Bobbejaan Schoepen
Encyclopedia
Bobbejaan Schoepen is a pseudonym
of Modest Schoepen (16 May 1925 – 17 May 2010) was a Flemish
pioneer in Belgian pop music
, vaudeville
, and European country music
. Schoepen could have been characterized as a "total performer" and entrepreneur
: he was a singer-songwriter
, guitarist
, comedian
, actor
, and professional whistler
, as well as the founder and former director of the amusement park
, Bobbejaanland
. His musical career flourished from 1948 until the first half of the 1970s. He sold more than five million copies from his repertoire of 482 songs, which extended from Twang
, cabaret
, instrumental
film music, chanson
s, country
, to folk
and vocal music
. Born in Boom, Antwerp, Flanders
, Belgium
, he worked his way up from a working-class environment to become one of the 200 richest people in Belgium.
Schoepen married Dutch
former opera
singer and photo model Josephina (Josée) Jongen on 18 May 1961. They have five children: Robert (“Bob Jr.”, 1962), Myriam (1963), Jacky (1964), Peggy (1968), and Tom (1970). His son Tom became his manager in Belgium.
. In 1943 he followed classical guitar instruction with guitarist Frans De Groodt (1892–1990). That same year he had a memorable debut performance in the Ancienne Belgique
of Antwerp. In front of a full house he sang the South-African song, “Mama, ek wil ‘n man hé". Nee mamma, née, ‘n Duitseman, die wil ek nie. Want Schweinefleisch dit lus ek nie” (“Mommy, I want a husband. No mommy no, I don’t want a German ‘cause I don’t like pig meat.”) The song was perceived as being anti-German, provoking a few Nazis who were present at the show to take him away. Ironically, the South African song is actually making reference to a Dutch Man (which, traditionally is another way of referencing an 'Afrikaans' man) and was not a reference to Nazis at all. The Ancienne Belgique was closed for three weeks. Shortly thereafter he was forced to go work in Germany. As an alternative he chose to sing for the Flemish workers doing compulsory labor. For this he was locked up for three months in the Dossin barracks in Mechelen
from October 1944, without a hearing or a trial.
In 1945 he formed a duet with Kees Brug, a young man from his own village, by the name of “Two Boys and Two Guitars”. They performed impersonations, poetry, South-African songs, and country music from Calais to Amsterdam, all with plenty of room for improvisation and adventure. The name “Bobbejaan” comes from the South-African song, “Bobbejaan klim die berg” (“Baboon Climbs the Mountain”). Schoepen took it as his artist name in 1945 or 1946.
In 1947 he came into contact with Jacques Kluger. Kluger asked Schoepen to entertain the American and Canadian troops during the Nuremberg Trials
, and in Frankfurt
and Berlin
. Kluger was pleased to receive an unexpected, flattering letter from Major Mearker, and contracted Schoepen to go on tour in Germany for several months. In Berlin, which was still partly in ruins, his floor shows were also attended by the American general and military governor Lucius D. Clay
, who asked him for two additional performances. These tours would further stimulate his country music tendencies.
In between these shows, Schoepen also gave occasional performances in his own country. While he initially did not wish to sing in Dutch, Kluger convinced him to record ‘a Flemish record’. Schoepen's first recordings followed, and in 1948 “De Jodelende Fluiter” (“The Yodeling Whistler”) became Schoepen’s first hit. His breakthrough in the Netherlands also happened that year. Among his many performances, he was frequently asked to guest-star in Holland. Bobbejaan soon became the right man to work for Dutch Welfare. In 1949 he went on tour for the Dutch troops in Indonesia
, performing 127 shows over the course of three months. He was decorated for courage and self-sacrifice by the Dutch government because he also went and performed for troops near the front lines. Five days after returning home he began a 220-day tour through Belgium. Playing nostalgic songs such as the tried and true “De lichtjes van de Schelde” (“The Lights of the Scheldt”) (1952), which is still an evergreen in Belgium today, Bobbejaan Schoepen quickly became one of the most popular artists in Flanders
.
, Caterina Valente
, (once) Gilbert Bécaud
, and Toots Thielemans
(who was a guitarist in his band in 1951). He is one of the first Europeans (not including Great Britain
) to have appeared at the Grand Ole Opry
in Nashville
, one of the most important centers of country music in the United States
. In 1953 he played there three times with Roy Acuff
(1903–1992). There's also knowledge of one performance with the country singer Red Foley
(1910–1968) in Springfield, Missouri. The American country singer, Tex Williams
, a Western swing
performer, would later release a cover of his “Fire and Blisters” in the US (1974).
In 1954 there followed a European tour of three months through Germany
, Iceland
, and Denmark
, which traditionally concluded with a few months of performances in the Folies Bergère in Brussels
. Syd Fox was Schoepen's manager in Iceland and Denmark. When Jacques Brel
took care of the opening act in the Ancienne Belgique
in Brussels in January 1955, Schoepen already had the status of an international vedette
in his own country. He was chosen as the best Flemish singer by the broadcasting company NIR (former VRT
), for which he received the “Grand Prize for Flemish Gramophone Recording.”
That autumn he toured with his show for a month through Germany and three months through Congo
. But in 1957 he again went to New York where he was asked to make a guest-appearance on the famous Ed Sullivan
(TV) Show. He recorded albums at RCA Records
with the producer
Steve Sholes. Sholes offered him a contract to promote his record by visiting radio stations in the US for three months, under the name “Bobby John”. This tour was intended to promote his recent releases, and in the meantime he was to regularly produce new songs. But Schoepen, who had already been on tour almost constantly for ten years and had contractual obligations in Europe, was increasingly looking for a place to settle down (which would become Bobbejaanland
). He decided to no longer pursue his success in the US.
That same month he became the last-minute Belgian representative at the second Eurovision Song Contest 1957
. He was rushed by his manager Jacques Kluger from the US to Germany
in order to take part in the event. This performance was memorable for having featured a whistling solo. Schoepen is also rumoured not to have known which song he was to perform at the Contest until he arrived, only rehearsing his entry a few days before performance. The song that was finally chosen was the (too) lightly poetic “Straatdeuntje” ('Street Tune'). Belgium ended up tying for eighth place with the Swiss entry.
