Biography
Wouter Otto Levenbach (born 4 May 1944), known professionally as Dave, is a Dutch singer who performs primarily in French and achieved multiple number one hits in France during the 1970s. Originally from Amsterdam, he currently lives in Paris.
Dave was born in Amsterdam to a Jewish father who was an English teacher and a mother who was a classical dancer. He has two brothers, Marteen and Lucas, and a sister named Elsbeth. He began playing guitar at age 14. A deeply spiritual individual, Dave frequently prayed and initially considered studying theology before ultimately deciding to pursue law.
He drew inspiration from Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road, which encouraged youth to explore life by traveling and connecting with others. Passionate about the sea and rivers—a passion inherited from his grandfather—he left the Netherlands by boat carrying 1,000 guilders, roughly two months' worth of living expenses.
In 1968, he met Eddie Barclay, the head of Barclay Records, in Saint-Tropez; Barclay played a key role in launching Dave’s entertainment career.
On 26 February 1969, Dave participated in the Nationaal Songfestival, the Dutch selection contest for the Eurovision Song Contest, with the song "Niets gaat zo snel," but did not win. Later that summer, he entered the Dutch Top 40 charts for the first time with "Nathalie," which peaked at number 28.
Between 1971 and 1974, he acted in the musical Godspell, during which he formed a close friendship with fellow actor Daniel Auteuil.
In 1974, Dave released his first hit "Trop Beau," a French adaptation of The Rubettes' "Sugar Baby Love." He followed this with "Vanina," an adaptation of Del Shannon's "Runaway," which became his first number one single in France. In 1975, he released three more hits: "Mon cœur est malade," "Dansez maintenant," and "Du côté de chez Swann."
His debut self-titled album was released at the end of 1975. By that time, Dave had achieved significant success not only in France and Belgium but also in the Netherlands, where "Dansez maintenant" reached number one on the Top 40 and "Du côté de chez Swann" entered the top 10.
His subsequent hits included "Lettre à Hélène" (1978), "Comment ne pas être amoureux de vous" (1978), and "Allo Elisa" (1979).
Dave’s popularity declined in the 1980s with the rise of FM radio in France. Nevertheless, he maintained a devoted audience through live shows and his classic songs. He described this period as "crossing a very pretty desert." In 1993, he released a new album, and in 1994, he made a comeback with a greatest hits album that sold over 200,000 copies. He later recorded Toujours le même bleu, an album featuring a title track that returned him to the charts. Around this time, he also publicly came out as homosexual.
