Lieve Hugo | en

Julius Theodoor Hugo Uiterloo (December 13, 1934 – November 15, 1975), better known by his stage-name Lieve Hugo and his nickname Iko, was a Surinamese singer in the kaseko-genre he founded; hence his other nickname King of Kaseko.

Lieve Hugo began singing in a choir and played drums and percussion in a variety of bands. In 1963 he joined Wasboard Orchestra, as a drummer and singer. A mutated version of the band headlined the 1970 Holland Festival at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and got the crowd on their dancing feet. Health reasons forced him to leave Washboard Orchestra and put down the drumsticks.

Now living in the Bijlmermeer-area of Amsterdam, Lieve Hugo signed to EMI and released his debut solo-album in 1974. Lieve Hugo: King of Kaseko became one of the biggest-selling albums in Surinamese music. Lieve Hugo and his backing-band The Happy Boys toured extensively through the Netherlands, Belgium and South America. 1975 was the year that Suriname gained independence; Lieve Hugo chronicled the subject on his second album Wan Pipel but didn't live to see the moment.

During a performance at Club Sosa in Amsterdam, Lieve Hugo suffered a heart-attack; he died on November 15, 1975, ten days before the Independence Day-ceremony for which he was scheduled to play. His body was flown back to Suriname and buried at Mariusrust on November 23.

The Happy Boys continued as a band with several lead vocalists, including Lieve Hugo's cousin Edgar Burgos. They released four albums between 1977 and 1980; debut album Akoeba contained the adapted bolero Memoria Foe Iko about the loss of their singer who knew that time was running out on him. Post-break-up, Burgos and four Happy Boys-alumni formed the original line-up of Trafassi; they took Lieve Hugo's unfulfilled ambitions to further heights and became one of the leading live-acts in the Netherlands.

In 2008, the Netherlands appeared to be ready for a Lieve Hugo-revival. The Metropole Orchestra paid tribute to the King of Kaseko at the Concertgebouw backing up artists such as De Dijk, Oscar Harris, Re-Play, Boris Titulaer, Berget Lewis, Izaline Calister, Angela Groothuizen and Edgar Burgos.

In 2013 both solo-albums were reissued on one cd as part of TopNotch's Sranan Gowtu-series (Surinamese Gold) devoted to Surinamese artists from the 1970s.
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