Gruppo Sportivo

Gruppo Sportivo are a Dutch pop band, from The Hague, formed in 1976, who enjoyed some measure of international success in the late 1970s and 1980s. The frontman of the band, and writer of the material, is Hans Vandenburg.

Their first single was "Out There In The Jungle" (Polydor 1976), but the height of their career came with the two albums Ten Mistakes (1977) and Back to '78 (1978). They came to popularity just after the height of punk rock, but were regarded as more post-punk, veering more towards the mainstream pop. Their track "Dreamin'" off of Mistakes received much college radio airplay in the US. They were admired for their live performances, which had great humour and slapstick. Their most well-known song is "Beep Beep Love" (from the album Ten Mistakes), which enjoyed some success both in the UK and US. The UK's Radio & Records voted them "Top Newcomer '78". In July 2006, the Japanese girl band, Puffy AmiYumi, recorded a new version of "Tokyo", originally recorded by Gruppo Sportivo in 1978.

Gruppo Sportivo is still active and Vandenburg (aka Van DeFruits) is constantly working on new material.