Lieve Hugo (born Julius Theodorus Uiterloo), also known as the king of kaseko, Surinamese dance music derived from traditional Surinamese-Creole kawina-music, started his musical career as a member of the Centraal Koor of the Rust & Vrede church in Paramaribo and as a drummer (Hugo played the skratjie, a large bass drum with some cymbals attached to the top) for Sluisdam, but his real breakthrough didn't happen until he joined Orchestra Washboard. It's also with this band that eventually ended up in The Netherlands in 1970. Continuing health problems force him to take it easier and after the 1970 tour Lieve quits Orchestra Washboard. Blood is thicker than water though and flanked by The Happy Boys, Iko, as Lieve Hugo is also known, starts performing again. Lieve Hugo is invited to perform at the Suriname independence celebrations on November 25th 1975, but sadly he won't live to see his country's 'Srefi Densi' (Sranan Tongo for "independence day", a song from Hugo's album 'Wang Piepel, Wang Nation'). During a concert in Club Sosa in Amsterdam, Lieve Hugo starts feeling ill and he passes away on November 15th, 1975 at the Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis in Amsterdam. Author Diederik Samwel summarizes it perfectly in the liner notes of 'Blaka Rosoe En Andere Poku's': "Some artists already reach the status of living legend during their lives. Others achieve the status by passing away prematurely. Lieve Hugo belonged to both categories!".

Though the name Trafassi (Sranan Tongo for "turnaround" or "different") will not ring bells with all of you, their big 1985 hit 'Wasmasjien' will undoubtedly do the trick. Key figure of the band is Edgar 'Bugru' Burgos, a cousin of Lieve Hugo, who still toured with The Happy Boys for a few years after Hugo's passing. When The Happy Boys call it quits,band members Harold Biervliet, Iwan Vaudelle and Edgar Burgos continue under the name Trafassi. In the beginning the band mainly performs kaseko, but over time genres like merengue, salsa, zouk and calypso are also introduced in Trafassi's repertoire. Trafassi may have gained eternal glory with the humorous and lightweight 'Wasmasjien', but songs like 'Brombere' (Sranan Tongo for "honey wagon" or "cesspool emptier"), 'Roodkapje' and 'Leba Joeroe' (loosely translated: "the time of demons", a reference to curfew time, after which only soldiers were still allowed on the streets) openly criticizing the 1980 coup led by Desi Bouterse and the ensuing military dictatorship, proved the band's lyrics did have an underlying depth and even yielded Trafassi a travel ban into Suriname. The band couldn't care less however and when they arrive in Paramaribo in 1984, the roads between Zanderij airport and the capital are lined with cheering fans. From the original line up of the band, today only Burgos, meanwhile both a Knight in the Honorary Order of the Yellow Star of the Republic of Suriname and a Member of the Order of Orange-Nassau in The Netherlands, remains.