WEBVTT

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This edition of the Chatterbox Redux podcast

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is brought to you in association with the Strong

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Coffee Company. More from them in a bit. Chatterbox.

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When the stars talk, they talk to Nick and Sue.

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Welcome back to the Chatterbox Redux podcast

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and today our special guest is Dr Robert aka

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Robert Howard of the Blow Monkeys This is Nick

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and Sue with Chatterbox giving you all you need

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to know about musical entertainment. Chatterbox,

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the best interviews with Nick and Sue. Chatterbox,

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the best news. And now on Chatterbox we're lucky

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enough to be joined by Robert Howard of the Blow

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Monkeys. Robert, hello, how are you? I'm very

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well, thank you. Now, just sort of looking at

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what sort of era the Blow Monkeys sort of started,

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I can see, I'm looking at Wikipedia, so tell

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me if it's right or wrong, but Blow Monkeys themselves

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formed in 1981? Yes. Like many others I bought

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a blow monkey records back in the 80s and I think

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we're looking sort of like Probably about 84

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85 time for me, but let's start at the beginning

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How you got into music now? Did you come from

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a musical family or? and I started playing guitar

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there and busking. So I came back to England

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in 1981 with the idea of being into music and

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forming a group, you know, because, well, really

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I'm used to doing anything else, you know. Well,

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you seem pretty good at doing that, though, so

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that worked out well. Well, you know, I've got

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no choice. Well, brilliant. The members of the

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group, I mean, were they just friends you had,

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or did you advertise for them in a music mag?

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No. he'd answered an ad in the back of Melody

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Maker and so I answered an ad and went and joined

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this band and well I went for an audition and

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I met Neville there, the section I'm playing

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in and within a kind of week or so we decided

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that we were going to form a band ourselves and

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so we found Nick the bass player, Mick Anker

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and there was a kid running around who said I

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can play drums and so we got him in Angus, young

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kid at the time and so that was it, we were off

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and running but in a couple of weeks really that's

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just the way it happened. Okay, and the record

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deal seemed to come quite quickly. I'm just looking

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at when you were releasing So we signed the record

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deal with RCA in 1983. So those two years in

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between were really filled with lots of rehearsing,

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lots of writing, trying to get better, trying

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to get gigs, trying to do everything that you

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have to do to try and get off the ground. Eventually

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we got a kind of You know, we got a residence

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here, a little venue in Hampstead, and the record

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company started to come. But it was two years

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of hard graft, really. Sure. Well, it certainly

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paid off. Two years. I mean, obviously I've spoken

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to people that it's taken an awful lot longer

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than two years. But here we are. So, was it the

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Blow Monkeys as a group straight away, or did

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that name sort of filter in over a period of

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time? told you about, he came up with the name

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and I thought, oh, that'll do to start with,

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I think of something better. And it's too late

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for that now. Well, yeah, it's certainly memorable

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because, you know, it dawned on me who could

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be interesting to pop on. And certainly the Blow

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Monkeys by name, as opposed to any of the members,

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certainly jumped out at me, hence how I contacted

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you. Oh, yeah. And do we know why Angus chose

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that name at all? at the time if I'm honest.

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Good answer. I thought yeah that'll do because

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we were kind of jazzy and poppy so there was

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a mixture of those two elements within the name

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but of course the name has different connotations

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depending on where you go in the world. Yeah

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okay I can see that. Okay and your own name is

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sort of quite interesting now you're known as

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Dr Robert so how basically did you become Dr

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Robert? Well, I mean when I went to live in Australia,

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my real name is Bruce Robert Howard. Bruce is

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my first name. And I've seen that Monty Python

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sketch where everybody's called Bruce in Australia.

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So I thought, OK, I'll use my real name Robert.

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So when I came back to England, I thought, well,

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we're going to be in a band. You know, you need

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to make up a name. You know, everybody needs

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first names or has eight names. So I thought,

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oh, Dr. Robert will do it. It's that Beatles

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song. It's quite cool. Yeah Never asked him that

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okay, so I'm just looking at how the how the

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single sort of got released and It seems like

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we were scraping the top hundred with Forbidden

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Fruit Digging your scene in 1986 Yeah, so that's

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all right number 12 in the UK. I see it was a

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quite a big hit across the across the across

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the world so What was it like to be propelled

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from doing wine bars and bars in Hampstead through

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to actually just suddenly appearing on Top of

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the Pops? Because it is sudden, because no one

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actually knew how digging your sleeve was going

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to do after the levels themselves from the previous

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singles. And there you were, propelled into stardom

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and Top of the Pops. Did it hit you hard or did

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you just take it into stride? Well, I loved it.

