After Bodine scored their record deal, things took off. A management was appointed, radio jingles were recorded, photo sessions took place and the band started touring.

Bodinism

The band members believed sacredly in their music and were quite dedicated. They coined the term 'Bodinism' in interviews, expressing their belief in their own musical course. It was a tongue-in-cheek expression, suggesting that Bodine's music would be spread like a gospel. The band members were not affected by the criticism they received as they started playing on stage. Alfred Lagarde and later on Hanneke Kappen aired several songs of Bodine in their shows and invited the band over when there was news to be shared with the audience--such as changes in line up and new record releases. It was part of the campaign to make as many headbangers as possible acquainted to Bodine.

Campaign

1981-02-28_Muziekinfo_WEA_campaign_tnWEA/Rhinoceros
campaign
In February 1981, just before Bodine released their debut album, WEA records embarked on a campaign to promote the band. A campaign along the all readio broadcasting stations in Hilversum was organised. In the second week of January 1981, Bodine hired Gerard Du Prie, 1979 strongest man in the Netherlands, and a genuine concrete mixing truck to generate publicity for their first album. All radio broadcasting stations received a copy of it, held in a concrete brick, to emphasize the heaviness of the music. In addition, WEA spent some money on a couple of ads in music magazines. At least nine album reviews were written by several magazines, including national news paper de Volkskrant--quite an exceptional feat for a band making hard rock music. An overview of the publications can be found here.
Bodine were allowed to introduce themselves to the public in Betonuur, Alfred Lagarde's national radio show on Tuesday afternoons. Gerard Haitsma, Jay van Feggelen, Armand van der Hoff and Rheno Xeros were invited to fill an entire hour with music and interviews.

1981-03-11 OOR_gig_dates1981 March 11, OOR
concerts with Krokus
In the same period Bodine started to tour The Netherlands and performed live on stage. From February until October 1981, thus far 42 gigs have been documented.

Press

Betonmolen-II"De Hitkrant" was a mainstream magazine about pop music and appeared on a weekly basis. In the days of the NWOBH, it had an editorial on hard rock called 'De Betonmolen' ("the concrete mill"). "Beton" was a commonly used expression in those days for heavier styles of music, introduced by Alfred Lagarde. The editorial dealt with major international acts, such as Iron Maiden, Saxon, Whitesnake, Dio, Vandenberg, etc. Bodine received exposure in the Belgian counterpart Joepie. De Hitkrant still exists today, but "beton" went out of fashion.

Then there was Muziekkrant Oor, aimed at a more intellectual reader, publishing more serious in-depth interviews with artists about their motivation to make music and life on the road. You will find an article about Bodine in the archive borrowed from Oor magazine. Also Oor still exists today.

The major source of information for Dutch heavy metal fans in those days was Aardschok magazine, which later was re-baptised into De Nieuwe Aardschok. This magazine still exists today and is now called "Aardschok" (Earthquake). The other source of information on hardrock was Oor, which dedicated a few pages per month to international and Dutch hardrock acts. The impression remains, however, that contemporaries Vandenberg, Picture and Highway Chile received more press than Bodine.

Then there were international magazines like Kerrang! (UK), Metal Hammer (DE) and Rock Hard (DE), which had a much lower distribution in the Netherlands and only sporadically paid attention to the Dutch metal scene. If you have any publication or article other than the list of publications, please scan it and upload it in the forum.

Being the biggest player in the field, Aardschok had a major influence on opinions of headbangers about albums and concerts of metal bands and the careers these bands tried to make. Aardschok Magazine was set up by motivated people with a genuine interest in metal music--a bunch of eager beavers who may not always have realised what impact they had through their publications. Bodine must have experienced this as well.

In the live reviews, the authors of Aardschok seemed to take Bodine's live performances pretty much for granted. Naturally, not every single Bodine concert was covered in Aardschok, but when there was a review, their performance seemed to be taken for granted.

Take the following examples from this review in Aardschok (April 1984):1984 Aardschok Earthquake review1984 April, Aardschok
Earthquake review

"Bodine did not take me by surprise this afternoon. I just know that Bodine are a good live act. Bodine have a lot of stage experience."

In the following interview, Gerard Haitsma was asked the following, rather sneering questions:

Aardschok: "To many people, you appear on the stage as if you are gay. Are you guys in fact gay?"

GERARD: "No, what do you mean?"

Aardschok: "In particular, it’s the way Axel moves about the stage and the lipstick that Rheno is wearing?"

These are not exactly encouraging words for a band that is struggling to survive. The question to what extent the press influenced the atmosphere in the band is yet to be answered. How were the band members affected by this?

It has to be noted: Aardschok has since come a long way since in raising their journalistic standards!

