Pianist Rob Hoeke started his first band in 1957 with his brother Paul (d) and Ed Heck (upright bass). In 1959, they became the Rob Hoeke Boogie Woogie Quartet, adding guitarist Wim Bitter. By the time they got a recording contract with Phonogram's Philips label, Ed Heck had been replaced by a bass guitarist, Kees Kuypers. In October 1963, they released their first record (an EP), followed in 1964 by an LP, "Boogie Hoogie". Early 1965, the band did a stint in Sweden. Upon their return, they recorded the single, "Down South", which would become Hoeke's signature tune. After a second trip to Sweden and sitting in on the piano with The Rolling Stones, Hoeke switched to R&B, renaming his band Rob Hoeke R&B Group and adding cousin Frans Hoeke (v, g). Late 1965, Wim Bitter was replaced by John Schuursma (later in Brainbox). The band had their first hit with "Margio" in mid-1966, after which they were joined by Willem Schoone (b, v, ex-Marks). Schoone sang lead on the next hit, "When People Talk". Shortly after that, Robs brother Paul Hoeke quit and was replaced by drummer Martin Rüdelsheim. This line-up recorded the successful album, "Save Our Souls". The band had two more hits in 1967 and by 1968's "Drinking On My Bed" (the last hit of the R&B Group), Schuursma had been replaced with Will de Meyer (g, ex-Alleycats). Not long afterwards, Frans Hoeke quit to pursue a solo career, which would turn out to be quite unsuccessful. For a while he was not replaced. As the single "Down South" from 1965 was still very popular, Rob was asked to do a new boogie-woogie album. So in mid-1968, two Rob Hoeke albums hit the shops: "Celsius 232.8" by The Rob Hoeke R&B Group (Hoeke, Schoone, Rüdelsheim & de Meyer) and the instrumental "Robby's Saloon" by the revived Rob Hoeke Boogie Woogie Quartet (Rob Hoeke, Paul Hoeke, Will de Meyer and Kees Kuypers). Then some more changes took place: shortly after the release of "Celsius" in late 1968, Jan Vennik (o, s, ex-Motions) came in as a fifth member. In the Spring of 1969, Jaap Jan Schermer became the new drummer. After the success of "Robby's Saloon", Hoeke recorded another boogie-woogie album, "Racing The Boogie", in early 1970 (and Phonogram included the 1965 track "Down South" on it to boost sales). This move didn't do Hoeke's reputation much good as there was confusion over what to expect from him: psychedelic bluesy rock or boogie-woogie. The situation would not be helped by "Down South" being re-released as a single and hitting the charts. It effectively meant the end of the Rob Hoeke R&B Group. In March 1970, Schoone left to be replaced by Guus Willlemse (ex-Truce, later in Solution), but the writing was on the wall, especially since Rob Hoeke didn't even play on the next single, "Next World War" (Vennik played the keyboards). The following single, "Everybody Tries", hit the lower regions of the charts, but after that the R&B Group and the Boogie Woogie Quartet would be interchangeable.
In 1971, Hoeke recorded a piano duo album with old friend Hein van der Gaag, assisted by Ben de Bruin (g), Paul Lagaay (d) and Will de Meijer (b). Pim van der Linden (ex-Het and Pocomania) then came in on bass with de Meyer reverting to guitar. The 1972 album, "Full Speed/Ten Years From Countdown", was recorded with Ben de Bruijn, Paul Lagaay and bassist Herman Deinum (ex-Cuby + Blizzards). Hoeke then started fulfilling his contracts with the returned Martin Rüdelsheim and Martin Schoon (b). In the meantime, he started rehearsing with Eelco Gelling and Harry Muskee of the disbanded Cuby + Blizzards, but the project didn't work out. Hoeke then decided to get back his cousin Frans and guitarist Ben de Bruijn, plus the C+B rhythm section - Herman Deinum (b) and Hans Lafaille (d). This line-up recorded the 1973 album (credited to "Rob Hoeke"), "Rockin' The Boogie". Early 1974, Hoeke's band comprised de Bruijn, the returned Pim van der Linden (b, replaced by Ed Swanenberg, ex-Unit Gloria), Will Baltus (d) and Brenny van Rosmalen (v, g). Then tragedy struck: while trying to fix his car, Hoeke injured his left hand (hit by a fan), losing most of his left pinky and ring finger. The days of playing piano seemed to be over.
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Rob Hoeke Oh Baby Pleaseby sixtiesbrowser8,973 views
@bluescees da van willem wist ik nie. leuk Big Mouth als blues zanger bij jullie,
trouwens Concentration mag ook wel geplaatst worden supernummer met 'n ( nog steeds) pakkende intro goed opgenomen overigens die producties van toen. en voor alle fans,, Rigmore.
budelke 1 year ago
De tekst is geschreven door Rob en mij (Cees Schone) in Haarlem aan de Jan Steenstraat en wordt gezongen door niemand minder dan Willem Duyn.
bluescees 1 year ago
nog steeds keimooi en ook de B kant vond en vind ik ook nog steeds super.
budelke 2 years ago
Wat een heerlijk nummer !!!
Fantastische mondharmonica-solo.
TheMartens31 2 years ago