We've Been Bobbed
I am a Rob, a Robert. I am not a Bob, though I have been called Bert, even Bobby on a few occassions. As Archie Valparaiso mentioned down there, Bob, Bert and Bobby are all eminently greater pop names than Rob. The brilliant Bob Andy (I'd recommend his Dub Book to Retropath), Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Bob Weir, Bob Berg, even Bobby "Blue" Bland and Bobby Darin and Bobby Digital. Bob - and the variations thereof - is the sort of name sported by legendary, visionary musicians working in reggae, jazz, soul, pop, folk, hip hop and rock. What does Rob have? Rob Halford and Rob Zombie. So, that's mouth-breathing, pantomime metal covered then. There's Robert Smith (a spot of rare greatness there) and Robert Cray (snoozesome) and gospel ledge Robert Blair (you'll recall his Julius Cheeks-like falsetto shouting and raving, I'm sure), but that's pretty much it.
The last Bob in the UK Charts was Bob The Builder and even that was seven years ago. Where have all the Bobs gone? And when will the rebirth begin?
EDIT: Oh, and Rob Thomas who's even worse than Rob Halford or Rob Zombie and Robert Plant who's quite good if you like that kind of thing.
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Bob Sinclar was a more recent chart Bob.
Unfortunately for Rob
Bob Sinclar is actually Christophe Le Friant. Sorry Fraser but Rob is right. And now I feel bad having called my second "boy child" Robert. Maybe he will be the savour that Rob is looking for.......some day.
How about Robbie?
Robbie Robertson or Robbie Williams. How's that for two ends of the spectrum?
There's something slightly infantile
about "Robbie", don't you think?
Yeah
In the same way that James Dean's character was embarrassed about being called 'Jamie' in Rebel Without A Cause.
"Ootsayd, noo!"
said Mr. Coltrane.
We call ours
Robert. And Robert only. Just wait till he starts school though. I don't want a Robbie in the house. We actually called him Robert William and were shocked when it was pointed out that its almost like Robbie Will.....oh never mind.
Good point
But he's French, so that works against him
Everybody's favourite Bob
Good one
A couple of fine lads...
Punk Rob
Rob Tyner out of the MC5.
Jim/Jimmy/James
Rob, given my name I have had similar thoughts about the Jim/Jimmy/James trinity. A quick trawl through any good recording collection reveals that James is a (Black or white) soul or R and B playa, while Jim is a renegade rocker. Jimmy is a multi-genre swiss army knife moniker. Of course the use of Jimi - like its owner - is unique.
Birkenhead legends...
Bob, Bob, Bob, and Bob.
Still gigging, still fighting the power (or something...)
best of the bobs
Rob, all these bobs are swimming in front of my eye's but have we missed the obvious answer of late 80's indie faves "BOB" you've probably heard this but there's some excellent peel
on the begining!
what about Bobby Davros single....
http://dusty7s.blogspot.com/2007/08/dinner-and-dancing-and-love.html
Bob
strange name for a girl.
"Bobbie" Wickham
Roberta "Bobbie" Wickham is one of the great P.G. Wodehouse characters. Best avoided though; guaranteed to land you in the soup.
And don't get me started on Bobbie Gentry.
Isn't Bobbie....
...one of those gels who is apt to announce her arrival by clapping her hands over your eyes and saying "guess who?"
You're thinking of Madeline Basset
who also thinks the stars are God's daisy chain. "Bobby" is a spirited lass; bit rock'n'roll actually.
Oh God yes...
...she's the one who attracts the adjective "soupy", isn't she?
Bobbie's comparatively hearty.
Madeline Basset thinks babies are born
when a fairy sneezes.
According to Jeeves In The Offing "Bobbie Wickham is a one-girl beauty chorus". Jeeves doesn't approve though. Too "high-spirited".
Bad Education
lummy, I make a cheap Blackadder gag and you lot come back with Woodhouse references...I knew I should have paid more attention during English lessons.
