Willem van Kooten

{{Short description|Dutch disc jockey and businessman (1941–2025)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}} [[File:TV programma Moef Ga Ga presentator Joost den Draaier (Willem van Kooten), Bestanddeelnr 254-7978.jpg|thumb|van Kooten in 1968]] '''Willem van Kooten''' ({{IPA|nl|ˈʋɪləɱ vɑŋ ˈkoːtə(n)}}; 7 January 1941 – 3 January 2025) was a Dutch businessman and radio DJ under the name '''Joost den Draaijer''' ({{IPA|nl|ˈjoːz dɛn ˈdraːiər|pron}}).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rtl.nl/financien/thuisopdebeurs/debeleggers/belegger3/ |title=''Thuis Op De Beurs'' |website=rtl.nl |access-date=30 October 2016}}</ref> He was born in [[Hilversum]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 January 2025 |title=Radiopionier Willem van Kooten (83) overleden, bedenker van Top 40 |url=https://nos.nl/artikel/2550510-radiopionier-willem-van-kooten-83-overleden-bedenker-van-top-40 |access-date=3 January 2025 |website=NOS Nieuws |language=nl}}</ref>

== Life and career == At the age of 19, Van Kooten joined offshore radio station [[Radio Veronica]] in 1960 as a writer of jingles and commercials. Later he became a DJ and [[program director]]. He used the pseudonym Joost den Draaijer, which was a pun on playing records ("draaien" is Dutch for "play"; literally his pseudonym means ''Joost the Player''). In 1964 he initiated Veronica's [[Dutch Top 40|Top 40]], the first weekly pop chart in the Netherlands which quickly became Veronica's most listened-to show. The chart was modelled after various American examples, including a printed version of the Top 40 which listeners could pick up for free at their local record shop.

At the end of the 1960s, Van Kooten formed a music publishing company. The recording arm of this company was named Red Bullet (a term for a fast moving record in the Top 40). He signed a number of Dutch acts who he began to promote abroad. One of them was [[Shocking Blue]], whose "[[Venus (Shocking Blue song)|Venus]]" became the first Dutch number one hit in the American charts.

In 1970 he moved from Veronica to Dutch public broadcaster [[NOS (broadcaster)|NOS]] for which he continued to work until 1978. After that he became an investor in media businesses and on the international property market.

== Death == On 2 January 2025, the Top 40, which he had masterminded, celebrated its 60th anniversary. A day later, Willem van Kooten died, four days before his 84th birthday.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Radiomaker Willem van Kooten, alias Joost den Draaijer, op 83-jarige leeftijd overleden |url=https://www.ad.nl/show/radiomaker-willem-van-kooten-alias-joost-den-draaijer-op-83-jarige-leeftijd-overleden~a736146c/ |access-date=3 January 2025 |website=Algemeen Dagblad |language=nl-NL}}</ref>

==See also== * [[Van (Dutch)]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{imdb name|1824819}} * {{discogs artist|Willem Van Kooten}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kooten, Willem van}} [[Category:1941 births]] [[Category:2025 deaths]] [[Category:Dutch DJs]] [[Category:People from Hilversum]] [[Category:Dutch businesspeople]]