ALSO WE FOUND JESSE HAWKINS: guitar, harmonica, sound effects, press record on the tape, intermittent vanishing
(occasional members)
Craig Alexander: vocals, bitterness
J.J. Butts: occasional Boone-based bass and mod Goth substitute
Tom Clapham: vocals, keyboard
Chad Edwards: percussion, vocals
Chris Haskett: howling vocals
Kelly Mitchell: vocals
John Mullholland: hand percussion, special teas
Jesse Rouse: additional acoustic guitar and vocals
Jason Ward: guitar on "Solo Run"
The People in the Corner (Props)
Influences
The Connells
The Pixies,
Johnny Cash,
Nick Cave,
My Bloody Valentine,
Tom Waits,
R.E.M.,
Moxy Fruvous,
The Flaming Lips,
They Might Be Giants,
Wierd Al Yankovic,
King Missile,
Monty Python,
Douglas Adams,
Jimmy Buffett,
Kids in the Hall,
Bob Dylan,
Pavement,
Diamanda Galas,
Bauhaus,
Girls that like Bauhaus
The year is 1991. Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Nirvana top the charts at the cresting tsunami of the "grunge" movement. People wear plaid flannels and Doc Martens. The music industry is changed forever. Everywhere, the aftershock of the meteoric rise of these hessians from Seattle is being felt. Music is new and exciting. These are times of upheaval.
In the small coastal town of Sunset Beach, North Carolina, six friends were ignoring all of this and making horrible noises.
Acoustic guitar. Bass. Viola. Slide whistle. Pots and pans. Screaming. These were the weapons of choice for an improptu, badly organized, poorly recorded joke band. They called themselves "Bob Spelled Backwards" because they thought that it was horribly clever. It wasn't and was probably already copyrighted. They sang purposefully and masterfully out of tune because they thought that was horribly clever. It wasn't. They ate lots of sugar.
But something terrible happened that year.
Bob Spelled Backwards wrote funny songs.
Discovering a hidden penchant for six-to-eight-part harmony and scathing satire blended fitfully into catchy little pseudopsychedelic country-rock ditties, interspersed with a healthy dose of useless and irritating noise, the not-exactly-seminal cult heroes produced the now nearly inaudible "BOB 1: WASITACATISAW". It was recorded in a matter of grueling minutes into a condenser microphone on a cheap boom box, directly onto low-quality cassette tape.
People were annoyed. Sunburns peeled. The summer ended, and the friends went their separate ways. Tapes were copied and given to friends. Who gave them to their friends. Who copied them and passed them on. The phenomenon grew. Bob's target audience of misfits had been found, and hooked.
Bob was hooked too. In 1992, They did it again, gaining multiracial multi-instrumentalist Joshua O'Connor. "Bob 2: What Price Perfection, what Price Pfister, What Price BOB?" was by the previous record's standards a masterpiece. Featuring samplers, melodica, electric guitars, harmonica and found instruments in addition to Bob's now classic sound, it was a look at the begginings of an incredibly prolific group of musical friends making the transition from Joke Band to "Real, but Hilarious Band".
By 1993, Bob had firmly established themselves. To themselves. Including a Bob 2.5 "NOBOB like SNOBOB", a Bob 3 (despite losing original pots and pans drummer Chad Edwards), 1994's Bob 4, Bob 4.5 LIVE at Aycock Auditorium, and a BOB 5 they penned, and then recorded poorly, nearly one hundred songs. The sum total of their entire career including practice, writing, recording, and performance: LESS THAN 6 weeks.
Six weeks, and BOB had become a cult sensation with loyal fans at rare shows, and with bad bootlegs distributed grassroots style while eagerly awaiting the next episode. Of course, this journey of six weeks had taken 6 years to complete. But BOB was always bucking industry trends.
And by 1996 they were gone. Vanished. Even from nascent search engines.
Hey, WOW, I'm psyched! Are you taking pre-orders for the album? When's the tentative release date?? I want more info about the tour!! Tell me. Tell me. Gimmie gimmie.
Bob sPelLed BacKwaRds: They're not for babies, dough
I just saw "50 Foot David Bowie" last night. 105.3 the Spaz calls them "The Ultimate Bob Spelled Backwards cover band." It sounded like they had all come in from different parts of the world for the show and hadn't practiced any of the songs in years. They had to tune the instruments between every song, sometimes during the songs (felt like a cover to buy time to remember how the song actually went). All in all it was a real strong vintage BOB feel. They've landed a regular gig down at the Center Street Hop House on Thursdays, so check them out if you're in the Madison area.
To all who are concerned, there are now 33, count 'em 33 (it will take you 33 seconds) Bob mp3's. 4 are above for download, and mark has more. let him or me know if you wants moreses for your pocketses.
Cheers to Bob living on!!! Bob sure has lounged around in my memory all this time. Standing out is the Reuben solo in the cat song and, of course "...don't--------------pause in the middle of a sooooong..."
You can see the point when they say they don't have a point. You can see the pointlessness in saying you can see their point when they don't have a point.
