Editing André Hazes (section)

===1980s===
In 1980 he signed a contract with [[EMI]], and soon after that his career started to take off. "Een Vriend" ("A Friend") and "Een Beetje Verliefd" ("A Little in Love)" were both top ten hits in 1981, produced by his best friend Tim Griek.

In 1981 Hazes was awarded the [[Zilveren Harp]] (Silver Harp) for his album ''Gewoon André'' (''Just André'') which sold 500,000 copies<ref>''[[De Telegraaf]]'', 23 September 2004, André Hazes overleden, [https://archive.today/20041023120224/http://www.telegraaf.nl/prive/14141771/Andr%C3%A9_Hazes_overleden.html link] (Dutch)(Accessed: 12 August 2006)</ref> and was certified five times platinum in its first year of release and two more times two years later.<ref>[http://www.nvpi.nl/nvpi/pagina.asp?pagkey=60461 NVPI.nl] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090910023734/http://www.nvpi.nl/nvpi/pagina.asp?pagkey=60461 |date=10 September 2009 }} Dutch certification database Accessed 4 November 2006</ref> Three of the album's songs, including "Een Beetje Verliefd", were written for Hazes by Aart Mol and his colleagues from the 1970s band [[Rubberen Robbie|Catapult]], who had formed the production company Cat Music, which would write a total of 39 songs for Hazes.<ref name="haagsma">{{cite book|last=Haagsma|first=Robert|title=Hazes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yw4YNvWdEnQC&pg=PT11|year=2012|publisher=Unieboek/Het Spectrum|isbn=9789000320455|pages=11–12}}</ref> 1982 was the year of his great concert in the [[Concertgebouw, Amsterdam|Concertgebouw]] in Amsterdam.

During his heyday Hazes also had a sideline as an actor; in 1982 he played a restaurant owner in the [[The Inspector General (1949 film)|Inspector General]]-inspired movie ''De Boezemvriend'' (starring his comedian namesake [[Andre van Duin]]), in 1983 he appeared in the comedy series ''Zoals U Wenst Mevrouw'' (''As you wish Madam'') as a down-and-out taking a gardening job under false pretenses and singing new lyrics to recent hits. He also appeared in commercials for toasts (as an Italian singer) and custard (as a football-playing son of singer/actress [[Joke Bruijs]]). Meanwhile Hazes' backing musicians at the time recorded a parody medley for their notorious comedy music project [[Rubberen Robbie]].

In 1986 Hazes released two albums; the first featured Italian covers (including "[[Volare (song)|Volare]]", "Bueno Sera" and a new version of "Piove" which he first sang in his childhood days) and was dedicated to the memory of [[Willy Alberti]]. The second featured translated versions of [[Peter Maffay]]'s "[[Du (Peter Maffay song)|Du]]" and [[Gloria Gaynor]]'s "[[I Will Survive]]".

In February 1988 record producer and best friend, Tim Griek, died in a car accident. Hazes dedicated the album ''Liefde, leven, geven'' to Griek's memory.

In 1988 he sang the song "[[Wij houden van Oranje]]" ("We love Orange"—Orange being the national colour of the Netherlands and also a nickname for the [[Netherlands national football team]] and in general all sports teams) for the [[association football|football]] championships. The song became very popular as the [[Netherlands]] won the [[UEFA Euro 1988|European Championships]] in the same year.

In 1989 his career was stalled after several years without record releases and to revive it record company EMI approached Hazes for a new album, asking him what he wanted to do next. EMI offered him a free hand and full control if he decided to revitalize his career. He responded by recording the bilingual album ''Dit is wat ik wil'' ("This is what I want"), a blues and rock 'n roll album featuring many contemporary rock artists like [[Herman Brood]] and [[Jan Akkerman]]. Extracted singles are "De Gokker" ("The Gambler") and "Jammer" ("[[Crying Time]]", converted into an earth pollution-song); the latter was backed by "[[Working in a Coal Mine]]".

Joe Bourne, an American singer living in the Netherlands at the time, released an [[English-language]] version of "Een Beetje Verliefd" for his tribute album ''Bourne in Holland''.