Bob Mothersbaugh

American songwriter, composer, musician and singer

Robert Leroy Mothersbaugh, Jr. ('/m//ʌ//ð//ər//z//b//ɔː/; born August 11, 1952), or 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, which released a top 20 hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It". The band has maintained a cult following throughout its existence. He is the younger brother of co founder and lead singer Mark Mothersbaugh.

Robert Leroy Mothersbaugh, Jr. was born on August 11, 1952, in Akron, Ohio. He is the son of Mary Margaret ("Mig") and Robert Mothersbaugh, Sr. He grew up with one older brother, Mark, 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.

In early 1970, Bob Lewis and Gerald Casale 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: Mark 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. 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, 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 (1988) and Smooth Noodle Maps (1990), on Enigma. The band stopped performing again in 1991, but reformed as a musical act in 1995. The album, Something for Everybody 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.

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, as well as on the Late Show with David Letterman. 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 soundtracks for film and television, such as the animated television series Rugrats, as part of the production company Mutato Muzika. In 2015, Mothersbaugh performed the theme to Harvey Beaks.

Years Title Notes 1992 1995 Adventures in Wonderland with Mark Mothersbaugh, Denis M. Hannigan, Rusty Andrews, Josh Mancell and Ryan Moore 1994–2004 Rugrats with Denis M. Hannigan, Rusty Andrews, and Mark Mothersbaugh 1995 Santo Bugito with Mark Mothersbaugh, and Bruce Young Berman 1996–1997 Life's Work with Mark Mothersbaugh 1998–2004 The Wild Thornberrys with Mark Mothersbaugh and Drew Neumann 2003 The Groovenians with Mark Mothersbaugh, Bob Casale, Albert Fox, Al Mothersbaugh, Josh Mancell, Andrew Todd, and Pat Irwin (additional music) 2003–2008 All Grown Up! with Mark Mothersbaugh 2015 Exchange Student Zero with Bradley Hugh Denniston, and Ray Plaza 2015–2017 Harvey Beaks with Ego Plum, Steve Bartek, David J. 2016 Beat Bugs 28 episodes 2018 Motown Magic 2021 present Rugrats Theme by Mark Mothersbaugh

Year Title Director(s) Studio(s) Notes 1988 Slaughterhouse Rock Dimitri Logothetis Arista Films 1999 200 Cigarettes Risa Bramon Garcia Paramount Pictures with Mark Mothersbaugh 2002 Hansel and Gretel Gary J. Tunnicliffe Tag Entertainment with Rusty Andrews 2004 The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou Wes Anderson Touchstone Pictures 2006 How to Eat Fried Worms Bob Dolman New Line Cinema with Mark Mothersbaugh