On stage he kept playing solo, but he always recorded with a band, saying that if you lacked the visual aspect, monotony would creep in with the accompaniment of just one guitar, a mouth harp and no sketches in between.

Next elpee: Tintels Voor De Mensen (Tinglings For The People), recorded in 1978, was released in a period when the hardening of society became obvious through Fiftyism and other diseases. The Song "Het Zien Van Uw Steden Doet Pijn Aan De Ogen" (Seeing your cities hurts the eyes) (Chief Seattle's Letter To The President, 1855) became immediately a live-favorite.

"Nachtbraken" was released in 1981 and was in fact a flirt with cocaine. Musically though it meant a milestone; finally he got rid of his carnavalesk accompaniments and returned to his first love; Fat Rock 'n Roll!

Little by little his gigs became shorter and shorter, sometimes he could cry when the people were shedding tears over his songs while he could not experience his own lyrics anymore. By this time his love-life had become so complicated that it mirrored on his music-making in a rather negative way. After living with two wives for some years, Suzy quit for the Far East for good and she who stayed proved to be not so hip as he wanted her to be, he was drawn into a cocaine-habit and even drank alcohol for a while, because it did not give him asthmatic attacks when he sniffed along. (Deadly Dangerous!)

The ridiculous paradox did not last long. He quit drinking, she found another drinking-buddy and Armand was all alone again, 40 years old, strolling busted flat and stoned like a camel through Antwerp city, just like he did on his twentieth birthday. By that time he had an album coming out called "Waar Het Om Draait"(What it's all about), and though fans assured him there were beautiful songs on it, he himself had the idea that it lacked power, at least where the lyrics were concerned.

October 1985 he took his great leap forward, as he decided to really put all his energy and creativity into music, for an unlimited time. Which turned out to be more than 10 years.
During that time he lived like a monk, making music in his demo-studio from 10 in the evening until 9 in the morning, sleeping in the day-time and visiting his Turkish Friend Faruk in the evening, to eat and smoke and to talk about the latest political developments, on which Faruk had very outspoken views.