Vanessa Graham

File:Torqy Donaldson 2006.jpg
**Torquil "Torqy" Donaldson** (14 May, 1958 in Cape Cross) is a prominent Brunanter rock guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. Known for smoking while performing, he is considered the pioneer of rock genre in Brunant.

Initially a member of the rock bands *The Daydreamers* and *Black Sheep*, Torqy pursued solo career. His albums *A Window to Heaven* (1991), *Pursuit of Nirvana* (1992) and *R for Rock* (1995) are considered masterpieces and they are said to have inspired other rock bands, such as Calamity 74 and the Black Roses. Torqy was awarded the Medal for Arts and Letters in 2008. He is signed to Acid Drop Music.

## Biography

### Family and early years

Torqy was born in Cape Cross, to Alan Donaldson and Anne Codutti. His father was of Scottish descent, while his mother was half Italian-Barzuna. It is also likely that Alan's paternal ancestors were Borderers.

Torqy was the first child of the Donaldson family, as he has a younger brother, John. Their mother died in 1963, due to breast cancer. As a result, Torqy and John spent much of their childhood to their paternal grandparents home in Dortmund. However, since 1972 they only lived in Cape Cross. As a child, Torqy wanted to become a soccer player, but he decided to deal with music, as soon as he listened to Serra's songs. Torqy was inducted in rock music, after listening to songs by Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, and the songs of Vic Manley from his 1967 rock album.

At the age of 15, Torqy took up guitar lessons, despite his father's disapproval. He soon proved to be a talented musician and in 1975 formed a group with three schoolmates, called *Lizards*. Among the Lizard members, it was Michael Oper, the lead bassist of future *Black Sheep* and a good friend of Torqy until today. The band was dissolved in 1977.

In 1979, Alan Donaldson married Emmanuela Denn, a young saleswoman, only two years older than Torqy. This fact complicated the relationship between Torqy and his father, often leading to quarrels.

### First career steps

In 1980, Torqy and Michael Oper approached Ronald van Es (drums) and Alex Anza (vocals and guitar); that same year their band was formed. Torqy had the idea of naming the band *The Daydreamers*. The band played mostly psychedelic and progressive rock, mainly inspired by Pink Floyd. They came up with their first album (*Daydreaming*) in 1981, after senting their demo to three different record labels. Although it passed almost unnoticed back then, this album is considered the best of Torqy's early years.

 File:Torqy Donaldson 1983.jpg
The second album, *Sunday Morning*, was released one year later and attracted many young people. Also, this album was Torqy's vocal and lyrics debut, as he provided backing vocals and wrote two songs. The Daydreamers gave two concerts, each in Cape Cross and Brezonde, where Anza came from. The concerts brought much more popularity to the band. It was described as *an underground group for the youth*.

Most critics focused on Torqy's guitar talent and vocal potentials. This created tensions in the group, which however released their final album (*Smiles All Around*) in 1985. Just a few months after the album release, the band was dissolved.

### The Black Sheep years

Only a couple of weeks after the disestablishment of The Daydreamers, Torqy incidentally met Hayk Demeryan, a talented multi-instrumentalist of Armenian descent. They soon became friends and they founded a band named *Black Sheep*. The other members were Peter Shams (bass guitar), Geert Hopp (electric guitar) and Klaas-Erik Poont (drums).

Torqy was heavily influenced by Demeryan's harder taste and thus the new band played mostly hard rock. Donaldson was able to adjust his vocals to the genre's demands. The band also played blues rock and progressive rock.

Black Sheep released their first album (*Black Sheep*) in 1986, with modest success. Without being disappointed, they continued and they released *Mystery Theater* in 1987. It was critically and commercially successful; today, *Mystery Theater* is considered a milestone of Brunanter rock. Rock musicians like Steve and Edward Hennessey (*The Towners*), Ossie Meijer (*Calamity 74*/*Cheerful Septet*) and Billy Grey (*Cheerful Septet*) acknowledge this album as their first contact with rock music.

The band gave concerts in Koningstad, Cape Cross, Grijzestad and Roodstad. During this tour, Torqy and Hayk became known as an explosive duo, offering dynamic performances. While performing at Grijzestad, Torqy smoked his first cigarette on stage, a habit that continues until today.

In 1988, Black Sheep released a live album, which also included the remixes of two songs from *Mystery Theater*. Black Sheep's next release was *The Broken Door*, which sold thousands of copies and was praised by the critics. However, the climate in the band wasn't that good, primary due to Poont's drug problems. The last Black Sheep album (*Strolling*) was released in 1989; even though it is considered inferior to the group's previous works, it was a great success.

