Slagerij van Kampen was founded in 1982 by Willem van Kruijsdijk (sometimes also Kruysdyk) and Mies Wilbrink. Together they write and compose pieces for the band, although they have not been members since 2003.
The name Slagerij van Kampen comes from the Tintin comic strip The Zonnebloem Case: throughout the comic, people call Molensloot Castle, while they should have "butcher's shop Van Kampen" (in the album this is a butcher's shop from the village). These incorrect connections also sometimes occur in other Tintin albums.
Slagerij van Kampen plays both traditional and modern World Percussion. On the albums from the early period you can mainly hear traditional percussion, while on the later albums modern electronic gadgets are featured. Most songs are instrumental, on each album there are at most 1 or 2 songs with vocals.
The band's first album, Slagerij van Kampen, was released in 1986, and the second, Out of the Doldrums, in 1987. These albums were only released on vinyl.
