Olga Lowina (November 15, 1924 - April 4, 1994 ) was a Dutch singer who specialized in yodeling. Partly due to Lowina, the Netherlands experienced various yodel fads. Her infectious yodel crossed a generation gap several times throughout her career.
Olga Helena Lewina Musters was born in the salt town of Boekelo and had 4 brothers and 2 sisters. Her father was chief stoker at the salt factory in Boekelo. She owes the name Olga to her father. When Mom and Dad searched for a name for the newcomer, Dad stared at the stove. This one was from the OLGA brand. At one point he said: "I know, if it's a girl her name is Olga".
As a ten-year-old Olga was allowed to do an echo at Primary School in Boekelode in the song "Langs berg en dal". Years later she would duet the song with herself and it would be one of the highlights of her performance until the end of her career. Her brothers formed a Hawaiian band, the Krontjong Serenaders, which in addition to country & western also performed krontjong and Hawaii music. Olga always yodeled with them and suddenly discovered that she had what it took to sing in this style". At the age of fifteen she was on stage for the first time. Her stage name Olga Lowina was a wonderful fit for her yodel career, associated by many because the Dutch world "lawine" means avalanche.
In 1946 Olga met her husband Lou van Putten who was known under the name Lou Marti as a musical clown and impresario. They fell in love even though Lou was 15 years older and married with 7 children. Yet this did not get in the way of their love. Together they had a daughter Louwina (Loes) and son Loek van Putten. Daughter's christening name is a combination of her father's name Lou and her mother's stage name Lowina.
Her husband provided Olga with new songs or translated the most beautiful yodel songs for her. When her first record is released by Decca in 1948,it was an immediate success accompanied by the Silvestri-Quartet, a mandolin ensemble conducted by Aad Weeda. With her next records, Olga is assisted by a complete chapel. Under the guidance of accordionist Johan Holzshuizen, the Edelweisz Chapel was formed with whom Olga made half of the Netherlands yodel.
She performed for the Vara radio and toured throughout the Netherlands. In 1950 she released her first number 1 hit "Laugh when the sun shines". In 1951, she managed to push Patti Page's Tennessee Waltz out of first place with her second hit "High on the Alps". In her dirndl dress Olga was also yodeling in Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. She was seen on television regularly all over Europe. During this period she celebrated her greatest success in Switzerland.
Several generations grow up with the Lowina phenomenon. She effortlessly changed styles and combined "Appenzeller" and "Zillertaler" yodeling with the so-called French yodeling. She found the style from the French part of Switzerland "a warmer way of yodeling." Olga Lowina loved to give her audience what they wanted. Among her fans she counts Princess Armgard (mother of Prince Bernhard), Johnny Hoes, Johnny Jordaan, accordionist Johnny Meijer and the German schlager singer Freddy Quinn.
However, the good life had suddenly come to an end. By the late fifties with the onset of Rock’N’Roll her yodel empire collapsed. Olga said: “The beat came on and that meant the end for me too”. Olga and her husband switched to the catering industry and ran three café restaurants. Olga temporarily entrenched herself in anonymity. But by 1967 she had a gigantic come-back thanks to her historic performance in the groundbreaking VPRO program "Hoepla". This led to a renewed recording contract with Polydor.
Thus it happened that the queen of the Tyrolean Alpine song was no longer regarded as the exclusive darling of the humble citizen. She yodelled in alternative youth centers and at student parties, in gay bars and during poetry nights.
In 1988 she yodeled in a sold-out Amsterdam Paradiso. Olga had reached the peak of her fame. After her husband died in 1993 Tyrolis Records and the CD Ozejodletzo began a new period of success for the Yodel Empress. Thanks to these recordings and air time on the local American radio stations, Olga conquers the southern states.
An American trip is on the program when disaster strikes. Olga is told she has cancer. On April 4, 1994, she died in a Rotterdam hospital bed at the age of 69.
She once said "I have an iron throat, I don't need a microphone, and I have the stamina to sing for hours." She was indeed one of those sturdy Wagnerian operatic-looking belters, in full Tirolean costume who deep into her 60s was still able to amaze people with her vocalizing prowess, an untutored singing voice of crystal.. She often performed in front of audiences of 1000 or more without the aid of a microphone. She once said that "you don't need to cop an attitude just because you were born with a particular talent."
(Edited from articles by Amsterdam Mokum TV & Harry Knipschild)