In 1990 the band was dissolved, to the disappointment of its fans. Hayk Demeryan went on to found the now defunct band *Adrenaline* with Geert Hopp, while Torqy decided to pursue a solo career.

### Solo career

In 1991, Donaldson gathered some young musicians, who are still his backing band. Consisting of Chris Duynhoven (bass guitar), Hilbert Schronk (acoustic guitar/electric guitar/back vocals) and Tony Ganderson (drumms), they are collectively known as *Band X*.

His first personal album (*A Window to Heaven*) was released in 1991 and was an immense success. Almost all lyrics were written by Donaldson. He toured all around Brunant, giving eleven performances. In Koningstad he wasn't allowed to smoke on stage, so he just put the cigarette in his mouth, without lighting it.

In 1992, Torqy released the single *Pursuit of Nirvana*, which topped Hit Parade 20 for two weeks. In this year, he released an album of the same name; including the songs *Rock O' Clock* and *Music Traveller* is said to be his very best album.

In 1993, Torqy released the *Colourful Caravan*, containing remixed songs from *A Window to Heaven*, *Pursuit of Nirvana* and *Mystery Theater*. The next year, he toured once more in order to promote his album *Joyful Boy*, that reached #4 at Hit Parde 20. Afterwards, he released his firt personal live album (*Live Rock: Torqy's Tours*), with live songs from his both tours with Band X.

 File:Torqy Donaldson 2008.jpg
Torqy continued writing songs and in 1995 released *R for Rock*, a major hit. Dubbed *Torqy's musical peak* it remained at #1 of Hit Parade 20 for four weeks. Donaldson himself describes it as his personal favourite.

Torqy's following albums (*Up 'n' Down* - 1996, *Over the Clouds* - 1997 and *Strange Days, Wonderful Days* - 1998) met with moderate success. Nevertheless, his 2000 album (*The Sinner and the Gentleman*) marked his return to success, as it reached #7 of Brunanter Charts.

Torqy's next album (*Smokey Riffs* - 2001) was also very successful and he toured with then newfounded Calamity 74 to promote it. He gave a series of concerts in 2003 and 2004, before releasing *Devotion*, a quite successfuly album.

### Recent years

Since 2006 Torqy is relatively inactive in the music industry, as he has only released a compilation album (*Torqy's Best Of*) in 2010. However, he has confirmed the rumours of an album that will come out in 2014.

In 2008 Torqy toured in Brunant, together with his friend from the Daydreamers years, Michael Oper. The same year, he was awarded the Medal for Arts and Letters, by Marten II.

Donaldson and Demeryan began planning a possible reunion in 2009, eventually agreeing to give a concert with all the members apart from Shams. Such was the response to their Koningstad concert in May 2012 that Shams agreed to join the others for a subsequent concert in January 2013.

In July 2014 the five began messing around in a studio and recorded some new material. The musicians' other concerns saw them split apart. Their new material, along with favourite hits and unreleased music is being compiled for a new album, *The 30 Year Sessions*, but no further concerts have been planned.

## Personal life

Since 1986, Torqy is married to Christine Rype, then a flight attendant. They have three children; Maxwell (1988), Quentin (1991) and Aileen (1994). Torqy and Christine almost got a divorce in 1993, but some of the couple's friends intervened and managed to stop that.

Donaldson is a fan of Cape Cross FC and often watches their matches. On the other hand, he reads a lot of books and he admires crime writer Lodewijk van't Kirk.

## Discogaphy

### The Daydreamers albums

* *Daydreaming* (1982)
* *Sunday Morning* (1983)
* *Smiles All Around* (1984)

### Black Sheep albums

* *Black Sheep* (1986)
* *Mystery Theater* (1987)
* *Black Sheep Live Shows* (1988 - live album)
* *The Broken Door* (1988)
* *Strolling* (1989)

### Solo albums

#### Studio albums

* *A Window to Heaven* (1991)
* *Pursuit of Nirvana* (1992)
* *Colourful Caravan* (1993)
* *Joyful Boy* (1994)
* *R for Rock* (1995)
* *Up 'n' Down* (1996)
* *Over the Clouds* (1997)
* *Strange Days, Wonderful Days* (1998)
* *The Sinner and the Gentleman* (2000)
* *Smokey Riffs* (2001)
* *Devotion* (2004)

#### Live albums

* *Live Rock: Torqy's Tours* (1994)
* *All Over Brunant* (2006)