Rubberen Robbie is a Dutch band (or "comedy act"[1]) from Leiden, Netherlands, best known for a parodic medley of Dutch-language songs that was a number-one hit in the Netherlands in 1981. It is the continuation of a successful 1970s glam rock outfit, Catapult; its members also formed a successful production and songwriting team, Cat Music, responsible for a number of Dutch hit songs.
The band was formed by various ex-members of a rock combo called Catapult, which split up in the early 1980s.[2] Catapult had scored a number of hits in the late 1970s playing a form of glam rock; "Let your hair hang down" and "Teeny Bopper Band" were two of the band's hits. After their popularity faded, the band split up and its members formed a production company, Cat Music, specializing in producing various bands (including hard rock act Picture) and occasional one-hit wonders. They became quite adept at songwriting; Andre Hazes recorded three of their songs for his album Gewoon André, including the number-one hit "Een Beetje Verliefd".[3] The members did form a number of other bands, one of which, The Monotones, had a hit in Germany and the Netherlands with the song "Mono".[2] Rubberen Robbie was their vehicle for parody and carnival songs.[3]
One of the band's most popular songs, "De Nederlandse Sterre Die Strale Overal" ("Dutch Stars Shine Everywhere"), was a medley of verses adapted and butchered from Dutch hit songs; the very idea of such a compilation parodied a slew of hits by the Dutch novelty pop act Stars on 45;[1] it sold 60,000 copies in three weeks[4] and earned the band number one status on the Dutch charts. The band is hailed as one of the best acts from Leiden;[5] their song "3 Oktoberrr" is a perennial favorite at the Leids 3 October Festival[6] (the triple r in the song title is a reference to the Leiden dialect, with its peculiar pronunciation of that phoneme[7]). Almost thirty years later the song was still ranked 62 in the top 500 songs of Omroep West, the regional radio station.[8] Other well-known songs by the band include a parody of the Dutch classic levenslied "Zuiderzeeballade",[9] and the song "Marie" (about a guy complaining that his girlfriend left him, even though he didn't cheat on her more than once a week), which is cited as an example of what the Leiden dialect sounds like.[7]
The band remains popular as a live act.[10] Since the mid-2000s, singer Cees Bergman plays live concerts with a classic rock band, Van Beukenstein.[2] Maximum Overdrive is a cover band playing Rubberen Robbie songs.[11]
