| It was 1942 in Grass Valley, California when young Robert O. Smith first began bargaining for life...Days before his birth he slipped out a crudely scrawled note that read.."Send in a Tricycle or I'm not coming Out.." This angered Doctor Moreau, and so Robo..then known as "Bobby" was plucked forth as the ungrateful sparrow he was.. From then we fast forward through his tumultuous life. 3 years old... sets fire to the basement of the place the family was moving out of.. 4 years old... he delights in peeing on the lawn of his house next to the main highway going to Nevada City...luckily people thought he was one of those cupid statues in a garden fountain... 8 years old... he plays doctor with little girl next door --doesn't quite understand the endocrine system..is sued by little girls parents for malpractice.. 10 years old... is seduced by the 14 year old girl down the street..well almost...things are cut short when she realizes he hasn't studied his topography and is looking for treasure in all the wrong places. 12 years old... gets his first chemistry set..invents gun powder..no, it was more powerful ---more like flash powder...Bobby has no eyebrows for all of the 6th grade. 15 years old... Bob is making fun of everyone in silly voices..lifting weights to get strong..and cartooning grotesque faces ala' Basil Wolverton and attempting to draw pretty pinups like Wally Wood..Influences are ..Jonathan Winters..Ernie Kovacs..Spike Jones.. He Digs' Music like Gene Vincent..Little Richard ..Elvis ..Roy Orbison.. Bob was soon to open up to John Coltrane and Lenny Bruce as idols...At 19 Bob fakes his way thru his USA draft physical using isometric contractions to abnormally raise his blood pressure (Having won the west coast version of the USA AAU Teenage Nationals for Weightlifting in 1960--gave Bob the knowledge) Then Radio is started as Robert O.'s career All radio years in which Bob tore his employers a 'new mind'..but paid the price of always being on shakey ground for the "artistic-Comedic license " he took.. His audience listened only to see if he would BE there the next day after saying what he said on his last show..For a while in the 80's Robert O. flirted with stand up comedy..It was his only true love at the time but it occasionally slapped him in the face.and wrote SUCKER in lipstick on the mirror...one day when his inner monkey was not securely guarding the fort..Robert O. broke loose from Radio and fled into the arms of Animated Cartoons..Commercials and a more satisfying way of life freelance voice work ...while waiting for the freelance phone to ring ..Robo creates odd homemade animations and goes to the gym where he has become the first truely ancient geezer to Bench press 523 pounds (237.5 kg) officially for numerous official masters World records ! |
