Pussycat (band)

Pussycat was a Dutch country and pop group led by the three Veldpaus sisters: Toni (born 1953), Betty (1952–2024), and Marianne (born 1951). Other members of the band were guitarists Lou Willé (Toni's then-husband), Theo Wetzels, Theo Coumans, and John Theunissen. Their song "Mississippi" was a number one hit in most European countries, including the UK, in 1975/6.

Career

Prior to forming the band, the three sisters were telephone operators in Limburg, whilst Theunissen, Wetzels, and Coumans were in a group called Scum. Lou Willé played in a group called Ricky Rendall and His Centurions until he married Toni, and created the group Sweet Reaction that eventually became known as Pussycat. Penned by Werner Theunissen, who had been the sisters' guitar teacher, it is estimated that "Mississippi" sold over five million copies worldwide. It was followed by "Smile" in 1976, and "Hey Joe" in 1978. Other hits were "If You Ever Come to Amsterdam", "Georgie", "Wet Day in September" and "My Broken Souvenirs". Their career in Europe spanned more than a decade and included some seventeen albums.

In 2001, 25 years after the success with "Mississippi", the compilation album 25 Years After Mississippi was released and reached the charts. It was listed in the Album Top 100 for seven weeks. This year saw several more reunion performances. In 2004, they released the box set, The Complete Collection, which consisted of three CDs and a DVD. In June 2023, there was an album released with previous unreleased song demos of the band from the year 1983, with the title Unreleased Demos 1983.

On 28 June 2024, Betty Veldpaus died at the age of 72.

Members

Toni Veldpaus (married Willé) – lead vocals (1975–1985)
Betty Veldpaus (married Dragstra) – singer (1975–1985; died 2024)
Marianne Veldpaus (married Hensen) – singer (1975–1985)
Lou "Loulou" Willé (Toni's then husband) – guitar (1975–1985)
John Theunissen – guitar (1975–1980)
Ferd Berger – guitar (1981–1982)
Kees Buenen – keyboards (1981–1982)
Theo Wetzels – bass guitar (1975–1980)
Theo Coumans – drums (1975–1978)
Hans Lutjens – drums (1978–1980)
Frans Meijer – drums (1981–1982)

Discography

Albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

! rowspan="2" | Year

! rowspan="2" | Title

! rowspan="2" | Details

! colspan="10" | Peak chart positions

! NDL

! BEL

! AUS

! GER

! AUT

! SWI

! NOR

! SWE

! UK

! NZ

! SA

| rowspan="2" | 1975

| "Mississippi" / "Do It"

| align="center" | 1

| align="center" | 2

| align="center" | 1

| align="center" | 4

| align="center" | 1

| align="center" | 6

| align="center" | 1

| First of All

| "Mississippi" (German version) / "Lieb Mich"

| align="center" | —

| align="center" | 24

| align="center" | —

| Non-album single

| rowspan="2" | 1976

| "Georgie" / "Take Me"

| align="center" | 1

| align="center" | 74

| align="center" | 2

| align="center" | 6

| align="center" | 2

| align="center" | —

| align="center" | 14

| align="center" | 2

| rowspan="2" | First of All

| "Smile" / "What Did They Do to the People"

| align="center" | 2

| align="center" | 34

| align="center" | 3

| align="center" | 9

| align="center" | 10

| align="center" | 8

| align="center" | —

| align="center" | 24

| align="center" | 3

| align="center" | 1

| 1977

| "Ein Altes Lied" / "Pasadena" (German)

| align="center" | —

| align="center" | 41

| align="center" | —

| Non-album single

| rowspan="3" | 1977

| "My Broken Souvenirs" / "Nothing to Hide"

| align="center" | 2

| align="center" | 95

| align="center" | 2

| align="center" | 22

| align="center" | 12

| align="center" | 7

| align="center" | —

| align="center" | 1

| align="center" | 2

| rowspan="2" | Souvenirs

| "I'll Be Your Woman" / "Just a Woman"

| align="center" | 12

| align="center" | —

| align="center" | 21

| align="center" | —

| "If You Ever Come to Amsterdam" / "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby"

| align="center" | 21

| align="center" | —

| align="center" | 10

| rowspan="4" | Wet Day in September

| rowspan="2" | 1978

| "Same Old Song" / "Stupid Cupid"

| align="center" | 8

| align="center" | 76

| align="center" | 10

| align="center" | —

| "Wet Day in September" / "I Remember Springtime"

| align="center" | 17

| align="center" | —

| align="center" | 18

| align="center" | —

| rowspan="3" | 1979

| "Hey Joe" / "Love in September"

| align="center" | 17

| align="center" | —

| align="center" | 26

| align="center" | —

| "Daddy" / "Three Steps and Then ..."

| align="center" | 13

| align="center" | —

| align="center" | 19

| align="center" | —

| rowspan="3" | Simply to Be with You

| "Let Freedom Range" / "Don't Love Him"

| align="center" | 38

| align="center" | —

| align="center" | 29

| align="center" | —

| 1980

| "Doin' la Bamba" / "On the Corner of My Life"

| align="center" | 4

| align="center" | —

| align="center" | 15

| align="center" | —

| rowspan="3" | 1981

| "Then the Music Stopped" / "Cha Cha Me Baby"

| align="center" | 10

| align="center" | —

| align="center" | 18

| align="center" | —

| rowspan="3" | Blue Lights

| "Une Chambre Pour La Nuit" / "I Don't Wanna Rock and Roll"

| align="center" | 16

| align="center" | —

| "Teenage Queenie" / "Who's Gonna Love You"

| align="center" | 33

| align="center" | —

| align="center" | 47

| align="center" | —

| 1983

| "Lovers of a Kind" / "Closer to You"

| align="center" | 22

| align="center" | —

| align="center" | 26

| align="center" | —

| After All

|colspan="13" style="font-size:90%" align="center" | "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

References

External links

Official website Pussycat / Toni Willé
Pussycat biography by Amy Hanson, discography and album reviews, credits & releases at AllMusic
Pussycat discography, album releases & credits at Discogs
Pussycat albums to be listened as stream on Spotify

Career

Members

Discography

Albums

See also

References

External links