Search
Close this search box.

🇧🇪 Luc Smets (Dream Express) passed away

Today, the sad news came to us that Luc Smets, member of the group Dream Express, passed away.

Luc Smets was born in Steendorp, Belgium, in 1947. When he was 19, he joined the band The Pebbles. He played the keyboard in the band. They had a couple of hits in Belgium, of which “Seven horses in the sky” and “Mackintosh” were the biggest. However, Smets had to leave the band. He started a new band, Shampoo. They started working with the Hearts Of Soul, a Dutch group. In the end, Luc joined the girls of the Hearts Of Soul, and together they started a new group: Dream Express.

In 1977 they won the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “A million in 1, 2, 3”. Despite being among the favourites, the four reached a 7th place. In 1981, one of the girls left the group, the others continued under the name LBS.

Smets also co-wrote the 1982 Eurovision song “Si tu aimes ma musique” for Stella. He also wrote numerous songs for Belgian national finals.

Subsequently, Luc made significant contributions to the music industry as a composer, arranger, and producer. His talents graced children’s TV shows.

In late 2002, he joined forces with some familiar faces, including Marcel De Cauwer, a former member of the Pebbles, to create the cover band “No Joke.” Luc was the go-to arranger and leader for the Strato-Vani orchestra, renowned for their fresh renditions of classic and popular tunes.

Tragically, after battling an illness, Luc departed on August 20, 2023, at 76 years old.

 

Share

Related news

General

They will rock you!

  It is often said: Rock music… that doesn’t belong  in the Eurovision Song Contest. But why not? And who decides? That is the counter-question.  The answer is simple; If we look at the rules of the EBU, there are rules about length, publication, originality, but not about the genre.So…. Rock music at Eurovision: Sure thing! The early years For the very first Rock entry, we’re going all the way back to…..1956! An entry in the very first year of Eurovision, which would not be out of place for Elvis (regardless of the language). The Austrian Freddy Quin was one of the German representatives; his song was called was “So geht das jede Nacht”. As with every entry in the Eurovision Song Contest of 1956, apart from the winner, the placement is unknown. Varying degrees of success and the lowest ranking Rock songs were submitted with varying degrees of success in the years that followed. In 1982 a Rock-bottom was reached: Finland’s Kojo with “Nuku pommiin”, took the very last place with 0 points. Was it really that bad, or was Europe not ready for it? Judge for yourself: Rock Win It took quite some time before Rock really made a difference at Eurovision, but in 2006 the time had come: Lordi for Finland with “Hardrock Hallelujah” won the contest with 292 points. Rock is part of it After that, Rock as a type of music at Eurovision was taken a lot more seriously. Bigger successes were achieved, and in 2018 even a Hungarian hard metal band managed to reach the finals. That AWS with “Viszlát Nyár” finished last in the grand final, doesn’t matter… They made it to the finals. The icing on the Rockcake was, of course, MÃ¥neskin in 2021. France was the big favorite (Barbara Pravi), but with 524 points, Italy left France behind.  The conclusion may be that Rock definitely belongs at Eurovision, although opinions will always be divided on this. 2024 was a year without Rock. We are curious to see what 2025 will bring.           Share

Share
Read More »
General
Anja Kroeze

They will rock you!

  It is often said: Rock music… that doesn’t belong  in the Eurovision Song Contest. But why not? And who decides? That is the counter-question.  The answer is simple; If we look at the rules of the EBU, there are rules about length, publication, originality, but not about the genre.So…. Rock music at Eurovision: Sure thing! The early years For the very first Rock entry, we’re going all the way back to…..1956! An entry in the very first year of Eurovision, which would not be out of place for Elvis (regardless of the language). The Austrian Freddy Quin was one of the German representatives; his song was called was “So geht das jede Nacht”. As with every entry in the Eurovision Song Contest of 1956, apart from the winner, the placement is unknown. Varying degrees of success and the lowest ranking Rock songs were submitted with varying degrees of success in the years that followed. In 1982 a Rock-bottom was reached: Finland’s Kojo with “Nuku pommiin”, took the very last place with 0 points. Was it really that bad, or was Europe not ready for it? Judge for yourself: Rock Win It took quite some time before Rock really made a difference at Eurovision, but in 2006 the time had come: Lordi for Finland with “Hardrock Hallelujah” won the contest with 292 points. Rock is part of it After that, Rock as a type of music at Eurovision was taken a lot more seriously. Bigger successes were achieved, and in 2018 even a Hungarian hard metal band managed to reach the finals. That AWS with “Viszlát Nyár” finished last in the grand final, doesn’t matter… They made it to the finals. The icing on the Rockcake was, of course, MÃ¥neskin in 2021. France was the big favorite (Barbara Pravi), but with 524 points, Italy left France behind.  The conclusion may be that Rock definitely belongs at Eurovision, although opinions will always be divided on this. 2024 was a year without Rock. We are curious to see what 2025 will bring.           Share

Share
Read More »