The Blow Monkeys

The Blow Monkeys
Dr. Robert at Let's Rock Bristol in June 2014. Photograph by Andrew D. Hurley.
Background information
Origin	United Kingdom
Genres	New wave,sophisti-pop
Years active	1981–1990, 2007–present
Labels	FOD, RCA, Ariola, Cherry Red
Website	Official website
Members	Dr. Robert (Robert Howard) Neville Henry Mick Anker Tony Kiley

The Blow Monkeys are a British new wave/sophisti-pop band that formed in 1981. The first single, "Live Today Love Tomorrow" was released in 1982. They subsequently enjoyed a successful career with several hit singles and albums across the 1980s before splitting up at the beginning of the 1990s. Their first hit song was "Digging Your Scene", which hit No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in August, 1986. They had four albums and eleven singles in the UK charts from 1986 and 1990.

In late 2007, the original band members reunited. They have subsequently released five albums (one of them a live recording).

Fronted by lead singer, songwriter, guitarist, bassist and piano player Dr. Robert (born Bruce Robert Howard, 2 May 1961, Haddington, Scotland) the group formed in 1981, upon Howard's return to the United Kingdom, after spending his teen years in Australia. The other members are Mick Anker (born 7 August 1961) on bass guitar, Neville Henry (born 11 October 1961) on saxophone, and Tony Kiley (born 28 November 1961) on drums.

In 1984, they released their debut album, Limping for a Generation, but their first hit came two years later, in 1986, with "Digging Your Scene", from their second album, Animal Magic (which reached number 21 in the UK Albums Chart). The single attracted attention for the topical lyrics, dealing with the AIDS-fuelled backlash against gay people. It peaked at number 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and number 7 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. In addition, it reached a high of number 12 in the UK Singles Chart, number 24 in Italy and number 25 in Germany.

In January 1987, She Was Only a Grocer's Daughter, the band's third album was released; it reached number 20 in the UK, thanks to its biggest hit, "It Doesn't Have To Be This Way", which reached number 5 in the UK (and number 28 in Italy), although it never charted in the United States. However, it did feature in the film, Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol. The song "You Don't Own Me" appears on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack.