It's no secret I don't expend much ink on cover bands. Sure, folks love hearing music they already know in certain situations and that's great for everyone involved.
Part of the problem for me could be that most cover bands don't cover songs I'd even want to hear in their original form. There are exceptions, of course, and one of them is playing next week.
Radio Radio features veterans from local, original power pop bands – Don Moore, Nick Verban, Jack Rodee and Kevin Ponec – and has a set list that I can sink my teeth into.
While they'll lose me with Naked Eyes, INXS, The Fixx and Missing Persons (bathroom break), I understand they've gotta do some crowd pleasers, too.
But this one-person crowd wouldn't mind hearing these guys put their spin on Nick Lowe, The Clash, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Cure, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, The Pretenders, Blondie, General Public, Joy Division and The Beat.
If you wanna hear that, too, check out Radio Radio at Mo's Irish Pub in Tosa on Saturday, Aug. 6 at 10 p.m. and Friday, Aug. 12, 8-midnight, at the Horny Goat Hideaway on the South Side.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
