Beautiful-Janis Ian & Conny Vandenbos

[Roady]

I searched for this song sometime ago to no avail so was most excited to find the video tonight on U Tube:Don't Leave Tonight (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIx7F6L9Vr4)

[Darlene]

Their voices worked great together and I loved the harmony, but it was a little too country for me. I seem to like all kinds of music except country. This is not a good thing living in Tennessee. Oh well, I can like anything Janis sings even country! :p
Peace, Darlene

[Mimi]

That's s such a cool find, Barb, even if I'm with Darlene concerning country. It's a bit too much for me, but it's great to have seen and heard it. I had heard about this duet but never seen it before.

No idea who posted it on UTube but maybe it was Corita!?

Thanks for sharing it here!

MIMI:)

[Dee]

Connie was a major singer in the Netherlands before she died (on Janis' birthday in 2002 I believe it was), and she seemed to really like Janis’ work a lot. I'm only guessing of course, but I'd bet that was a boost to Janis getting so much exposure there too.

[Jan de Vries]

Great!!!! And a good example of Conny Vandenbos' talent, as a rememberance of her.

Are there any other fragments from tv of Janis performing in Holland? The Rijnsburg Flower Show for instance? That was on television as I remember.

Jan.

[aabram]

Another beautiful song. Check your PMs Roady :)

Annabel

[JudyR]

Well, folks, here is the deal, based on an early copy of Janis' autobiography notes. (No, not the autobiography itself - I'm not one of the "benign readers" group, unfortunately. Janis decided I'm just too close to the family to be at all objective.)
When Janis first began having hits in The Netherlands, Conny was a huge, huge star. AND, radio was sharply divided, between English-singing radio, and Dutch singing radio. There was no cross-over.
Conny, with the help of Janis, changed all that. Conny recorded an entire album of Janis' songs, some in Dutch translation I believe, and some in English. As a special part of the album, she asked Janis to write a duet for them. After listening to a lot of Conny's work, Janis wrote "Don't Leave Tonight."
The song was a hit in Holland on BOTH the English and Dutch radio stations, changing radio forever in The Netherlands. And for the first time, people who only spoke Dutch went to Janis' concerts, and people who only spoke English went to Conny's.
So you see, it was quite a big deal! Conny and Janis remained friends until the end of Conny's life; they visited backstage whenever they were in the same town, did interviews with one another, and enjoyed a lively relationship for all those years.
That's all I know, except that every year there is a memorial to Conny by some Dutch fans, and Janis often lends a few words to the service via long distance.
JudyR
ps if anyone can put us in touch with whoever posted the Youtube version, we'd love to get a decent copy of this television performance for our own use!

[Roady]

Judy,

Thanks for the details. I just loved this video-both beautiful women and no one sings a duet better than Janis.

I got Janis a DVD of her General Hospital TV show so let me know if I can help you out here.

Roady

[Jan de Vries]

Well, folks, here is the deal, based on an early copy of Janis' autobiography notes. (No, not the autobiography itself - I'm not one of the "benign readers" group, unfortunately. Janis decided I'm just too close to the family to be at all objective.)
When Janis first began having hits in The Netherlands, Conny was a huge, huge star. AND, radio was sharply divided, between English-singing radio, and Dutch singing radio. There was no cross-over.
Conny, with the help of Janis, changed all that. Conny recorded an entire album of Janis' songs, some in Dutch translation I believe, and some in English. As a special part of the album, she asked Janis to write a duet for them. After listening to a lot of Conny's work, Janis wrote "Don't Leave Tonight."
The song was a hit in Holland on BOTH the English and Dutch radio stations, changing radio forever in The Netherlands. And for the first time, people who only spoke Dutch went to Janis' concerts, and people who only spoke English went to Conny's.
So you see, it was quite a big deal! Conny and Janis remained friends until the end of Conny's life; they visited backstage whenever they were in the same town, did interviews with one another, and enjoyed a lively relationship for all those years.
That's all I know, except that every year there is a memorial to Conny by some Dutch fans, and Janis often lends a few words to the service via long distance.
JudyR
ps if anyone can put us in touch with whoever posted the Youtube version, we'd love to get a decent copy of this television performance for our own use!

It's someone from Japan, his/hers nickname is OCloud, so I read on YouTube.

jan

[Mimi]

Thank you so much for this interesting information, Judy!

MIMI

[Eva]

Corita is a big fan of Conny. And they were friends too as I understand. Corita is one of the organisers of the memorial in 2007. Am I saying all that right Corita?

Maybe Corita has some good material?

Eva

[Dee]

Excellent info, Judy. Thank you so much!

[Dougster]

I just tried to view the video and it said it had been removed...:(

[Roady]

This isn't in English but appears to be a 1980 vinyl record of Don't Leave Tonight- (http://www.yez.be/auctions/32469744.html)that is for sale. Thought someone might want it for their collection.

Roady

[Chet]

I checked the account page of the person who posted the video, and the account has been suspended. The message on the page where the video should be said the video was removed due to user violation. Oh dear ...

[corita]

Woh, what a good time for asking about the single Conny Vandenbos and Janis make 1980, "Don't leave tonight". Because I'm very bussy (with Rob and Marc, also two big Conny fans) too realice a Hommage for Conny Vandenbos on 2 december 2007 in Amsterdam. That day we (finally!) give birth too the DVD of Conny. And on that is also the Duet from the only tvprogramme Janis and Conny sing that song!! So be patience, when the DVD is on sale, I let you know. Conny was a very good friend of mine and because of her I meet Janis and here music.
And, NO I didn't place the song on Tube.

[corita]

I've two singles of Don't leave tonight. Tell me if you want one!

[Mimi]

Found this when I was in Amsterdam last week!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w154/Mimi300867/File0611.jpg

MIMI

[corita]

Yes, this is the last flyer, now we are very bussy to give every one enough time (on stage) to sing or thell something about Conny. And we also play on video "Don't leave tonight"! So we will not forget Janis at the Hommage.