Robyn Rowan Hitchcock (born 3 March 1953) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano and bass guitar. Coming to prominence in the late 1970s with The Soft Boys, Hitchcock afterward launched a prolific solo career. Hitchcock's musical and lyrical styles have been influenced by his appreciation of Bob Dylan, John Lennon and Syd Barrett. Hitchcock's lyrics are an essential component of his work and tend to include surrealism, comedic songs, characterisations of English eccentrics and melancholy depictions of everyday life. His themes include what many psychologists view as the roots of modern neurosis - namely, death, sex and eating. (Recognising this theme, he released an EP in 2007 called "Sex, Food, Death and Tarantulas".) Hitchcock's mainstream success has been limited, but he has a loyal cult following, and has often earned strong critical reviews.

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Biography

Early life and recording career

Born Robyn Hitchcock in London, England and educated at Winchester College ^[1], he began his recording career in 1976 with the Cambridge-based punk/New Wave band The Soft Boys, a local group with an interest in the odd concept of 'psychedelic punk'. After the group broke up in 1981, Hitchcock began recording as a solo artist.

1980s

Hitchcock released his solo debut, Black Snake Diamond Röle in 1981, which more or less replicated the sound of his previous band, as it featured instrumental backing by several former Soft Boys. He followed it in 1982 with the generally critically maligned Groovy Decay, a record which he would ultimately disown. ^[2] Throughout the decade, Hitchcock swung between solo releases and group efforts with his next band. The Egyptians, comprising former members of The Soft Boys (Andy Metcalfe and Morris Windsor) and early keyboardist Roger Jackson, eventually surfaced in their 1985 debut Fegmania! , which featured typically surrealist Hitchcock songs, such as "My Wife and My Dead Wife," and "The Man with the Lightbulb Head." In 1989 they teamed up with Peter Buck of R.E.M. and Peter Holsapple of The dB's, playing two gigs as Nigel and the Crosses, mostly covers ^{[3] [4]}. The Crosses also had their cover of Wild Mountain Thyme included on a Byrds tribute album, though Hitchcock always alluded to the Bryan Ferry version when performing it live with the Egyptians ^[5]. Although mainstream success largely eluded them, The Egyptians achieved moderate success in the U.S. via college radio and MTV in the latter half of the 1980s and early 1990s with their singles "Balloon Man," "Madonna Of The Wasps" and "So You Think You're In Love."

1990s

During the early part of the decade, Hitchcock continued his pattern of recording solo albums, which were usually acoustic affairs like the earlier critical success I Often Dream of Trains (1984) and 1990's Eye , which book-ended releases by the Egyptians. 1993's Respect , influenced a great deal by his father's death, ^[6] marked the last Egyptians release and the end of his association with A&M Records. Early in 1994, he disbanded the Egyptians before embarking on a short reunion tour with The Soft Boys. His work received a slight boost in 1995 when his back catalogue (including both solo releases and Egyptians albums) were re-packaged and re-issued in the United States by the respected Rhino Records label. For the rest of the decade he continued recording and performing as a solo artist, releasing several albums on Warner Brothers Records, such as 1996's Moss Elixir (which featured the contributions of violinist Deni Bonet), and the soundtrack from the Jonathan Demme-directed concert film Storefront Hitchcock in 1998. The 1999 release Jewels for Sophia featured cameos from Southern California-based musicians Jon Brion and Grant-Lee Phillips, both of whom often shared the stage with Hitchcock when he played Los Angeles nightclub Largo.

2000s

In 2001, Hitchcock re-united and toured with Kimberley Rew, bassist Matthew Seligman, and Morris Windsor for the Soft Boys' re-release of their best-known album, 1980's Underwater Moonlight . The following year they recorded and released a new album Nextdoorland which was accompanied by a short album of outtakes, Side Three ; however, the reunion was to be short-lived.

During a short tour with Grant Lee Phillips of Grant Lee Buffalo, Hitchcock co-produced and co-starred in a concert film of the tour shot in Seattle titled Elixirs & Remedies .

The 2002 double album Robyn Sings comprised cover versions of Bob Dylan songs, including a live recreation of Dylan's Live at the Royal Albert Hall 1966 concert. Hitchcock celebrated his 50th birthday in 2003 with a concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London at which his then-new solo acoustic album Luxor was given away as a gift to all those attending, and an original poem of his was read by actor Alan Rickman. ^[7] He continued collaborating with different musicians, as with the album Spooked , which was recorded with country/folk duo (and longtime Hitchcock fans) Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. In 2006 Olé! Tarantula was released with The Venus 3, a band which consisted of longtime friends and collaborators R.E.M.'s Peter Buck and Young Fresh Fellows' frontman Scott McCaughey, as well as Ministry's Bill Rieflin. The song "'Cause It's Love (Saint Parallelogram)" was a collaboration between Robyn Hitchcock and Andy Partridge of XTC.

In 2007, he was the subject of a documentary Robyn Hitchcock: Sex, Food, Death... and Insects directed by John Edginton, ^[8] shown on the U.S. Sundance Channel and in the UK on BBC Four. "Food, sex and death are all corridors to life if you like. You need sex to get you here, you need food to keep you here and you need death to get you out and they’re the entry and exit signs." The filmmaker eavesdrops on Hitchcock at work on his latest collection of songs with contributors including Nick Lowe, former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, Peter Buck and Gillian Welch. The film culminates with Hitchcock and the band taking the songs on the road in America. A Live EP with The Venus 3, Sex, Food, Death... and Tarantulas , was released in conjunction with the documentary. The film also includes candid interviews with Hitchcock, who reveals much about the source of his work: "At heart I'm a frightened angry person. That’s probably why my stuff isn’t totally insubstantial. I'm constantly, deep down inside, in a kind of rage."