A year later (1958), Kluger secured Schoepen a place in the “Royal Variety Show” in England, a yearly gala for the Queen Mother
(Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
). After the show his local manager, Jack Heath, let him hear the first golden Australian hit in the US, “A Pub with no Beer” by Slim Dusty
, and Schoepen decided to make a Dutch, German, and English cover of it. In 1960, “Ich steh an der Bar und ich habe kein Geld” stayed on the hit lists for thirty weeks in Germany
; it also became a number-one hit in Austria
. The Flemish version, “Café zonder bier” dates from 1959, and that year it stood for five months number one on the hit parade. It later became a golden oldie.
His German versions of “Een hutje op de Heide” (“Little cottage on the Heath”) and “Kili Watch” (originally by The Cousins) also did very well (among other reasons because of the German film, Devon träumen alle Mädchen, 1961). Schoepen toured frequently in Germany and Austria with Caterina Valente
(1955) and Dalida
(1961), among others. This earned him many new, interesting contracts. In 1961 he became one of the top musical acts at the Berlin Film Festival, where he brought down the house at the Deutschlandhalle
with his crazy whistling acts. During the 1960s, Camillo Felgen
, Heino
, and James Last
, among others, would catapult his evergreen “Ik heb eerbied voor jouw grijze haren” (“I Respect Your Grey Hair”) into a huge European hit which has sold more than three million copies. In 1961, Caterina Valente also released a version of “In de schaduw van de mijn” (“In the Shadow of the Goldmine”) in Italy under the title “Amice Miei”, and in 1965 Richard Anthony sang a French and Spanish version “Ik heb me dikwijls afgevraagd” (Je me suis souvent demandé) into the international charts. In 1965 it earned Schoepen, who wrote the music, an artistic distinction in Paris
.
In 1967, ZDF
-Germany decided to produce a musical television film around Bobbejaan Schoepen in which he plays a series of his hits. The film was partially recorded in the Barrandov Studios
in Prague
, in the and in Bobbejaanland
, which at the time was still without attractions.
During the sixties and seventies he was a regular visitor of the United States, where he took up with actor Roy Rogers
, Nudie Cohn
(the fashion designer of Elvis, Johnny Cash
et al.), and Tex Williams
, the founding father of western swing
. The foursome occasionally performed together in local clubs.
An American circus stunt team came to Brussels on the occasion of the world exhibition, Expo 58; it was a private endeavor led by Casey Tibbs
. But because of the excessively long distance to the actual Expo events and the persistent bad weather, they went bankrupt. They could no longer afford to care for their fifty horses and so the team had to head back to the US. Tibbs had no choice but to give away some of the equipment and among other things he sold Zorro’s horse—named Midnight, from the Zorro
television series—to Bobbejaan Schoepen. He used the horse for many years for stunts in his shows and as an attraction during his cavalcades, but the horse stepped on an exposed electricity cable and died.
In 1959, Schoepen bought a new circus tent. It had room for 900 people and could be expanded to accommodate a capacity of 1,200. These tours came to an end as soon as Bobbejaanland opened its doors in 1961. The idea for concert tours with a circus tent was unique for its time.
. In 1962 he played the leading role in the absurd comedy, At the Drop of a Head (alias ‘’De Ordannans’’), together with the top of the Flemish film scène e.g. Ann Peterson, Yvonne Lex, Denise Deweerdt, Nand Buyl, and Tony Bell. The Dutch and English versions were recorded on the set at the same time. Schoepen was not pleased with this particular adventure into the world of film: “The takes were chaotic and they fired two different directors. Jef Bruyninckx (alias, De Witte) had to solve everything.” In 1999, the Belgian cult-rock band, Dead Man Ray
, toured through Belgium and the Netherlands with the film. For Daan Stuyven (Daan) and Rudy Trouvé
(ex-dEUS
), it is also an ode to the (sometimes misunderstood) artistic versatility that characterized Schoepen the artist: ‘’A true professional who was able to turn his jazzy country-guitar playing, his deep, angelic voice and his wacky sense of humor into a trademark and later into an amusement park.’’
, called the Abroek. There he built a theatre with nearly 1000 seats and created a 2.2 kilometer beach. This was to become Bobbejaanland
, the name of which was coined by his manager, Jacques Kluger. On 31 December 1961, Bobbejaanland was officially opened by Bobbejaan Schoepen and his wife Josée, with whom he developed the park into his life’s work. During the high season, Schoepen himself performed from two to five concerts per day. Additionally, artists primarily from the Belgian, Dutch, and German cabaret-world performed there as well, albeit not during Schoepen’s own program.
, which he ran together with his family, has developed into one of the top amusement parks in the Benelux
region.
In the mid-80’s the shows became more streamlined and oriented toward a more international audience. In the meantime, the amusement park came to dominate the cabaret, and the entrepreneur the artist. He did continue singing, albeit with more streamlined shows which inevitably fell prey to the routine of the amusement park. The artist became a rarity. At a certain point my performances no longer had anything artistic about them. I received a phone call from my wife five minutes before I had to go on stage: ‘Two busses of Germans, one bus of Danes and three busses of Spaniards’. And then I adapted my show to suit them. There was no room for sentiment in Bobbejaanland. It was work, work, and more work in order to keep the business profitable. Sixteen hours a day, seven days a week. We employed four-hundred people who had to be paid every month.
Bobbejaan Schoepen’s life was not without its difficulties: he was thrown into prison twice during wartime, he lost his virtuoso whistling ability due to a surgical intervention, and in 1986 he underwent a serious heart operation. In 1999 he was diagnosed with intestinal cancer, which gave rise to the idea to sell Bobbejaanland, his life’s work. But he continued and in the winter of 2003 a major investment of nearly 12 million euros was made for a couple of unique rides ("Typhoon" and "Sledge Hammer"). That year, the Flemish consumer magazine Test-Aankoop conducted a comparative survey of 13 European amusement parks. Bobbejaanland emerged as the most highly esteemed park in Belgium on just about every level, and on the European stage it shared second place together with Disneyland and the Parc Astérix. (Test-Aankoop magazine 477, June 2004).
