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Bob Bert | |
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 Bert in 2016 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Robert Bertelli |
| Born | June 11, 1955 Passaic, New Jersey |
| Genres | Rock |
| Occupations | Musician |
| Instruments | Drums |
| Years active | 1982-present |
| Labels | Thick Syrup Records In the Red Records |
Robert Bertelli, better known professionally as Bob Bert (born June 11, 1955), is an American rock drummer.
Based in Hoboken, New Jersey, Bert initially came to prominence as drummer for the experimental rock band Sonic Youth during the early to mid-1980s. Bert played on the Sonic Youth releases Confusion Is Sex , Sonic Death , and Bad Moon Rising . After Bad Moon Rising, Bert quit the group.
Bert contributed during the last half of the 1980s as percussionist for noise band Pussy Galore. He was a member of Action Swingers in the early 1990s. [1]
In the early 1990s, Bert drummed for the Chrome Cranks (which also included Peter Aaron on vocals; Jerry Teel on bass; and William Weber on stun guitar).
After the dissolution of the Cranks, Bert joined forces with guitarist Kid Congo, guitarist Jack Martin, bassist/vocalist Jerry Teel and organist Barry London in the rootsy New York City band Knoxville Girls.
Throughout, Bert managed to release a handful of recordings by his percussive/concussive vehicle Bewitched. Releases by Bewitched include the Chocolate Frenzy 12" EP; some albums, including Harshing My Mellow on No. 6 Records; and the "Hey White Homie" 7" on Sub Pop. Bewitched toured with S.Y. and STP (short-lived NYC all-female foxcore band which included PG guitarist Julie Cafritz) during the summer of 1990, the year Goo was released.
During the late 1990s, Bert and his wife, artist Linda Wolfe, began publishing BBGun , a zine that primarily covers punk rock.
In 1998, Bert contributed the liner notes and interviewed Suicide for the reissue of the band's eponymous second album.
Bert played with Five Dollar Priest as well as with the International Shades, which features ex-Live Skull guitarist Mark C. and former Pier Platters shop assistant-turned-keyboardist Dorien Garry among others.
In 2011 Thick Syrup Records released the compilation cd Bewitched - Bob Bert Presents: The Worst Poetry Of 1986 - 1993, featuring all tracks Bob Bert recorded with Bewitched. The label also released the last album of the re-united Chrome Cranks featuring Bert on drums.
Bert is now playing with Retrovirus (Lydia Lunch, Weasel Walter, Tim Dahl), who have released studio and live albums, and also with Wolfmanhattan Project with Kid Congo Powers (The Gun Club, The Cramps, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Knoxville Girls, Pink Monkey Birds) and Mick Collins (The Gories, The Dirtbombs).
In 2019, Bert released I'm Just the Drummer: My Time Behind Sonic Youth, Pussy Galore, Chrome Cranks & BB Gun Magazine, a book compiling his photographs and interviews he did with artists he collaborated with or that influenced him.
Sonic Youth was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo remained together for the entire history of the band, while Steve Shelley (drums) followed a series of short-term drummers in 1985, rounding out the core line-up. Jim O'Rourke was also a member of the band from 1999 to 2005, and Mark Ibold was a member from 2006 to 2011.
Crucifix was an American hardcore punk band from the San Francisco Bay Area, active from 1980 to 1984. They were among the most popular acts of the San Francisco punk scene of the early 1980s. Fronted by Cambodian-born singer Sothira Pheng, Crucifix were distinct among American underground bands for their strong D-beat musical characteristics and anarchist lyrical content and graphic design. The band's debut 1983 full-length album Dehumanization on Crass Records‘ offshoot Corpus Christi Records, is considered by many critics and fans to be a cornerstone of political punk music. After their breakup, Crucifix’s members went on to form the bands Loudspeaker and Proudflesh.
Royal Trux was an American alternative rock band active from 1987 to 2001, and again from 2015 to 2019 consisting of Neil Hagerty and Jennifer Herrema (vocals).
Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no wave scene as the singer and guitarist of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks.
Steven Jay Shelley is an American drummer. He is best known as the longtime drummer of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth, for whom he played from 1985 until their 2011 disbandment.
