Bob Loblaw - Digitized finally!

[bouche]

Here's a little something I was blessed with by StoneMtn. I think this was actually on Cassette tape! Remember those?

Bob Loblaw

V.C.R.

Neon Rock Bar

Hucksters Creed

Bacon Album

Mi Ritmo Album

Chicken Poulet Album

Despise

4 ' 33'

Despise (reprise)

[bouche]

geezuz.... this is really fooking good !

[StoneMtn]

The most annoying member of Bob Loblaw, a guy who calls himself "Velvet", has challenged me for years to guess which song is in "mono" because they ran out of time when they were recording and were unable to do it in stereo. I've guessed which one on many occasions, but he's never told me if I'm right and refuses to do so.

Any guesses?

[bouche]

Put on some headphones and it should be easy.

I noticed a really cool pan effect on V.C.R. with the whammy bar doing a little dip and swinging from left to right. Very cool. So, it's not track 1

[Velvet]

Awesome. Thanks guys.

[Del]

I'm looking forward to finally hearing Bob Loblaw... I've heard a lot of people say they were worth checking out...

[StoneMtn]

They were incredibile live. They made a point of doing something unique every show.

For instance, one show they had an actor-friend come onstage and read poetry over an instrumental jam, another time they had a guy at side-stage fry up a pad thai during first set for the band to eat during set-break (which unfortunately smelled so good that it caused the whole audience to get the munchies and leave at set break for pizza, not to return), and perhaps the oddest was when each band member pulled out a long, plastic corrugated tube and one-by-one stopped playing their instruments to swing these tubes in the air; causing a "hummmmmmmm" and which went on for a bizarrely long time while the audience stood gaping at the stage.

I want Bob Loblaw back.

[Velvet]

Just listened to the whole thing...hadn't heard that noise in a long, long time.

Anywho, a couple of corretions: Those three songs don't have the word "album" in them, and what you have tracked as the last three songs are all one track, Despise. 4'33" is a piece of silence that comes on the tape after despise. You have to turn it pretty loud.

And here, just 'cuz I think they're clever, are the lyrics to Bacon:

Bacon, lettuce and mayo

The favourite sandwich of Mister Plato.

Oh he could eat you, both night and day-o.

Oh what a wise man was Mister Plato.

Oh what a wise man, Mister Plato, bacon, lettuce and tomato.

Spiritual transcendance is not good luck, so part your hair.

[Velvet]

Funny that I spelt "corrections" incorrectly.

[Del]

So are these tracks from an album, or from a show?

[StoneMtn]

It's a cassette "released" by the band.

If you want to see some history of Velvet and Bob Loblaw, from their earlier days in "The Gutterboys", click on the paragraph following the classic photo of the lovely Velvet below...

Jean-Pierre (J.P.) Coté was the life giver to the band, as he christened them the Gutterboys. He subconsciously played the Ring Leader and Master of Ceremonies for the band to perfection. As lead guitar and vocalist, he provided a commanding presence onstage in addition to giving the "sweat for everyone" to prove it. His own unique style of imagery and eclecticism gave the Gutterboys a type of near-genius that was hard to duplicate. Indeed, J.P. rarely sang the same words twice to even his own original compositions. J.P. (along with Gutterboy bandmate Todd) went on to form another more succuessful Ottawa band Bob Loblaw that lasted several years.

[Pumpkinhead]

Did I make these files???

[Del]

I notice that you have track 8 listed as 4' 33'... Is that 4 minutes and 33 seconds, 4 feet 33 feet or 4 feet 33 inches? I just want to label it correctly...

[Velvet]

It's a cover of a John Cage pice, called 4' 33".

"John Cage's most famous musical composition is called 4'33". It consists of the pianist going to the piano, and not hitting any keys for four minutes and thirty-three seconds. (He uses a stopwatch to time this.) In other words, the entire piece consists of silences -- silences of different lengths, they say.

On the one hand, as a musical piece, 4'33" leaves almost no room for the pianist's interpretation: as long as he watches the stopwatch, he can't play it too fast or too slow; he can't hit the wrong keys; he can't play it too loud, or too melodramatically, or too subduedly.

On the other hand, what you hear when you listen to 4'33" is more a matter of chance than with any other piece of music -- nothing of what you hear is anything the composer wrote."

[Del]

Interesting, thanks Velvet. Also, iTunes is calling the title of the album Monkey Do... Is this the actual title of the cassette, or is iTunes just labelling it incorrectly?

[StoneMtn]

The cassette is, in fact, called "Monkey Do".

Re Pumpkinhead's question:

Nope. Yukon John did this one. I had a couple of old copies of Monkey Do that were unopened, and I sent one up to Whitehorse where he digitized it and sent me back a really purty CD with a graphic on it taken from the original tape. So, if anyone cares, the tape that was used to digitize this had never been played before, and presumably the quality is thus as good as it could possibly be (especially considering that the person who digitized it is a very particular perfectionist in general).

[Pumpkinhead]

I love the Cage cover. It sounds awesome now that it's been digitally remastered!

[Lassie]

Velvet, that music is awesome. I think that you should get back together and play at our wedding.

I really liked that song "VCR"!

[mulvee]

Finally some answers...

For the last few months my little girl(shes almost 11 months) has been saying something to the effect of "Bla Blah La", to which I reply "Bob Loblaw", cause well thats what it sounds like shes saying. I'd had no idea about Bob Loblaw until this post, I've listened to the first track and enjoyed...Think I'll wait till tommorrow for the rest, when the little ones up, to share with her what shes been asking for.

Thank you Bob Loblaw...wonder what she'll ask for next?

[Pumpkinhead]

For anyone interested I created a torrent for it here . .

Bob Loblaw - Monkey Do

Weirdly enough, there have already been about 5 downloads from me alone, and now others are seeding it, so I guess either people are curious, or Bob has a lot of fans!

[StoneMtn]

Finally some answers...

For the last few months my little girl(shes almost 11 months) has been saying something to the effect of "Bla Blah La", to which I reply "Bob Loblaw", cause well thats what it sounds like shes saying. I'd had no idea about Bob Loblaw until this post, I've listened to the first track and enjoyed...Think I'll wait till tommorrow for the rest, when the little ones up, to share with her what shes been asking for.

Thank you Bob Loblaw...wonder what she'll ask for next?

The band is also available for babysitting and baby-translation services. (I highly recommend Paul for babysitting. I'd opt for JP, though, if you need a translator.)