By comparison to krautrock or Britain's Canterbury scene, Dutch prog rock of the 60s and 70s pales in terms of interest and mystique. It's hard to know why that should be --even the legendary John Peel, who was a fan of the music, deprecatingly dubbed his favourites, Supersister, "Common Market toe-tappers".

Bands making the breakthrough to an international market at the time can be counted on the fingers of half a hand. Instrumental outfit Focus used BBC TV's Old Grey Whistle Test to launch themselves in Britain in early 1973 and, from there, the US, while later that same year Golden Earring arguably hard rather than prog-rockers--enjoyed both The Who's patronage and an epic hit single in Radar Love.

Apart from them, international impact was slight. Solution looked on the verge of US fame when Elton John's Rocket label signed them, but they've since suggested they were only intended as tax losses. Peel, for all his jocularity, signed Supersister to his own Dandelion imprint... but this went down the tubes rapidly thereafter.

At long last though, the scene is getting its due. One reason is the tireless work of Hans van Vuuren, whose Pseudonym label has put out some well-presented and coherent compilations of late 60s/early 70s recordings from Holland's leading acts. It's important to remember that, in those days, the terms "alternative" or "progressive" did not exist in relation to Dutch music.

Hans explains that the US/UK influence was initially all-pervasive. "Especially in the 60s, all those artists bought US and English acts so there is definitely an influence. Between 1960 and '65 there were a lot of acts that liked Cliff & The Shadows and played that kind of music; later on it was the Stones and Beatles and other famous British and US acts. They started by covering their heroes, then created their own style."

The British beat explosion inspired a Nederbeat movement in the mid-60s, headed by Wally Tax, whose Outsiders scored a number of Dutch hits and supported The Rolling Stones in 1966. Tax was friendly with Little Richard and Johnny Hallyday, and reputedly more than friendly with Brigitte Bardot. He played with Tim Hardin and Jimi Hendrix at Hendrix's Electric Lady Studio in 1970, but though his band signed with Polydor in 1968, releasing a progressive album CQ that year, they never had their records released in the US. (Tax died, age 57, having overindulged in alcohol and drugs.)

Hans van Vuuren also extols the virtues of Tee Set, who hailed from Delft. Fronted by Peter Tetteroo, they featured British guitarist Ray Fenwick, who would later crop up as Ian Gillan's post-Deep Purple lieutenant. "The Tee Set started as a R&B band then went to being a pop band. Their R&B covers, like Rufus Thomas' Can Your Monkey Do The Dog, were as good as the originals. For a white man and a Dutch band, that's unbelievable."

Van Vuuren recommends their Emotion album, and recalls that a post-fame spin-of-F band After Tea (featuring keyboardist...