But in April 2004, after a preparatory period of more than three years, the decision was finally taken to sell the park. At that time Bobbejaanland employed 400 people and was taken over by Parques Reunidos
, a Spanish-American amusement park group. All speculation aside, it remained uncertain until the very last minute whether the founder would put his signature on the deal. What was ultimately decisive was the uncertainty over the sense of continuity in the future of the world of amusement parks. The family Schoepen chose the more certain path, a choice that seemed the most evident to the founder. After the sale, when the news program Terzake on the Flemish Broadcast VRT
asked him if he had chosen to take the big money, Schoepen answered, staring ahead blankly, “What am I going to do with all that money; I can only eat twice a day.”
Schoepen is considered as the artistic (and business oriented) attraction of the park, his wife Josée (the oldest of eighteen children) as a leading figure and commercial backbone, and her sister Louise (Wies) as the solid foundation with respect to accounting and finances. The key to the success of this family business is found in the loyalty within this triumvirate, as well as their work ethic, which was strengthened from the 90’s on by three of their five children. With the sale of the park, the last family business in the amusement park sector in Belgium disappeared. Schoepen and his wife lived on the domain together until his death in May 2010.
, and recently by Will Tura
and DAAN. In November 2006 at the Radio2 "Hall of Fame", the song was officially eternalized by Bobbejaan admirer Daan Stuyven. That same month, under the impulse of his son Tom Schoepen, Bobbejaan Records was brought back to life. The record company was established in 1966 but died a silent death due to the increasing success of Bobbejaanland. The label is now focused on various artistic and commercial activities and releases centered on Bobbejaan Schoepen.
On 13 February 2007, with a great deal of media attention, Schoepen received a Lifetime Achievement Award in the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels for his successful career as a singer-musician, and for his pioneering work in Belgian music history.
After Bobbejaanland was sold, Schoepen once again began to focus on his music career, which resulted in the new album release Bobbejaan (Bobbejaan Records/PIAS) in May 2008, his first album in 35 years. The album was mixed at South Beach Studios in Miami.
The idea for this project originated with music producer Firmin Michiels and the Dead Man Ray
-tour in 1999, but the idea was shelved when Schoepen was diagnosed with cancer. In 2005, the idea was revived by Michiels (A&R) and executive producer Tom Schoepen, who would concentrate fully on the production of Bob’s voice recordings. Michiels was aware that Bobbejaan Schoepen could not just pick up where he left off and carry his show for a large audience: his top years were too far gone and the amusement park had inflicted too much collateral damage
on the singer. Slowly, however, his credibility returned. The album was recorded with five Belgian top musicians in Bobbejaan’s living room, who would have to deal with various health issues throughout the recording sessions. The release in May 2008 immediately received broad attention from the TV-journals and other media.
In December 2009, an official compilation with 76 songs spanning 60 years of musical career was released: "The World of Bobbejaan - Songbook" (Bobbejaan Records).
Schoepen died on 17 May 2010, the day after his 85th birthday, from cardiac arrest.
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
of Modest Schoepen (16 May 1925 – 17 May 2010) was a Flemish
Flemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
pioneer in Belgian pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
, and European country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
. Schoepen could have been characterized as a "total performer" and entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
: he was a singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, and professional whistler
Whistling
Human whistling is the production of sound by means of carefully controlling a stream of air flowing through a small hole. Whistling can be achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips and then blowing or sucking air through the hole...
, as well as the founder and former director of the amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
, Bobbejaanland
Bobbejaanland
Bobbejaanland is a renowned theme park in Lichtaart, Belgium. It was founded by Bobbejaan Schoepen, a Flemish singer, guitarist, and entertainer who enjoyed international popularity in the fifties and early sixties. After 15 years he got weary of touring. In 1960 he decided to build his own music...
. His musical career flourished from 1948 until the first half of the 1970s. He sold more than five million copies from his repertoire of 482 songs, which extended from Twang
Alternative country
Alternative country is a loosely defined sub-genre of country music, which includes acts that differ significantly in style from mainstream or pop country music...
, cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
, instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
film music, chanson
Chanson
A chanson is in general any lyric-driven French song, usually polyphonic and secular. A singer specialising in chansons is known as a "chanteur" or "chanteuse" ; a collection of chansons, especially from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, is also known as a chansonnier.-Chanson de geste:The...
s, country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, to folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and vocal music
Vocal music
Vocal music is a genre of music performed by one or more singers, with or without instrumental accompaniment, in which singing provides the main focus of the piece. Music which employs singing but does not feature it prominently is generally considered instrumental music Vocal music is a genre of...
. Born in Boom, Antwerp, Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, he worked his way up from a working-class environment to become one of the 200 richest people in Belgium.
Schoepen married Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
former opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
singer and photo model Josephina (Josée) Jongen on 18 May 1961. They have five children: Robert (“Bob Jr.”, 1962), Myriam (1963), Jacky (1964), Peggy (1968), and Tom (1970). His son Tom became his manager in Belgium.
Early musical period
Modest Schoepen grew up in a smithy in Boom, Antwerp. His career started in the late thirties when he and his sister Liesje performed vaudeville shows in the surrounding villages, going around with the hat collecting money afterwards. He had his first audition in 1944 for the radio in BrusselsBrussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. In 1943 he followed classical guitar instruction with guitarist Frans De Groodt (1892–1990). That same year he had a memorable debut performance in the Ancienne Belgique
Ancienne Belgique
The Ancienne Belgique is a concert hall for contemporary music in Brussels, Belgium. Located in the historic heart of Brussels, it is one the leading concert venues in Belgium, hosting a wide variety of international and local acts.-The venue:...
of Antwerp. In front of a full house he sang the South-African song, “Mama, ek wil ‘n man hé". Nee mamma, née, ‘n Duitseman, die wil ek nie. Want Schweinefleisch dit lus ek nie” (“Mommy, I want a husband. No mommy no, I don’t want a German ‘cause I don’t like pig meat.”) The song was perceived as being anti-German, provoking a few Nazis who were present at the show to take him away. Ironically, the South African song is actually making reference to a Dutch Man (which, traditionally is another way of referencing an 'Afrikaans' man) and was not a reference to Nazis at all. The Ancienne Belgique was closed for three weeks. Shortly thereafter he was forced to go work in Germany. As an alternative he chose to sing for the Flemish workers doing compulsory labor. For this he was locked up for three months in the Dossin barracks in Mechelen
Mechelen
Mechelen Footnote: Mechelen became known in English as 'Mechlin' from which the adjective 'Mechlinian' is derived...
from October 1944, without a hearing or a trial.