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I mean, that's what you're doing it for. That's

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what we were after. We wanted to, you know, at

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that point, the idea was let's be successful.

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We'd signed some major label. I had no idea Digging

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Your Scene was going to be a hit. It was just

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another song. We were on our way and we were

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making records and we were getting slowly bigger,

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but this just changed everything because it was

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a hit in America. It was hit everywhere. So suddenly

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we were going around the world. I see we had

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some other sort of top 30 hits arriving. It doesn't

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have to be this way, a very famous song there.

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Choice? Now, okay. Let's say we've done the top

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of the pops bit and everything else. What other,

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I mean, were you sort of jetting around and appearing

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on music shows all over the world? Because I

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see you, USA you sold quite well, Ireland. Belgium,

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yeah. Was it TV all over the world? Yeah, it

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was the 80s, you know. So, you know, you made

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a video, you hoped it got on MTV, and if it did

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well, you went around the world promoting it.

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I mean, that was great fun. I'm really glad we

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did it. But, you know, eventually that all comes

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to an end and all you've got is the music. So

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it was always important. I was a songwriter,

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so I spent a lot of time, you know, working on

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stuff and trying to keep everything... going

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it wasn't all just like jetting around the world

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but yeah I'm not going to deny that that wasn't

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great fun you know it was it was fantastic time

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to be young and to be successful. Well jetting

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around the world I personally don't think of

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it as being a holiday I mean that it's hard work

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you know you're in that city but that night and

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that country that night and it goes on and on.

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Pretty damn exhausting. I get exhausted just

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going to the med and back. It is hard work. I

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certainly wasn't trying to say it was a holiday.

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It's not as hard work as coal mining. It's not

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proper. I loved it and it's nice being looked

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after, but then inevitably it doesn't matter

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who you are, it all falls away and then you're

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back to the music. I was kind of aware of that

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all along, you know, that it was something false

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about it, but it was quite fun. Sure. Now, at

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some point, you obviously went from the size

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of the venue you were singing in, I guess that

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you went from that wine bar or that bar in Hampstead's

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area, West Hampstead and all over that area,

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and you got to bigger venues. So, you know, you

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start playing to thousands. Did it seem strange

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or did you just, like the top of the pop spit

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and all over the world, it's what you wanted

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and you just took it in your strides again? I

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just took it in my strides. It didn't freak me

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out, I enjoyed it. We played Wembley Stadium,

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we wanted to do it one time, but then we got

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booed off. But that's for a different reason.

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That's what it's all about. I literally have

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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

00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:37.519
the hits sort of, well, they get lower and lower,

00:13:37.580 --> 00:13:39.820
then they sort of dry up, which happens with

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virtually every band anyway. So it looks like

00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:47.600
we sort of had a bit of a rest for the Blow Monkeys.

00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:50.799
And then, I'm just trying to get the ears right

00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:54.240
here. In the early noughties, mid noughties,

00:13:55.720 --> 00:13:58.100
you seem to bounce back and it seems to be virtually.

00:13:58.090 --> 00:14:00.750
all the original members? Yeah, well I mean what

00:14:00.750 --> 00:14:04.129
happened was we split up at the end of our contract

00:14:04.129 --> 00:14:06.769
with RCA in 1990 and we all went our separate

00:14:06.769 --> 00:14:09.350
ways and we had families and I went on and made

00:14:09.350 --> 00:14:12.429
solo albums and I did about 10 solo albums and

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I worked with a lot of people like Paul Weller

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and I did a lot of stuff and then, you know,

00:14:17.529 --> 00:14:19.629
far forward to the 15 years, kids are growing

00:14:19.629 --> 00:14:22.370
up, everyone, I felt like being in a band again

00:14:22.370 --> 00:14:24.370
so there was only one band for us and that was

00:14:24.370 --> 00:14:27.789
the original members, we got back together. making

00:14:27.789 --> 00:14:30.110
records again so we've made you know four or

00:14:30.110 --> 00:14:32.190
five albums since we got back together and done

00:14:32.190 --> 00:14:34.850
lots of touring and you know we just love it

00:14:34.850 --> 00:14:37.909
well i can see i can see this here so uh devil's

00:14:37.909 --> 00:14:39.769
tavern seems to be the earliest one so we sort

00:14:39.769 --> 00:14:42.529
of get into more recent times uh staring at the

00:14:42.529 --> 00:14:47.309
sea 2011 feels like a new morning 2013 2015 was

00:14:47.309 --> 00:14:51.429
if not now when and as last year 2020 lockdown

00:14:52.519 --> 00:14:55.159
How has Dr. Robert been spending the lockdown?

