"De Maskers" from Amsterdam, Holland, came together in 1962, formed by ex-members of the Apron Strings: "Jan de Hont" (lead guitar and vocals), "Jaap de Groot" (rhythm guitar and vocals), "Hans de Hont" (bass guitar and vocals), "Ador Otting" (organ and vocals), "Alewijn Dekker" (drums and vocals), under guidance of Z.Z. ("Bob Bouber", real name "Boris Blom") they began a "Screaming Lord Sutch"-like act with masks, gruesome noises and a light-show, that brought more darkness than light.


With their show and their instrumental prowess, the group became succesfull all over Europe, which resulted in countless foreign tours.
In 1965, after five mostly instrumental years as "ZZ en de Maskers", "Bob Bouber" retired from the band.


"Jan de Hont" and his Amsterdam guys tried to find new roads as "De Maskers" (aka "The Masks"). Times had changed. Beat and Rhythm & Blues had taken over from instrumentals.
Their first lp as "De Maskers" was "Sensations In Sound!" in 1966 (Artone, PDS 510 only in Netherlands): fantastic song is "Three's A Crowd (Pop-Art)", a wild piece of mid-sixties Dutch Beat with plenty of feedback and including a guitar solo that sounds like no other.


De Maskers: "Three's A Crowd (Pop-Art)" / "Living In The Past", Artone ‎– OS 25.343, Holland 1966

The record company had for sure troubles with the new 'beat face' of "De Maskers", and tried to please the old fans with instrumentals. That makes it even more difficult for the band to build up a new public image. But overall "De Maskers" were one off the best and most important Dutch bands in the sixties.