BOB “WHO DO YOU LOVE?” (1983)
originally recorded by Bo Diddley (1956)
cover version available on Backward (not pictured—Dumb Records, 1983)
The punks really loved Bo Diddley.
“Who Do You Love?” has been covered ad nauseum, but I doubt it’s been covered by any band using a vibraphone—a punk band with a vibraphone at that.
I first saw BOB on a Target Video DVD my old bandmates authored from beat-up VHS cassette for my 23rd birthday. Given the ubiquity of Bobs on the internet, it was near impossible to track down any of their releases, until I heard their stellar “Things You Do” on WFMU, which was later uploaded to their mp3 dump. Later, Joe Stumble over at Last Days of Man on Earth interviewed William Novak of Dumb Records. Dumb released a string of pretty excellent 45s and LPs by folks like Crime, as well as Novak’s own releases (notably, a totally creepy ode to Farrah Fawcett) and BOB’s entire catalogue.
BOB came out of the San Francisco new wave/punk scene of the late 70s/early 80s, which gave birth to SECOND WAVE faves Flipper, Pink Section, among others. In brief, I’m a sucker for any band with sassy broad vocals, and am REALLY a sucker for inventive usage of mallets. BOB kills George Thorogood’s version, hands down.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED blogload: BOB and the story of Dumb Records at Last Days of Man on Earth
