Such was the success of Van Oekel's Disco Hoek, that the VPRO devoted 80 minutes on New Years Eve of 1974 to a celebration of the first half of the 74-75 (and only) season of this 'Top of the Pops' spoof. The first five minutes are a retrospective of Sjef van Oekel's earlier appearances in "Barend Is Weer Bezig" and "Waar Heb Dat Nou Voor Nodig" before we move on to new material. Van Oekel and his loyal assistant Evert van der Pik are not in their usual fancy Discohoek set, but rather in a small (but obviously fake) living room, complete with ironing board and intrusive chandelier.
Although this is basically a clip show, Sjef and Evert still managed to procure some famous guest appearances. First up is Bonnie St. Claire, who also happened to be the first musical guest on the Discohoek. Then the eternally grateful Donna Summer arrives, only to be upstaged by regular supporting actor Cees Schouwenaar. After the archive footage performance of 'Hostage', Donna gets to perform her new single: The Lady of the Night.
Next up, Barend Servet, Gerrit Dekzijl and Reverend Bongers join the party. Barend performs his 'Hoe Kan Dat Nou' number, but Gerrit explains that he's gone back to burgling following the flop that was his last record. Bongers is naturally not allowed to recite his end of the year eulogy. Later on Fred Haché crashes the party following a lengthy 'flashback' to the Discohoek that was almost entirely set aboard a train. Haché makes his usual claim that if it weren't for him, both Barend and Sjef would never have become TV celebrities. Then he plugs his comedy album released under his real name (Harry Touw).
Sjef recounts his attempts at directing his own show with singer Cherry van Gelder-Smith (also live in the studio). When the unidentified cleaning lady arrives with a tray of traditional Oliebollen, Gerrit and Cees decide to 'make some room for them' and visit the toilet. But the Christmas decorations catch fire and Van der Pik has to act as fireman, ruining the cleaning lady's dress. Next up is a compilation of all the Van Oekel Trophy winners. For his efforts, Evert is finally allowed to perform his carnival hit 'Geen Bier Maar Karnemelk' together with the band Circus, who originated the original version 'Beer or Sangria'. And when I say perform I mean of course mime the song to a record.
Kees Schilperoord arrives unexpectedly to present Evert with a golden record based on the success of his single. Even more surprising, Ad Visser, presenter of the more traditional music show 'Top Pop' pops in to present Sjef the award for TV personality of the year. And all this just before the clock strikes 12. Surprisingly, there are none clips from the controversial Christmas episode that was broadcast just a week earlier.
8 out of 10
Although this is basically a clip show, Sjef and Evert still managed to procure some famous guest appearances. First up is Bonnie St. Claire, who also happened to be the first musical guest on the Discohoek. Then the eternally grateful Donna Summer arrives, only to be upstaged by regular supporting actor Cees Schouwenaar. After the archive footage performance of 'Hostage', Donna gets to perform her new single: The Lady of the Night.
Next up, Barend Servet, Gerrit Dekzijl and Reverend Bongers join the party. Barend performs his 'Hoe Kan Dat Nou' number, but Gerrit explains that he's gone back to burgling following the flop that was his last record. Bongers is naturally not allowed to recite his end of the year eulogy. Later on Fred Haché crashes the party following a lengthy 'flashback' to the Discohoek that was almost entirely set aboard a train. Haché makes his usual claim that if it weren't for him, both Barend and Sjef would never have become TV celebrities. Then he plugs his comedy album released under his real name (Harry Touw).
Sjef recounts his attempts at directing his own show with singer Cherry van Gelder-Smith (also live in the studio). When the unidentified cleaning lady arrives with a tray of traditional Oliebollen, Gerrit and Cees decide to 'make some room for them' and visit the toilet. But the Christmas decorations catch fire and Van der Pik has to act as fireman, ruining the cleaning lady's dress. Next up is a compilation of all the Van Oekel Trophy winners. For his efforts, Evert is finally allowed to perform his carnival hit 'Geen Bier Maar Karnemelk' together with the band Circus, who originated the original version 'Beer or Sangria'. And when I say perform I mean of course mime the song to a record.
Kees Schilperoord arrives unexpectedly to present Evert with a golden record based on the success of his single. Even more surprising, Ad Visser, presenter of the more traditional music show 'Top Pop' pops in to present Sjef the award for TV personality of the year. And all this just before the clock strikes 12. Surprisingly, there are none clips from the controversial Christmas episode that was broadcast just a week earlier.
8 out of 10