Doc Cox
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Robert "Doc" Cox (born 1 July 1946 in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire), also known as Ivor Biggun, is a British musician and former television journalist. He is known for his appearances on the BBC TV programme That's Life! from 1982 to 1992 and for four albums of funny smutty songs. Currently resident in Suffolk, he is active in several pub bands, including the Trembling Wheelbarrows.
Education
Cox was educated at the King Edward VI Grammar School in Retford, Nottinghamshire and at one point became a prefect. He wrote and performed songs such as "Charlotte the Harlot" whilst at school and performed during the mid-1960s as the lead singer of Nurk Wildebeest and the Mutations. Their performances were mostly at local village hall dances and their risqué lyrics were quite bold for the time.
That's Life!
After some years as a teacher Cox became a sound engineer with the BBC in 1969. Becoming employed as a warm-up man for That's Life!, he recalled that 'Someone didn't turn up for one of the auditions or something, and I was sort of pushed in'.[1] It has been reported that the nickname "Doc" was acquired as a result of Cox habitually using a black doctor's bag to carry his packed lunches in when working on location.[2]
In October 2008, Cox was part of a That’s Life! reunion broadcast on BBC London 94.9. Cox said of the impending reunion: "It'll be lovely to chat to Esther again. Somebody once asked me who my greatest influences were, and I had to reply 'Buddy Holly, George Formby, my dad, Martin Luther King and Esther Rantzen'."[3]
Ivor Biggun
Under the Biggun name, Cox fronts a humorous band that is sometimes billed simply as "Ivor Biggun", or variously "Ivor Biggun and Red-nosed Burglars" or "Ivor Biggun and the Left-handed Wankers". His specialty is double entendre-laden smutty songs. Ivor Biggun has released four albums of bawdy songs (and recorded with Judge Dread and David "Screaming Lord" Sutch), the latest being 2005's Handling Swollen Goods.
In 1978 Johnny Rotten selected "The Winker's Song (misprint)" as his single of the week when he was a guest reviewer for New Musical Express. The single sold well, reaching #22 in the UK Singles Chart thanks to Rotten's support. However, it was banned by nearly all radio stations due to its explicit lyrics. Notoriously, it has been used in Ibiza nightclubs as a "floor clearer" at closing time. In 1981 the single "Bras on 45 (Family Version)" by "Ivor Biggun and the D Cups" reached number 50 on the UK Singles chart and was on the chart for 3 weeks.[4]
Ivor Biggun is sometimes compared to or even confused with George Formby as Cox quite clearly parodies Formby's comic musical style. Biggun's 1987 song "Nobody Does It Like The Ukulele Man" pays homage to Formby.
Discography
- 1978 The Winker's Album (Misprint) BBL1CD
- 1981 More Filth! Dirt Cheap BBL3CD
- 1987 Partners in Grime BBL79CD
- 1999 The Fruity Bits of Ivor Biggun (Greatest hits)
- 2005 Handling Swollen Goods TOSSA2CD
- 2006 More Fruity Bits! The Rest of Ivor Biggun (2nd greatest hits, double CD)