00:14:55.440 --> 00:14:59.620
Has it been a creative time for you, or how have

00:14:59.620 --> 00:15:02.340
you been spending it? Yeah, I mean, to be honest,

00:15:02.419 --> 00:15:04.179
I'm a bit of a hermit anyway, you know, so it

00:15:04.179 --> 00:15:06.679
hasn't changed my life that much, but I really,

00:15:06.759 --> 00:15:08.879
obviously, you know, not playing live has hit

00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:12.200
us very hard in lots of ways, but we've got our

00:15:12.200 --> 00:15:15.019
head down. We put out a new single last year

00:15:15.019 --> 00:15:17.120
called Time Storm, which did really well, and

00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:19.000
that's the beginning of a new album, which is

00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:22.059
coming out this year. So I've been working, Working

00:15:22.059 --> 00:15:23.980
on that album, in fact, I'm mixing it right now,

00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:27.139
it's nearly finished. So, spending time, you

00:15:27.139 --> 00:15:30.019
know, doing what we can do, which is recording,

00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:32.299
because the technology has made it possible for

00:15:32.299 --> 00:15:34.480
everybody to do their parts remotely and get

00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:37.559
together on Zoom sessions. So, you know, you

00:15:37.559 --> 00:15:39.759
just make the best of what you can, because I

00:15:39.759 --> 00:15:42.360
live in Spain, the rest of the band live in London,

00:15:42.519 --> 00:15:46.299
so we're being creative and just biding our time,

00:15:46.419 --> 00:15:47.919
putting the record out, and can't wait to get

00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:50.289
out there again. Like everyone, I guess. That's

00:15:50.289 --> 00:15:52.429
great. It's also great to speak to somebody that

00:15:52.429 --> 00:15:56.309
hasn't written a lockdown, a lockdown record

00:15:56.309 --> 00:15:58.730
about lockdown, because I don't actually know

00:15:58.730 --> 00:16:01.129
how many have been sent, but I would think it's

00:16:01.129 --> 00:16:03.370
actually getting to somewhere towards a thousand

00:16:03.370 --> 00:16:06.350
from different artists. So it's nice to hear

00:16:06.350 --> 00:16:10.590
that there's an album on its way. Yeah, listen,

00:16:11.409 --> 00:16:14.690
I took the view that the last thing people want

00:16:14.690 --> 00:16:19.899
to hear about is the lockdown. It's similar to

00:16:19.899 --> 00:16:21.860
that line from Bill Hicks, the comedian, who

00:16:21.860 --> 00:16:24.519
said that the last thing Jesus Christ wants to

00:16:24.519 --> 00:16:27.080
see when he comes back is a cross. I see that.

00:16:27.080 --> 00:16:29.639
It's kind of the same mentality. I can see that.

00:16:29.639 --> 00:16:33.220
I can see that by putting it. So anyway, this

00:16:33.220 --> 00:16:36.700
song you've just finished and the album you're

00:16:36.700 --> 00:16:39.879
working on, are you just awaiting for the lockdown

00:16:39.879 --> 00:16:43.299
to be over or doesn't it play any part in it?

00:16:44.179 --> 00:16:47.419
No, we've got a new single coming out in April.

00:16:48.779 --> 00:16:51.139
and we'll carry on releasing stuff, and the album

00:16:51.139 --> 00:16:53.740
itself will come out in September, so it doesn't

00:16:53.740 --> 00:16:55.720
really matter whether or not Block Band's lifted

00:16:55.720 --> 00:16:57.940
or not, we're gonna just carry on because, you

00:16:57.940 --> 00:17:00.460
know, yeah, we're in a creative sort of streak,

00:17:00.519 --> 00:17:05.259
you know, I feel like, you know, it's a good

00:17:05.259 --> 00:17:08.220
time for me to be writing, so, and Pete, everyone's

00:17:08.220 --> 00:17:10.119
at home, everyone's on their computers and blah,

00:17:10.259 --> 00:17:12.759
blah, blah, so it's a good time to send music

00:17:12.759 --> 00:17:15.150
out to the world, you know. Absolutely, absolutely.

