Bob Griffin is a Milwaukee rock bassist who has avoided some, but not all, of the confusion associated with a common name by preferring the shorter, friendlier
Bob to Robert; other players with the same name, many of them rockers, seem to prefer formality. These include the Robert Griffin from Cleveland whose rock career began at approximately 13 and the New Orleans jazz pianist who has recorded several albums fronting a trio. The Milwaukee bassist is best known for playing with
the BoDeans, a group that evolved out of a collaboration between Wisconsin high-school students in the first half of the '80s.
Drummer
Guy Hoffman was
Griffin's rhythm section mate, backing the precocious songwriting front line of Sam Llanas and
Kurt Neumann. Like many aspects of the Milwaukee rock scene, the evolving careers of many of these players interconnect, if only because some of them shared quarters in the same hotel, rumored to be a mob front.
Hoffman later went on to replace
Victor de Lorenzo as drummer in
the Violent Femmes,
the BoDeans' rival in the lakefront city for local rock & roll glory.
Violent Femmes bassist
Brian Ritchie may have also been
Griffin's rival for cool local bass player status. Both performers were members of bands signed to Slash, at that time involved in a manufacturing and distribution deal with the mighty Warner Bros.
In 1987,
Griffin and company were being produced by
Jerry Harrison of
Talking Heads, who would perform the same chore for
the Violent Femmes. Both groups enjoyed commercial success during this period,
the BoDeans touring with
U2 and backing up
Robbie Robertson of
the Band on a solo album. New members joining near the end of the decade were keyboardist
Michael Ramos and drummer
Danny Gayol. The band has remained active for more than two decades, patching a new drummer onto the seat of the band's trousers whenever necessary. ~ Eugene Chadbourne