In 1945 he formed a duet with Kees Brug, a young man from his own village, by the name of “Two Boys and Two Guitars”. They performed impersonations, poetry, South-African songs, and country music from Calais to Amsterdam, all with plenty of room for improvisation and adventure. The name “Bobbejaan” comes from the South-African song, “Bobbejaan klim die berg” (“Baboon Climbs the Mountain”). Schoepen took it as his artist name in 1945 or 1946.
In 1947 he came into contact with Jacques Kluger. Kluger asked Schoepen to entertain the American and Canadian troops during the Nuremberg Trials
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
, and in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
and Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. Kluger was pleased to receive an unexpected, flattering letter from Major Mearker, and contracted Schoepen to go on tour in Germany for several months. In Berlin, which was still partly in ruins, his floor shows were also attended by the American general and military governor Lucius D. Clay
Lucius D. Clay
General Lucius Dubignon Clay was an American officer and military governor of the United States Army known for his administration of Germany immediately after World War II. Clay was deputy to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1945; deputy military governor, Germany 1946; commander in chief, U.S....
, who asked him for two additional performances. These tours would further stimulate his country music tendencies.
In between these shows, Schoepen also gave occasional performances in his own country. While he initially did not wish to sing in Dutch, Kluger convinced him to record ‘a Flemish record’. Schoepen's first recordings followed, and in 1948 “De Jodelende Fluiter” (“The Yodeling Whistler”) became Schoepen’s first hit. His breakthrough in the Netherlands also happened that year. Among his many performances, he was frequently asked to guest-star in Holland. Bobbejaan soon became the right man to work for Dutch Welfare. In 1949 he went on tour for the Dutch troops in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, performing 127 shows over the course of three months. He was decorated for courage and self-sacrifice by the Dutch government because he also went and performed for troops near the front lines. Five days after returning home he began a 220-day tour through Belgium. Playing nostalgic songs such as the tried and true “De lichtjes van de Schelde” (“The Lights of the Scheldt”) (1952), which is still an evergreen in Belgium today, Bobbejaan Schoepen quickly became one of the most popular artists in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
.
International
Schoepen toured in at least twenty different countries, together with artists such as Josephine BakerJosephine Baker
Josephine Baker was an American dancer, singer, and actress who found fame in her adopted homeland of France. She was given such nicknames as the "Bronze Venus", the "Black Pearl", and the "Créole Goddess"....
, Caterina Valente
Caterina Valente
Caterina Valente is a singer, dancer, and actress. She was born into an Italian artist family; her father Giuseppe was a well-known accordion player, her mother, Maria Valente, a musical clown...
, (once) Gilbert Bécaud
Gilbert Bécaud
Gilbert Bécaud was a French singer, composer and actor, known as "Monsieur 100,000 Volts" for his energetic performances. His best-known hits are "Nathalie" and "Et Maintenant", a 1961 release that became an English language hit as "What Now My Love"...
, and Toots Thielemans
Toots Thielemans
Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans , known as Toots Thielemans, is a Belgian jazz musician well known for his guitar and harmonica playing as well as his whistling. Thielemans is credited as one of the greatest harmonica players of the 20th century...
(who was a guitarist in his band in 1951). He is one of the first Europeans (not including Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
) to have appeared at the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
in Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, one of the most important centers of country music in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In 1953 he played there three times with Roy Acuff
Roy Acuff
Roy Claxton Acuff was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the King of Country Music, Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown" format to the star singer-based format that helped make it internationally successful.Acuff...
(1903–1992). There's also knowledge of one performance with the country singer Red Foley
Red Foley
Clyde Julian Foley , better known as Red Foley, was an American singer, musician, and radio and TV personality who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II....
(1910–1968) in Springfield, Missouri. The American country singer, Tex Williams
Tex Williams
Sollie Paul Williams , known professionally as Tex Williams, was an American Western swing musician from Ramsey, Illinois....
, a Western swing
Western swing
Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands...
performer, would later release a cover of his “Fire and Blisters” in the US (1974).
In 1954 there followed a European tour of three months through Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, and Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, which traditionally concluded with a few months of performances in the Folies Bergère in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. Syd Fox was Schoepen's manager in Iceland and Denmark. When Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel was a Belgian singer-songwriter who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following in France initially, and later throughout the world. He was widely considered a master of the modern chanson...
took care of the opening act in the Ancienne Belgique
Ancienne Belgique
The Ancienne Belgique is a concert hall for contemporary music in Brussels, Belgium. Located in the historic heart of Brussels, it is one the leading concert venues in Belgium, hosting a wide variety of international and local acts.-The venue:...
in Brussels in January 1955, Schoepen already had the status of an international vedette
Vedette
The French military term vedette , also spelled vidette, migrated into English and other languages to refer to a mounted sentry or outpost, who has the function of bringing information, giving signals or warnings of danger, etc., to a main body of troops...
in his own country. He was chosen as the best Flemish singer by the broadcasting company NIR (former VRT
Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep
The Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie , or VRT, is a publicly-funded broadcaster of radio and television in Flanders ....
), for which he received the “Grand Prize for Flemish Gramophone Recording.”
That autumn he toured with his show for a month through Germany and three months through Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
. But in 1957 he again went to New York where he was asked to make a guest-appearance on the famous Ed Sullivan
Ed Sullivan
Edward Vincent "Ed" Sullivan was an American entertainment writer and television host, best known as the presenter of the TV variety show The Ed Sullivan Show. The show was broadcast from 1948 to 1971 , which made it one of the longest-running variety shows in U.S...
(TV) Show. He recorded albums at RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
with the producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Steve Sholes. Sholes offered him a contract to promote his record by visiting radio stations in the US for three months, under the name “Bobby John”. This tour was intended to promote his recent releases, and in the meantime he was to regularly produce new songs. But Schoepen, who had already been on tour almost constantly for ten years and had contractual obligations in Europe, was increasingly looking for a place to settle down (which would become Bobbejaanland
Bobbejaanland
Bobbejaanland is a renowned theme park in Lichtaart, Belgium. It was founded by Bobbejaan Schoepen, a Flemish singer, guitarist, and entertainer who enjoyed international popularity in the fifties and early sixties. After 15 years he got weary of touring. In 1960 he decided to build his own music...
