Gorki

Gorki is a poetic yet powerful Dutch-singing group from Ghent, Belgium. Since 1989 they operated under the name of Gorky (with a "y") but slightly changed their name when frontman Luc De Vos reformed the band in 1992. Luc De Vos died the 29th of November 2014 at the age of 52. As many Belgian bands, Gorky rose to the attention of the crowd during Humo's Rock Rally. They finished third in the edition of 1990, enough to gain record company interest. Together with producer Wouter Van Belle, they recorded their self-titled debut album, which was intimistic and powerful at the same time. Singer Luc De Vos managed to write very personal yet recognizable lyrics filled with imaginative imagery. Not less than five singles were taken from the album. Songs such as "Lieve kleine Piranha" and especially "Mia" remain very popular up till today. In 1992 the band recorded a semi-acoustic album "Boterhammen" in a park in Brussels. This was a series of intimistic concerts held every Friday during summer, an initiative by the Ancienne Belgique called 'Boterhammen in het park'. This album features guest performances of Rick De Leeuw, singer of the Dutch group Tröckener Kecks and guitarist Patrick Riguelle (see Riguelle & Hautekiet, Kadril). This album becomes the last act of the group Gorky. Soon afterwards Luc De Vos reforms the band and the record company insists it would be called Gorki (with an "i"). Together with old-timer Sylvain Van Holme (a.o. Two Man Sound) the new band moves to Dakar in Senegal to go record the album "Hij leeft" in the Xippi studios of Youssou N'Dour. The album is much more subtle than the older products of Gorki "which makes the melodies and the superior lyrics of De Vos sound even better" (Oor). The album achieves a gold status in Belgium and 3 singles are released. 1994 and 1995 are a lot more quiet for the group. Luc De Vos goes literary and becomes a columnist for leading Flemish newspaper "De Standaard" and radio station "Studio Brussel". In 1995 the group bivouac in the ICP-studios in Brussels together with Jo Bogaert (the man behind Technotronic) to record their fourth album entitled "Monstertje" (Little monster). Record company Virgin initially refused the mix Bogaert had made in his home studio, so the album is remixed for a second time. Singles from the album are "Lang zullen ze leven" (Long will they live - For they are jolly good fellows), "Monstertje" (Little monster) and "Kom me toch halen" (Come and get me). Luc de Vos died unexpectedly on 11/29/2014, only 52 years of age. Band members (Gorky): - Luc De Vos : vocals, guitar - Geert Bonne : drums - Wout De Schutter : bass Band members (Gorki): - Luc De Vos : vocals, guitar - Erik Van Biesen : bass - Luc Heyvaerts : keyboards - Wim Rogge : guitar - Steven Van Havere / Eric Bosteels / Bert Huysentruyt : drums Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.