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21 June, 2025 – The book ‘Pussycat: The Mississippi flows in the Netherlands
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1963 – 1973

The sisters Tonny, Betty and Marianne Kowalczyk meet their guitar teacher Werner Theunissen in the 60s. Theunissen writes the song Bitte, Bitte, Liebe Mich for the sisters (currently 12, 11 and 10 years old respectively). Together with a girl next door on drums, the group Sweet Reaction is formed.

1973

A complete family business is created around Sweet Reaction. The band is making a name for itself locally. Johnny Hoes records a single with them, but it is not a success.

1975

Sweet Reaction gets in touch with record company Bovema. The name is changed to Pussycat. Eddie Hilbert becomes the band’s producer and he falls for a song that has long been on Werner Theunissen’s shelf: the country-tinged Mississippi. Radio DJ Meta de Vries ‘discovers’ the single and plays the record several times. Other DJs also pick up the song and three weeks later the band is in the TV show of Kick Stockhuizen. This means the breakthrough for Pussycat. The song becomes number one in the Netherlands and some time later Belgium, Germany, England, Ireland, Austria, Switzerland, Israel, Yugoslavia, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Brazil follow. The single Mississippi sells more than 4 million copies worldwide.

1976

The single Georgie is released. This single is also high in the charts in no time. The sisters resigned as telephone operators and became full-time professionals. The single Smile becomes a hit and the album First Of All is also very successful. Pussycat receives the Export Prize for the entire oeuvre.

1977

The single My Broken Souvenirs is released and this becomes the second number 1 hit of Pussycat in the Netherlands. The subsequent album Souvenirs reaches the top 10. However, foreign success is not forthcoming.

1978 – 1981

In 1978 drummer Coumans is replaced by Hans Lutjens (ex-Sweet Reaction). The band releases three albums, a number of singles that all sell reasonably to well.

1981

The guitarist, drummer and bassist disappear from the band. The sisters continue as a tape act together with Tonny’s husband Loulou Wille and sometimes also play with Kees Buenen, Ferd Berger and Frans Meijer (ex-The Bill Bradley Band) as a backing group.

1983

The album After All is released, but is not as successful as its predecessors.

1985

Hits are not forthcoming and Pussycat dissolves itself. Tonny Willé makes a number of solo albums in the following years, but these do little in a commercial sense.

1986 – 1999

The sisters start performing again under the name Anycat. But in 1999 they decide reform Pussycat again and work on new material.

2001

At the end of February the double CD 25 Years After Mississippi will be released. This CD contains all the hits and the best album tracks of Pussycat in chronological order. Following the release, Pussycat does a number of reunion performances. In March, all original Pussycat LPs will be released on CD for the first time by EMI. The CDs have been remastered and provided with bonus tracks, 3 of which have never been released before.

2004

The Complete Collection is a box with three CDs and a DVD containing all the hits plus extra tracks supplemented with a 40-page booklet. The DVD is also available separately from the box.

2005

The singers of Pussycat contribute to the single Somewhere Someone by Major Dundee.

2007

The singers also sing along to the Dutch reggae version that singer Dennis Jones releases of the world hit Mississippi (July).

2009

Pim Koopman dies on November 23. He was 56 years old.

2010

Werner Theunissen dies on January 18 in a restaurant in the United Kingdom. He was 67 years old.

2015

Guitarist John Theunissen dies on November 19 at the age of 66.

2021

Lou Willé wrote together with Harm Peter Smilde a book about Pussycat De Mississippi Stroomt In Limburg (The Mississippi Flows In Limburg).

2023

Norbert Smidt is releasing an album with unknown demos from Pussycat on various internet music streaming platforms.

2024

On 28 June Betty Dragstra Veldpaus died at the age of 72.

2025

The book The Mississippi Stroomt In Limburg is being released in English under the title The Mississippi Flows In The Netherlands.
The first drummer of Pussycat, Theo Coumans, died at the age of 76.