). He decided to no longer pursue his success in the US.
That same month he became the last-minute Belgian representative at the second Eurovision Song Contest 1957
Eurovision Song Contest 1957
The Eurovision Song Contest 1957 was the 2nd Eurovision Song Contest. Like the first contest, this one was still mainly a radio programme, but there was a noticeable increase in the number of people with televisions....
. He was rushed by his manager Jacques Kluger from the US to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in order to take part in the event. This performance was memorable for having featured a whistling solo. Schoepen is also rumoured not to have known which song he was to perform at the Contest until he arrived, only rehearsing his entry a few days before performance. The song that was finally chosen was the (too) lightly poetic “Straatdeuntje” ('Street Tune'). Belgium ended up tying for eighth place with the Swiss entry.
A year later (1958), Kluger secured Schoepen a place in the “Royal Variety Show” in England, a yearly gala for the Queen Mother
Queen mother
Queen Mother is a title or position reserved for a widowed queen consort whose son or daughter from that marriage is the reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since at least 1577...
(Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
). After the show his local manager, Jack Heath, let him hear the first golden Australian hit in the US, “A Pub with no Beer” by Slim Dusty
Slim Dusty
David Gordon "Slim Dusty " Kirkpatrick AO, MBE was an Australian country music singer-songwriter and producer, with a career spanning nearly eight decades. He was known to record songs in the legacy of Australian poets Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson that represented the Australian Bush...
, and Schoepen decided to make a Dutch, German, and English cover of it. In 1960, “Ich steh an der Bar und ich habe kein Geld” stayed on the hit lists for thirty weeks in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
; it also became a number-one hit in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. The Flemish version, “Café zonder bier” dates from 1959, and that year it stood for five months number one on the hit parade. It later became a golden oldie.
His German versions of “Een hutje op de Heide” (“Little cottage on the Heath”) and “Kili Watch” (originally by The Cousins) also did very well (among other reasons because of the German film, Devon träumen alle Mädchen, 1961). Schoepen toured frequently in Germany and Austria with Caterina Valente
Caterina Valente
Caterina Valente is a singer, dancer, and actress. She was born into an Italian artist family; her father Giuseppe was a well-known accordion player, her mother, Maria Valente, a musical clown...
(1955) and Dalida
Dalida
Dalida , born with Italian name of Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti, was a world-famous singer and actress born in Egypt with Italian origins but naturalised French with the name Yolanda Gigliotti. She spent her early years in Egypt amongst the Italian Egyptian community, but she lived most of her adult...
(1961), among others. This earned him many new, interesting contracts. In 1961 he became one of the top musical acts at the Berlin Film Festival, where he brought down the house at the Deutschlandhalle
Deutschlandhalle
Deutschlandhalle is an arena in the Westend neighbourhood of Berlin, Germany. It was inaugurated on 29 November 1935 by Adolf Hitler. The building has been granted landmark status in 1995....
with his crazy whistling acts. During the 1960s, Camillo Felgen
Camillo Felgen
Camillo Jean Nicolas Felgen was a Luxembourgian singer, lyricist, DJ, and television presenter.- Biography :...
, Heino
Heino
Heino is a German singer of popular music and traditional Volksmusik....
, and James Last
James Last
James Last is a German composer and big band leader. His "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and the United Kingdom. His composition, "Happy Heart", became an international success in interpretations by Andy Williams and Petula Clark...
, among others, would catapult his evergreen “Ik heb eerbied voor jouw grijze haren” (“I Respect Your Grey Hair”) into a huge European hit which has sold more than three million copies. In 1961, Caterina Valente also released a version of “In de schaduw van de mijn” (“In the Shadow of the Goldmine”) in Italy under the title “Amice Miei”, and in 1965 Richard Anthony sang a French and Spanish version “Ik heb me dikwijls afgevraagd” (Je me suis souvent demandé) into the international charts. In 1965 it earned Schoepen, who wrote the music, an artistic distinction in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
In 1967, ZDF
ZDF
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
-Germany decided to produce a musical television film around Bobbejaan Schoepen in which he plays a series of his hits. The film was partially recorded in the Barrandov Studios
Barrandov Studios
Barrandov Studios is a famous set of film studios in Prague, Czech Republic. It is the largest film studio in the country and one of the largest in Europe.Several of the movies filmed there won Academy Awards...
in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, in the and in Bobbejaanland
Bobbejaanland
Bobbejaanland is a renowned theme park in Lichtaart, Belgium. It was founded by Bobbejaan Schoepen, a Flemish singer, guitarist, and entertainer who enjoyed international popularity in the fifties and early sixties. After 15 years he got weary of touring. In 1960 he decided to build his own music...
, which at the time was still without attractions.
During the sixties and seventies he was a regular visitor of the United States, where he took up with actor Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye , was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain...
, Nudie Cohn
Nudie Cohn
Nudie Cohn was a Russian-born American tailor who designed decorative rhinestone-covered suits, known popularly as "Nudie Suits", and other elaborate outfits for some of the most famous celebrities of his era. He also became famous for his outrageous customized automobiles.-Early life:Cohn was...
(the fashion designer of Elvis, Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
et al.), and Tex Williams
Tex Williams
Sollie Paul Williams , known professionally as Tex Williams, was an American Western swing musician from Ramsey, Illinois....
, the founding father of western swing
Western swing
Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands...
. The foursome occasionally performed together in local clubs.
Tours with circus tent: 1958–1961
In 1958, Schoepen purchased a big circus tent to be able to tour more efficiently in his own country. Doing so freed him from having to deal with music venue owners who were asking for ever-increasing rental prices and did not always have appropriate space for his program. He took over the two-master circus tent from the family Tondeur, who were finding it difficult to keep its performances profitable. Schoepen was handed the organizational reins and the circus again began to flourish. The day before a show he would promote the show himself at the designated location, sometimes in his own bizarre manner.An American circus stunt team came to Brussels on the occasion of the world exhibition, Expo 58; it was a private endeavor led by Casey Tibbs
Casey Tibbs
Casey Duane Tibbs was an American cowboy, rodeo performer, and actor.He was born northwest of Fort Pierre, South Dakota. Tibbs held the "World All-Around Rodeo Champion" title twice, in 1951 and 1955. He also won in 1949, 1951–1954, and 1959, the world saddle bronc riding championship and...
