The Bobs
|
|
The Bobs are a "new wave" a cappella group founded in San Francisco, California. The group is known for humorous original songs and avant-garde arrangement techniques. Instead of covering more traditional doo-wop songs, The Bobs started out with songs like "Helter Skelter" (The Beatles) and "Psycho Killer" (Talking Heads). Although two of their albums are dominated by covers, the overwhelming majority of their repertoire is original, with songs discussing diverse subjects like lunar cattle farming, sleepy bus drivers, bumper stickers, laundry, hurricane-related flooding, graffiti, Oliver North, shopping-mall security guards, celebrity autographs, Heaven's Gate, spontaneous human combustion, turtles, and rebellious footwear.
The Bobs have broken with a cappella tradition several times by including instruments. The majority of the 1995 album Plugged is backed by toy drums. Plugged also made heavy use of studio equipment to make the voices sound more like guitars and bass guitars. Coaster includes a rock rhythm section on one song. But this original "band without instruments" usually uses just their mouths, hands, feet and "other body parts" to fill a room with a sound as big as an orchestra.
Members of the group are often credited with "Bob" as their middle name. The name is often described as an acronym for "best of breed," an award given out at dog shows.
The group has garnered a healthy cult following in the U.S. and Europe in the 24 years they've been touring and recording, and has won numerous songwriting and vocal performance honors.
| Contents |
Discography
- The Bobs
- My, I'm Large
- Songs for Tomorrow Morning
- Sing the Songs of . . .
- Shut Up and Sing!
- Cover the Songs of . . .
- Plugged
- Too Many Santas
- i brow club
- Coaster
- 20 Songs From 20 Years: The Best of The Bobs
Current members
- Richard "Bob" Greene
- Matthew "Bob" Stull
- Amy "Bob" Engelhardt
- Dan "Bob" Schumacher
Past members
- Gunnar "Bob" Madsen
- Janie "Bob" Scott
- Lori "Bob" Rivera
- Joe "Bob" Finetti
Other singers have toured with the group, but were not incorporated as permanent additions and do not appear on recordings.
Original members
- Matthew "Bob" Stull
- Gunnar "Bob" Madsen
- Richard "Bob" Greene
- Janie "Bob" Scott
External link
- Official site (http://www.bobs.com/)