(* as part of Westworld )
Chart entered : 15 October 1988
Chart peak : 72
The first of the Generation X diaspora bows out here. After playing guitar on their first two albums, including their biggest hit "King Rocker", Bob fell out with Billy Idol and Tony James over being shut out of the songwriting and quit the band at the end of 1979. He formed Empire with drummer Mark Laff who was sacked from Generation X shortly afterwards. Empire received some good notices and a degree of success in Spain but their records bombed and they folded in 1984. Bob formed the trio Westworld two years later to pursue a similar musical direction to James's outfit Sigue Sigue Sputnik melding rock guitar to electronic rhythms. They had immediate success early in 1987 when "Sonic Boom Boy" reached number 11 ( equalling his chart peak with Gen-X ) after exposure on The Tube but hadn't managed to crack the Top 30 with subsequent singles and their debut album "Where The Action Is" stalled at number 49.
"Everything Good Is Bad" was the lead single for their second album. It's a cover of a 1972 soul tune co-penned by Chairmen of the Board's General Johnson for the group 100 Proof ( Aged In Soul ). It was the last of their four U.S. hits, none of which charted here. The band have ditched the Eddie Cochran riffs of the debut album for heavily treated guitar, which together with the synthetic rhythm track , gives the track a sleazy feel that's not a million miles away from Goldfrapp. Under-rated American vocalist Elisabeth Westwood's rich voice retains some of the soul of the original and it's not a bad record at all. Despite being opportunistically promoted in the music press with a mugshot of just-disgraced sprinter Ben Johnson, the single could only scrape into the lowest reaches of the chart.
After the failure of the single, RCA would only release the new album "Beatbox Rock 'N' Roll" in Germany and Australia. It's a decent listen that follows the lead of the single in increasing the electronic content of their bubblegum rock but I think RCA were right in not discerning a hit amongst its other tracks.
RCA let them have one more crack with the single "Dance On" in 1989 which sounds like Transvision Vamp with a better singer. However the song is so utterly vacuous you wonder if they're taking the piss. The disparity in success between the two bands is striking and it's depressing to think that it may well have been Westwood's refusal to trade on her sexuality that explains it.
Cut adrift by RCA they re-located to Arizona and signed with MCA for their third album "Movers & Shakers" which came out in the U.S. only in 1991. It sees the band further refining their sound but the singles weren't well chosen. "Do No Wrong" chugs along on the most boring of riffs and "Lipsyncher" is all blustery synth noise and no song. By contrast, "So Long Cowboy" which made it onto the Point Break soundtrack , "Stargazer" and "Time Machine Pop Gun" are all good tunes which hint at a greater depth in their songwriting.
In 1994 the band contracted to a duo of just Bob and Westwood , re-branded as Moondogg. They returned to London to work with producer Martin Stephenson ( not the guy from the Daintees ). Their first release was a four track EP "Silver Lining" later that year. It announced their intention to pursue a new drum and bass direction with guitars firmly in the background. The first three tracks are defiantly abstract and uncommercial "Gasoline Rain is a more conventional song but still tuneless. All four tracks were on their debut LP "Fat Lot of Good" in 1996. The more recent tracks, like the single "Black Pain" set a Southern blues against skittering drum and bass patterns. It's a dark uneasy marriage which had zero potential to shift many units although they got some good press for it. Later that year they released a standalone single "Nothing's Sacred " which saw them move in a trip hop direction.
After that Bob returned to America, got married and worked as a motorcycle courier. He formed a part-time alt-country outfit Speedtwinn with singer Gary Twinn who'd been in Twenty Flight Rockers with his former Generation X band mate Mark Laff.
He reunited with Westwood for another Moondogg album "God's Wallop" which flits between drum and bass and Portishead- style trip hop with Westwood sounding very close to Beth Gibbons on some tracks. Though slightly more accessible than its predecessor , it's not tuneful enough to attract casual listeners.
In 2003 Speedtwinn released their only LP. "California" , a good humoured collection of country tunes including one or two Westworld songs given an appropriate makeover. By the time of its release he had already called time on the band.
The following year he released the last Moondogg album to date, "All The Love In The World". It's a lo-fi collection of songs still heavily indebted to Portishead but not unpleasant to have on in the background.
After that he became a reporter for a local radio station despite retaining a recognisably London accent. In 2006 he and Laff reunited to release a re-recording of Empire's debut single "Hot Seat " . In 2011 he would record a few tracks with a new version of Empire though they appeared on a solo album by singer Babel Wallace.
For the last decade Bob has lived in California's High Desert region and recorded a series of solo albums in a lo-fi Ry Cooder style playing lap steel guitar under the overarching title "Tone Poet". There have been three volumes to date. Bob toured the second one - the only one to have a physical release - in the UK in 2015. He also released a jokey covers album "Cover Yer Arse " in 2009.
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