How did they get here?
Johan
grew up in Bergen op Zoom, a small town
(~40.000 people) in the south of the Netherlands and
developed a great interest in electronics in the early seventies. At the age of 14, he collected first
generation TV sets (to reuse the tubes) and through his parents he met a
Phillips research engineer who
donated boxes full of experimental electronic parts and tons of old electronics magazines.
Johan read every one of those magazines and soon started to build fun projects like radios, oscilloscopes
and amplifiers. At the age of 16, he even build a small 'computer' based on Intel's very first chip.
The Intel 4004 based JoGo computer (as in Johan Goossens)
was battery powered, had 40 bytes of memory (no, we did not forget the word kilo, mega or giga), switches and
push buttons for input and 4 red LEDs for output.
Slowly the electronics obsession turned to music and soon enough speaker cabinets, amplifiers,
effects boxes and light shows were created. Initially, Johan ran a 'mobile disco' with friends
but playing DJ was not satisfying enough so after discussions with school buddies, Johan, Willem
and Marc decided to start a band. Marc was a classically trained acoustic guitar player who could
sing very well, Willem decided to learn the bass and Johan added percussion to his list of obsessions.
As with most teenage bands, the early days were rough and the band quickly went through a number of different lineups.
Johan and Marc remained a constant, Marc's sisters (Nicole and Vivianne) added great vocals, Leo and later Don
(no mafia connections) replaced Willem on bass and finally Suus and later Ruud added electronic piano/keyboard
to the mix. "Hippo" became a popular local band but in the early 80's,
military service and other real life interruptions made the band members drift apart.
As in most bands, the drummer gets the pretty girl and during the Hippo years, Johan started to date Nicole.
In 1982 they moved to Germany and in 1988 they got married and moved to the US. Today Nicole and Johan live in
Virginia Beach and have two great kids. After years
of not playing in a band, Johan started Mid-Life Crises (MLC) in 1999 and
very soon Nicole joined the band. An old passion was rediscovered and lots of dollars later, The Goossens' house
was full of PA equipment, a recording studio and a light show. Who says you need brains or talent when you
have money?
From 2007 until 2009, Nicole and Johan also played in Cujo Panic. Sadly both MLC and Cujo Panic are currently on an Eagles-style "until hell freezes over" break which led to this "Rock on 11" initiative.