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Dutch pop group

Nits (known until 1989 as The Nits) are a Dutch pop group founded in 1974. Their musical style has varied considerably over the years, as has their line up with the core of Henk Hofstede (the group's lead singer and lyricist), Rob Kloet, drummer, and Robert Jan Stips (Supersister, Gruppo Sportivo, Golden Earring), keyboards. Their biggest hit in the Netherlands was "Nescio" (1983), a tribute to the Dutch author Jan Hendrik Frederik Grönloh. The major hit that brought the band to the attention of an international audience was "In the Dutch Mountains" (1987). Other well known Nits songs include "J. O. S. Days", "Adieu, Sweet Bahnhof" and "Sketches of Spain". Top 10 albums include Omsk (1983), In the Dutch Mountains (1987), Urk (1989), Doing the Dishes (2008) and Hotel Europa (2015).

The Nits originally consisted of Henk Hofstede (vocals, guitar), Alex Roelofs (bass), Michiel Peters (guitar) and Rob Kloet (drums). Influenced by British pop music, especially the Beatles, they also incorporated influences from new wave music into their sound. They made their live debut in 1974, and released their self financed, limited run debut LP, The Nits, in 1978. This brought them to the attention of Columbia Records, for whom The Nits would continue to record for the next 22 years. Their major label debut, Tent (1979), carried on the new wave style of The Nits, but was considerably more polished, partly due to the influence of producer Robert Jan Stips. On New Flat (1980) and Work (1981), which made increasing use of synthesisers, "Hofstede reveals a growing aptitude for creating little emotional postcards." The album was released on January 19, with the song The Bird being placed in Spotify's New Music Friday playlist. OOR Magazine wrote: "Month Of May" and "Big Brown Building Burning" describe the fire quite directly. Then their imagination runs wild with events. In "The Bird" we experience the fire from the perspective of the bird in the tree next to the studio. The result can easily be added to the list of Nits classics. You can only wish one thing for anyone who is still making such beautiful music after fifty years: on to a hundred! In the meantime, a podcast series about the band's 50 year career was also released. "Dial Nits" features core members Henk Hofstede, Rob Kloet and Robert Jan Stips in conversation, but also collaborators, friends and family from many different countries talking about the music and about the background stories to this unusual career of musicians from the Netherlands. The podcast can be heard on Spotify.

The group travel widely, and Hofstede's lyrics often concern his impressions of places he has been. The official Nits website includes a map showing the locations that the group has written songs about. Another common theme (to some extent overlapping the first) is songs inspired by works of art, literature and museum exhibits (e. g. "A Touch of Henry Moore", "Soap Bubble Box", "Nescio"). Many other songs are impressionistic, and many are concerned with the passing of time. Some albums include clusters of songs on a particular subject, for example In the Dutch Mountains contains several songs about Hofstede's childhood memories, Giant Normal Dwarf includes several fantasy songs set in a folkloric version of the Netherlands called Fountainland, and the later albums, particularly Les Nuits, include numerous songs on the subject of human mortality.