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User:Miklogfeather/Bob Leith

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Bob Leith
Leith with Cardiacs at The Garage in 2024
Leith with Cardiacs at The Garage in 2024
Background information
Birth nameRobert G. Leith
Also known asBob "Babba" Leith[1]
Born (1964-04-17) 17 April 1964 (age 60)
Buckinghamshire, England
OriginMilton Keynes, England
GenresRock
Occupations
  • Musician
  • singer
  • songwriter
Instruments
  • Drums
  • vocals
Member of
Formerly of

Robert G. Leith (born 17 April 1964) is an English musician, the drummer for the rock band Cardiacs from 1993 and Blurt from 2005 to 2008.

Life and career[edit]

Robert G. Leith was born in Buckinghamshire[2] on 17 April 1964.[3] Leith's father managed the local cinema and Leith was into films. He met future guitarist Mark Farrelly when they were about nine years old through Farrelly's interest in horror and death; the pair would swap horror magazines and plastic monster models which they were into around 1975.[4] They both went to the Lord Grey Comprehensive secondary school in Bletchley where Leith started up a band called the Bleeding Lips and brought a tape he had done to Farrelly's house one night, inspiring Farrelly to hook up with future Exit-stance member Sean Finnis in the school band the Urban Guerrillas. By the end of 1978, Leith joined up with Farrelly, Finnis and another person to form a school 'supergroup' named Matt Vinyl and the Emulsions, inspired by the punk ethos. They played their first gig in the school hall.[5] Farrelly and Finnis went on to be in several other bands together before Farrelly formed Part 1 with Leith, Chris Baker and Chris Pascoe.[5] They each had their own influences; Leith liked early Genesis.[6]

Part 1 were with the early death rock scene and mined a similar vein aesthetically to Rudimentary Peni.[7] The band made their live debut in October 1980 at the Compass Club in Bletchley supporting the local band the Flying Ducks. After their second gig at the Peartree Bridge Centre went badly, they decided to look beyond the confines of Milton Keynes and recorded their first demo at The Crypt, an eight-track studio in Stevenage, in January 1981. Another demo, In the Shadow of the Cross, was recorded in spring that year and garnered attention from the thriving underground network of zines and like-minded individuals including Andy Martin of the Apostles.[8] Part 1 released the Funeral Parade EP in October 1982 on their own Paraworm Records and played their final show in April 1983, supporting the Subhumans at Oxford Street's 100 Club, where Leith split his bass drum skin. He left soon afterwards to join the London band the Snails.[9]

Leith formed the progressive pop band Ad Nauseam with Jon Poole in 1989,[10][11] in which he was the singer and drummer.[12][13] He and Poole were Cardiacs fans and followed them around on tour. The band's manager invited them into a venue to watch Cardiacs soundcheck, where they met Cardiacs drummer Dominic Luckman and gave him a cassette tape containing Ad Nauseam songs after realising they shared similar musical interests.[14][10] Luckman phoned them up to tell them he had enjoyed it and played it to Tim Smith and the rest of the band who all had loved and appreciated it.[14][10] Leith and Poole became friends with Luckman and got to know the rest of the band over the next few months,[15][14] becoming closer and closer friends.[10]

At Leith's first show with Ad Nauseam, Smith came to see them and Luckman guested on drums for one song.[10][15] Cardiacs guitarist Bic Hayes left the band at the same time Ad Nauseam had started doing gigs and Poole called Smith asking for an audition a few days later,[10][14] taking Hayes' place during the sessions of Heaven Born and Ever Bright.[1] Afterwards Poole tried to keep Ad Nauseam going but the band was torn apart by internal arguments, power struggles and jealousy; he vowed that he would come back for Leith and get him in Cardiacs but the two didn't talk for a year.[15]

Jon Poole and Leith (first and second from left) with Cardiacs

Luckman, Cardiacs' long-time drummer, was sick of the "deafening" click track required to play with tapes and departed on 20 July 1993; Poole was able to recruit Leith who joined the band in December as Luckman's replacement.[16][17]

Leith played with the reformed Alternative TV[9] in 1995 and 1996.[18]

"Quiet as a Mouse"[19]

95, 97, 98, 105, 106, 110–112, 115–117, 125, 126, 161–164, 168, 171, 175

Guns[20]

Leith with Cardiacs at Whitchurch Festival 2000

Partially sung the song "A Game for Bartie's Party" on The Special Garage Concerts (2005).[21] Article about first gig with Blurt[22]

Cardiacs stopped their activities in 2008.[23]

Leith guested on most tracks of The Fall and Rise of... by Crayola Lectern[24]

Spiritwo[25][26]

Leith has featured in Mark Cawthra's psychedelic rock band Redbus Noface.[27]

Rotten Shed[28]

The 2018 Sterbus double album Real Estate/Fake Inverno features the permanent presence of Leith in a guest appearance.[29][30]

Stephen Evens[31] In 2019, Hayes put together Panixphere, a three piece band with Poole and Leith, which was initially Hayes' first band formed in 1983.[32]

Sing to Tim[33][34]

Musical style[edit]

In 2012 Mark Ferelli stated that Leith had "cut a legendary niche" for himself in his musical field.[35] Jon Poole described Leith's drumming style as "unorthodox" to ImpattoSonoro, with his brother commenting "if I turned off the volume and only saw Bob playing without hearing him I would think he can't play!" Leith's arm is bent strangely since he broke it as a child, which is seen in his playing when he stretches out on the cymbals.[10] Poole also said that Leith's "approach to the instrument is always at the service of the song", calling him "a great singer and a lover of special chords".[10] Leith plays keyboard in addition to drums, writing songs from instinct as "he has no idea what notes he is playing".[10] Eric Benac called Leith "a precise drummer possessed of a skilled musical mind" and "the missing puzzle piece" that Cardiacs needed to move forward as a power quartet.[17]