00:17:15.470 --> 00:17:19.289
If you could make sure that I'm on your list

00:17:19.289 --> 00:17:21.710
for future, you know, releases, that'd be fantastic.

00:17:21.730 --> 00:17:23.670
I'll make sure that Ron sorts you out. That'd

00:17:23.670 --> 00:17:26.630
be brilliant. Thank you very much. Okay, so it's

00:17:26.630 --> 00:17:29.490
a very exciting future with the Blow Monkey,

00:17:30.430 --> 00:17:34.349
certainly. I hope so. Yeah, well, it sounds anyway.

00:17:35.009 --> 00:17:37.049
It's not for one that are trying. It all sounds

00:17:37.049 --> 00:17:39.710
very upbeat and positive from your end, Robert.

00:17:40.650 --> 00:17:44.230
Okay, so... I think we probably almost answered

00:17:44.230 --> 00:17:47.089
the next question. We always say, assuming lockdowns

00:17:47.089 --> 00:17:49.769
is finally over, once and for all, somewhere

00:17:49.769 --> 00:17:53.529
around six months time, or we say Christmas,

00:17:54.109 --> 00:17:58.049
January next year, where would you, Robert, and

00:17:58.049 --> 00:18:00.309
the Blow Monkeys, where would you all like to

00:18:00.309 --> 00:18:04.750
be career -wise? Would it be touring or just

00:18:04.750 --> 00:18:09.490
plodding? think about it like that, we just take

00:18:09.490 --> 00:18:11.710
it as it comes. I mean we've put a new record

00:18:11.710 --> 00:18:14.430
out, hopefully it'll do well. We've got a tour

00:18:14.430 --> 00:18:16.170
booked in October, I don't know if that's going

00:18:16.170 --> 00:18:17.829
to go ahead, but if it doesn't we'll move it

00:18:17.829 --> 00:18:19.589
to the next spring. We'll just take it when it

00:18:19.589 --> 00:18:25.609
comes because at this point I really enjoy every

00:18:25.609 --> 00:18:29.130
aspect of playing live and you know, we're no

00:18:29.130 --> 00:18:31.210
spring chickens either, so you just never know

00:18:31.210 --> 00:18:36.869
when... last gig, the last record. Hopefully

00:18:36.869 --> 00:18:39.430
it won't, because we're very creative. But, you

00:18:39.430 --> 00:18:41.269
know, so in other words, I just make the most

00:18:41.269 --> 00:18:43.509
of all of it, really. I don't really have a career

00:18:43.509 --> 00:18:45.950
plan at this point. No, I mean, you certainly

00:18:45.950 --> 00:18:48.670
are very creative anyway. I mean, it's sort of,

00:18:48.750 --> 00:18:53.930
oh, yeah, that'd be ideal. And, you know, it

00:18:53.930 --> 00:18:57.089
sounds very upbeat having a chat with you as

00:18:57.089 --> 00:18:59.650
well, which is just fantastic. I think people

00:18:59.650 --> 00:19:03.390
at home listening just want... It's nice to have

00:19:03.390 --> 00:19:05.349
somebody out there because it's all so depressing

00:19:05.349 --> 00:19:07.690
what people are talking about. Somebody that

00:19:07.690 --> 00:19:09.869
knows where they want to be in the touring, it

00:19:09.869 --> 00:19:13.089
just sounds pretty exciting, Rob, really. I mean,

00:19:13.109 --> 00:19:15.809
it's very sad what's happened. There's been a

00:19:15.809 --> 00:19:20.730
lot of tragic stories, but it's a time of great

00:19:20.730 --> 00:19:22.690
change, and out of that change can come some

00:19:22.690 --> 00:19:26.609
very positive things, and you just have to imagine

00:19:26.609 --> 00:19:31.609
that, otherwise you go down. for me is a real

00:19:31.609 --> 00:19:35.569
healing thing in the world and I'm proud to be

00:19:35.569 --> 00:19:38.190
part of that kind of thing. It feels like a good

00:19:38.190 --> 00:19:43.150
thing to be doing in this time. When you were

00:19:43.150 --> 00:19:47.549
a kid or a teenager, do you have any influences

00:19:47.549 --> 00:19:51.049
or has the Blow Monkey style just developed through

00:19:51.049 --> 00:19:54.109
yourself and the other members of the band working

00:19:54.109 --> 00:19:56.789
together? Well of course there were influences.

