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When the stars talk, they talk to Nick and Sue.
Welcome back to the Chatterbox Redux podcast
and today our special guest is Dr Robert aka
Robert Howard of the Blow Monkeys This is Nick
and Sue with Chatterbox giving you all you need
to know about musical entertainment. Chatterbox,
the best interviews with Nick and Sue. Chatterbox,
the best news. And now on Chatterbox we're lucky
enough to be joined by Robert Howard of the Blow
Monkeys. Robert, hello, how are you? I'm very
well, thank you. Now, just sort of looking at
what sort of era the Blow Monkeys sort of started,
I can see, I'm looking at Wikipedia, so tell
me if it's right or wrong, but Blow Monkeys themselves
formed in 1981? Yes. Like many others I bought
a blow monkey records back in the 80s and I think
we're looking sort of like Probably about 84
85 time for me, but let's start at the beginning
How you got into music now? Did you come from
a musical family or? and I started playing guitar
there and busking. So I came back to England
in 1981 with the idea of being into music and
forming a group, you know, because, well, really
I'm used to doing anything else, you know. Well,
you seem pretty good at doing that, though, so
that worked out well. Well, you know, I've got
no choice. Well, brilliant. The members of the
group, I mean, were they just friends you had,
or did you advertise for them in a music mag?
No. he'd answered an ad in the back of Melody
Maker and so I answered an ad and went and joined
this band and well I went for an audition and
I met Neville there, the section I'm playing
in and within a kind of week or so we decided
that we were going to form a band ourselves and
so we found Nick the bass player, Mick Anker
and there was a kid running around who said I
can play drums and so we got him in Angus, young
kid at the time and so that was it, we were off
and running but in a couple of weeks really that's
just the way it happened. Okay, and the record
deal seemed to come quite quickly. I'm just looking
at when you were releasing So we signed the record
deal with RCA in 1983. So those two years in
between were really filled with lots of rehearsing,
lots of writing, trying to get better, trying
to get gigs, trying to do everything that you
have to do to try and get off the ground. Eventually
we got a kind of You know, we got a residence
here, a little venue in Hampstead, and the record
company started to come. But it was two years
of hard graft, really. Sure. Well, it certainly
paid off. Two years. I mean, obviously I've spoken
to people that it's taken an awful lot longer
than two years. But here we are. So, was it the
Blow Monkeys as a group straight away, or did
that name sort of filter in over a period of
time? told you about, he came up with the name
and I thought, oh, that'll do to start with,
I think of something better. And it's too late
for that now. Well, yeah, it's certainly memorable
because, you know, it dawned on me who could
be interesting to pop on. And certainly the Blow
Monkeys by name, as opposed to any of the members,
certainly jumped out at me, hence how I contacted
you. Oh, yeah. And do we know why Angus chose
that name at all? at the time if I'm honest.
Good answer. I thought yeah that'll do because
we were kind of jazzy and poppy so there was
a mixture of those two elements within the name
but of course the name has different connotations
depending on where you go in the world. Yeah
okay I can see that. Okay and your own name is
sort of quite interesting now you're known as
Dr Robert so how basically did you become Dr
Robert? Well, I mean when I went to live in Australia,
my real name is Bruce Robert Howard. Bruce is
my first name. And I've seen that Monty Python
sketch where everybody's called Bruce in Australia.
So I thought, OK, I'll use my real name Robert.
So when I came back to England, I thought, well,
we're going to be in a band. You know, you need
to make up a name. You know, everybody needs
first names or has eight names. So I thought,
oh, Dr. Robert will do it. It's that Beatles
song. It's quite cool. Yeah Never asked him that
okay, so I'm just looking at how the how the
single sort of got released and It seems like
we were scraping the top hundred with Forbidden
Fruit Digging your scene in 1986 Yeah, so that's
all right number 12 in the UK. I see it was a
quite a big hit across the across the across
the world so What was it like to be propelled
from doing wine bars and bars in Hampstead through
to actually just suddenly appearing on Top of
the Pops? Because it is sudden, because no one
actually knew how digging your sleeve was going
to do after the levels themselves from the previous
singles. And there you were, propelled into stardom
and Top of the Pops. Did it hit you hard or did
you just take it into stride? Well, I loved it.
I mean, that's what you're doing it for. That's
what we were after. We wanted to, you know, at
that point, the idea was let's be successful.
