Story behind the record cover - Pudding & Gisteren (1972) - SUPERSISTER
"Funny, I only found out the story behind this Supersister album cover after 50 years. As a 15 year old boy I was mainly interested in the music and not so much in the cover art with perforated front where you see part of the comic strip about two naughty boys, Pudding & Gisteren (Pudding & Yesterday). I took for granted the fact that I had to cut open the left part of the gatefold sleeve to get to the information and lyrics. The result was that the cover deteriorated even further every time you put it back in the record cabinet.
Supersister’s band members didn't want to spoil the cover with a heap of lyrics. The cover had to remain immaculately white. Hence the idea of cutting it open. As a result, the comic strip on the inner sleeve, drawn by keyboardist Robert Jan Stips’ brother, artist Wouter Stips, came into its own. My copy of the white cover has yellowed with age somewhat over the years, just like my teeth. But that makes it perfectly suitable for such an iconic album. Similar to wine; often the older the better.
“Pudding & Gisteren” is one of the best albums in Dutch prog rock history, in my humble opinion. The pinnacle of creativity. It appears to have been a partnership project with the Nederlands Dans Theater. Including pas de deux between bassist Ron van Eck and dancer Yteke Waterbolk who has stepped out of a large tea cosy. A photo of this can be seen on the back cover.
Keyboardist Stips sees making music as an ode to fantasy and creativity. You come up with something new every time. You are in a band and not at work. Because then you will be reprimanded: “Get to work!”. This way Supersister’s band members explored the limits of the unpredictable. In principle, everyone has this creativity somewhere inside, but it is often not tapped or insufficiently tapped. It's not that easy either. And it takes an immense amount of time, which is sometimes underestimated. Robert Jan Stips once wanted to start a solo project and play with new musicians. He placed an ad that received 400 responses. 80% of the candidates indicated that they still had some time left after six o'clock in the evening. They were discarded almost immediately.
The idea for “Pudding & Gisteren” came from choreographer Frans Vervenne of the Nederlands Dans Theater. He was a big fan of Supersister’s and was eager to work with the band. It's a pity I was too young to witness these performance; so I've never seen this one. It has only been performed six times in the Netherlands. Just before they all went on an international tour, an amorous conflict broke out between two members of the Danstheater. As a result, the project was nipped in the bud.
However, we still have the music and it remains beautiful to this day. Stips' preference for the French classical piano music of Satie and Debussy is clearly audible. But also the typical prog rock sound with fast rhythm changes and solos.
Well, and what about the title, where does it all come from? It's a silly joke from the fifties. Actually, this record acts as a protest against this period of narrow-mindedness. When everything had to be done neatly; you were not at all allowed to get carried away. A joke about the two rascals Pudding & Gisteren and a cop with dirt on his head was just about allowed. It's actually too trivial to explore, so I won't elaborate on the joke itself.
Choreographer Frans Vervenne came up with the idea because he so much hated the oppression of the fifties. Fortunately, he and his generation freed themselves in the 1960s. They let their creatively run wild with experiments such as “Pudding & Gisteren”. Actually, someone should come up with the idea to perform the theatre play “Pudding & Gisteren” with dance and music once again. However, it is unknown whether the dance script and the set pieces still exist. I’m quite sure this will be appreciated internationally as well. Perhaps under the heading: 'Pudding and Yesterday' or 'Pudding und Gestern'."
By Gerrit-Jan Vrielink
Translation: Alex Driessen
Thanks to Robert Jan Stips