. But because of the excessively long distance to the actual Expo events and the persistent bad weather, they went bankrupt. They could no longer afford to care for their fifty horses and so the team had to head back to the US. Tibbs had no choice but to give away some of the equipment and among other things he sold Zorro’s horse—named Midnight, from the Zorro
Zorro
Zorro is a fictional character created in 1919 by New York-based pulp writer Johnston McCulley. The character has been featured in numerous books, films, television series, and other media....
television series—to Bobbejaan Schoepen. He used the horse for many years for stunts in his shows and as an attraction during his cavalcades, but the horse stepped on an exposed electricity cable and died.
In 1959, Schoepen bought a new circus tent. It had room for 900 people and could be expanded to accommodate a capacity of 1,200. These tours came to an end as soon as Bobbejaanland opened its doors in 1961. The idea for concert tours with a circus tent was unique for its time.
Film
Between 1950 and 1967 he acted (in total) in five (musical) film productions: two Belgian, two German, and one German-CzechCzechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
. In 1962 he played the leading role in the absurd comedy, At the Drop of a Head (alias ‘’De Ordannans’’), together with the top of the Flemish film scène e.g. Ann Peterson, Yvonne Lex, Denise Deweerdt, Nand Buyl, and Tony Bell. The Dutch and English versions were recorded on the set at the same time. Schoepen was not pleased with this particular adventure into the world of film: “The takes were chaotic and they fired two different directors. Jef Bruyninckx (alias, De Witte) had to solve everything.” In 1999, the Belgian cult-rock band, Dead Man Ray
Dead Man Ray
Dead Man Ray is a Belgian cult rock band, originating from Berchem near Antwerp. Among its members are Daan Stuyven, Rudy Trouvé , Elko Blijweerdt, Wouter Van Belle and Herman Houbrechts, who was later replaced by drummer Karel De Backer. Their debut Berchem was released in 1998 including the...
, toured through Belgium and the Netherlands with the film. For Daan Stuyven (Daan) and Rudy Trouvé
Rudy Trouvé
Rudy Trouvé is a Belgian musician from Antwerp.In the early nineties he founded the Heavenhotel record label and released dozens of records since...
(ex-dEUS
DEUS
Deus is a rock band based in Antwerp, Belgium, whose only continuous members up to the present day are Tom Barman and Klaas Janzoons...
), it is also an ode to the (sometimes misunderstood) artistic versatility that characterized Schoepen the artist: ‘’A true professional who was able to turn his jazzy country-guitar playing, his deep, angelic voice and his wacky sense of humor into a trademark and later into an amusement park.’’
Bobbejaanland (cabaret period)
It was never Schoepen’s intention to build an amusement park; the current park arose from his musical career. After nearly fifteen years of constant touring he began thinking about a place to settle down. In 1959 he bought a 30 hectare, marshy domain in Lichtaart-KasterleeKasterlee
Kasterlee is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of Kasterlee proper, Lichtaart and Tielen. On January 1, 2006 Kasterlee had a total population of 17,908. The total area is 71.56 km² which gives a population density of 250 inhabitants per...
, called the Abroek. There he built a theatre with nearly 1000 seats and created a 2.2 kilometer beach. This was to become Bobbejaanland
Bobbejaanland
Bobbejaanland is a renowned theme park in Lichtaart, Belgium. It was founded by Bobbejaan Schoepen, a Flemish singer, guitarist, and entertainer who enjoyed international popularity in the fifties and early sixties. After 15 years he got weary of touring. In 1960 he decided to build his own music...
, the name of which was coined by his manager, Jacques Kluger. On 31 December 1961, Bobbejaanland was officially opened by Bobbejaan Schoepen and his wife Josée, with whom he developed the park into his life’s work. During the high season, Schoepen himself performed from two to five concerts per day. Additionally, artists primarily from the Belgian, Dutch, and German cabaret-world performed there as well, albeit not during Schoepen’s own program.
Entrepreneurship
Bobbejaanland evolved from 1975 onwards into a legitimate amusement park. Bobbejaan focused his attention solely on the business part of the park, slowly pushing Schoepen’s musical career into the background. The artist became rather a rarity, but in the 43 years of its existence, BobbejaanlandBobbejaanland
Bobbejaanland is a renowned theme park in Lichtaart, Belgium. It was founded by Bobbejaan Schoepen, a Flemish singer, guitarist, and entertainer who enjoyed international popularity in the fifties and early sixties. After 15 years he got weary of touring. In 1960 he decided to build his own music...
, which he ran together with his family, has developed into one of the top amusement parks in the Benelux
Benelux
The Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe comprising three neighbouring countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. These countries are located in northwestern Europe between France and Germany...
region.
In the mid-80’s the shows became more streamlined and oriented toward a more international audience. In the meantime, the amusement park came to dominate the cabaret, and the entrepreneur the artist. He did continue singing, albeit with more streamlined shows which inevitably fell prey to the routine of the amusement park. The artist became a rarity. At a certain point my performances no longer had anything artistic about them. I received a phone call from my wife five minutes before I had to go on stage: ‘Two busses of Germans, one bus of Danes and three busses of Spaniards’. And then I adapted my show to suit them. There was no room for sentiment in Bobbejaanland. It was work, work, and more work in order to keep the business profitable. Sixteen hours a day, seven days a week. We employed four-hundred people who had to be paid every month.
Changes
But in April 2004, after a preparatory period of more than three years, the decision was finally taken to sell the park. At that time Bobbejaanland employed 400 people and was taken over by Parques Reunidos
Parques Reunidos
Parques Reunidos is an international entertainment operator based in Madrid, Spain. The group operates over 50 parks in almost a dozen countries. Parques Reunidos operates theme and amusement parks, zoos, water parks, family entertainment centers, and cable cars...
, a Spanish-American amusement park group. All speculation aside, it remained uncertain until the very last minute whether the founder would put his signature on the deal. What was ultimately decisive was the uncertainty over the sense of continuity in the future of the world of amusement parks. The family Schoepen chose the more certain path, a choice that seemed the most evident to the founder. After the sale, when the news program Terzake on the Flemish Broadcast VRT
Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep
The Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie , or VRT, is a publicly-funded broadcaster of radio and television in Flanders ....
asked him if he had chosen to take the big money, Schoepen answered, staring ahead blankly, “What am I going to do with all that money; I can only eat twice a day.”