An overview of articles about Bodine can be found here. It shows that in the first year, Bodine received quite some exposure. A great part of this came from regional papers, though, which did not have a very wide-spread circulation--a few thousand readers, perhaps. Later on, the band received less exposure, but the attention from international press increased. It is almost as if Bodine was reaching a break-through...

Band management

1979-10-17_Oor_no.21_Rockmart_Management_Bodine_tn1979 october 17,
Muziekkrant Oor

There are at least five agencies known to have managed Bodine between October 1979 and July 1984, a time span of less than five years. The first management of Bodine was called Rockmart. Judging by the telephone number, they were based in the Amsterdam area. Apart from the fact that Rockmart managed seven bands, nothing else is known about them. Among the other bands managed by Rockmart was Inside Nipples, one the of the first Dutch punk bands. The Silver Dollar Band referred to in the ad is probably the country rock band that became known in the Arnhem area. Most of these acts kept an underground status. The ad was printed in Oor Magazine no. 21 (published on 17 Ocober 1979).

1980_Bodine_mgt_ad1980 November 5, Muziekkrant Oor
management advertisement

The next manager of the band was Mick Froeling, who also managed Achterhoek rockers Normaal. The first time Froeling avertised for Bodine in Muziekkrant Oor was on 5 November 1980. Co-operation with this agency did not go very smoothly. Due to a misunderstanding between the band and the manager, Bodine arrived four hours late at a concert on Sunday 8 March, 1981. Not a very pleasant entry for a band, when you bear in mind that the crowd has been gathering to see a show a couple of hours earlier. On another occasion, the band arrived at a festival one day after their gig should have taken place. According to Gerard Haitsma, the management had given them the wrong concert date. Allegedly after this incident, the relationship was ended.

Mick Froeling resumed to managing Normaal and he still works in the music industry for The Production Factory, where he is involved with technical supply for stage events.

1982-06-12 DRM management ad Bodine1982 June 12, Muziekkrant Oor
DRM management advertisement
The next management was called D.R.M. (Dutch Rock Management) and it was located in Horst at the time Bold As Brass came out. The only trace found thus far to this agency was a single ad that appeared in Muziekkrant Oor on 12 June 1982. From the ad it becomes clear that Bodine shared this managment with Accept for a while.

In an interview with Aardschok, Gerard explains that a planned US tour with Accept fell through as Accept demanded to be allowed to take their own stage gear across the Atlantic. The US operater, which had loudspeakers and amplifiers of their own, did not agree to this condition, as it would raise the expenses of the tour. Yet, at least one of the gigs was already planned. It remains unclear how many other cocnerts were scheduled for. Considering the fact that the New York Paramount event was planned in January 1983 it is most likely during the DRM-period when this happened. This was the closest Bodine came to touring beyond a 300 km distance from Den Haag.

It is unclear for which period Accept stayed with this management. It appears as if the co-operation was short-lived. Exciter in the ad is not the Canadian one. For a while, there was a Dutch band called Exciter as well. No further details were found thus far about DRM.

1983_Bodine_Ed_Bos_management_cardEd Bos management flyer (click image to open leaflet; 330 kb)At the time of "Three Times Running", Ed Bos was mentioned as a manager of the band on the rear side of the sleeve. This agency is still around and, perhaps not surprisingly, manages blues guitar player Julian Sas and his band. Those who appreciate Bodine's first album may like Julian Sas' music style as well. Have a listen on Julian's website!

1984-06-02_Bodine_Moonshine_management_ad 1982 June 2, Oor
Management ad
During the days that Bodine became disbanded, surprisingly a fifth management agency name popped up, namely the Moonshine management. The ad was released in the same issue of Oor Magazine as the news flash about Bodine breaking up. The news flash seemed premature, since Bodine would play their final gig three weeks later in Drachten.

Mike van Rijswijk, editor in chief of Aarschok Magazine, was responsible for the bookings in the concert period.

The frequent change of managements may be a plausible explanation for the stranding of Bodine's career in 1984. Five management chages in five years is not exactly good for continuity in career planning and building long term strategies. It is quite likely that opportunities were missed and leads were lost between manegement changes.

More opportunities were missed. According to Gerard Haitsma, Michael Schenker wanted to cover Rock Rosetta, but the owner of Rhinoceros records, Chiel Montagne, was against it. It would have meant some great exposure for Bodine. After Arjen Lucassen left the band in April 1984, there were several try-outs with other musicians who were either recruited or showed interest to play in the band. Apparently, there was no match between the musicians.

The income Bodine made from record sales and live gigs was not enough to sustain their living. They sustained jobs on the side and managed to rehearse a couple of time a week to prepare for live shows. Such an existence must have drained their energy.

Fans

A fan club was established in 1981. The following page deals with the fan base and the magazine that was issued.