Contracts from Utopia...

The Dutch village of Elsloo had a youth centre called Utopia, and in the 1970's Kayak played there twice. The second time was in 1979, and the first time was in december 1973.

This great website dedicated to Utopia shows some official papers from 1973. The band (or rather: their manager Frits) gets paid the amount of 1250 Dutch guilders. In return the 'orchestra' would play for a maximum of 3x45 minutes on 14 december. For reasons unknown, the gig was postponed until 28 december though. Kayak didn't actually play at the Utopia, but at the Maasland Centre. But the concert was organised by Utopia.

The fee of 1250 guilders doesn't sound like a bad one. Kayak was still a rather new band. And just to compare: Al Stewart received 600 guilders from Utopia, and so did Camel in 1976. But Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets were granted 1350 in 1973!

What you see here: the contract with Frits, a declaration for tax authorities and a receipt to prove that Frits really did get the money. Everybody still wonders how much of the fee actually reached the band members... (Click to enlarge)

36 years later, Kayak named an album after these documents...