Wim Kan (1911-1983)
No one has ever been able to match the politically engaged cabaret of the Dutch artist Wim Kan, who was seen as the Emperor of the Dutch New Year’s Eve cabaret. But as we forgot the politicians he used to mock, his fame also got tarnished. In today’s episode of Palace of Nostalgia, we show you another side of him; Wim Kan’s truly witty approach on timeless subjects like commercials, for example.
And there’s also the hurt and furious Wim Kan who, like his wife Corry Vonk, suffered in a Japanese prisoner of war camp during the Second World War. In his poignant railroad song he expressed how he felt about the Dutch royal family receiving and having dinner with the Japanese emperor in 1971.
So listen to Wim Kan, a doubter and worrier, who gave us a frank look on himself with his ‘Zwart-wit Liedje’ (Black and White Song)