Robert Leroy Mothersbaugh Jr. (; born August 11, 1952), also known 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 is an American new wave 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 No. 14 ...

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

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

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 musician and composer. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead vocalist and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose " Whip It" was a top 20 single in the US ...

Early years

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

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

. He is the son of Mary Margaret ("Mig") and Robert Mothersbaugh Sr. He grew up with one older brother,

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

, and one younger brother, 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 and

Gerald Casale Gerald Vincent Casale ( ) ( ''né'' Pizzute; born July 28, 1948) is an American musician. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, co-lead vocalist and bass player of the new wave band Devo, which released a top 20 hit in 1980 wi ...

formed the idea of the "devolution" of the human race after Casale's friend Jeffrey Miller was killed by Ohio National Guardsmen 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 ("Bob 2") and the Mothersbaugh brothers:

and Bob ("Bob 1"), as well as drummer Alan Myers. In 1981, Mothersbaugh with Devo served as Toni Basil's backing band on ''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'',

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

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 David Kendrick (born March 23, 1955) is an American musician who is currently a member of the experimental pop band Xiu Xiu. A former member of Gleaming Spires and Devo, he has recorded and toured with Sparks, Andy Prieboy, and Revolushn. He is ...

, formerly of 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 ''Total Devo'' is the seventh studio album by American new wave band Devo, released in 1988 by Enigma Records. "Disco Dancer" hit No. 45 on ''Billboards Hot Dance Club Play chart for the week of September 3, 1988. Background Following the rele ...

'' (1988) and ''

Smooth Noodle Maps ''Smooth Noodle Maps'' (stylized as smoothnoodlemaps) is the eighth studio album by the American new wave band Devo. It was originally released in June 1990 and would be their last album released through Enigma. The album was recorded over a per ...

'' (1990), on

Enigma Enigma may refer to: *Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling Biology *ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain Computing and technology * Enigma (company), a New York–based data-technology startup *Enigma machine, a famil ...

. The band stopped performing again in 1991, but reformed as a musical act in 1995. In 2006, Devo worked on a project with

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

known as

Devo 2.0 Devo 2.0 (also known as DEV2.O) was a pop group quintet, created for Walt Disney Records (with the participation of Devo), of child actors who sing, dance, and (in their music videos and photo shoots) mime playing instruments along to songs re-r ...

. A band of child performers was assembled and re-recorded Devo songs. A quote from the ''

Akron Beacon Journal The ''Akron Beacon Journal'' is a morning newspaper in Akron, Ohio, United States. Owned by Gannett, it is the sole daily newspaper in Akron and is distributed throughout Northeast Ohio. The paper's coverage focuses on local news. The Beacon Jo ...

'' 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 A family-friendly product or service is one that is considered to be suitable for all members of an average family. Family-friendly restaurants are ones that provide service to families that have young children. Frequently, family-friendly produc ...

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 ''Something for Everybody'' is the sixth studio album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released on RCA Victor in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 2370, in May 1961. Recording sessions took place on November 8, 1960, at Radio Recorders i ...

'' 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 The Church of the SubGenius is a parody religion that satirizes better-known belief systems. It teaches a complex philosophy that focuses on J. R. "Bob" Dobbs, purportedly a salesman from the 1950s, who is revered as a prophet by the Church. SubGen ...

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 ''Rockula'' is a 1990 American comedy-musical film directed by Luca Bercovici and written by Bercovici, Jefery Levy, and Chris Ver Weil. The story centers on a vampire under a curse; the tagline for the film is: "He's a vampire that hasn't scored ...

'', as well as on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...

''. 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

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

s for

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

, such as the animated television series ''

Rugrats ''Rugrats'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The series focuses on a group of toddlers, most prominently Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil, and their day-to-d ...

'', as part of the production company

Mutato Muzika Mutato Muzika is an American music production company established and owned by Devo co-founder and lead singer Mark Mothersbaugh in 1989. The name is a portmanteau of the words ''mutant'' and ''potato'', a reference to Mothersbaugh's longstanding ...

. In 2015, Mothersbaugh performed the theme to ''

Harvey Beaks ''Harvey Beaks'' is an American animated television series created by C. H. Greenblatt for Nickelodeon. The series follows a friendly bluebird named Harvey, and his pair of imps named Fee and Foo who live together in Littlebark Grove as the tr ...

''.

Equipment

Current

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

Former

* G&L SC2 Student Model *G&L F100 Series II *G&L Comanche *J.B. Player "Buick" (with

Bigsby vibrato tailpiece The Bigsby vibrato tailpiece (or Bigsby for short) is a type of vibrato systems for guitar, mechanical vibrato device for electric guitar designed by Paul Bigsby and produced by the Bigsby Electric Guitar Company (currently an independently oper ...

) * Kay K1962 *

Fender Mustang The Fender Mustang is a solid body electric guitar produced by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. It was introduced in 1964 as the basis of a major redesign of Fender's student models, the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic. It was produced ...

Fender Swinger The Fender Swinger (also known as the Fender Musiclander and Fender Arrow – as the "Swinger" emblem is usually missing from the headstock) was an electric guitar model released by Fender in 1969 and reissued by Fender Japan in 2019 as a limited ...

Fender Telecaster The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele (), is an electric guitar produced by Fender (company), Fender. Together with its sister model the Fender Esquire, Esquire, it was the world's first mass-produced, commercially successfulLes ...

Gibson Les Paul The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typic ...

(modified w/ inverted horn) * Gibson Les Paul Jr. Doublecut *

Gibson SG The Gibson SG is a solid-body electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1961, following on from the 1952 Gibson Les Paul. It remains in production today in many variations of the initial design. SG stands for "solid guitar". Origins The S ...

*Chopper Guitars "Spudocaster" *

Gibson L6-S The Gibson L6-S is a solid body electric guitar. It was the descendant of the L5S jazz solid-body electric guitar. It was the same shape, very much like a wide Gibson Les Paul, but with a 24-fret neck, the first Gibson guitar to have this. M ...

Natural Maple *Ibanez custom blue "Spud" guitar *Ibanez Destroyer (

Gibson Explorer The Gibson Explorer is a type of electric guitar model by Gibson guitars, released in 1958. The Explorer offered a radical, " futuristic" body design, much like its siblings: the Flying V, which was released the same year, and the Moderne, wh ...

copy) *

Ibanez Iceman The Ibanez Iceman is a guitar produced by Hoshino Gakki under the Ibanez brand. Background Hoshino Gakki exported copies of American electric and acoustic guitars in the 1950s, and by the mid-1970s the Ibanez guitars had reached a level of quali ...

*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