We'd signed some major label. I had no idea Digging
Your Scene was going to be a hit. It was just
another song. We were on our way and we were
making records and we were getting slowly bigger,
but this just changed everything because it was
a hit in America. It was hit everywhere. So suddenly
we were going around the world. I see we had
some other sort of top 30 hits arriving. It doesn't
have to be this way, a very famous song there.
Choice? Now, okay. Let's say we've done the top
of the pops bit and everything else. What other,
I mean, were you sort of jetting around and appearing
on music shows all over the world? Because I
see you, USA you sold quite well, Ireland. Belgium,
yeah. Was it TV all over the world? Yeah, it
was the 80s, you know. So, you know, you made
a video, you hoped it got on MTV, and if it did
well, you went around the world promoting it.
I mean, that was great fun. I'm really glad we
did it. But, you know, eventually that all comes
to an end and all you've got is the music. So
it was always important. I was a songwriter,
so I spent a lot of time, you know, working on
stuff and trying to keep everything... going
it wasn't all just like jetting around the world
but yeah I'm not going to deny that that wasn't
great fun you know it was it was fantastic time
to be young and to be successful. Well jetting
around the world I personally don't think of
it as being a holiday I mean that it's hard work
you know you're in that city but that night and
that country that night and it goes on and on.
Pretty damn exhausting. I get exhausted just
going to the med and back. It is hard work. I
certainly wasn't trying to say it was a holiday.
It's not as hard work as coal mining. It's not
proper. I loved it and it's nice being looked
after, but then inevitably it doesn't matter
who you are, it all falls away and then you're
back to the music. I was kind of aware of that
all along, you know, that it was something false
about it, but it was quite fun. Sure. Now, at
some point, you obviously went from the size
of the venue you were singing in, I guess that
you went from that wine bar or that bar in Hampstead's
area, West Hampstead and all over that area,
and you got to bigger venues. So, you know, you
start playing to thousands. Did it seem strange
or did you just, like the top of the pop spit
and all over the world, it's what you wanted
and you just took it in your strides again? I
just took it in my strides. It didn't freak me
out, I enjoyed it. We played Wembley Stadium,
we wanted to do it one time, but then we got
booed off. But that's for a different reason.
That's what it's all about. I literally have
played to one man and a dog and I've played two.
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remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Okay, so we need
the hits sort of, well, they get lower and lower,
then they sort of dry up, which happens with
virtually every band anyway. So it looks like
we sort of had a bit of a rest for the Blow Monkeys.
And then, I'm just trying to get the ears right
here. In the early noughties, mid noughties,
you seem to bounce back and it seems to be virtually.
all the original members? Yeah, well I mean what
happened was we split up at the end of our contract
with RCA in 1990 and we all went our separate
ways and we had families and I went on and made
solo albums and I did about 10 solo albums and
I worked with a lot of people like Paul Weller
and I did a lot of stuff and then, you know,
far forward to the 15 years, kids are growing
up, everyone, I felt like being in a band again
so there was only one band for us and that was
the original members, we got back together. making
records again so we've made you know four or
five albums since we got back together and done
lots of touring and you know we just love it
well i can see i can see this here so uh devil's
tavern seems to be the earliest one so we sort
of get into more recent times uh staring at the
sea 2011 feels like a new morning 2013 2015 was
if not now when and as last year 2020 lockdown
How has Dr. Robert been spending the lockdown?
Has it been a creative time for you, or how have
you been spending it? Yeah, I mean, to be honest,
I'm a bit of a hermit anyway, you know, so it
hasn't changed my life that much, but I really,
obviously, you know, not playing live has hit
us very hard in lots of ways, but we've got our
head down. We put out a new single last year
called Time Storm, which did really well, and
that's the beginning of a new album, which is
coming out this year. So I've been working, Working
on that album, in fact, I'm mixing it right now,
it's nearly finished. So, spending time, you
know, doing what we can do, which is recording,
because the technology has made it possible for
everybody to do their parts remotely and get
together on Zoom sessions. So, you know, you
just make the best of what you can, because I
live in Spain, the rest of the band live in London,
so we're being creative and just biding our time,
putting the record out, and can't wait to get
out there again. Like everyone, I guess. That's
great. It's also great to speak to somebody that
hasn't written a lockdown, a lockdown record
about lockdown, because I don't actually know
how many have been sent, but I would think it's
actually getting to somewhere towards a thousand
from different artists. So it's nice to hear
that there's an album on its way. Yeah, listen,
I took the view that the last thing people want
to hear about is the lockdown. It's similar to
that line from Bill Hicks, the comedian, who
said that the last thing Jesus Christ wants to
see when he comes back is a cross. I see that.
