Straatdeuntje - Music

Bobbejaan Schoepen Pseudonym Of Modest Schoepen 16 May 1925 Boom Antwerp - 17 May 2010 Turnhout Was A Flemish Pioneer In Belgian Pop Music Vaudeville And In European Country Music. 1 Bobbejaan Can Be Characterized As A "total Performer" And Entrepreneur He Is Singer-Songwriter Guitarist Comedian A Former Actor And Professional Whistler As Well As The Founder And Former Director Of The Amusement Park Bobbejaanland. 2 His Musical Career Flourished From 1948 To The First Half Of The 1970s. He Sold More Than Five Million Copies From His Repertoire Of Nearly 600 Songs Which Extended From Twang Cabaret Instrumental Film Music Chansons Country To Folk And Vocal Music. 3 4 He Worked His Way Up From A Working-Class Environment To Become One Of The Two-Hundred Richest People In Belgium. 5 Bobbejaan Schoepen Married The 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 Would Become 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 Brussels. 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 ‘k Wil ‘n Man Hé. Neen Mamma Nee ‘n Duitseman Die Wil Ek Nie. Want Schweinefleisch Dat 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. 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” “Bobbejaan Climb That Mountain” . Schoepen Took It As His Artist’s Name In 1945.
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’. The First Recordings Followed And “De Jodelende Fluiter” “The Yodeling Whistler” Became Schoepen’s First Hit 1948 . 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. International Schoepen Toured In At Least Twenty Different Countries Together With Artists Such As Josephine Baker 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 US. 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 Founder Of Swing Country Would Later Release A Cover Of His “Fire And Blisters” In The US 1974 . 6 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.” 6 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 All The 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. 6 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. The Performance Is Memorable In Featuring 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. 6 7 A Year Later 1958 Kluger Secured Schoepen A Place In The “Royal Variety Show” In England A Yearly Gala For The Queen Mother Elizabeth Bowers-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 In The Hit Parade. 8 It Later Became A Golden Oldie.
His German Versions Of “Een Hutje Op De Heide” “Little Hut On The Heide” 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. 9 During The 1960’s 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. 10 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 Kempen Disambiguation Needed And In Bobbejaanland Which At The Time Was Still Without Attractions. 11 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 With Tex Williams The Founding Father Of Swing Country. The Foursome Occasionally Performed Together In Local Clubs. 6 12 Edit Tours With Circus Tent 1958-1961
1958 Is The Year That Bobbejaan 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 During A Cavalcade I Strolled Into A Café With My Horse And Bought My Big Four-Legged Friend A Bucket Of Beer.
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 Very Unique For Its Time. 2 Film Between 1950 And 1967 He Acted In Total In Five Musical Film Productions Two Belgian Two German And One German-Czech. 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.” 13 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.’’ 14 Bobbejaanland Cabaret Period It Was Never Bobbejaan Schoepen’s Intention To Build An Amusement Park The Current Park Arose From His Musical Career. 15 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-Kasterlee 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 In Schoepen’s Own Program. 2 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 Bobbejaanland 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. 3 Changes 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. However Refusing To Stop Means You Have To Continue 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 Flemisch 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.” 6 Bobbejaan 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. Bobbejaan Schoepen And His Wife Still Live On The Domain. 6 Come Back In The Meantime Schoepen Recovered From His Illness And Now Finds 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 Velde 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 Bobbejaan 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. 16 17 After Bobbejaanland Was Sold Bobbejaan Schoepen Once Again Began To Focus On His Music Career Which Resulted In A New Album Release In May 2008 His First Album In 35 Years PIAS Disambiguation Needed Remixed In The South Beach Studios In Miami. 18 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. 2 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. 19 In July 2008 He Was Inducted As The First European Into The “Whistler’s Hall Of Fame” By The US International Whistlers Convention. 20 21 He Died By Cardiac Arrest In 2010 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 Reinhardt Accompanied The First Musical Productions Of Bobbejaan Schoepen.
In The Early Sixties Bobbejaan Schoepen Thought Up The Name Paribas The Former Bank Of Paris And The Netherlands.
He Was Asked To Meet The Rolling Stones 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 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 “Urbanus De Pretparkprutsers” “Urbanus The Amusement Park Bunglers” Urbanus And Linthout Published By Uitgeverij Loempia.
In 1958 Bobbejaan Schoepen Bought Zorro’s Horse From The Old Television Series From Revolver-Acrobat Casey Tibbs But The Horse Stepped On An Exposed Electricity Cable And Passed Away.
“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 VRT-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 Decorated “For Courage And Self-Sacrifice” For His Musical Support Of Dutch Soldiers On The Front Lines In Indonesia Presented By General Baay Commander Of Dutch Troops In East Java 1949.
Bobbejaan Schoepen Chosen As Best Flemish Singer Won The “Grand Prize For Flemish Gramophone Recording” NIR BRT In Cooperation With Studio Gent March 15 1955 Education Artistique Diplôme De Croix D'Honneur De Chevalier. Presented By The Académie Nationale Artistique Littéraire Et Scientifique On June 30 1965 In Paris No 5177 .
Platinum Record For ‘’30 Years Flemish Hits’’ Telstar Holland 1978.
Bobbejaan Becomes Companion Of The Order Of The Crown 9 April 1986 Presented By The Ministry Of The Flemish Community.
Sabam Prize-Medal - Belgian Artistical Promotion 19 January 1993 And 26 September 1995.
Knight Of The Order Of Leopold II 26 September 1995 Presented By The Ministry Of The Flemish Community.
Place Of Honour In The Radio 2 & Sabam Hall Of Fame November 2000.
"Ik Heb Eerbied Voor Jouw Grijze Haren" Nomination For The Radio2 Hall Of Fame 2000 "Lichtjes Aan De Schelde" Radio 2 & Sabam Hall Of Fame Award November 2006 "Lifetime Achievement Award ZAMU 2007 13 Februari 2007 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 ZDF — 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 Televisieomroep 1995 read less