Bobbejaan Schoepen

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 nearly 600 songs, which extended from Twang, cabaret, instrumental film music, chansons, 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. 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.