Bob & Ray: The Two and Only

Loved the article. I never really thought about the fact that I know so little about them until I read some of the biographical info. They had a lot of kids! For some reason, I didn’t imagine that they had.

My favorite Bob & Ray Name: Lousy K. Murdoch
My favorite sponsor line: “Brought to you by cookies with raisins pressed into them by some method.”

I first heard Bob an Ray in 1984-ish. I had the radio on one night and one of their NPR shows came on. I had no idea who they were but I thought they were tremendous. But,I couldn’t find anyone who would listen to them with me. And, no one I knew had any idea who they were. I remember driving to a Family Christmas Party in Downtown Rochester, NY. It was snowing a blizzard out but we were still going to go see some of our relatives. I said, “Hey, let’s listen to these guys. They’re funny.” (I was 11.) My family humored me. We had a very quite ride to the party. I was the only one laughing. I don’t think my family quite understood that it was comedy (even though there was an audience laughing).

I went many years without listening to them. But, about two years ago, I received a collection of MP3’s. Having only heard the 1980’s stuff, I was amazed. The Boston shows are wonderful, loose and entertaining. The 1959-1960 15-minute show is fantastic. The continuing story of Smelly Dave kept me riveted. “Matt Neffer, Boy Spotwelder” might be my favorite running bit. I could describe the comedy but it would end up sounding rather unfunny.

I just...I like Bob and Ray. Like the best artists, no one else sounds quite like them. Sorry not much of a comment. More of a rambler.

Thanks for the article. When I finally discovered that other folks liked Bob and Ray, it was a good day.

Comment by Dan Budnik from the sewing room on the second floor — April 2, 2008 @ 6:51 pm

Thank you so much! I think it’s an occupational hazard of being a Bob & Ray fan, this tendency to ramble on happily - it was my biggest problem with writing the article, too. There’s just so much goofy goodness there.

They did have a lot of kids! From the bits I’ve been able to dig up (mostly interviews with Chris Elliot) they made great fathers, too. That’s actually what fascinates me the most - these ferociously incisive social satirists were basically just very nice, very shy gentlemen.

It was a pleasure to write about them, and even more to discover others share my enjoyment.

Comment by Kerrie Mills from Toronto — April 13, 2008 @ 4:13 pm