Johan

Johan was a Dutch indie band, founded in 1990 in the town of Hoorn, The Netherlands, by singer, guitarist and songwriter Jacco de Greeuw, who initially named the group Visions of Johanna (after the Bob Dylan song of the same name). The band;s name was changed into Johan in 1996. That same year the band put out their eponymous d?but album. In total, Johan recorded four studio albums of melodic, crafty, Beatle-esque guitar pop with English lyrics.

The band;s name was changed into Johan in 1996. That same year the band put out their eponymous d?but album. In total, Johan recorded four studio albums of melodic, crafty, Beatle-esque guitar pop with English lyrics. All four of Johan's albums were welcomed with overwhelming praise from the Dutch music press and are generally regarded as some of the best in Dutch pop/rock history.

Frontman Jacco (or Jacob) de Greeuw is the only Johan member to have been in the band from beginning to end. The first Johan line-up (1996) was completed by Remco Krull, Niels de Wit and Wim Kwakman.

The definitive line-up that called it a day in 2009 consisted of De Greeuw, Maarten Kooijman (guitar, vocals), Diets Dijkstra (guitar, bass guitar, vocals) and Jeroen Kleijn (drums).

It normally took Johan notoriously long to come up with a new album: after the self-titled Johan (1996) fans had to wait five years for Pergola to be released (2001). 2006 (another five years later) saw the release of THX JHN. The fourth and ultimate album, entitled 4, was released in 2009, the year of their break-up announcement and last tour.

More information (in Dutch) can be found on Johan on Dutch Wikipedia and on Johan's official website.