a member of the group "Sun Spot" in the late 1950s. His distinctive voice caught the eye of the famous talent scout Jacques Kluger , who had already discovered some great singers, such as Bobbejaan Schoepen, through performances and talent competitions . Kluger and Schoepen drew the attention of record companies to Neefs and Neefs signed a record deal in 1958, which was followed by the first album in 1960. He made it into the Flemish charts with several songs and was also known in the Netherlands .

In 1967 Neefs was selected to represent Belgium with the song Ik heb zorgen at the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna . He reached seventh place there. In 1969 he was allowed to represent his home country again at the Eurovision Song Contest, this time in Madrid . His song was called Jennifer Jennings . Again he placed seventh.

Neefs could continue to celebrate successes; his biggest hit was his song Margrietje , which he released in 1972. Other well-known songs by him are Mijn Vriend Benjamin , Aan het strand van Oostende , Martine and Laat Ons Een Bloem . Neefs also worked as a voice actor, lending his voice to Thomas O'Malley in the Dutch version of Disney's Aristocats . He also moderated numerous television programs. Radio broadcasts for the Flemish broadcaster VRT . He was also politically active and became a city councilor in Mechelen.

On Christmas Day 1980, Louis Neefs and his wife Liliane had an accident in a car in Lier. The couple had two sons, Ludwig and Günther . The latter is now a well-known singer in Belgium.

On August 5, 2007, a bust was unveiled in Neef's hometown of Gierle on the occasion of the artist's 70th birthday, which the artist would have celebrated this year.

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		BE W	BE F
1998	Face to face	-	BE F15 (10 weeks) BE F	Split album with ten songs by Neefs and ten songs by Ann Christy
2005	Het best van	-	BE F15 (26 weeks) BE F	Best of album
2017	Louis Neefs 80	-	BE F5 (31 weeks) BE F	Double CD

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes)			Remarks
		NL	BE W	BE F
1960	Forever	-	-	BE F16 (1 month) BE F
	Mijn dorpje in de Kempen A small compliment	-	-	BE F20 (1 month) BE F
1963	Ik lees in je ogen Louis Neefs	-	-	BE F10 (2 months) BE F
	Sixteen Tons Louis Neefs	-	-	BE F20 (2 months) BE F	Original: Tennessee Ernie Ford
1964	Een gitaar in de Nacht Louis Neefs	-	-	BE F13 (2 months) BE F
1966	Wat een leven Louis Neefs	-	-	BE F10 (11 weeks) BE F	Co-Writer / Producer: Rocco Granata
1967	I am worried	-	-	BE F7 (10 weeks) BE F	7th place at the Eurovision Song Contest 1967
1969	Jennifer Jennings	-	BE W46 (3 weeks) BE W	BE F13 (5 weeks) BE F	7th place at the Eurovision Song Contest 1969
1970	Laat ons een bloem Louis Neefs	-	-	BE F25 (2 weeks) BE F	Dutch version of Leave Them a Flower by Wally Whyton
1972	Margrietje (De rozen zullen bloeien)	NL10 (9 weeks) NL	-	BE F4 (13 weeks) BE F
1973	Omdat ik van je hou	-	-	BE F22 (4 weeks) BE F	Dutch version of L'amore è un attimo by Massimo Ranieri
1979	Martine Nooit zonder jou	-	-	BE F30 (1 week) BE F
1981	Susa-Nina	-	-	BE F25 (3 weeks) BE F
1991	Daughter ever grandma	-	-	BE F19 (4 weeks) BE F

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

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1. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: Belgium Flanders / Wallonia / Netherlands (Top 40)

Web links

• Official website
• Louis Neefs in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Louis Neefs at Discogs (English)