Pussycat

($Pussycat was the end result of the musical aspirations of the Kowalczyk sisters Tonny Willé, Betty Drastra and Marianne Hensen. Growing up in Limburg, Netherlands, the girls first came to attention as Zingende Zusjes (The Singing Sisters), with a well-received their repertoire of German language songs. Adding a girl drummer to the brew, the group completely revamped their sound, and changed their name, becoming The BG's from Holland -- a direct nod to the burgeoning Big Beat movement sweeping the country, and the youthful assumption that they'd break out of their local scene. Recording came quickly to the nascent group. They cut a single, "Tell Alain" as Sweet Reaction for the Telstar label in 1973. With the sisters still the core members of the group, by early 1975, they'd recruited drummer Theo Coumans, bassist Theo Wetzels and guitarist John Theunissen, and updated their image once again, now, and finally, emerging as Pussycat. Singing to the EMI label they recorded their first single, "Mississippi". The song became a massive seller for the group, pushing them into charts across Europe and England, where it reached #1 in August 1976. The band pushed one further single, "Smile" into the U.K. charts that December before their star faded in that country. Elsewhere, however, Pussycat continued to soar with a stellar European career that ultimately, at its peak, spanned some ten years and included some seventeen albums. By 1978 Hans Lutjens had replaced Theo Coumans on drums, as the band continued to release albums and tour, frequently going as far afield as South Africa. But, as the 1980s rolled around, the sisters found it increasingly difficult to finance huge tours with so many musicians on roster. So, replacing their backing band with taped music, Pussycat shifted their image one last time. They continued to play and record through the mid-1980s, when they finally, and amicably, decided to call it quits, in favor of pursuing their own careers. Tonny, whose own extracurricular activities had commenced back in 1973 single, with the single "For You" (under the alias Sally Lane), proved especially prolific, unleashing a string of albums, of which New Words to an Old Love Song saw her elected "best female country singer of the year" by the Dutch magazine, Country Gazette. With a stellar re-issue market churning out compilations and Pussycat hits packages, it's clear the band may now be out of sight, but will never be out of mind.