Schoepen is considered as the artistic (and business oriented) attraction of the park, his wife Josée (the oldest of eighteen children) as a leading figure and commercial backbone, and her sister Louise (Wies) as the solid foundation with respect to accounting and finances. The key to the success of this family business is found in the loyalty within this triumvirate, as well as their work ethic, which was strengthened from the 90’s on by three of their five children. With the sale of the park, the last family business in the amusement park sector in Belgium disappeared. Schoepen and his wife lived on the domain together until his death in May 2010.
Comeback
Schoepen recovered from his illness and found himself once again engaged in his first love: music. In 2005 he gave four surprise performances at the literary festival Saint-Amour, where he again reminded people of his golden oldie, “De lichtjes van de Schelde”. The song dates from 1952 and since then has been covered innumerable times by popular Flemish and Dutch artists such as Louis Neefs, Hans De Booij, Wannes Van de VeldeWannes Van de Velde
Wannes Van de Velde , born in Antwerp as Willy Cecile Johannes Van de Velde was a Flemish singer, musician, poet and artist....
, and recently by Will Tura
Will Tura
Will Tura is the stage name of Arthur Achiel Albert, Knight Blanckaert, a Belgian artist famous in Flanders and the Netherlands. Tura is a singer, musician , composer and songwriter...
and DAAN. In November 2006 at the Radio2 "Hall of Fame", the song was officially eternalized by Bobbejaan admirer Daan Stuyven. That same month, under the impulse of his son Tom Schoepen, Bobbejaan Records was brought back to life. The record company was established in 1966 but died a silent death due to the increasing success of Bobbejaanland. The label is now focused on various artistic and commercial activities and releases centered on Bobbejaan Schoepen.
On 13 February 2007, with a great deal of media attention, Schoepen received a Lifetime Achievement Award in the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels for his successful career as a singer-musician, and for his pioneering work in Belgian music history.
After Bobbejaanland was sold, Schoepen once again began to focus on his music career, which resulted in the new album release Bobbejaan (Bobbejaan Records/PIAS) in May 2008, his first album in 35 years. The album was mixed at South Beach Studios in Miami.
The idea for this project originated with music producer Firmin Michiels and the Dead Man Ray
Dead Man Ray
Dead Man Ray is a Belgian cult rock band, originating from Berchem near Antwerp. Among its members are Daan Stuyven, Rudy Trouvé , Elko Blijweerdt, Wouter Van Belle and Herman Houbrechts, who was later replaced by drummer Karel De Backer. Their debut Berchem was released in 1998 including the...
-tour in 1999, but the idea was shelved when Schoepen was diagnosed with cancer. In 2005, the idea was revived by Michiels (A&R) and executive producer Tom Schoepen, who would concentrate fully on the production of Bob’s voice recordings. Michiels was aware that Bobbejaan Schoepen could not just pick up where he left off and carry his show for a large audience: his top years were too far gone and the amusement park had inflicted too much collateral damage
Collateral damage
Collateral damage is damage to people or property that is unintended or incidental to the intended outcome. The phrase is prevalently used as an euphemism for civilian casualties of a military action.-Etymology:...
on the singer. Slowly, however, his credibility returned. The album was recorded with five Belgian top musicians in Bobbejaan’s living room, who would have to deal with various health issues throughout the recording sessions. The release in May 2008 immediately received broad attention from the TV-journals and other media.
Final years and death
In July 2008 he was inducted as the first European into the “Whistler’s Hall of Fame”, by the US International Whistlers Convention.In December 2009, an official compilation with 76 songs spanning 60 years of musical career was released: "The World of Bobbejaan - Songbook" (Bobbejaan Records).
Schoepen died on 17 May 2010, the day after his 85th birthday, from cardiac arrest.
Trivia
- In 1945, Schoepen chose Bobbejaan as his artist’s name (it means baboon in Afrikaans), after the song “Bobbejaan klim die berg!” (“Bobbejaan Climb That Mountain!”).
- In 1948, the legendary guitarist Django ReinhardtDjango ReinhardtDjango Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
accompanied the first musical productions of Schoepen. - In the early sixties Schoepen thought up the name Paribas, the former Bank of Paris and the Netherlands.
- He was asked to meet The Rolling StonesThe Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
at the airport in Zaventem for their first tour of Belgium, but he refused because he had received word of their ‘unbearable pubescent behavior’. - He had his own comic strip: “De Bobbejaanstory” (“The Bobbejaan Story”), by Jef Broeckx, Jacques Bakker, and Ronnie Van Riet. Published by Uitgeverij Het Volk, Ghent (1977).
- He also appeared in the comic book “Jommeke in Bobbejaanland”, from the series Jommeke by Jef Nys (1978).
- He also appeared in the comic strip “UrbanusUrbanusUrbain Servranckx , also known as Urbain and Urbanus van Anus, is a Belgian stand-up comedian, actor, singer and comic book writer.-Career:...
: de pretparkprutsers” (“Urbanus: The Amusement Park Bunglers”), Urbanus and Linthout, published by Uitgeverij Loempia. - In 1958, Schoepen bought ZorroZorroZorro is a fictional character created in 1919 by New York-based pulp writer Johnston McCulley. The character has been featured in numerous books, films, television series, and other media....
’s horse from the old television series from revolver-acrobat Casey Tibbs, but the horse stepped on an exposed electricity cable and died. - “A Pub with No Beer” (“Café zonder bier”) refers to a bar that actually existed. There is still controversy in Australia about which pub it actually referred to.
- In 2007, rock artist Daan sang a distinctive version of “Lichtjes van de Schelde” in the final round of the VRTVlaamse Radio- en TelevisieomroepThe Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie , or VRT, is a publicly-funded broadcaster of radio and television in Flanders ....
-program “Zo is er maar één” (“One of a kind”), which was in search of the most beautiful Dutch-language songs. - In 2005, Schoepen was also one of the contestants for the title of The Greatest Belgian, but did not make the final list of nominees and ended up 307th among those who fell outside the nominees.
