Alfons Haket

Alfons Haket (Hildesheim, Germany, June 13, 1944) is a Dutch guitarist and singer. He has played in bands such as The Moans, Moan, Long Tall Ernie and the Shakers and Hank the Knife & the Jets. At the age of about fourteen Haket learned his first chords on a guitar, after which he was soon recorded in the Arnhem band The Rocking Beatman. In the fall of 1964, Haket was asked to join another local beat band, The Moans, where he came to play with Herman Brood, among others. The band became very popular in Arnhem and the surrounding area, but from the beginning of 1965 played mainly on a contract basis in Germany. In October 1967 the name of the band was changed to Moan and a number of singles were recorded in the Netherlands with mainly progressive pop music. Haket was also involved in the Moan Nightmare project, which featured eccentric, dark clothing and painted faces. In 1972 Moan's support act with rock and roll music, performed by the same band members but dressed as rough rockers, proved to be so successful that this became the main act under the name Long Tall Ernie and the Shakers. In keeping with the image, the band members had rough nicknames, such as Hank the Knife (Henk Bruijsten), Jumping Johnny (pianist Jan Rietman) and Tenderfoot Macfarlane (drummer Alan Macfarlane). Haket was known as Alfie Muscles. He played with this popular band until February 1976 and in 1973, together with his fellow band members, received a gold record for the lp Turn on your rockin 'shoes. After leaving Long Tall Ernie and The Shakers, Alfons briefly played with glam rock band Hank the Knife & the Jets, until he disappeared into anonymity for a while. Haket remained active in music, but performed mainly in the Arnhem nightclub circuit with, among others, the cover band Daybreak. He was also a roadie for the well-known American jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck during his European tours. Haket returned to Hank the Knife & the Jets in 2003, when the band was revived. After the death of Pierre Beek in 2009, the guitarist also became the singer of the band. A biography about Alfons Haket was published in October 2015, with the telling subtitle 'The boy's dream: 60 years of rock' n roll '.