William "Bill" Minkin (born October 17, 1941) is an American comedian, singer, and recording artist who performed
political satire
Political satire is a type of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics. Political satire can also act as a tool for advancing political arguments in conditions where political speech and dissent are banned.
Political satir ...
, under the names Senator Bobby and Senator Everett McKinley.
In 1967,
Parkway Records released a
45 rpm single of Minkin singing two versions of
The Troggs
The Troggs (originally called the Troglodytes) are an English beat music band formed in Andover, Hampshire, in May 1964. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper " Wild Thing", " With a Girl Like You" and " Love Is All Around", al ...
' 1966 hit song, "
Wild Thing". On side one, Minkin uses the alias Senator Bobby in his
impression of
Democratic US Senator
The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968), also known as RFK, was an American politician and lawyer. He served as the 64th United States attorney general from January 1961 to September 1964, and as a U.S. senator from New Yo ...
singing "Wild Thing".
On side two, the comedian uses the alias Senator Everett McKinley in his impression of
Republican US Senator
Everett Dirksen
Everett McKinley Dirksen (January 4, 1896 – September 7, 1969) was an American politician. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, he represented Illinois in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. As P ...
singing the same song.
The single reached number 20 on the
US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...
. The Senator Bobby version is credited on the single's label to Minkin (misspelled as "Menkin") and the group The Hardly-Worthit Players.
It has appeared on reissues of the group's 1966 Parkway album entitled ''The Hardly-Worthit Report'', along with the Cameo-Parkway album ''Boston Soul'' by the same performers.
He released a follow-up single in 1967, also a satirical "Senator BobbY" style cover of the Donovan Leitch song "
Mellow Yellow
"Mellow Yellow" is a song written and recorded by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. Released in the US in 1966, it reached No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Outside the US, "Mellow Yellow" peaked at No. 8 in the UK in early 1967.
Content ...
" on the Cameo-Parkway label
Minkin is also known as the host for the long-running
King Biscuit Flower Hour
The ''King Biscuit Flower Hour'' was an American syndicated radio show presented by the D.I.R. Radio Network that featured concert performances by various rock music recording artists.
History
The program was broadcast on Sunday nights from 1 ...
radio concert series. Minkin voices
Krew in
Jak 2 and
Jak 3
''Jak 3'' is a 2004 action-adventure video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. The game is the sequel to '' Jak II'' and serves as the conclusion of the trilogy. The story of the prev ...
Naughty Dog
Naughty Dog, LLC (formerly JAM Software, Inc.) is an American first-party video game developer based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1984, the studio was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2001. G ...
video game series.
References
External links
*{{IMDb name , 0591431, Bill Minkin
1941 births
American male comedians
Living people