Robert O. Smith is now plugging himself into a wall outlet because when you are in mortal danger it is said "You see your life flashing before your eyes!" And he didn't spend all day sharpening his toes for nothing... Plus, how else an you remember your life to write a Bio if you don't rely on drastic measures?...
It was 1942 in Grass Valley, California when young Robert O. Smith first began bargaining for life... Days before his birth he slipped out a crudely scrawled note that read... "Send in a Tricycle or I'm not coming Out.."
This angered Doctor Moreau, and so Robo..then known as "Bobby" was plucked forth as the ungrateful sparrow he was..
From then we fast forward through his tumultuous life.
3 years old... sets fire to the basement of the place the family was moving out of..
4 years old... he delights in peeing on the lawn of his house next to the main highway going to Nevada City...luckily people thought he was one of those cupid statues in a garden fountain...
8 years old... he plays doctor with little girl next door --doesn't quite understand the endocrine system..is sued by little girls parents for malpractice..
10 years old... is seduced by the 14 year old girl down the street..well almost...things are cut short when she realizes he hasn't studied his topography and is looking for treasure in all the wrong places.
12 years old... gets his first chemistry set..invents gun powder..no, it was more powerful ---more like flash powder...Bobby has no eyebrows for all of the 6th grade.
15 years old... Bob is making fun of everyone in silly voices..lifting weights to get strong..and cartooning grotesque faces ala' Basil Wolverton and attempting to draw pretty pinups like Wally Wood..Influences are ..Jonathan Winters..Ernie Kovacs..Spike Jones.. He Digs' Music like Gene Vincent..Little Richard ..Elvis ..Roy Orbison.. Dave Brubeck..Ahmad Jamal.. Bob was soon to open up to John Coltrane and Lenny Bruce as idols...retaining passion for bongos and Congas and music like Cal Tjader and Mongo Santamaria..
At 19 Bob fakes his way thru his draft physical using isometric contractions to abnormally raise his blood pressure (Having won the west coast version of the USA AAU Teenage Nationals for Weightlifting in 1960--gave Bob the knowledge)
Then Radio is started as Robert O.'s career ... small stuff ... KAHI
Auburn... KHOE Tahoe (Bob quit when the owner tried to Burn Bob alive
one night in the studio--thanks to the FBI out of Reno Nevada for their
advice to Bob to ' look for work elsewhere' /This IS True) KOWL South
Lake Tahoe... KLAV Las Vegas ... KMBY Monterey Calif. Then KJR/ KSND /
KOL / KTAC / KVI /KIXI FM Seattle... All radio years in which Bob tore
his employers a 'new mind'..but paid the price of always being on shaky
ground for the "artistic-Comedic license " he took...
His audience
listened only to see if he would BE there the next day after saying what
he said on his last show... For a while in the 80's Robert O. flirted
with stand up comedy..It was his only true love at the time but it
occasionally slapped him in the face..and wrote sucker on the mirror
with it's lipstick...
And so it was Robert O. the multi-voiced comedic
free association man had a way to pay the bills...Marry 3 times....co-
produce a Fabulous Daughter and a Son and finally wander to Vancouver
Canada working at CFMI CISL and Radio Max..
Then one day when his inner monkey was not securely guarding the fort..Robert O. broke loose from Radio and fled into the arms of Animated Cartoons..Commercials and a more satisfying way of life freelance voice work ...
But along the line falling back in love with comedy in the form of his own animated cartoons in Flash and his odd art in 3D Zbrush .Examples of this art therapy is here on the site.. check them out ' last one first' puts the latest work to the front.And no Biography of Robo would be complete without the mention of his life long companion "The Barbell". Robert O. has amassed hundreds of trophies and World -National- State and Provincial powerlifting records in the WDFPF- AAU -WABDL -WNPF-CDFPA and USAPL Powerlifing organizations and still lifts avidly in the masters drug free category in many lifting associations.
OWW MY TOE !! A lot of good electrocuting himself did.!!. He still forgot to mention that he was Monster Movie TV Host Dr. ZinGRR in the Tacoma -Seattle area in the mid 70's( it had a huge cult following-real cults, mind you) And that he had a minor Novelty record career under the name Thorndike Pickledish in the late sixties ..His only proof of that is the occasional play of his tunes by Dr. Demento and by the inclusion of his Walter Wart the freaky Frog on the Doc's basement tapes # 9...
I’ve been lucky to be able to write about some of my favorite local media idols by finding a Highline connection. For Pat Cashman, Stan Boreson and Dave Ross, it was their Burien performances with ChoralSounds Northwest. With radio godfather Pat O’Day, it was Schick Shadel Hospital on Ambaum.
For former rock jock Robert O. Smith, the Highline link might be more tenuous, but here goes.
A couple of years ago, I wrote a column defending the entertainment value of progressive talk radio. I mentioned that Jim Ward, from Stephanie Miller’s morning show, does the funniest impressions since local legend Robert O. Smith.
Imagine my thrill when less than 24 hours after the column hit the Highline Times website, I got an e-mail from Robert O. himself, thanking me.
We e-mailed back and forth about meeting for coffee when he was in town.
I’ll never get that honor. Robert O. Smith died last week of pancreatic and liver cancer at age 67. I know from watching Robinson Newspapers colleague Tim St. Clair battle with pancreatic cancer, it is a particularly nasty way to die.
The passing of Robert O. (I can’t imagine referring to him as Mr. Smith) comes not long after the deaths of two self-described “old farts,” Lan Roberts and Jerry Kay, who greatly entertained us baby boomers on the radio during our formative years.
During my teens and twenties, I followed Robert O. up and down the AM and FM radio dials. I even lost precious weekend sleep time by staying up late to watch him bat-flap through horrid horror movies on Channel 13 as Dr. Zingrr. (It was kind of a pre “Mystery Science Theater” thing.)
I can see my two tech-savvy sons laughing at their old-fart father. But I feel kind of sorry for them. Even with all their great new entertainment devices, they didn’t get to hear their music on the radio, enhanced by the talent of the likes of Robert O.
(For a taste of Robert O’s multiple talents, from animation to power lifting, visit www.robertosmith.com.)
Posted by: Erictheeditor | June 05, 2010 at 12:20 PM
I liked to call him Bob, or Rubber Dough. I'd call him up and talk to him at whatever station he was working at just to hear his wit. At KVI I finally got an invitation to come down and see the man, an invitation that led to good conversation, an opprotunity to give away free pies at three in the morning and best of all to record with him as Dr Zingrr on the Twilight Gallery 2176, Sinister Lunchmeat record. I used to even call his house everyday just to hear the crazy messages he would leave on his answering machine. The world could use a hell of a lot more Rubber Doughs but I'm afraid there are none left to go around. We're going to miss you a whole lot, goodbye Bob.
Posted by: William Henshaw, Bob always thought it was Crenshaw | September 12, 2010 at 02:14 AM
I was on after Rober-do at KTAC for a month or two. His humor always made me question my own sanity.
His programs were well structured and, as a one year younger DJ, I could not see how he did it.
Oh, talent, that's right (:')
Posted by: Doug Klippert | October 27, 2010 at 03:09 PM