Maggie MacNeal

Maggie MacNeal
MacNeal in 1976
Background information
Birth name	Sjoukje Lucie van 't Spijker
Born	(1950-05-05) 5 May 1950 (age 74) Tilburg, Netherlands
Genres	Pop
Occupation	Musician
Instrument	Vocals
Years active	1971–present

Maggie MacNeal (born Sjoukje Lucie van 't Spijker; 5 May 1950) is a Dutch singer. She was a member of Mouth & MacNeal, a pop duo from the Netherlands, who are best known for their million-selling recording of "How Do You Do" in 1972, which topped the Dutch chart and became a US top ten hit, and for representing the Netherlands at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, finishing third with the song "I See a Star", which went on to become a UK top ten hit. In 1980, she represented the Netherlands at the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest, finishing fifth with the song Amsterdam.

Born Sjoukje Lucie van 't Spijker, she would go under the name Maggie MacNeal. In 1971, she signed to Decca Records and released her debut solo single – a cover, produced by Hans van Hemert, of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong and made famous by singer Marvin Gaye.

In 1972, she teamed up with Willem Duyn, also known as Big Mouth, to form the duo known as Mouth & MacNeal, recording Pop international hits such as "How Do You Do" (1971), "Hey, You Love" (#45Canada), and "Hello-A" (1972)(#95CAN). She was with Mouth & MacNeal from 1971 to 1974 including a participation in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "I See a Star".^[1]

After their breakup, she formed her own group in 1975 with her husband Frans Smit (drums), Adri de Hont (guitar), Ben Vermeulen and Wil de Meyer (bass guitar). In 1977, the line-up changed to Smit, Jons Pistoor, Lex Bolderdijk, and Robert Verwey (bass). She participated again in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 where she finished in 5th place with the song Amsterdam.^[2]

MacNeal was one of the artists who recorded the song Shalom from Holland as a token of solidarity to the Israeli people, threatened by missiles from Iraq, during the first Gulf War in 1991.

In 2000, she became a member of the Dutch Divas, together with Marga Bult.^[3]

MacNeal is still touring as of 2023.

• Alexgitlin.com
• Maggie MacNeal discography at Discogs
• Maggie MacNeal at IMDb

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maggie MacNeal.