Stips made a name for himself in the late 1960s with the band Supersister. With this band he also performed in 1970 during the Holland Pop Festival in the Kralingse Bos, Rotterdam. Almost all of the same international artists performed at this ‘Dutch Woodstock’ as at the renowned festival in Bethel, New York.
After the breakup of Supersister, Stips played successively in Golden Earring, Sweet d’Buster, Transister and Nits. He also produced bands such as Gruppo Sportivo and Vitesse, and regularly performed with Freek de Jonge.
Supersister (photo – with Stips 2nd right) made its debut in early 1970 with the single ‘She Was Naked’, which was picked up by the pirate station Radio Veronica and therefore ended up on the edge of the top ten. This fame brought the group to the main stage of the Holland Pop Festival in Kralingen, between artists such as Canned Heat, Jefferson Airplane, Santana and Pink Floyd. The band broke up in 1974.
Since 2019, Stips is performing again with Supersister in a new line-up, with former Earring bass player Rinus Gerritsen and former Sweet d’Buster drummer Leon Klaasse, also in various clubs in the Netherlands this fall.
At the Music Film Festival in Tilburg, Robert Jan Stips will play songs from Supersister that he also played at Kralingen Pop at the time and will speak about his experiences at this festival and during his musical career.
(portrait: Marco Bakker)