Doe Maar was the most popular Dutch pop group ever. With their mixture of reggae, pop, ska, and Dutch vocals, they created a unique style of nervous, punky pop songs without the obligatory guitar solos. Doe Maar reached unprecedented heights of popularity at the beginning of the '80s -- and paved the way for the emergence of "Nederpop": Dutch groups singing in their native tongue. During their short career, which lasted from 1978 until 1984, the band released only four studio records, of which three made it to the number one position. Their 2000 reunion album, Klaar, also made it to the top of the charts. The turn-of-the-century success of their compilation album Alles and the appearance of a tribute album, Trillend op Mijn Benen -- Doe Maar Door Anderen, proved that Doe Maar still mattered -- both in popular value and artistic importance.The origins of Doe Maar can be traced back to 1978. In their spare time, Ernst Jansz (lead vocals, keyboards, May 24, 1948) and two of his friends, Piet Dekker (bass) and Jan Pijnenburg (drums, Vught, December 29, 1955), liked to play Jansz's songs. Consequently, Jansz and Dekker wanted to move out of the rehearsal space and form a real band, but Pijnenburg declined. So Carel Copier (drums), formerly of Steam, was brought in, and a new rhythm section was formed. Former bass player Jan Hendriks (guitar), also of Steam, came aboard as guitarist. The new band was asked to perform at the Festival of Fools -- a festival organized by Amsterdam pop temple Paradiso -- and christened Foolsband. On-stage, the band was performed with clowns and male and female background singers. The experiences of the festival inspired the new group to continue performing.