Charlie Dee

Husbands and Wives
‘This album is a very personal account of a specific period in my life. It’s like my own ‘Blood on the Tracks’, laughs Charlie Dée. ‘Blood on the Tracks’ by Bob Dylan is one of the best known ‘divorce albums’ in pop history. ‘Husbands and Wives’ deals with the theme of inevitable separation. ‘Not that I think that I’m Bob Dylan, of course, but just like Dylan, I used the music to work through my sadness.’ Charlie Dée (born as Renee van Dongen in 1977) also wrote songs about finding new chances in life, such as finding love again, after going through such an intense and complicated period. Most tracks on Husbands and Wives were produced by Reyn Ouwehand, also known for his work for Wende Snijders, Ellen Ten Damme, Coparck and Kane. ‘Husbands and Wives’ could be best described as warm, sultry, earnest and mature. An intense, powerful album, enhanced by Dée’s lyrical depth, with elements of playfulness that catch us by surprise.
Have It All
‘One night I couldn’t sleep, and to get through the night I sat at my piano. All of a sudden I wrote the song ‘Have It All’. On one hand, the song is about saying goodbye, but on the other hand, it’s also about how beautiful life actually is.’ Charlie Dée thought that ‘Have It All’ would work very well as a commercial tune for Dela, the Dutch funeral service organization. She sent them the song and the director of the company called her back right away. Edzo Doeve, the general manager of Dela, thought that the song conveyed perfectly what the company stands for. ‘This song deals with the connection between generations and the memories they cherish – and that is exactly what’s important to us and what we want to encourage.’
‘Have It All’ is still being used as the radio jingle for Dela. The song can be heard in its entirety on ‘Husbands and Wives’ and is also the first single from the album.
Tiesto
The ‘Best DJ In The World’ the Dutch DJ Tiësto, was so charmed by ‘Have It All’ that he chose it for his newest remix. ‘I ran across an old friend, Mark, on Facebook, and he turned out to be the sound engineer for Tiësto. Purely by coincidence, just in the same week, I had gotten 3 requests for remixes from people who had heard ‘Have It All’ on the radio. I asked Mark if he would give my song to Tiësto. I was really curious if he thought ‘Have It all’ would work well for one of his signature remixes. A few months later I got a message from Tiësto himself – he loved it and made an amazing remix!
JONI MITCHELL
Joni Mitchell is one of Charlie Dée’s greatest influences. When she was 17, she got a cassette with a few songs from Mitchell on it, and from that moment on, Charlie knew that she needed to sit at her piano and write songs. Charlie also created the ‘A tribute to Joni Mitchell’ CD/DVD, which took her on a nationwide tour. Everyone who saw her show was mesmerized, as they felt that they were this close to Joni and the essence of her music. A journalist from Het Parool newspaper heralded Charlie as one of Holland’s best pop singer-songwriters, and ‘A Tribute to Joni’ mandatory for all those who love the genre. Trouw newspaper honored the album as the best album of 2009.
Grote Prijs
‘Husbands and Wives’ is the third studio album from Charlie Dée. After winning the Grote Prijs van Nederland in 2004, her debut album ‘Where Do Girls Come From’ was released to rave reviews in 2006. Dee’s clever lyrics paint a picture full of melancholy, optimism, and honesty in a warm, personal and musically diverse album. In 2007, the sophomore album ‘Love your Life’ followed, again to critical acclaim. ‘Promising, warm voice’, writes the Volkskrant newspaper and De Gelderlander calls Charlie ‘one of the greatest talents in Dutch pop music’. Charlie Dée has performed everywhere from Paradiso, to Ahoy, to Heineken Music Hall, but has also graced the stage at the famous Lowlands music festival. She’s also been a support act for major international artists, such as Joe Cocker, and wrote a beautiful song, ‘Ten Thousand Times’, which she recorded with the famous Dutch artist Huub van der Lubbe, the frontman from de Dijk.
BAND
Charlie Dée’s band is made up of Holland’s finest - Martijn van Agt on guitar, Chris Grem on bass, Johan Hendrikse on keys and Joeri Rook on drums. Check www.charliedee.com for dates and venues for the Husbands and Wives tour this fall. In January 2011, Charlie Dee and her band will take hold of the nation once again, this time on a theater tour, for the reprise of ‘A Tribute to Joni Mitchell’.