This edition of the Chatterbox Redux podcast is brought to you in association with the Strong Coffee Company. More from them in a bit. Chatterbox. 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.
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to the environment. 1 % of all commissions are donated to the Stripe Climate Program to help 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 interested in becoming a future guest on the Chatterbox Redux podcast or the radio show Chatterbox UK you're welcome to submit songs, books or whatever it is you do and send us a CV, synopsis or press release. However, we receive several thousand such press releases every week, and it's impossible to reply to each one individually. Why not email us or leave a comment, because we'd love to know what you think of the podcast. Our email address
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episode. Sue myself Nick and twinkle the tuxedo cat thank you very much for your company and we look forward to welcoming you again next time for another Chatterbox Redux podcast in the meantime take care thank you for your company and we catch them. Bye bye! Nick and Sue with Chatterbox giving you all you need to know about musical entertainment Chatterbox the best interviews with Nick and Sue the best news