Boccaccio Life – La William

Nothing saps the strength of a road biker more than long stretches of headwind, especially on days when the wind drones a dull low hum in the rider’s ears. On gusty days I thus stay away from the exposed banks of the mighty river Schelde (Gent, Belgium), favouring better sheltered practice loops instead. One such loop brings me by the birthplace of a music genre, although the remains are scant, even the B in the below picture is gone in the meantime, the B of Boccaccio, Belgium’s most famous nightclub ever, Destelbergen’s answer to NY’s Studio 54, where in the 80s New Beat sprang into existence.

New Beat followed in the footsteps of electronic body music, another electronic music genre Belgium had played a major part in, and which had been the grim expression of the grim 80s zeitgeist: the economy was down, the Bende van Nijvel was senselessly slaughtering innocents through a series of ultra-violent supermarket hold-ups, and the Cellules Communistes Combattantes were planting bombs.

One evening in the Boccaccio a guy wore cycling pants on the dance floor, the next evening suspenders, the day after clown shoes and a cap turned backwards, add in smileys, and it didn’t take long for the New Beat imagery to conquer the streets. A Mercedes or Volkswagen emblem got you cool points as well.

Such was the success of the Boccaccio that in 1988 and 1989 (does it get any more Belgian?) they sponsored a professional road cycling team, Boccaccio Life – La William, even partaking in major races like the Ronde van Vlaanderen.

Yves Godimus proudly donning his Boccaccio shirt!

• August 9, 2011
• Bikes, Music
• 2 Comments