Late in 2007, Hitchcock's music was again re-packaged and re-released in the U.S., as Yep Roc Records began an extensive reissue campaign with three early solo releases and a double-CD compilation of rarities, which would be available separately or as part of a new box set release, I Wanna Go Backwards . ^[9]

In 2008, that box set was followed up with Luminous Groove a boxset of 3 early Egyptians releases, and 2 discs of rarities. In 2009, Robyn released a single called "Surround Him With Love" with producer Pocket (musician).

Interests

Additionally, Hitchcock has an interest in acting, literature and art. He writes short stories, paints (often in a whimsical, surrealist style) and draws in the cartoon-strip mode. Many of Hitchcock's album covers bear his paintings or drawings, and his albums' liner notes sometimes include a printed short story. His live concerts usually include a considerable amount of story-telling, in the form of imaginative and surreal ad-libbed monologues in his lyrical style.

Hitchcock collaborated with director Jonathan Demme in 1998 for a live concert and film Storefront Hitchcock , and later appeared in Demme's 2004 remake of The Manchurian Candidate , in which he played double agent Laurent Tokar. He also appeared in Demme's Rachel Getting Married in 2008, singing and playing guitar in the wedding-party band.

Robyn is the son of novelist Raymond Hitchcock and the brother of artist Lal Hitchcock. He is not related to Alfred Hitchcock.

In September 2008 Hitchcock joined the Disko Bay Cape Farewell expedition to the West Coast of Greenland. Cape Farewell is a UK based arts organisation that brings artists, scientists and communicators together to instigate a cultural response to climate change. Other voyagers on the trip included musicians Jarvis Cocker, KT Tunstall and Martha Wainwright.

Album discography

Releases marked "with the Egyptians" are credited on the album as by "Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians". Others are credited as solo albums, although the may contain some group recordings.

Original studio albums

• Black Snake Diamond Röle , 1981
• Groovy Decay , 1982
• I Often Dream of Trains , 1984
• Fegmania! , 1985 (with the Egyptians)
• Element of Light , 1986 (with the Egyptians)
• Globe of Frogs , 1988 (with the Egyptians)
• Queen Elvis , 1989 (with the Egyptians)
• Eye , 1990
• Perspex Island , 1991 (with the Egyptians)
• Respect , 1993 (with the Egyptians)
• Moss Elixir , 1996
• Jewels for Sophia , 1999
• Luxor , 2003
• Spooked , 2004
• Olé! Tarantula , 2006
• Goodnight Oslo , 2009

Compilations of rarities, demos, alternate takes and out-takes

• Groovy Decoy (A re-worked version of Groovy Decay , featuring demo versions of many of that album's songs), 1985
• Invisible Hitchcock (Outtakes and rarities, 1980-1986), 1986
• Gravy Deco (A compilation of the Groovy Decay and Groovy Decoy sessions), 1995
• You & Oblivion (Outtakes and rarities, 1985-1995), 1995
• Mossy Liquor ("Outtakes and prototypes" from Moss Elixir ), 1996
• A Star for Bram (Outtakes from Jewels for Sophia ), 2000
• Obliteration Pie (Japan-only collection of live tracks, rarities, and new studio re-recordings), 2005
• I Wanna Go Backwards (Boxed set of reissues and rarities), 2007
• Shadow Cat (Rarities), 2008
• Luminous Groove (Boxed set of reissues and rarities), 2008

Live albums

• Gotta Let This Hen Out! , 1985 (with the Egyptians)
• Give It To The Thoth Boys - Live Oddities , 1993 (Cassette only release sold on tour 1993) (with the Egyptians)
• The Kershaw Sessions , 1994 (with the Egyptians)
• Storefront Hitchcock , 1998
• Storefront Hitchcock L.P. , 1998
• Live at the Cambridge Folk Festival , 1998 (with the Egyptians)
• Robyn Sings , 2002 (Double live album of Bob Dylan cover songs)
• This is the BBC , 2006
• Sex, Food, Death... and Tarantulas (Live EP), 2007

Best-of compilations

• Robyn Hitchcock , 1995
• Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians: Greatest Hits , 1996 (with the Egyptians)
• Uncorrected Personality Traits (Rhino Records best-of compilation of solo material) , 1997

Compilation appearances

• Time Between - A Tribute to The Byrds (Imaginary Records), 1989

References

1. Winchester College Register 1992, page 526
2. ''The Rough Guide to Rock'', Peter Buckley, 2003
3. R.E.M. side-projects
4. Robert Loerzel interviews Hitchcock
5. (video) live performance Wild Mountain Thyme @5:20
6. RollingStone.com, Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians: ''Respect'' Review, 1993.
7. The Museum of Robyn Hitchcock (Official Site)
8. Otmoor Productions - Welcome - Robyn Hitchcock - Syd Barrett story
9. Pitchfork Media, Robyn Hitchcock: ''I Wanna Go Backwards'' Review, 2007.