The Blue Eagles (lost recordings of Indorock band; 1958-1961)
A picture of the band, possibly taken during a performance
Status: Lost
The band, The Blue Eagles (not to be confused with a marching band of the same name) was part of the Indorock movement which was especially prominent in the late 50s and first half of the 60s. This was a genre in The Netherlands mainly, with a lot of more well known bands such as The Blue Diamonds and The Tielman Brothers. Some of the bands who classified with making music that fits into this genre would go on to enjoy international success.
The Blue Eagles mainly performed in Rotterdam and were part of the first wave of bands from the genre. They were sometimes promoted through their lead singer being called "The Elvis Of Rotterdam". This was because he won a look-a-like contest once. The band never released any recordings commercially, but recordings of the band are known to exist. The current status of these however, is lost and it is unclear where they are. Due to the lost nature of these recordings, it's also difficult to pin down songs played by the band.
Recordings
The recordings are mentioned a few times by various insiders of the Indorock scene. For example, expert Piet de Bruin mentioned in an interview that he's been on a search for the recordings for over 50 years now. He's even posted public calls for information, with an e-mail address in media outlets, such as RTV Rijnmond, a broadcasting network in The Netherlands. De Bruin mentioned two recordings in an article, with the home recording allegedly pressed on a shellac (resin) and possibly limited to only one copy. The first recordings would have been the band rehearsing at the home of band member, George 'Djodji' Barendse, the other would have been a live performance somewhere. The venue the performance was at is unknown, although the band often played at the Odeon and Gebouw Zuid in Rotterdam. The live performance recording would at least have been made using a tape recorder.
According to De Bruin, he had talked to George 'Djodji' Barendse about these recordings too. Barendse was the band's singer and the Elvis imitator that won them the contest. Barendse says he remembers holding the shellac (resin) in his hands and that on one of the sides would have been the band's songs entitled "Sea Of Love". This makes it the only song title confirmed for the band's back catalogue. Barendse doesn't remember what happens to the shellac or who made the recordings. He does remember hearing that the man who made these has passed away however.
A catalogue-ish website mentions recordings of another kind too. They claim that in either 1959 or 1960 that a small Dutch label, Polyphone, made a recording of the band and pressed this on a bakelite (polymer) record in a small amount. No trace of these recordings exists today either.
Barendse at one point left the band and tried his luck with other groups, including the better known Dutch band Tee-Set, who had some hits. The Blue Eagles continued shortly without a singer, but never really did anything else.