Mansfield, Simone Joan
Soldier On
After two records by Burghers and solo self-indulgence DeWitYourself by Burghers singer Niels de Wit, it was time to keep Burghers bass player/ singer Simone Joan Mansfield happy by having her make her own record. Simone, actually called Mansveld, earned her spurs in Amsterdam bands like the Bugs and Cross Your Heart & the Playtex before bumping into Niels (ex-Johan, Electric Tears) after which they combined their punk/pop/garage-inspired forces. But the Simone solo single shows another musical love shared by both Burghers, that of old soul music. Soldier On sounds like a Stax recording with a dollop of psychedelia stirred through the stew, some people have been overheard comparing it to Sharon Tandy. B side Turn Your Frown Around is faster and more Northern Soul-y. Both songs were written and recorded by Niels, getting some help in the trumpet dept. from Theo van Kampen (Herb Spectacles), in an authentically no-budget #stayathome 60s soul style (tambourine in the shower etc). The record itself is a nice piece of (home-)work too, with hand cut sleeve, limited to 250 copies.