Supersister
Present From Nancy

The story of Supersister is a typical one of the myriad high school bands that somehow make it. Formed in 1965 at the Grotius College in The Hague, under the name of The Blubs, they were initially led by drummer Marco Vorlijk, who soon handed over the reins to the prodigious Robert-Jan Stips, an excellent keyboardist endowed with that clean and ethereal voice that has led many to compare him to the Dutch Richard Sinclair. Thanks to his connections with a quirky organization named Morgenstond (which translates to "Early Morning" in Italian), specializing in organizing operettas, the group even managed to play in 1966 at the Royal Palace of Soestdijk on the birthday of then-Queen of the Netherlands Juliana. It was on this occasion that flautist and singer Sacha van Geest joined the band, completing the lineup that for three long years of apprenticeship would play all over the Netherlands, making the group quite famous but still without any recordings or contracts. The band name was changed to Supersister, and the providential interest of John Peel in the group finally launched the band: the go-ahead was given at the end of 1969 to record a studio album.

Associated with the "Canterbury Scene" for their atmospheres and singing style, somewhere between Caravan and Soft Machine, and also associated with "Zappa-esque" sounds, Supersister actually plays music consisting of long instrumental pieces rich with solos interspersed with brief sung parts. It is astonishing that four individuals barely in their twenties could exhibit such a display of technique, skill, style, and taste in blending their sounds. A band without a guitarist, their characteristic is therefore the use of a bass, often very distorted, combined with various keyboards. This predominance of the two instruments still gives excellent room for flute interventions, played in the 'classical' manner, combined with keyboard exploits of the same mold (among the influences cited by the band itself is pianist and classical composer Erik Satie).

There is a touch of everything, in their fantastic debut album "Present From Nancy", essentially divided into three suites (Present From Nancy, Memories Are New, and Metamorphosis), in turn divided into small interconnected tracks. Among the highest points is the wild drumming in "Introduction" and "Metamorphosi"s, along with the overall skill of the group in chapters like "Memories Are New" and "11/8". The only two tracks outside of the suites are very peculiar: the humorous "Corporation Combo Boys" is a result of the full influence of Frank Zappa, also cited in its words (And we listen with attention / To the Mothers of Invention); "Dona Nobis Pacem" is a long instrumental that starts with very calm organ atmospheres and ends in a carnival or amusement park tune on the verge of hilarity.

In the wonderful recently remastered CD version, the bonus tracks include the A and B sides of the first two singles of the band, which in 1970 were much more commercially successful than the entire "Present From Nancy" album, thanks to the contract with Polydor that Supersister signed immediately after the album's release, allowing for much broader airplay. However, the four unreleased tracks are absolutely not on par with the album, too playful, and surely the result of the band's more humorous side. "Fancy Nancy" is, for example, a mere parody of Elvis Presley, with the B-side "Gonna Take Easy". The other single instead presents the good "She Was Naked" with the B-side the absurd "Spiral Staircase", which narrates strange tales of drinking tea with a gnome on a spiral staircase.

These were truly the great Supersister, who in reality have always remained in the shadows but have still amazed and managed to always astonish by showing what they are capable of.