#260
We mentioned Belgian band Bernthøler in our latest entry in this series, so it’s only fair to give you the story behind it now. The band was founded in Brussels in 1981 by Drita Kotaji on vocals, Pol Fourmois on bass, as well as Simon Rigot and Manu Poutte on synth/guitar.
Their second single ”My Suitor” came out in 1983 on tiny label Blue Feather and became an unexpected success, receiving airplay on BBC by John Peel. There was a third single ready for release in 1984, after having expanded the lineup with a drummer. But due to ‘internal dissent’ and bad luck it never happened and the group split up.
Described nowadays as a synth-pop group, they managed to combine many diverse influences into highly poetic arrangements and lyrics in English. In 2004 the UK label LTM made a reissue that included all of their released tracks plus the unreleased demos. This was the 18-track cd Merry Lines In the Sky. We had to wait until 2015 for a vinyl reissue. Starman Records’ My Suitor LP took 11 tracks from the cd and added another unreleased track called ”Heartbeat”, which adds yet another dimension to the group.
