Rita Hovink

Fully licensed re-issue on 678 Records /// Produced in analogue form directly from the original master. It is a minor miracle how this reissue came into being. In 2010 I got in touch with Milou, Rita Hovink’s daughter, with a plan to try and create a little more interest in her mother’s music. From Milou's attic came a removal box full with various tapes from Rita. It was a literally a mixed bag, the legacy of a very diverse music career that ended far too soon.

Among the tapes I found the original master tape from the studio recordings that Rita made in Hilversum in the summer of 1969 for her debut album Love me or leave me.  On this specific tape we found the original first mix down of the recordings, a fully fledged sound source of the first generation at the highest playback speed (15 ips) in vibrant stereo. At the time it was customary to make a high-quality production copy of the master which, with the pieces assembled in the right order, served as source tape for the pressing plant. In the unlikely event that something happened to the production copy, one could always revert to the master. It remains to be unclear how and why exactly this master tape came into Rita’s possession, but a fact is that we now had a source to do something very special. There then followed a lengthy negotiation process to get the recordings licensed from the official master owner Universal Music, owner of the catalogue of the former record company Phonogram. That process finally came to a favourable end at the end of 2018. So 678 records is pleased and honoured to present this exclusive audiophile reissue of Rita Hovink, a highlight from the years when her repertoire was consisted mostly jazz.