Bob Fosko didn’t like a weak bite

Bob Fosko did not allow himself to be boxed. The singer of De Raggende Manne fought death by fire and sword, even when the cancer already caught him and he wanted to sing a “Poo in your head” and “Cocks by the bus” tour for a long time. The singer, actor, professional disruptor and advertising voice (“More people should do that”) did not stop. He died in armor on Friday at the age of 64, with a new album from his Group Fosko ready to be released.

Also read the interview with Bob Fosko from 2019: “There you go with your beautiful Burgundian principles”

Bob Fosko (real name Geert Timmers) was born in Baarn and completed the Academy for Expression in Utrecht. As an actor he was unadapted and rough. He could scream like no other. He got work as a trainer of police officers, who showed how the man in the street can raise his voice. With his band De Raggende Manne he put that knowledge into practice from 1988, with noisy songs such as “Sodemieter op” and “Lullen bij de bus”. In addition to “Poop in your head”, “No’s Nothing” became their biggest hit: a seven-second track that exposed Timmers’ anarchist approach in less than no time. A 45-rpm picture of it appeared.

A guitar, drums, a crescendo of rock noise. “No,” sighed Fosko, “that’s nothing.”

Nothing then crap

Geert Timmers acted in musicals (The Blues Brothers, My Fair Lady, as Willy Alberti in Christmas in the Jordaan), initiated music projects such as the gabberpersiflage Hakkûhbar, had his own band Fosko after De Raggende Manne, acted in commercials and was active for the SP, for which he wrote campaign numbers for more than fifteen years. After eleven wild years, De Raggende Manne quit in 1999. They were “canceled out” long before Timmers was diagnosed.

Fosko’s work was broad – from “It is not driving” (about the already filthy file problem in 1991) to the Parade show Nothing Dan Rotty (2003) with which he sang the meaninglessness of things with Maarten van Roozendaal. A big unsung highlight in Bob Fosko’s abundance of beautiful songs is the disruptive ‘Gambas from the oven’ from the album ‘Om killed in Overschot’ from 2006. “If you start with gambas from the oven”, he sang in a much quieter way show differently, “then I will open a bottle of red wine with that.”

Bob Fosko was completely impressed by how that discussion developed, whether or not you can drink red wine with a fish dish, and how the singer did not settle for weak bites that evening.

Filthiness, screams, anarchism and confrontation

A year ago, Geert Timmers was still full of plans, and he had devised a scenario to make a tour of the re-established Raggende Manne with the help of guest singers with his waning energy. “Poo in your head” was sung by a little girl who jumped on stage in the Amsterdam Melkweg. Bob Fosko stood by in wonder, approving.

“Everything Kleeft” was the name of De Raggende Manne’s latest album. Filthiness, shouting, anarchism and confrontation were the subjects that suited him well. All this time, with all that crap, Bob Fosko remained a good person.

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