Cosmic Dealer: a Dutch group from the seventies

Five musicians formed a band in Dordrecht, Netherlands in 1968, called The Floating Fudge Featuring The Cosmic Dealer. The members were: Angelo Santoro (bass guitar), Ad Vos (drums), Frans Poots (vocals, flute, sax), Bas van der Pol (vocals, guitar, ex-Hawks) and Jan Reynders (vocals, guitar, ex-Hawks). Their act included routines with gas masks and vacuum cleaner hoses.

In 1970 they changed their name to Cosmic Dealer and focused on making music and dropped the weird act. In 1971 they released two singles, The scene/Child of the golden sun and Head in the clouds/Find your way on Negram. Both singles weren't a big success.

The two singles were followed by the release of Cosmic Dealer's debut album, Crystallization. The music is a mixture of psychedelic and progressive music, completed with some hard rock. The album was produced by Eddy Owens. The band toured regularly and did a performance in a TV show (in July 1st, 1971), but the album didn't sell well. The same year Bas van der Pol left the band and was replaced by Leen Leendertse, with whom they recorded a few demo tracks. A little while later Angelo Santoro left the band. Cosmic Dealer struggles along, but a year later it is decided to stop.

In 1973 the band was reformed. This time Frans Poots was replaced by Ed Boender. Leen Leendertse was also no longer a member of the band, but Angelo Santoro had returned. There was also a new vocalist, Kees de Blois. With these members the group started to work on new material and recorded a few demos. But it did not last for long, because in the spring of 1973 the band had already split up again, and this time for ever.

In February and march 2010 Cosmic Dealer play a few reunion concerts in the original line up, without Bas van der Pol (who had passed away), replaced by Kees de Blois.