Awards and nominations Bobbejaan Schoepen
- 1949: Decorated “For courage and self-sacrifice” for his musical support of Dutch soldiers on the front lines in IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, presented by General Baay, commander of Dutch troops in East JavaEast JavaEast Java is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the eastern part of the island of Java and includes neighboring Madura and islands to its east and to its north East Java is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the eastern part of the island of Java and includes neighboring Madura and...
, 1949. - 1955: Bobbejaan Schoepen, chosen as best Flemish singer, won the “Grand Prize for Flemish Gramophone Recording” ( (BRTVlaamse Radio- en TelevisieomroepThe Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie , or VRT, is a publicly-funded broadcaster of radio and television in Flanders ....
) in cooperation with Studio Gent.) (15 March 1955) - 1965: Education Artistique, diplôme de Croix d'Honneur de Chevalier. Presented by the Académie Nationale Artistique Littéraire et Scientifique in Paris (No 5177). (30 June 1965)
- 1978: Platinum record for ‘’30 years Flemish Hits’’, Telstar Holland, 1978.
- 1986: Schoepen becomes Companion of the Order of the Crown, presented by the Ministry of the Flemish Community. (9 April 1986)
- 1992: Bobbejaanland receives the “Brass Ring Award” (1st price for best advertising brochure) from the IAAPA in Dallas (US).
- 1993: Sabam Prize-medal - Belgian Artistical Promotion. (19 January 1993)
- 1995: SabamSABAMSABAM is the Belgian association of authors, composers and publishers. The acronym stands for "Société d’Auteurs Belge – Belgische Auteurs Maatschappij"....
Prize-medal - Belgian Artistical Promotion. (26 September 1995) - 1995: Knight of the Order of Leopold IIOrder of Leopold IIThe Order of Leopold II is an order of Belgium and is named in honor of King Léopold II. The decoration was established on 24 August 1900 by Leopold II as king of the Congo Free State and was in 1908, upon Congo being handed over to Belgium, incorporated into the Belgian awards system...
, presented by the Ministry of the Flemish Community. (26 September 1995) - 2000: Place of honour in the Radio 2 & Sabam Hall of Fame. (November 2000)
- 2000: "Ik heb eerbied voor jouw grijze haren" (nomination for the Radio2 Hall of Fame, 2000)
- 2005: “De lichtjes van de Schelde” (nomination for the Radio2 Hall of Fame, November 2005)
- 2006: "de lichtjes van de Schelde" (Radio 2 & Sabam Hall of Fame Award, November 2006)
- 2007: "Lifetime Achievement Award”, ZAMU 2006. (13 February 2007)
- 2008: "Inducted into the US Whistlers Hall of Fame" presented by the International Whistlers Convention in TokyoTokyo, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. (21 July 2008) - 2009: Officer in the Order of the CrownOrder of the Crown (Belgium)The Order of the Crown is an Order of Belgium which was created on 15 October 1897 by King Leopold II in his capacity as ruler of the Congo Free State. The order was first intended to recognize heroic deeds and distinguished service achieved from service in the Congo Free State - many of which acts...
, presented by the Ministry of the Flemish Community. (6 July 2009) - 2009: First honorary citizen of Boom, on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of this municipality. (2 October 2009)
- Overall: 25 Golden Records.
Five greatest hits (int.)
- Ich hab Ehrfurcht vor schneeweißen Haaren (1959 and 1960s)
- Je me suis souvent demandé (1965)
- Ich steh an der Bar und habe kein Geld (1959) (A Pub with no Beer)
- De lichtjes van de Schelde (1952, Belgium)
- Ein Hauschen auf der Heide (1960)/Kili watch (1961)
Artist names
- Belgium and The Netherlands: Bobbejaan Schoepen
- Germany and Austria: Bobby Jaan, Bobbejaan
- Denmark and Iceland: Bobby Jaan
- France: Bobby Jaan, Bobby Jann, Bobbi-Jean
- US: Bobby John
Filmography
- Ah! t'Is zo fijn in België te leven (1950, Belgium)
- Televisite (TV series 1955, Belgium)
- The Eurovision Song Contest (1957, Germany)
- At the Drop of a Head/De Ordonnans/Café zonder bier (1962, Belgium–England)
- O sole mio (1960, Germany)
- Davon träumen alle Mädchen (1961, Germany)
- Bobbejaanland (film production ZDFZDFZweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
— by Vladimir Sis, 1967, Studio Barrandov Prague) - Der Goldene Schuß— TV episode (as Bobbejaan) (Musical, 1969)
- "Uit met Bobbejaan" (BRT, 1969)
- "30 jaar Bobbejaan" (BRT, 1978)
- "Bobbejaan 70" (Vlaamse Radio- en TelevisieomroepVlaamse Radio- en TelevisieomroepThe Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie , or VRT, is a publicly-funded broadcaster of radio and television in Flanders ....
, 1995)
Further reading
- Bobbejaan Schoepen (Johan Roggen, Publisher Het Volk, 1980 - D/1980/2345/10).
- De Vlaamse kleinkunstbeweging na de Tweede Wereldoorlog - Een historisch overzicht (Peter Notte, Universiteit Gent 1992). 'The Flemish Variety Movement after World War II - An Historical Overview'. Peter Notte, Ghent UniversityGhent UniversityGhent University is a Dutch-speaking public university located in Ghent, Belgium. It is one of the larger Flemish universities, consisting of 32,000 students and 7,100 staff members. The current rector is Paul Van Cauwenberge.It was established in 1817 by King William I of the Netherlands...
, 1992) - Bobbejaan Schoepen — "Histories" documentary, 4 January 2001 (Canvas/Vlaamse Radio- en TelevisieomroepVlaamse Radio- en TelevisieomroepThe Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie , or VRT, is a publicly-funded broadcaster of radio and television in Flanders ....
) - Bobbejaan Schoepen — The Belgian Pop & Rock Archive (Dirk Houbrechts and the Flanders Music Center, 2001).
- "Brel Le flamand" — Histories documentary, 2003 (Canvas/Vlaamse Radio- en TelevisieomroepVlaamse Radio- en TelevisieomroepThe Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie , or VRT, is a publicly-funded broadcaster of radio and television in Flanders ....
).