It's kind of the same mentality. I can see that.
I can see that by putting it. So anyway, this
song you've just finished and the album you're
working on, are you just awaiting for the lockdown
to be over or doesn't it play any part in it?
No, we've got a new single coming out in April.
and we'll carry on releasing stuff, and the album
itself will come out in September, so it doesn't
really matter whether or not Block Band's lifted
or not, we're gonna just carry on because, you
know, yeah, we're in a creative sort of streak,
you know, I feel like, you know, it's a good
time for me to be writing, so, and Pete, everyone's
at home, everyone's on their computers and blah,
blah, blah, so it's a good time to send music
out to the world, you know. Absolutely, absolutely.
If you could make sure that I'm on your list
for future, you know, releases, that'd be fantastic.
I'll make sure that Ron sorts you out. That'd
be brilliant. Thank you very much. Okay, so it's
a very exciting future with the Blow Monkey,
certainly. I hope so. Yeah, well, it sounds anyway.
It's not for one that are trying. It all sounds
very upbeat and positive from your end, Robert.
Okay, so... I think we probably almost answered
the next question. We always say, assuming lockdowns
is finally over, once and for all, somewhere
around six months time, or we say Christmas,
January next year, where would you, Robert, and
the Blow Monkeys, where would you all like to
be career -wise? Would it be touring or just
plodding? think about it like that, we just take
it as it comes. I mean we've put a new record
out, hopefully it'll do well. We've got a tour
booked in October, I don't know if that's going
to go ahead, but if it doesn't we'll move it
to the next spring. We'll just take it when it
comes because at this point I really enjoy every
aspect of playing live and you know, we're no
spring chickens either, so you just never know
when... last gig, the last record. Hopefully
it won't, because we're very creative. But, you
know, so in other words, I just make the most
of all of it, really. I don't really have a career
plan at this point. No, I mean, you certainly
are very creative anyway. I mean, it's sort of,
oh, yeah, that'd be ideal. And, you know, it
sounds very upbeat having a chat with you as
well, which is just fantastic. I think people
at home listening just want... It's nice to have
somebody out there because it's all so depressing
what people are talking about. Somebody that
knows where they want to be in the touring, it
just sounds pretty exciting, Rob, really. I mean,
it's very sad what's happened. There's been a
lot of tragic stories, but it's a time of great
change, and out of that change can come some
very positive things, and you just have to imagine
that, otherwise you go down. for me is a real
healing thing in the world and I'm proud to be
part of that kind of thing. It feels like a good
thing to be doing in this time. When you were
a kid or a teenager, do you have any influences
or has the Blow Monkey style just developed through
yourself and the other members of the band working
together? Well of course there were influences.
that really hit me, I guess, when I was young,
was Mark Bowman. And then, you know, later on,
punk came along, and punk was people of my generation,
my age. And then, you know, I mean, people, you
know, just so much. I mean, soul music was always
massive when I was growing up, when I grew up
in a place called Kingsland that was a real northern
soul town. And so, you know, such a mixture.
And also the stuff that I'd heard come that are
older than me, so that was all Beatles and, you
know, back writing David. It's all in the mix
there, really. I kind of love everything, really,
except for heavy metal. And out of your own songs
that you've brought out over the years, which
would you say was your favourite? To be honest,
right now, the last single is called Times Square.
Yeah, I see that, okay. Robert, this is your
opportunity to tell listeners at home about Facebook
pages, groups, websites. This is your moment,
mate. Okay, well, on the socials I've got a Twitter
handle, is that what they call that, I think,
at The Blow Monkeys, and we have a Facebook page,
the official Facebook page, The Blow Monkeys,
again, and of course a website, www .theblowmonkeys
.com, where you can get involved with helping,
you know, So, yeah, we've got a presence. Robert,
Dr. Robert, it's been a pleasure having you on
Chatterbox, and do keep in touch and let us know
when your releases are coming up. We've given
a little bit of a spin for you, my friend. That's
lovely. Well, thank you very much. I enjoyed
it. You've been listening to the Chatterbox Redux
podcast and today our special guest was Dr Robert
aka Robert Howard of the Blow Monkeys. If you're
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