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The Jets is the name shared by an American dancepop band and a Dutch band that started as an instrumental rock ‘n rollband in the early ’60s.|American: Biography by Greg Prato & Steve Huey Eighties teenyboppers the Jets came from an extremely large family (17 children overall) and were comprised of eight of the family’s brothers and sisters Leroy, Eddie, Eugene, Haini, Rudy, Kathi, Elizabeth, and Moana Wolfgramm (their parents originally emigrated to the U.S. from the South Pacific nation of Tonga, in 1965, but their offspring were raised in Minneapolis). From 1986 though 1989, the Jets enjoyed several dance-pop hits (tops being “Crush on You” and “You Got It All”), as well as several full-length albums, two of which (their 1986 self-titled debut and 1987’s Magic) obtained gold and/or platinum certification. But like all past bubblegum acts, the Jets’ shelf life proved to be fleeting, as the hits dried up shortly thereafter (the first member to leave the group was Eugene, who split in 1988 to form Boys Club with Joe Pasquale, going by the name Gene Hunt). Although little was heard from the Jets during the early ’90s, most of the group had re-formed by the latter part of the decade as a more gospel-oriented outfit, issuing such albums as 1997’s Love Will Lead the Way. By the dawn of the 21st century, the other brothers and sisters of the family who were too young to join in on the fun during the ’80s had formed their own group, imaginatively called… Jett17.|Dutch: The Jets formed in Utrecht, NL in 1958 as The Rocking Explosives and debuted on stage in 1960. Their instrumental guitarmusic sounded similar to The Shadows. They renamed the band to The Jets in 1963. The group had a big hit in Japan with an instrumental version of ‘Goldfinger’ under the name The Goldfingers (due to another band in Japan called The Jets). In 1966 The Jets were aiming for succes in England and recorded the single The Pied Piper, a later hit in the version by Crispian St. Peters. The Jets reformed in 1982 and still performs today. |
