Robot : Robin Gibb

Today's robot song comes from Robin Gibb. Born on the Isle of Man, Robin and his brothers (Barry and Maurice) put their musical roots down in Manchester, Lancashire as part of a skiffle group called The Rattlesnakes when Robin was around six years of age. After emigrating to Australia in 1958, The BeeGees emerged and had their first TV appearance in 1960 when Robin was a mere eleven years old... and the rest, as they say, is history.

Taken from Robin Gibb's third solo LP titled 'Secret Agent' is Robot... it's another one of those "I'm not a robot" songs and from its initial synthesised string stabs, it reeks of the nineteen eighties. It's got a ro..ro..ro..ro..robot voice, electronic drums, funky bass, jangly guitars, over produced vocals, more synthesised string stabs and everything else that I hate about mainstream '80s pop... but this song swings in all the right directions and melds the ingredients into something rather palatable.

The Body Electric : Rush

Rush, as most already know are a Canadian rock group with a well earned place in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. This song is from their so-called 'synth' period which (according to Wikipedia) ran from '82 until '89... and probably wasn't their 'best' period. Taken from the 1984 LP 'Grace Under Pressure' is The Body Electric... which I like a lot more than I expected to. It's a great robot song, but that's not the same as a great Rush song, as many fans will surely agree. The video is cheesy but it is a joy to watch with its futuristic setting and dated special effects... and it clearly borrows its final scene from the 70s sci-fi flick THX-1138. Shame those two sexy fembot-cops get electrocuted though   :(

Robot Riot : Frenzy

Right, I think I've got the voting up and running... so if you feel inclined to rate the songs about robots featured in my daily posts, you can. If it's not already blatantly obvious, I'm going to be strict about not including any instrumentals, so unfortunately I won't be posting the wonderful Robot by the twangtastic Tornados. On the upside I won't be posting the durgeful din that is I, Robot by the Alan Parsons' Project either... so it's not all bad!

With that little technicality explained, on with the songs. This little nugget of post-punk packs a lot of punch in three and-a-half minutes. As far as I can tell, Frenzy hail from Bristol down in that the'er west country, and this is their début single from 1984.



Jumpy, punky and a real ear worm, Robot Riot will get any party started, and if this doesn't get your foot tapping, you must've blown a fuse. Either that or you need reprogramming. It's worth noting that this is not the same song as Robot Riot from the Phineas & Ferb cartoon, which will be posted at some point in the future.