Virgin | UK | 12" | 1981 | VS 468-12
Rip Rig + Panic: Bob Hope Takes Risks UK 12″ [1981]
- Bob Hope Takes Risks [12 ver.]
- Hay Mr. E! With A Gran Grin And A Shake Of A Smile
This is a record I’ve wanted for 30 years, but still have not yet bought. I distinctly remember hearing it when it came out, during the summer of 1981. It got played a lot on WPRK-FM as they were in the throes of the UK funk movement of that summer. Lots of releases from Ze Records were hitting the airwaves at ‘PRK during that time, and this record fit right in the sweet spot. Rip Rig + Panic were an offshoot from The Pop Group who managed to make jazzfunk records that had equal footing in both jazz and funk! The vocals on this single were by Neneh Cherry, who also looks to have been the cover model for painter Jill Mumford.
This is one wild, wigged-out record! I haven’t heard it in nearly 30 years, but I remember it being absolutely fearless in its resolve. The closest comparison I can make is with the first Was (Not Was) album, which was its closest contemporary in terms of sound. Was (Not Was) touch more lightly on freeform jazz to enliven their intellectual funk palette, but this record dives right into the bucket! It sounds like a mashup of five or six different records and it absolutely never bores.
And then there’s the title. It’s the kind of title, that once I heard of it, almost surpassed the actual music. It’s a title that drips with such unsurpassed irony, that even if the record’s grooves were empty, the name alone would entertain, inspire, and illuminate! I remember the DJ who played this the first time I heard it. It was Tony Christy, who not only had the best “radio voice” I’ve ever heard but who also ended up being John Cale’s tour manager in recent years. As he said the title before spinning it, right then and there I was hooked. Even if it had sounded like Bruce Springsteen, I’d still hold a candle for the title alone.
Since that time I’ve kept an eye out for this record but it has never crossed my path. The single Rip Rig + Panic track that I do have, and can listen to at will, is the Party Mix of “You’re My Kind Of Climate,” which appeared on Virgin’s “Methods Of Dance Vol. 2.” It’s a great cut, but way less freeform than BHTR. Most people may have encountered at least this Rip Rig + Panic cut since the band performed it on an episode of The Young Ones, back in the day.
Several years ago I was scanning the web for a copy but all of the ones that I found were prohibitively expensive. Rip Rig + Panic’s music on CD all seemed to be OOP and equally expensive. There was a compilation called “Knee Deep In Hits” that had the 7″ edit of BHTR but finding a copy has been elusive. Fortunately, when I looked today, for the first time in several years, I found affordable copies of both the “Hits” comp on CD as well as the unfettered 12″ of “Bob Hope” so one day soon, when I have several pennies to rub together, I should finally act on this long, smoldering obsession of mine.
– 30 –
![Want List: Visage DLX RM […finally!]](https://i0.wp.com/postpunkmonk.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/visage-dlxrmuscda.jpeg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1)
Post-Punk Monk 
Who can forget “You’re My Kind Of Climate” performed live on The Young Ones!
A staple of late-Sunday-night MTV in 1988!
LikeLike
jt – Welcome back! I was just thinking about you this morning since I hadn’t heard from you in a dog’s age. I just went to your web space yesterday and saw you really cleaned house. I miss the [non-Film Threat] film reviews, which were good reading while I was eating my lunch at work. I used to read them while eating then I slam out a blogpost [much like today’s] in the remaining 40 or so minutes.
LikeLike
LOVE LOVE LOVE this song. First heard on WNYU-FM when it first came out on the Evan ‘Funk’ Davies show. Evan was the drummer in The Bush Tetras at the time as well…
Funky and somehow VERY subversive at the time…I remember my dad asking me to turn this one off when I bought the 12″. BIG SCORE!
LikeLike
Echorich – You can’t be funky if you haven’t got a soul!
LikeLike
I’m not in the business of giving music away too easily, but as i have enjoyed your blog a lot i thought i’d send you the EP so you can check if you remembered it well and as a way to enjoy this great EP until you find a copy….
LikeLike
Dalebanon – That was kind of you but I’m against taking music for free and am even biased against paying for downloads*. I prefer to own a physical copy. But I appreciate your consideration in any case!
* But I’ve done it on occasion when there’s no alternative…
LikeLike
Monk –
Funny, I usually read your blog while eating lunch at work too!
I tend to post comments sparingly, but I’ve absorbed the bulk of your posts.
I did revamp my web site quite a while ago, maybe September or so.
Killed the film reviewing thing completely (both for my site and for Film Threat) since I am now working closely with a lot of film students; multiple complexities arose which are best discussed elsewhere (nothing juicy or scandalous!).
Devo GPA?
LikeLike
jt – What else are friend’s blogs for but lunchtime accompaniment? Just don’t judge me too harshly. I hack these out as fast as I can type, so the form can get a little rough. The most egregious lapses get taken care of after posting. Sometimes.
A DEVO Rock GPA is not likely. I’ve never heard the Hardcore albums, nor have I heard the new one*. And I definitely don’t want to hear “Smooth Noodle Maps!” But I said the same thing about “Red Carpet Massacre” and look how that turned out!
* Conceivably, I’ll get this one day.
LikeLike
Smooth Noodle Maps is more bland and uninspired than embarrassing or heinous.
You may fall asleep but you won’t cringe much.
There are some real gems on the Hardcore volumes, as well as on the2CD Rhino Handmade rarities set. Sound quality is extremely rough, but the 1974-1978 proto-Devo, pre-Eno polishing, were the real deal.
LikeLike
jt – I despised the “Post-Post-Modern Man” single! I need to square away the missing DEVO from my collection. They were a major happening for me.
LikeLike