“Farmers” rock band Normaal, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, has been put forward by its fan club as a candidate for the Dutch list of intangible cultural heritage.

The band not only invented “dialect rock” by adopting their local Achterhoek dialect but also helped the emancipation of young farmers in the area, pop journalist Dolf Ruesink told local broadcaster RTV Oost.

Normaal first performed in the Achterhoek town of Lochem, Gelderland, in 1975 and went on to score hits like Oerend Hard (crazy loud), Deurdonderen (get a move on) and De boer dat is de keerl (the farmer is the man). The band’s fan club still has 2,000 members, making it one of the biggest in the country.

“There’s the tangible side of the recordings and the concert posters but there is also the typical Normaal mottos, like ‘hoken’ (to flip) and ‘daldeejen’ (having fun), including the concert traditions of throwing beer and straw,” Ruesink told the broadcaster.

But there is more to the band, Ruesink said. It gave voice to the countryside and became its cultural icon, turning the pejorative “boer” into a badge of honour.

“As pioneers of the use local dialect in pop music, they boosted the self-image of the provincial regions and introduced traditions and rituals that were handed over across the generations,” he said.

Singer Bennie Jolink (79) said he would be pleased to be on the list. “I am not going to get actively involved but if it did happen, I would be greatly honoured,” he said,

If the band is added to the Dutch list, it will find itself in the company of the Indonesian rijsttafel, flower parades, the Rotterdam summer carnival and Gouda cheese.