Robert Leroy Mothersbaugh Jr. (; born August 11, 1952), or by his stage name Bob 1, is an American musician, singer, songwriter and composer. Mothersbaugh's music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as lead guitarist and occasional lead singer of the new wave band

Devo Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a ...

, which released a top 20 hit in 1980 with the single " Whip It". The band has maintained a

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

throughout its existence. He is the younger brother of co-founder and lead singer

Mark Mothersbaugh Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (; born May 18, 1950) is an American composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead singer and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose " Whip It" was a top 2 ...

Early years

Robert Leroy Mothersbaugh Jr. was born on August 11, 1952, in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

. He is the son of Mary Margaret ("Mig") and Robert Mothersbaugh Sr. He grew up with one older brother, Mark Mothersbaugh, Mark, and one younger brother, Jim Mothersbaugh, Jim, and two sisters, Amy and Susan. In high school, he played in the cover band Jitters with his brother Jim Mothersbaugh and Greg Brosch on guitar and Greg Kaiser on bass. His father appeared in early Devo films and fan events as the character General Boy, and his brothers participated in the band, although Jim's tenure was brief, appearing only on several early demos.

Career

Devo

In early 1970, Bob Lewis (musician), Bob Lewis and Gerald Casale formed the idea of the "devolution" of the human race after Casale's friend Jeffrey Miller (shooting victim), Jeffrey Miller was killed by Ohio National Guardsmen Kent State shootings, firing on a student demonstration. Mothersbaugh joined Devo in 1974. After the band underwent a few line-up changes, Bob Mothersbaugh became part of the most popular five-piece incarnation, which included the Casale brothers: Gerald and Bob Casale, Bob ("Bob 2") and the Mothersbaugh brothers: Mark Mothersbaugh, Mark and Bob ("Bob 1"), as well as drummer Alan Myers (drummer), Alan Myers. In 1981, Mothersbaugh with Devo served as Toni Basil's backing band on Word of Mouth (Toni Basil album), ''Word of Mouth'', her debut album, which included versions of three Devo songs, recorded with Basil singing lead. Following the commercial failure of their sixth studio album ''Shout (Devo album), Shout'', Warner Bros. Records, Warner Bros. dropped Devo. Shortly after, claiming to feel creatively unfulfilled, Alan Myers left the band, causing the remaining band members to abandon the plans for a ''Shout'' video LP, as well as a tour. In 1987, Devo reformed with new drummer David Kendrick, formerly of Sparks (band), Sparks, to replace Myers. Their first project was a soundtrack for the flop horror film ''Slaughterhouse Rock'', starring Toni Basil, and they released the albums ''Total Devo'' (1988) and ''Smooth Noodle Maps'' (1990), on Enigma Records, Enigma. The band stopped performing again in 1991, but reformed as a musical act in 1995. In 2006, Devo worked on a project with The Walt Disney Company, Disney known as Devo 2.0. A band of child performers was assembled and re-recorded Devo songs. A quote from the ''Akron Beacon Journal'' stated, "Devo recently finished a new project in cahoots with Disney called Devo 2.0, which features the band playing old songs and two new ones with vocals provided by children. Their debut album, a two disc CD/DVD combo entitled ''DEV2.0'', was released on March 14, 2006. The lyrics of some of the songs were changed for family-friendly airplay, which has been claimed by the band to be a play on irony of the messages of their classic hits. The album, ''Something for Everybody (Devo album), Something for Everybody'' was eventually released in June 2010, preceded by a 12" single of "Fresh"/"What We Do". Mothersbaugh and the other Devo members were part of the Church of the SubGenius.

Other work

In 1989, Bob Mothersbaugh and other members of Devo were involved in the project Visiting Kids, releasing a self-titled EP on the New Rose label in 1990. The group featured Mark Mothersbaugh's then-wife Nancye Ferguson, as well as David Kendrick, Bob Mothersbaugh and Bob's daughter Alex Mothersbaugh. Their record was produced by Bob Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh, and Mark also co-wrote some of the songs. Visiting Kids appeared on the soundtrack to the film ''Rockula'', as well as on the ''Late Show with David Letterman''. A promotional video was filmed for the song "Trilobites". Following Devo's hiatus in 1991, Mothersbaugh founded his own band called The Bob I Band and recorded an unreleased album with the drummer, David Kendrick. The master tapes were lost, although a bootleg of the band is circulating. Mothersbaugh produces soundtracks for film and television, such as the animated television series ''Rugrats'', as part of the production company Mutato Muzika. In 2015, Mothersbaugh performed the theme to ''Harvey Beaks''.

Equipment

Current

*Gibson Custom Michael Bloomfield 1959 Les Paul *LaBaye 2x4 *Fractal Audio Axe-FX Ultra *Ibanez Tube Screamer, Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer

Former

*G&L Musical Instruments, G&L SC2 Student Model *G&L F100 Series II *G&L Comanche *J.B. Player "Buick" (with Bigsby vibrato tailpiece) *Kay Musical Instrument Company, Kay K1962 *Fender Mustang *Fender Swinger *Fender Telecaster *Gibson Les Paul (modified w/ inverted horn) *Gibson Les Paul Junior#Variations, Gibson Les Paul Jr. Doublecut *Gibson SG *Chopper Guitars "Spudocaster" *Gibson L6-S Natural Maple *Ibanez custom blue "Spud" guitar *Ibanez Destroyer (Gibson Explorer copy) *Ibanez Iceman *Green "T-style" guitar built by Buzz Feiten *Line 6 POD XT and X3s

Soundtracks

Television

Film

References

External links

Mutato Muzika
official site * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mothersbaugh, Bob 1952 births Living people 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists American male composers American rock guitarists American male guitarists American new wave musicians American SubGenii American people of English descent American people of Swiss descent Devo members Songwriters from Ohio Musicians from Akron, Ohio American lead guitarists American male new wave singers Guitarists from Ohio 20th-century American composers American post-punk musicians Punk Rock Karaoke members