◄◄ REWIND
In ‘07, AB launched a timeless series: ◄◄ REWIND. Central to this series are Belgian musicians who perform ‘their classic’. Call it a milestone in their career or go a step further: a key record for popular Belgian music. Often, but not always, we're talking about albums that are etched into collective memory. Let's just say: points of reference in the landscape of Belgian music. So each season a number of performers play their entire ‘pièce de résistance’. Entirely? That's right, in the exact order that they want to tell their story now or wanted to tell it at the time of its success.

With ◄◄ REWIND AB also contributes to the activation of Belgium's musical heritage. Those who have already passed in review: ‘Royalty In Exile’ (The Scabs), ‘Gorky’ (by Gorki), ‘1981-1984’ (The Neon Judgement), ‘The Kids’ (The Kids), ‘Nooit Meer Drinken’ (Raymond Van Het Groenewoud), ‘Op Zoek Naar Romantiek’ (Guido Belcanto) and also ‘Jonge Helden’ by Arbeid Adelt!
The three Belgian classics pivotal to this new issue: De Mens who present their effervescent debut ‘De Mens’ from ’92, Luc Van Acker who picks up the thread of ‘The Ship’ from ’84, and also Wim Mertens with his under-appreciated album ‘Struggle For Pleasure’ (’82).
Just as previous performers, they too will be honoured with an official stone-laying ceremony in the Steenstraat next to AB: in recognition of their contribution to Belgian (pop) music.

◄◄ REWIND: De Mens plays ‘De Mens’ (1992)
“De Mens won't be performing in '11. Because in 2012 De Mens turns 20. A celebratory year that is being well-prepared…” … we read on the website of De Mens. Nothing could be further from the truth, as a fine kick-off for this festive year will be the performance of their entire untitled debut from '92.
The period in time? Rocking in your own language was mostly not done back then. But that soon changed in the early ’90's with the arrival of the triumvirate Noordkaap, Gorky (their debut was also released in ’92) and De Mens. At its conception, De Mens was a duo consisting of Michel De Coster (bass) and songwriter Frank Vander linden, a celebrated Humo journalist at the time. His creed: “The language in wich I dream is the language I write in.”
Debut single ‘Dit is mijn huis’ immediately hit the spot, just like the album's other singles: ‘Jeroen Brouwers (schrijft een boek)’ and the immortal ‘Irene’ (with that fine line “Niemand heeft ooit zo mooi / neen tegen mij gezegd”. That last song also adorns the Radio 1 chart ‘100 to 1’, containing the best Belgian songs ever. Humo was wild about this debut, right from the start: “Opwindende Nederlandstalige rock zoals er maar weinig geproduceerd wordt in Vlaanderen”. Final juicy detail: ‘De Mens’ was released via Play That Beat! that mainly had boy bands under contract.

◄◄ REWIND: Q&A
Afterwards, now true to ◄◄ REWIND tradition, De Mens will be interrogated in the AB Club by De Standaard journalist Wouter Van Driessche and Jan Delvaux (author of ’97 publication and reference work on Belgian pop music ‘Big In Belgium. Het Verhaal Van De Belgische Pop’). Delvaux is currently working on a sequel (working title: ‘Belpop. De eerste vijftig jaar. 1960-2010’) that is to be released at the end of the year.

◄◄ REWIND FACTS
On the skins for the recording of ‘De Mens’ sat none less than Frank Saenen. Frank Saenen has already participated in ◄◄ REWIND, playing as drummer for The Scabs when they presented ‘Royalty In Exile’ in ‘07. Franky Saenen has even more ◄◄ REWIND experience as he also drummed tight with The Kids when they stormed through their untitled debut in ‘08.
The lay out for the cover of ‘De Mens’ – a close-up of Michel De Coster and Frank Vander linden - was made by Jan Vanroelen. Jan Vanroelen performed with Arbeid Adelt! when they presented their debut ‘Jonge Helden’ in its entirety in '11.
The woman Frank Vander linden sings about in ‘Irene’ really does exist. What's more: she's already been spotted at various previous editions of ◄◄ REWIND.