Q: Hello Dr. Robert,

I've been a long time fan of your work and love the newer stuff too (even if you don't like the drum machines of old, I do! The 80's were Ok!)

Just a quick question as I couldn' t resist:

I found You on myspace last year after having lost touch with your musical career around 1994. (sorry I was travelling) My main reason for adding You as a myspace friend however was that it appears you have up-rooted and moved to Spain. I grew up in Spain and still spend many months a year there (as you probably know already from previous comments).

Anyway mate, My question being, ''How do you find Spanish life and is it influencing Your current music?''

By the way I find this website much more impressive than myspace! Well done you Fencats!

best wishes to You and Yours,
KillerMiller & The Leftovers. x

A: Well firstly Christian, the various My Space sites that are out there have nothing to do with me! I’m flattered but its a bit strange too because people assume its me running it..and I absolutely agree that Julian Bashford has done a brilliant job on this site. As for living in Spain again I think there is also an assumption that somehow people move here to “retire’..which is true..  but in my case its just about moving on...finding new stimulus ..giving my kids another culture to appreciate and drinking plenty of good red wine!
I have probably never written as much as over the past few years..and my experiences here have been rich and varied...not in a sort of “Driving over Lemons” cosy way..but genuinely life changing. The part of Andalusia I live in is like a halfway house between Europe and Africa...I’m a nomad by nature as is my wife...but for now this feels like home.

Q : Dear Doc..
Just got your email on the release of “Five in the Afternoon”, will be getting out to get it soon. I first saw you a few weeks after Wogan at the Town and Country Club all those years ago. You walked on stage and said “Thank goodness for Wogan” the mood was wild. The most amazing rendition I have ever witnessed of “Forbidden Fruit” and later “Burn the Rich”. The Blows became and instant success with me and my brother. We saw you all over the South of the UK. Even remember queuing up outside the old Marquee in Wardour Street to see an aids benefit gig where you walked on with buckets of condoms and threw them out to the audience. There was just something so magical and different about the sound then, and the lyrics spell out an epoch for me in those dark Tory years too. I just wanted to say thanks for being there, it helped me and a few friends get through. These days I live in Scotland, oddly near Haddington..I also appreciate your new work so much too, can I ask a cheeky lyrics question with reference to “The Coming of Grace”? I cant decide whether it is religious or anti-religious, seems to hint at a Christian perspective (grace) but then says things like “throw away your cross”, I am intrigued.

Keep the strummin with the hummin! (from Sam)

A : Lot of people ask me about that song and I was even accused of being a “born again Christian” in one review even though the lyric says “ I cant be born again!”. For me the concept of “Grace” has nothing to do with religion. Personally I have no time for religion. I think at the time of writing the song I may have had my doubts and been something of an Agnostic but have since progressed proudly into Atheism. Check out God is Great by Christopher Hitchens or The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins . These books should be on the school curriculum alongside John Cooper Clarke ( who has just been added!). The idea that without the concept of “god” we somehow lack a spiritual dimension is wrong minded. .I go along with Douglas Adams ...”Isn't it enough to see that the garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”

Q : I love your music since the beginning (today I'm 37). I have a question concerning the song "So slow the rain" on your wonderful "Realms of Gold"-CD(is that your little son on the back-cover? my kids (5 and 2) are already fond of your music too!)). I often did busking while I was studying, many times when i sang this song on the streets people asked "Who wrote this?". Am I wrong, or where you thinking about the Gordon Lightfoot-Song respectively the melody "If you could read my mind" when you wrote "So slow..."? The melody still reminds me on this song. I also love "Flatlands" very much (strong lyrics, wonderful lulling melody). Do you still play these songs on your liv-gigs?

from Frank Etzel

A: Well Frank I ‘m not going to lie to you I am a big Gordon Lightfoot admirer so “If you could read my mind” is probably only lightly submerged in my consciousness ..but “So slow the rain” only hints at the melody I think...sometimes you never realise until years later where the songs come from. As for “Flatlands” it is probably my favourite album for all sorts of reasons..not least because it was recorded on quarter inch cassette tape and has lots of hiss and zero production and yet still has much more presence than some of the more “produced” stuff.

Q: Hola Doc. I remember buying a white label 12in of Some Kind of Wonderful and the two tracks on the B side were listed as Worship You and There's Got to be a Hitch. What's the story there? On the same tip, my two favourite BM tracks to this day are probably Huckleberry and Sweet Obsession from said single. Quality stuff! Can't wait for 5 in the afternoon. Finally, get your arse to Manchester soon, eh?!! Paul Dunne

A: To be honest with you I don’t remember “Worship you “or “Theres got to be a Hitch “ but the names sound familiar !
I don’t have a copy of that white label..all my stuff is in storage ..but I’ll take your word for it. Top marks for an arch piece of trainspotting though. As for Huckleberry and Sweet Obsession I think they were Anker/Kiley/Henry compositions that I may have helped out on but were on there to give the band a bit of publishing. Its great that they are your favourite Blow Monkey songs!Manchester? Next year I promise you.

