Robyn Hitchcock

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Robyn Hitchcock (born March 3, 1953) is a rock and roll singer-songwriter, psych folk artist, and occasional actor.

Born in London, England, he began his recording career in 1976 with the Cambridge-based punk/New Wave band The Soft Boys. After this group broke up in 1981, Hitchcock began recording both as a solo artist, as well as under the band name Robyn Hitchcock and The Egyptians (with Roger Jackson and two former members of The Soft Boys, Andy Metcalfe and Morris Windsor). It is with this band that Hitchcock achieved some success via college radio and MTV in the later half of the 1980s and early 1990s with their singles "Balloon Man" in 1988, "Madonna Of The Wasps" in 1989 and "So You Think You're In Love" in 1991.

Hitchcock's musical and lyrical styles have drawn influence from his appreciation of Bob Dylan, John Lennon and Syd Barrett. His tendency for irreverent-sounding delivery has led to some critics misunderstanding him as a purely novelty/comic lyricist, but many of the sentiments within his writing are actually quite serious in themselves, framed in an unpretentious, whimsical and surreal manner.

Hitchcock's 2002 double album Robyn Sings is an album of cover versions of Bob Dylan songs, including a live recording of his recreation of Dylan's Live at the Royal Albert Hall 1966 concert.

Also in 2002, Hitchcock re-united and toured with Kimberley Rew, bassist Matthew Seligman, and Morris Windsor for The Soft Boys release of Nextdoorland.

Hitchcock has collaborated with film director Jonathan Demme on two projects: the live concert film Storefront Hitchcock (1998) and the 2004 remake of The Manchurian Candidate, in which Hitchcock portrayed double-agent Laurent Tokar.

In 2006 he released the Ole! Tarantula album with The Venus 3, which consists of R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, and the R.E.M. session musicians Scott McCaughey and Bill Rieflin.

In October 2006, Hitchcock will be touring Australia including R.E.M.'s Peter Buck. Hitchcock also appeared on the Triple M radio show Get This on October 17 2006 to talk about his Australian tour and musical career.

Additionally, Hitchcock has a keen interest in abstract art and literature. He writes short stories, paints, and draws (often in a whimsical, surrealist style). Many of Hitchcock's album covers bear his paintings or drawings, and his albums' liner notes occasionally include a printed short story. His live concerts usually include a considerable amount of story-telling and conjecture in his lyrical style.

Robyn is the son of science fiction novelist Raymond Hitchcock and is not related to Alfred Hitchcock.