Cosmic Dealer

Cosmic Dealer (1968-1971, brief return in 1973) was a psychedelic hard-rock band from Dordrecht, The Netherlands, whose only LP, 1971's Crystallization, is regarded as a rare masterpiece amongst psych collectors. Formed in 1968 as The Floating Fudge Featuring The Cosmic Dealer, the band abbreviated its name in 1970 to become Cosmic Dealer. The line-up that wrote and recorded the Crystallization LP was: Frans Poots: vocals, flute, percussion Bas van der Pol: guitars, vocals

Formed in 1968 as The Floating Fudge Featuring The Cosmic Dealer, the band abbreviated its name in 1970 to become Cosmic Dealer. The line-up that wrote and recorded the Crystallization LP was:

Frans Poots: vocals, flute, percussion
Bas van der Pol: guitars, vocals
Jan Reynders: guitars, vocals
Angelo Noce Santoro: bass
Ad Vos: drums, percussion

The 1971 album was a commercial failure and the group disbanded before year's end, but briefly resurfaced in 1973, the line-up slightly altered but with the same brand of heavy, psychedelic, progressive and guitar driven hard rock, with catchy songs, a few U.S. west coast flashes, but also extended instrumental jams.

The line-up of 'Cosmic Dealer 1973':

Jan Reynders: guitars, vocals
Kees de Blois: vocals, guitars
Ed Boender: vocals, guitars
Angelo Noce Santoro: bass
Ad Vos: drums, percussion

Material for a second LP was written and recorded, but Cosmic Dealer split up (this time for good) before the album was finished and the recordings never released... until 2012, when the World In Sound label released Child Of Tomorrow, which contains six songs from the 'second album sessions' (recorded 1973), plus three unreleased demos from 1971 and the hard-to-find 7-inch live-EP (four 1971 live cuts; 25 minutes in total).

In 2010 the surviving band members (Bas van der Pol died in 1991) re-united for their first live performance in 38 years.