Q: Hello Robert,

I really like your acoustic version of “Digging Your Scene”, on the website. Have you recorded any other versions of Blow Monkeys tracks in a similar vein? I am also interested to know which other artists (living or dead) you would most like to have worked with. Looking forward to your new album; I remain a great admirer of you and your music.

All the very best, Camilla

Q: I have a whole album of Blow Monkey songs done acoustically that we are hoping to use at some point soon. As for other artists...well I’ve been really lucky and privileged to have worked with such great people but if Bob Dylan ever wanted a bit of a hand I would swim the oceans!

Q: Have you changed?

Robert, I became hooked on you and your music when I was around 15 (now 36), I listened to your lyrics and took them all in. I liked the politics and the message you gave out (coming from a family that was into politics and all that stuff anyway), but you said in an interview on Network 7 that if you did not think that music could change anything then you would give up and slit your wrists. Do you believe that your music changed people’s thoughts?

I was listening to “She was only” CD and I wonder if you think this is your best work, I know you could say it was pop music and all the other stuff is different, but you must be proud of those songs. What is the best song you have wrote and why?

One last question, I have seen all your tours from 1987 onwards and got the chance to meet you in Nottingham at the Social a few years ago (I was introduced by the guy who used to do your website from Daventry, he was lost in Nottingham and I shown him the way). Does it feel different being on stage now looking out at the crowd, in the 80s it would be kids and girls, now its, well not kids and older women. Do you still have the same passion to perform and will there ever be a performance like the Kilburn National you did in 1989?

David from Chesterfield

A: Music led me to politics . But it was a different time. Things like the NME were more political in those days and you felt like music could make a difference. Which it did. I don’t want to sound like an old cynic but if was a teenager now I wouldn’t seek to change through the political process ...its pointless as they are all massaging the same system but with slightly different emphasis. I would agitate from outside through something like Greenpeace or Amnesty international. The problems we face cant be dealt within the traditional political guidelines, but music ..and all art..can change the world by revealing the true nature of things! I’m still a Keats man. Those romantic poets really had it going on!

Best song? Hard to say but I’m quite keen on “Wait and See” from the rarities collection. I cant really listen to “Grocers Daughter”. The production is too metallic and those drum machines drive me mad...liked it at the time though!

Yeah the Kilburn gig was great but last week at the Summer Sundae with PP Arnold was great to..I don’t care how old the audience are as long as there is one. I tend to disappear into the songs so it never really matter to me how many people turn up.

Q: Hello Dr. !
If I don't make a mistake, years ago I read somewhere that exists a limited edition cd of BM single "It pays to belong" including the first single "Live today love tomorrow" & " In cold blood". Is it true and if yes for which country is it been released? They are the only two songs that I haven't got. In the future will it be possible to see them in some collection of ultra rare tracks? Thank you for the answer.

A: No its not true and to be honest I would avoid those early songs!
So far they have never made it onto CD although I’m sure you can find ‘em on e-bay or something

Q : Hola Dottore, I envy you the plan building sweet water wells to irrigate the desire! But, as a lazy diletante (sic!) I`m suffering from the lack of DR-songbooks (even online). Will there be any in the nf? &what about a duet with LCole on MB`s eve?
Happy Summer Prof. Friedrich

A : When we were young Lloyd and I once discussed doing a Bolan number or two ...but then we both took off on very different paths and the world was thus denied the chance to savour our masterwork. The world is probably a better place for it. As for your point about “Wells”..out here on the Iberian peninsular they call them “Pozos”. Funnily enough that is also the name of Spains biggest sausage manufacturer which might be of interest to you .

Q : from Dean in Sheffield : Did you know during filming the promo for Digging Your Scene that you had hit the big time? Whats the message behind the video with the changing outfits and audience interaction? And PLEASE...a little history about your football career!
 
A : I had no idea ...I didn’t think it was gonna be a hit because by then we had put out lots of singles and still not cracked it. But things were on the up and our previous single Forbidden Fruit nearly did it so the signs were good..but I am ever the pessimist.

Message of the video? Do me a favour! I was just enjoying myself and blissfully unaware of a treacherous and foreboding future involving “You Tube” and its like....

I was good at football and once played for a regional juniors team at Carrow Rd during “Big” Ron Saunders tenure at Norwich City but my real love was Cricket. I used to go and watch The Linnets ( that’s Kings Lynn FC to you) every week and you would see some great ex professionals on their way down passing through..Frank Wignall. Cliff Jones..Ian Storey Moore..And then there was Speedway! But that is another story.

Q : You've probably been asked this one before, but my Limping for a Generation has a different album cover than the one on the website ( mine is the 'collage'). Is one worth more than the other?

A : Probably...and I think its a better sleeve too.

Q: Can't wait for the new album with P P Arnold (roll on September), as its been way too long between...

A: Yeah we are putting the live cd on line soon...flutes and bones should come out early next year