Raised in the "yeah, yeah, yeah" era, when 2 minutes & 50 seconds was an incredibly long song, Bobby learned to get the as much as he could in 2 minutes. The melody and hook were the important thing...cool, abstract lyrics he left to Paul Simon, e.g. "I wish I was a Kellogg's cornflake". Today, while his songs now stretch past the 4 minute barrier more often than not, his melodies and hooks are still his "thing", although every now and then he can get a bit abstract...not that he's writing about breakfast cereals yet, just that sometimes he can be unclear...I think they call that "edgy" nowadays. Listen and relax, no need to get deep, life's too short.
Sounds Like: Marshall Crenshaw
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Revising and re-writing my entire catalog...
Bio
Born in Portland, Oregon before your time.
Mom was a musician and did some singing with Jimmy Cagney back in the "big one" WWII.
Saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, Soupy Sales was on the same show, consequently I became a drummer.
Spent the better part of the next year learning the drums and how to maintain bangs with the curly hair God gave me.
First band..."The Paisleys" with Alan Brown (bass) and two brothers.
Fired one brother, welcome to show biz Tommy!, and hired Dave Buell, who could actually play an instrument, unlike the rest of us. The late Cher Doering (The Archies), Pat Sherret & another guy who's name escapes me were also in the band at different times. We pretty much stunk and broke up after setting the record for playing "Fergie's Rec Room" the most.
This is when I picked up the guitar.
First song "Beautiful Rock"...which was neither "beautiful" or 'rock"...
Next step ...Piano
Mom taught me in 10 minutes...she had something on the stove...
Started writing hit after hit...or so I thought..."Burning the Midnight Oil Over You", The fight song for "Central Catholic High School (with Father Joseph Baccellieri) and Holy Child Academy's Graduation song (with Nancy Casciato) to name a few....
In the 70's .....played with Dave Buell as Redwing & Bluestreak..highlighted by being the first "folk" act at The Peter Britt Festival in Jacksonville, Oregon. We got rained out....I believe EmmyLou played there the following year.
With Jay Seibert & wrestler turned bass player Bill Piland, I played in a band known as "Formerly"...the name was chosen so that we could change our name every week. At this point I was writing a ton...and some of the songs were actually pretty good....
Later that decade I was drafted into a band called "Country Al & His Pals"...that's right, "Country al & His Pals"...enough said....really a very good and popular band until I joined.
In the 80's....."The Combined Powers Of The Mystic Deal" was formed or hatched, depending on who you ask...Suzie Fischer, Curly LaJolla, Chili Dog Smith, Jake Jacobson & I played a kinda new wave country. This was a nice diversion until the real "New Wave" hit and we couldn't get hired..not even at "Fergie's Rec Room"...
So....since that time, I've been writing & recording and getting better and better....the one hope I have is that I peak before I'm so old that I think I am "Fergie".