Hakkûhbar

Super Gabber

Hakkûhbar was a Dutch parody act, which had notable chart success in Holland in late 1996 and early 1997.
During the height of the ‘gabber era’, in which musically related styles like happy hardcore,
rave and gabber house enjoyed large-scale mainstream success throughout the Benelux and Germany,
Dutch singer and writer Bob Fosko (former frontman of punk band De Raggende Manne) came up with the concept of Hakkûhbar.
He recorded the song ‘Gabbertje’ together with his son,
a one-time member of the then-extremely popular happy hardcore act Party Animals.
The song itself was a cover of the tune to the 1960s children’s TV-show ‘Swiebertje’ and the funny lyrics referred to the gabber lifestyle.
The single went to #1 in the Dutch charts by November 1996 and was backed by a hilarious music video.
Due to high rotation of the video, actor and comedian Ruben van der Meer (who played the character Gabbertje) became an instant celebrity.
As of 2008, Van der Meer is a celebrated comedian in his own right.
The massive and immediate popularity of Hakkûhbar was the cause for a few spin-offs to occure,
almost simultaneously. Gabber Piet, De Mosselman, Gabberwijffie and several other acts jumped on the bandwagon,
by releasing happy hardcore versions of well-known children’s songs and nursery rhymes.
Hakkûhbar’s ‘Gabbertje’ was followed by another three singles released by the band; ‘Super Gabber’
(#1 in The Netherlands and based on ‘Can Can’, from George Bizet’s ‘Carmen’),
‘Gabbersaus’ (own composition), and the double A-sides single ‘Feestbeest’/’Gabber Love’ (the latter being a R. Kelly cover).
Only one album appeared, ‘Vet Heftig!’, in 1997.
A televised film was made, which was available on VHS in 1997 and released on DVD in 2004.
The 1997 parodies caused the gabber scene to be taken less serious by the mainstream audience and popular artists in the genre rapidly vanished from the charts as a result.
Barely two years after the first single by Hakkûhbar, happy hardcore was being completely ignored by the biggest pop radio stations in Holland,
mostly in favour for popular cross-over club anthems and the then up-and-coming genre trance (System F, Tiësto, Gouryella).
Although Hakkûhbar never officially disbanned, there was no follow-up to the debut album, mostly due to the fact the gabber scene faded from the public eye shortly after Hakkûhbar’s claim to fame.
Founder Bob Fosko has since been involved in several musical projects and by November 2008,
twelve years after ‘Gabbertje’ went to #1, Ruben van der Meer was in the Dutch charts again –
now with fellow comedians of De Lama’s.