Discography[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Shepherd, Sam (11 July 2014). "Spotlight: Cardiacs – Sing To God". MusicOMH. Archived from the original on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Record Transcription: England & Wales Births 1837-2006". Findmypast. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  3. ^ "The Cardiacs - FAQ". Cardiacs. 8 March 1999. Archived from the original on 3 August 2002. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  4. ^ Glasper 2014, p. 628.
  5. ^ a b Glasper 2014, pp. 626–627.
  6. ^ "Part 1 and "Pictures Of Pain:" an interview with vocalist Jake Baker". Negative Insight. 29 September 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  7. ^ Glasper 2014, p. 625.
  8. ^ Glasper 2014, pp. 629–630.
  9. ^ a b Glasper 2014, pp. 634–636.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Petrella, Martino (11 June 2021). ""Sing To God": la guida galattica dei Cardiacs". ImpattoSonoro (in Italian). Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  11. ^ Sgrignoli, Marco (20 July 2022). "Cardiacs - biografia, recensioni, streaming, discografia, foto". Ondarock [it] (in Italian). Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  12. ^ Shepherd, Sam (14 May 2013). "Q&A: Crayola Lectern | Music Interviews". MusicOMH. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  13. ^ "Jon Poole". Lifesigns. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  14. ^ a b c d Haslam, Martin (20 May 2013). "'Random' Jon Poole - Interview". Louder Than War. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  15. ^ a b c "Jon Poole Interview 2009". Cardiacs.org. July 2009. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  16. ^ Davis & Torabi 2021, p. 241.
  17. ^ a b Benac 2021, p. 95.
  18. ^ "Biography & Sniffin' Glue". Archived from the original on 30 May 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  19. ^ Kitching, Sean (4 July 2014). "Reviews | Cardiacs". The Quietus. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  20. ^ Benjamin, Stuart (12 July 2015). "Echoes of the Past: Cardiacs – Guns". Echoes and Dust. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  21. ^ Vennart, Mike (18 July 2015). "The 10 best Cardiacs songs". Prog. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  22. ^ Flynn, Mike. "Blurt's So Good". Glastonbury Festival. Archived from the original on 23 October 2005. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  23. ^ Gallato, Fabio (22 July 2020). "È morto Tim Smith, frontman dei Cardiacs". ImpattoSonoro (in Italian). Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  24. ^ Graham, Ben (16 April 2013). "Reviews | Crayola Lectern". The Quietus. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  25. ^ Jankowska, Maja (24 December 2012). "Artist of the Week — SPIRITWO". Public Republic. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  26. ^ Brown, Christopher (1 October 2015). "Big world infused Israeli-London art-rock single from Spiritwo". WithGuitars. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  27. ^ Benjamin, Stuart (26 June 2016). "Live Review: Transplant Music Night – Arts Centre, Salisbury". Echoes and Dust. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  28. ^ Hamnett, Alun (8 November 2017). "Some Fairytales From The Rotten Shed". Record Collector. Archived from the original on 2 September 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  29. ^ Benjamin, Stuart (24 October 2019). "Under the Influence with Sterbus". Echoes and Dust. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  30. ^ Marmoro, Gianfranco (27 February 2019). "Sterbus - Real Estate / Fake Winter :: OndaRock's Reviews". Ondarock [it] (in Italian). Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  31. ^ Cummings, Bill (18 June 2019). "SESSION: Stephen Evens - Dustbin Man". God Is in the TV. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  32. ^ Banjo . (17 August 2020). "Levitations' Meanwhile Gardens: The great lost album of the 90s". Louder Than War. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  33. ^ Moth, Little (16 May 2024). "Cardiacs : Cardiacs Family : Live Review". Louder Than War. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  34. ^ Unsworth, Cathi (30 May 2024). "Four Gigs for Cardiacs' Tim Smith Announced". The Quietus. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  35. ^ Sheppard, Oliver (11 April 2012). "Death's Dream Factory: The Art and Music of Part 1's Mark Ferelli by Oliver Sheppard". CVLT Nation. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  36. ^ "Official Physical Singles Chart top 100". Official Charts Company. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  37. ^ "ablemesh | music philosophy photos thoughts news". Ablemesh. Archived from the original on 27 April 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  38. ^ Raggett, Ned. "Blurt - Cut It! Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  39. ^ "Happy Endings". Crayola Lectern. 25 February 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2022 – via Bandcamp.
  40. ^ "Stream Dr. Brighton | Listen to The self titled 1995 album from Dr. Brighton. playlist online for free on SoundCloud". Dr Brighton. 2 March 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2023 – via SoundCloud.
  41. ^ "Spratleys Japs / Stephen EvEns – Odd Even / Two Bites Of Cherry". Bandcamp. 7 November 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2022 – via Discogs.
  42. ^ "Confinement/release6 | Spratleys Japs/ Panixphere". The Confinement Tapes. Bandcamp. 3 July 2020. Archived from the original on 8 November 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]


Category:1964 births Category:English drummers Category:English rock drummers Category:English punk rock drummers Category:20th-century British drummers Category:21st-century British drummers Category:British male drummers Category:British male singers Category:British male songwriters Category:Cardiacs members Category:Blurt members Category:Musicians from Buckinghamshire Category:People from Milton Keynes Category:Living people

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