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Robert Doc Cox (born 1 July 1946), also known as Ivor Biggun, is a British musician and former television journalist. He is known for his appearances on the
BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...
programme ''
That's Life! ''That's Life!'' was a satirical TV consumer affairs programme on the BBC, at its height regularly reaching audiences of fifteen to twenty million, and receiving 10–15,000 letters a week. The series broadcast on BBC1 for twenty-one years, ...
'' from 1982 to 1992 and for four albums of humorous, smutty songs. Currently resident in
Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
, he is active in several pub bands, including the Trembling Wheelbarrows.


Education

Cox was educated at the King Edward VI Grammar School in
Retford Retford (), also known as East Retford, is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England, and one of the oldest English market towns having been granted its first charter in 1105. It lies on the River Idle and the Chesterfie ...
,
Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...
.


''That's Life!''

After some years as a teacher, Cox became a sound engineer with the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
in 1969. Later he became a warm-up man for ''
That's Life! ''That's Life!'' was a satirical TV consumer affairs programme on the BBC, at its height regularly reaching audiences of fifteen to twenty million, and receiving 10–15,000 letters a week. The series broadcast on BBC1 for twenty-one years, ...
''; he recalled that one day "Someone didn't turn up for one of the auditions or something, and I was sort of pushed in". It has been reported that the nickname "Doc" was acquired as a result of Cox habitually using a black doctor's bag to carry his packed lunches when working on location. In October 2008, Cox was part of a ''That’s Life!'' reunion broadcast on
BBC London 94.9 BBC Radio London is the BBC's local radio station serving Greater London and its surrounding areas. The station broadcasts across the area and beyond, on the 94.9 FM frequency, DAB, Virgin Media channel 937, Sky channel 0152 (in the Lond ...
. Cox said of the impending reunion: "It'll be lovely to chat to Esther again. Somebody once asked me who my greatest influences were, and I had to reply '
Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...
,
George Formby George Formby, (born George Hoy Booth; 26 May 1904 – 6 March 1961) was an English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian who became known to a worldwide audience through his films of the 1930s and 1940s. On stage, screen and record he s ...
, my dad,
Martin Luther King Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
and
Esther Rantzen Dame Esther Louise Rantzen (born 22 June 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter, who presented the BBC television series ''That's Life!'' for 21 years, from 1973 until 1994. She works with various charitable causes, and foun ...
'."


Ivor Biggun

Under the Biggun name, Cox fronts a humorous band that is sometimes billed simply as "Ivor Biggun", or variously "Ivor Biggun and the Red-nosed Burglars" or "Ivor Biggun and the Left-handed Wankers", also “Ivor’s Jivers” (less rude), or Ivor Biggun's Vulgar Band. He specialises in
double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially ...
-laden smutty songs. Ivor Biggun has released four albums of bawdy songs (and recorded with
Judge Dread Alexander Minto Hughes (2 May 1945 – 13 March 1998), better known as Judge Dread, was an English reggae and ska musician. He was the first white recording artist to have a reggae hit in Jamaica, and the BBC has banned more of his songs than ...
and David "Screaming Lord" Sutch), the most recent being 2005's ''Handling Swollen Goods''. The name Ivor Biggun is a double entendre, as when Ivor is pronounced non-rhotically (as in most British accents) as , the full name is a
homophone A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same (to varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. A ''homophone'' may also differ in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (p ...
for "I've a big 'un".
Johnny Rotten John Joseph Lydon (; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the late-1970s punk band the Sex Pistols, which lasted from 1975 until 1978, and agai ...
selected " The Winker's Song (Misprint)" as his single of the week in 1978 when he was a guest reviewer for ''
New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
''. The single sold well, reaching number 22 in the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
thanks to Rotten's support. However, it was banned by nearly all radio stations due to its explicit lyrics. The single "Bras on 45 (Family Version)", credited to "Ivor Biggun and the D Cups", reached number 50 in the UK Singles Chart in 1981 and remained in the charts for three weeks. Both a frequent contributor and occasional guest on ''The
Dr. Demento Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...
Show'', he composed a song as an homage which includes references to several of Dr. Demento's featured artists and songs from the show within its lyrics. Ivor Biggun is sometimes compared to or even confused with George Formby. Biggun's 1987 song "Nobody Does It Like The Ukulele Man" pays homage to Formby.


Discography

* 1978 ''The Winker's Album (Misprint)'' BBL1CD * 1979 "The Winker's Rock 'n' Roll" (Extended Play single "7 incher") BOP5 * 1981 ''More Filth! Dirt Cheap'' BBL3CD * 1987 ''Partners in Grime'' BBL79CD * 1999 ''The Fruity Bits of Ivor Biggun'' (Greatest hits) * 2005 ''Handling Swollen Goods'' TOSSA2CD * 2006 ''More Fruity Bits! The Rest of Ivor Biggun (Misprint)'' (Second greatest hits, double CD) * 2021 ''The Compleat Works of Ivor Biggon'' TOSSA5CD (5-CD Set including ''The Winker's Album'', ''Handling Swollen Goods'', ''More Filth! Dirt Cheap!'', ''Partners in Grime'' and a bonus disc of previously unreleased material dating up to the 2020s - ''Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Mostly Blue'')


References


External links

*
Audio Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Doc 1946 births Living people English male singers English comedy musicians English television presenters People educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, Retford British novelty song performers