Robert Long (singer)

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Robert Long

Background information
Birth name	Jan Gerrit Bob Arend Leverman
Also known as	Bob Revvel
Born	22 October 1943 Utrecht, The Netherlands
Died	13 December 2006 Antwerp, Belgium
Occupation(s)	Singer, presenter, actor author/columnist
Years active	1957 - 2006
Associated acts	The Yelping Jackals, Unit Gloria

Robert Long, (born 22 October 1943 in Utrecht as Jan Gerrit Bob Arend (Bob) Leverman, died 13 December 2006 in Antwerpen) was a Dutch singer and television presenter.

1 Biography
2 Discography
- 2.1 Albums
- 2.2 Singles
3 Theatre
4 TV
5 External links

[edit] Biography

Long with Simone Kleinsma

Under the stage name "Bob Revvel" he founded the band The Yelping Jackals in 1963. In 1967 he moved to another band, called Unit Gloria (at that time using the name Gloria). In 1971 he started to sing solo, under the name "Robert Long", a reference to his height. Only a year later he stepped out of Unit Gloria to concentrate on his solo career. He started singing in English, but not long after that he also started to sing self written songs in Dutch. His Dutch songs were critical of Dutch society and of American politics. From his first Dutch album in 1974, Vroeger of Later (Sooner or Later) more than half a million pieces were sold. The album spent 118 consecutive weeks among the best selling albums in the country. In this period the album reached the top of the chart three times. Also his second album Levenslang (Life long) scored good with more than 200,000 sellings. In 1977 he was awarded the first of a total of six Edison Music Awards. During the 80's he scored a top 10 hit in the Netherlands with his song "Iedereen doet 't" (Everybody does it). His next albums were also selling well.

In the late 80s Long appeared on television and started presenting a show called Mijn geheim (My secret). Despite this new career was getting quite some negative reactions the show itself was still successful. Not long after that he switched channels and started presenting Tien voor taal (An A for spelling).

In 1986 Long started writing columns for the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad. A selection of these columns was released in a book in 1990 using the title Vandaag geen nieuws (No news today). In this same period he was presenting the television show Fantastico. Together with Dimitri Frenkel Frank Long composed the Dutch version of the musical Chekhov. This musical became a big success in the Netherlands, but the German edition where Long also participated in became less popular.

Long with Gerard Cox in 1985

In 1998 a revealing book containing letters was released. Letters about life, death, love, sex, work and colleagues were made public by him and Cees van der Pluijm using the title Beste Robert, Waarde Cees.

Long as a TV presenter in 1989

On 8 September 2005 Long suffered a myocardial infarction and was getting angioplasty for it. Later that year, on 6 December 2005 Long married his 28 year younger Belgian boyfriend and manager Kristof Rutsaert. The marriage was done by fellow singer and actor Gerard Cox, a close friend of Long.

On 4 December 2006 it was announced he suffered terminal illness as he was taken in hospital with cancer. Robert Long died on 13 December 2006 at 11 pm in a hospital in Antwerpen at the age of 63.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

1974 Vroeger of later
1975-1976 Scherts, satire, songs & ander snoepgoed (play from a theatre show with Robert Long, Jenny Arean, Jerôme Reehuis and Dimitri Frenkel Frank)
1977 Levenslang
1980 Homo Sapiens
1984 Dag kleine jongen
1984 Liefste, mijn liefste
1986 'Achter de horizon
1988 Hartstocht
1988 Goud op zilver
1989 Liedjes uit de krullentijd
1990 Het onherroepelijke FANTASTICO album
1992 Voor mijn vrienden
1993 Het allerbeste van (subtitle: 50 jaar goed ter been en nog geen lintje)
1994 In die dagen
1994 Uit liefde en respect
1996 Nu
1997 'Uit liefde en respect voor Gershwin
1999 Lang genoeg jong
2000 Vanavond tussen 8 en 11 LIVE
2002 Brand!
2006 'n Duivels Genoegen