00:19:59.950 --> 00:20:02.109
that really hit me, I guess, when I was young,

00:20:02.750 --> 00:20:09.269
was Mark Bowman. And then, you know, later on,

00:20:09.430 --> 00:20:11.789
punk came along, and punk was people of my generation,

00:20:11.990 --> 00:20:15.930
my age. And then, you know, I mean, people, you

00:20:15.930 --> 00:20:18.970
know, just so much. I mean, soul music was always

00:20:18.970 --> 00:20:20.589
massive when I was growing up, when I grew up

00:20:20.589 --> 00:20:23.029
in a place called Kingsland that was a real northern

00:20:23.029 --> 00:20:26.509
soul town. And so, you know, such a mixture.

00:20:26.809 --> 00:20:31.309
And also the stuff that I'd heard come that are

00:20:31.309 --> 00:20:34.430
older than me, so that was all Beatles and, you

00:20:34.430 --> 00:20:37.269
know, back writing David. It's all in the mix

00:20:37.269 --> 00:20:40.289
there, really. I kind of love everything, really,

00:20:40.390 --> 00:20:43.869
except for heavy metal. And out of your own songs

00:20:43.869 --> 00:20:46.069
that you've brought out over the years, which

00:20:46.069 --> 00:20:49.430
would you say was your favourite? To be honest,

00:20:49.569 --> 00:20:51.650
right now, the last single is called Times Square.

00:20:51.529 --> 00:20:53.950
Yeah, I see that, okay. Robert, this is your

00:20:53.950 --> 00:20:58.250
opportunity to tell listeners at home about Facebook

00:20:58.250 --> 00:21:01.009
pages, groups, websites. This is your moment,

00:21:01.269 --> 00:21:04.589
mate. Okay, well, on the socials I've got a Twitter

00:21:04.589 --> 00:21:06.309
handle, is that what they call that, I think,

00:21:06.730 --> 00:21:09.910
at The Blow Monkeys, and we have a Facebook page,

00:21:10.029 --> 00:21:12.509
the official Facebook page, The Blow Monkeys,

00:21:12.630 --> 00:21:16.750
again, and of course a website, www .theblowmonkeys

00:21:16.750 --> 00:21:19.730
.com, where you can get involved with helping,

00:21:19.869 --> 00:21:29.069
you know, So, yeah, we've got a presence. Robert,

00:21:29.490 --> 00:21:32.490
Dr. Robert, it's been a pleasure having you on

00:21:32.490 --> 00:21:36.089
Chatterbox, and do keep in touch and let us know

00:21:36.089 --> 00:21:38.329
when your releases are coming up. We've given

00:21:38.329 --> 00:21:41.109
a little bit of a spin for you, my friend. That's

00:21:41.109 --> 00:21:42.710
lovely. Well, thank you very much. I enjoyed

00:21:42.710 --> 00:22:16.829
it. You've been listening to the Chatterbox Redux

00:22:16.829 --> 00:22:19.890
podcast and today our special guest was Dr Robert

00:22:19.890 --> 00:22:24.430
aka Robert Howard of the Blow Monkeys. If you're

00:22:24.430 --> 00:22:26.970
interested in becoming a future guest on the

00:22:26.970 --> 00:22:30.089
Chatterbox Redux podcast or the radio show Chatterbox

00:22:30.089 --> 00:22:33.269
UK you're welcome to submit songs, books or whatever

00:22:33.269 --> 00:22:37.190
it is you do and send us a CV, synopsis or press

00:22:37.190 --> 00:22:40.089
release. However, we receive several thousand

00:22:40.089 --> 00:22:42.849
such press releases every week, and it's impossible

00:22:42.849 --> 00:22:46.369
to reply to each one individually. Why not email

00:22:46.369 --> 00:22:48.670
us or leave a comment, because we'd love to know

00:22:48.670 --> 00:22:51.190
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00:22:51.190 --> 00:22:55.470
is nickelbum at myyahoo .com. Alternatively,

00:22:55.670 --> 00:22:59.509
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00:22:59.509 --> 00:23:02.609
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00:23:02.609 --> 00:23:08.750
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00:23:08.750 --> 00:23:11.549
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00:23:11.549 --> 00:23:14.690
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00:23:24.769 --> 00:23:27.569
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00:23:27.569 --> 00:23:29.630
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00:23:29.630 --> 00:23:33.210
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00:23:33.210 --> 00:23:36.259
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00:23:36.259 --> 00:24:03.829
them. Bye bye! Nick and Sue with Chatterbox giving

00:24:03.829 --> 00:24:08.569
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