The Blow Monkeys was a British pop-soul group of the 1980s.
Fronted by lead singer and songwriter Dr. Robert (born Bruce Robert Howard, in Haddington, Scotland, on 2 May 1961), the group formed in 1981 upon Howard’s return to the UK after spending his teen years in Australia. The group gets its unusual name from an offensive term used in Australia, referring to Aboriginals playing the didgeridoo.
In 1984, they released their debut album Limping For A Generation, but their first hit was in 1986 with “Digging Your Scene” from their second album Animal Magic. The single peaked at number 14 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart listing and number 7 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.
In January of 1987 She Was Only A Grocer’s Daughter was released. The album’s biggest hit, “It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way”, reached the Top Ten in the UK, although it never charted in the US.
The band called it quits in late 1990. Lead singer Dr. Robert went solo and still records music.
