B.G.K.

B.G.K., or Balthasar Gerards Kommando were a 1980s Dutch punk band. The band were named after a Dutch historical figure named Balthasar Gerards, who killed the king of the Netherlands in 1584. Balthasar Gerards Kommando were formed in the early 1980s by members of Amsterdam punk band The Nitwitz.

Rejecting the then-popular trend to emulate British Oi bands, BGK took their musical cues from American hardcore bands such as MDC, and soon developed an ultrafast style of their own. The band was also committed to following through with its leftist political stance, both in terms of the punk scene (the band set up DIY shows with low door prices, and put out affordable records on their own label) and in a wider political spectrum (they often played benefits for various causes, and helped run the Emma squat in Holland).
B.G.K's debut album "Jonestown Aloha" was recorded in late 1982. The title was of course an admittedly morbid play on the Jonestown Mass Suicide. This album was released in 1983 on our own Vögelspin "label" in a press run of 3000 copies. A US release followed a year later on M.D.C.'s R Radical records and that one sold a poopload more (I hear 14,000 copies, some royalties would be nice comrades, share a little of the wealth?). The material resurfaced yet once more in the year 2001, as part of "A Dutch Feast, the complete works of Balthasar Gerards Kommando" on Alternative Tentacles records.
BGK released all their records on a label they started in their Nitwitz days, Vögelspin, and collaborated with U.S. labels R Radical and Alternative Tentacles. They helped touring bands playing in the Netherlands, and themselves toured Europe and the U.S. several times, finally calling it quits in 1987.
After BGK's demise, bassist Tony formed rock'n'roll band Loveslug. In 1996, the Nitwitz reunited (partially due to interest from Epitaph Records). Alternative Tentacles has recently reissued BGK's entire catalog, both on vinyl and CD.