Roberts and guitars: a difficult marriage
All guitar-playing Roberts have "issues", as the Cousins say. True, dat. Take Robert "Worst Tone In Human History" Cray, who on a good day sounds like a Stylophone with a tracheotomy. Even the many incarnations of Robert Fripp (you forgot about him, didn't you, Rob - it's OK; people do) have shared only one common trait: rubbish tone. As for Robbie Robertson, his tone's OK, true, but does anybody actually like him? (Did I just hear someone say Bob Weir? No? Good.)
I blame that Robert "Plink Plink" Johnson and his pact with the devil, me.
The Blues
On the other hand, I imagine that if Robert Johnson had been known by the far more workmanlike 'Bob' Johnson, he'd never have been heard outside of the Delta. 'Robert' gives him an air of authority.
Unfair, Archie!
It is a distinctive tone, I accede, as is his voice, both arguably of a limited timbre. But, returning to an earlier, no less effective for that. I think Robert Crays output is largely top notch, especially the LPs in tandem with the Memphis Horns. Listen to "He don't live here anymore" off "I was warned" and fail to be moved. One of the best songs about paternal death in that (admittedly small) subject matter
The Nightingales
Robert Lloyd out of Peel favs The Nightingales.
Of this parish
My name isn't really Robert...
...and I'm not a doctor (although, thanks to this site, I am an ordained minister).
sunglasses and guitars and drug allegories?
that'll never catch on
Will there ever be a thread
Will there ever be a thread on this site which doesn't feature a shoehorned-in reference to the bloody Beatles?
I bet if I started a topic about Tibetan thigh bone trumpets, someone would claim that they're used on Sgt Peppers, or are the only instrument not to be used on Sgt Peppers, or that there's a long standing argument about if they were or weren't used on Sgt Peppers.
Funny you should say that, Andy
The echoed repeats in Yellow Submarine (and, trainspotters,in Uncle Albert) are muted through a tibetan thigh bone. I think to call them trumpets is probably going a bit far.....
Sweetener
Bob Mould of Husker Du, Sugar and solo acclaim
good one
Didn't Bob Mould listen to a
Didn't Bob Mould listen to a Beatles record once?
Nobody has mentioned...
...Robert Calvert! He made a few barking mad solo albums but is most associated with Hawkwind, I guess.
roberta Flack
roberta Flack
I forgot about this Bob
Change the words A journalist is a person .......in your......
Brings it all back......Rob you lucky sod.
Robert Crumb the rock 'n' roll years....
Formed a band with his mate Robert Armstrong.
Another Bob
Bobbie Gillespie
Looking over the above posts, that's quite a lot of Roberts and their diminutives then. More than there are Stephens anyway - Hillage, Jones, Morrissey, Shaky, then I'm struggling.
Stephens
Winwood, Wonder, Ray Vaughn, Van Zandt, Cropper, Stills...
Stephens
Earle, Forbert, Gaines and Tyler. Sufjan and Shakin' use it as their surname.
Not many Georges...
Fame. Money (Zoot). Melly
Any more for any more?
Georges
Harrison, Michael, Lowell.
Who's George Lowell?
(OK, i know, but it's the wrong way round) Funny to think I forgot the quiet one. Cypriots don't count as they are all called George, at least once in their name. Including, and this is true, Mrs Path, whose middle name is George. Her father (George) wanted a boy. 3 daughters later, each with the same middle name........
Another George...
...does George Martin count?
did we mention
Dr Robert?
Foreshortened
I find this subject fascinating (especially as I can't join in -- my given name is Mark). I had always assumed that Bert was short for Albert, but Wikipedia tells me that it can be short for lots of things, including Berthold. I think the choice of shorted name probably sets in early. Certainly, my 13-year-old Peter is not and is never likely to be a Pete.
The finest 2:48 by a Bob in pop history: The Harlem Shuffle
One of the greatest intros to any single and a solid no-contest classic. Bob & Earl, The Harlem Shuffle, 1963. Sadly no footage of them on the Tube, but there is an interesting video of a woman of a certain age dancing in her bedroom if you want to research further.
Another Bob
I once had a tape of an album by, I think, The Colourblind James Experience which had a great track called Another Bob. I've been looking for ages to download it but can't find it anywhere . . .
Isn't one of the tracks on....
..the first Roxy album called, or bracketed as, the Bob?