De Advokaatjes/The Plan

In 1981, it was decided that Irene, Bert Veldkamp and Bert's girlfriend (also called Irene) should record a single in Dutch. There was a fourth person involved, but I still have not found out who that is. The single was meant for the Dutch "carnaval" festivities. Dutch carnaval is a yearly event, often accompanied by silly music with nonsense lyrics. Not to anyone's surprise, the single (released under the name "De Advokaatjes") didn't chart. The songs on the single were composed by Ton and Irene, but they used the pseudonym "T&I Klare". The titles of the songs: "Knijp 'Es In Mijn Nek" and "Ik Durf Onder Ede Te Verklaren". There is some video footage of the making of the song, and at least it seems that the makers had a good time recording the song. My copy of the single is autographed by one of the Irenes. During the "Merlin - Bard Of the Unseen"-tour, she (by this time Bert Veldkamp's ex-wife, by the way) ran the merchandise stand...

Also in 1981, Ton released a solo-single as "The Plan". On his own website, Ton states that he only was the producer, but it is clear that he wrote the two songs (together with Irene), sang lead vocals and played most (all?) instruments. The song "If This Ain't Love" isn't bad at all, but it didn't impress the radiomakers or the single buying public enough to make the charts.