Person

Baker, George, 1944 December 8-

• Bouwens, Johannes, 1944 December 8-

1944-

Dutch singer and songwriter “Hans” Bouwens, better known by his stage name George Baker, was raised by his single mother and grandparents in Hoorn and Wormerveer, Netherlands. His father, an Italian soldier, Peppino Caruso, had been killed trying to escape from detention by the Germans when they occupied the Netherlands. He left school at the age of 14 and worked many jobs, including one at a lemonade factory. In 1961 he called himself “Body” and formed a band with some Wormerveer boys called “Body and the Wild Cats.” In 1968 he joined the band “Soul Invention,” formed the year before. A meteoric career began when he co-wrote the song “Little Green Bag.” After he adopted the pseudonym “George Baker”, the pop-rock band changed its name in 1969 to “George Baker and the Selection. They brought out their first album, also called “Little Green Bag,” in 1970; it sold one million copies globally. They added a female voice, and in 1975 recorded their fifth album; this contained the upbeat “Paloma Blanca,” which hit the number one spot and sold seven million copies as a single. Citing “too much pressure,” the group disbanded in 1978, and “George Baker devoted more of his energy to song writing. He spent some time in Spain in the early 80s. The new Selection formed in 1985 and lasted to 1989. Their two most successful songs continued to be covered by many artists. They were also used in commercials (for the German supermarket Lidl and for a Japanese whiskey) and as theme music and soundtracks for television series and films: “Little Green Bag” for Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs (1992) and a remix of “Paloma Blanca” for Too Fat Too Furious (2005) and Kite Runner (2008). In addition to albums made with “Selection,” “George Baker” released a total of nine solo albums.