The history of (Unit) Gloria

In 1966 Gloria was formed by the brother Albert 'Mouse' Hol (guitar, singing), Gerrit 'Meep' Hol (drums), Geert Hol (Guitar, singing) and Hoss van Hardeveld (bas, piano, singing).

In 1967 Geert Hol was replaced by Robert Long, which take now the role as lead singer of the group. In 1968 the group records his first 7” record called
“So it Goes”, this record was produced by George Kooymans. The second 7” record was “Bitter Sweet”, produced by  Bobby Graham and brought out as the first record by Red Bullet from Willem van Kooten. The record wasn’t it success what the group thought it should be, and for that reason they switch to another record company namely EMI-Bovema. Also Bobby Graham switch to Bovema and product in March 1969 "The Last Seven Days". The record came in the TOP5, very soon after it success in the Netherlands, the record was brought out in Belgium, Germany, USA, Italy, Spain, France, Switzerland and the UK. After the Hit "The Last Seven Days" Willem van Kooten of Red-Bullet want to get also some pieces of the success Gloria and brought out on a 7” record a demo version of the  "The Storm" , also this record became a hit!!!! In 1969 the group brought out there first Long player named  "Mea Semper Gloria Vivet"  a beautiful record with a special cover sleeve. The group got also more success outside the Netherlands and changes there name into Unit Gloria and later in Robert Long & Unit Gloria. After the success of "The Last Seven Days"  the following records were brought out "Our Life", "Wild Bird", "Our Father", "Heartaches and Sorrows" and "Back in the Sun". "Our Father "was again a huge hit. The record "Heartaches and Sorrow" is brought out in two different versions.

Version one is the 7” record, on the Album "Ultrajectum"  you can find version two, this album is released in 1971. "Ultrajectum" is a total different record then the previous onces, its more a rock album, more the way Unit Gloria live performed. Hoss the technical sound developer of the group had develop a sound system which gave the group the same sound as on the records during the live performance, this was very unique for that time. Unit Gloria had life a very good, some audients thought that they were playing like on the
"The Last Seven Days" record, but that was live totally different, more rock & roll. Unit Gloria was a group which could play different styles. Unit Gloria has also visit the USA, on invitation of the California Holland Club, they performed one week in the Hollywood Palladium with a lot of success. In 1972 Robert Long has made the decision to leave the group because he wants to start a solo career, Bonnie St. Claire took his place. Almost one year Robert Long and Bonnie St. Claire performed both on stage with Unit Gloria.

Bonnie St. Claire & Unit Gloria had several big hits like "Clap Your Hands And Stamp Your Feet" and "Waikiki Man", following by other hit records. Till 1976 the formation was still active, but the last two years there were several changes Hoss and Meep had left the group and were replaced by Ed van Swanenburg and Frans Meijer, added to the group was Jan Rietman as keyboard player. In the last formation Rob Metz was addes as Guitar player and Mouse was playing the Bass Guitar.