Knoxville Girls was a short-lived American, New York City based, alternative rock supergroup that contained: Bob Bert, on drums, Jerry Teel on vocals, guitars; Kid Congo Powers on guitar and vocals; Jack Martin on guitar; and Barry London on organ.
Pussy Galore was an American garage rock band formed by students at Brown University in 1984. They had a constantly fluid line-up until their demise in 1990, with vocalist-guitarist Jon Spencer as the sole member through the band's history. They took their name from the character in the James Bond film Goldfinger, and their sound was an irreverent experimental blues rock influenced by The Rolling Stones and Einstürzende Neubauten.
Confusion Is Sex is the debut studio album by American noise rock band Sonic Youth. It was released in 1983 by Neutral Records. It has been referred to as an important example of the no wave genre. AllMusic called it "lo-fi to the point of tonal drabness, as the instruments seem to ring out in only one tone, that of screechy noise".
Live Skull is a post-punk/experimental rock band from New York City, formed in 1982.
Donald Gene Fleming is an American musician and producer. Besides fronting a number of his own bands, Fleming has produced Sonic Youth, Screaming Trees, Teenage Fanclub and Hole.
"Death Valley '69" is a song by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth and featuring Lydia Lunch. The song was written and sung by Thurston Moore and fellow New York musician Lunch, and recorded by Martin Bisi in 1984.
Julia Cafritz is an American musician and guitarist who was a member of Pussy Galore and Free Kitten. She is regarded as a cult figure from the New York City noise music scene of the 1990s.
Bewitched was a noise rock musical project headed by American percussionist Bob Bert. It was founded in 1986 after Bert had left the band Sonic Youth the previous year. The project began as a solo effort but morphed to incorporate several other musicians, including violinist Donna Croughn of Tiny Lights. The music was noise rock influenced with an emphasis placed on Bert's drumming. It also incorporated turntables courtesy of DJ David Cream of Wheat P, which at the time was innovative.
Bad Moon Rising is the second studio album by American rock band Sonic Youth, released on March 29, 1985, by Blast First and Homestead Records. The album is loosely themed around the dark side of America, including references to obsession, insanity, Charles Manson, heavy metal, Satanism, and early European settlers' encounters with Native Americans.
Thick Syrup Records is an independent record label from Little Rock, Arkansas. Founded by Travis McElroy in 2006, it specializes in indie rock and underground music. It has released the work of known acts such as Matt Cameron, Jad Fair from Half Japanese, Bob Bert of Sonic Youth, Penn Jillette, Don Fleming and Velvet Monkeys. The label also releases compilation albums with multiple artists.
The Honeymoon Killers were an American noise rock band from New York City, formed in 1983. Their name is taken from the 1970 crime film The Honeymoon Killers. The Honeymoon Killers' sound is deeply rooted in the blues earning them comparisons to The Cramps, whose music was highly influential to Teel. The nucleus of the band was Jerry Teel and Lisa Wells, with Sally Edroso serving as the longest standing drummer between 1985 and 1990. The group's rotating line-ups would consist of members belonging to like-minded bands such as Pussy Galore, Boss Hog, Ritual Tension and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Their first three albums were independent releases issued by the band's label Fur Records. The group disbanded in 1994, with its leader Jerry Teel forming The Chrome Cranks with drummer Bob Bert and guitarist William Gilmore Weber.
The Barb Wire Dolls are a grunge/punk rock band from Greece, based in the United States. They were championed by Lemmy on whose personal record label their third and fourth albums were released.
Action Swingers were an indie rock/garage punk band formed in the late 1980s in New York City, fronted by singer/guitarist Ned Hayden, who was the only constant member. During its history the band featured members of several other bands, both as full members and guest musicians. The band split up in 1998.
The Chrome Cranks are an American punk-styled blues band based in New York City. They were originally formed in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1988. The core membership consists of singer-guitarist Peter Aaron, guitarist William Gilmore Weber III, drummer Bob Bert, and bassist Jerry Teel.
Exile on Main St. is an album by American noise rock band Pussy Galore, released in December 1986 by Shove Records. It is a track-by-track cover album re-interpreting the Rolling Stones' 1972 album Exile on Main St. Its only official release format was the cassette tape, in a limited run of only 550 hand-numbered copies.
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