1995
Rockin' Robyn
Cult Hero Hitchcock Still Takes A Direct Approach To Songwriting
by Paul Freeman
Rhino Records is shedding light on a Hitchcockian mystery. For the past 20 years, Robyn Hitchcock has created one brilliant album after another. Yet he remains a cult figure. It's difficult to understand why he hasn't received more attention.
By reissuing nine of his albums, spanning 1980-87, Rhino is helping to remedy that situation. It has added many B-sides and alternate takes. The material brims with wildly imaginative -- though instantly grabbing -- lyrics and melodies.
Hitchcock has never expected his songs to soar up the charts. "I didn't go into this business to become rich and famous. I don't refuse limousines if they're offered, however," he says, chuckling.
Hitchcock first earned acclaim with The Soft Boys in the '70s, then began flying solo -- reflecting such influences as Syd Barrett, John Lennon, and Bob Dylan.
Did the record industry ever try to nudge him toward a commercial niche? "From time to time," he says. "But they're warned off by my plumage. The business doesn't approach me as a juicy truffle it can gulp down its throat, thinking they'll then grow golden feathers for having ingested me. I'm not seen as an ingredient that will make everyone richer.
"I haven't been abused by the industry. They've been polite -- but suspicious of me."
Hitchcock isn't trying to be different. It just works out that way.
"It's not like Satan is standing there saying, 'Come on, sing to me and I'll do it all for you,'" he says. "In the end, you do what is natural to you. People who sell lots of records probably like the kind of music they make. I don't suppose Michael Jackson and Madonna have been dying to produce a Nike Drake tribute album."
The last of the Rhino releases, due March 29, is You & Oblivion, a compilation of rarities -- most of which Hitchcock found in his mother's attic.
"I write hundreds of songs," he says. "You have to throw most of them out. Then you come back and find that some of them haven't starved to death. They've actually gestated -- and perhaps grown stronger -- by being left in a dark corner. So you scoop up the golden ones and shove out an album of outtakes."
Hitchcock, 41, will make many great albums in the future. With hope, they'll reach far more ears. But Hitchcock doesn't worry about that.
"As in government, the record companies do market research and try to trim their product to suit the digestion of the masses," he says. "But I don't think that's how anything great is created. That's just how things are engineered in sales campaigns.
"The purpose of Rock 'n' Roll is to make wealthy people wealthier. My purpose is the same as it's always been: to write good songs."
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