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Robyn Rowan Hitchcock (born 3 March 1953) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano and bass guitar. Coming to prominence in the late 1970s with The Soft Boys, Hitchcock afterward launched a prolific solo career. His musical and lyrical styles have been influenced by the likes of Bob Dylan, John Lennon and Syd Barrett. Hitchcock's lyrics tend to include surrealism, comedic elements, characterisations of English eccentrics, and melancholy depictions of everyday life. He was signed to two major American labels (A&M Records, then Warner Bros.) over the course of the 1980s and 1990s, and was the subject of a live performance/documentary film (Storefront Hitchcock) by major motion picture director Jonathan Demme in 1998, but despite this, mainstream success has been limited. He has earned strong critical reviews over a steady stream of album releases and live performances, and a "cult following"〔 for his songs. ==The Soft Boys to the Egyptians (1972–1993)== Hitchcock was educated at Winchester College, where he was a "groovy and alternative" friend of Julia Darling. While at art school in London around 1972, Hitchcock was a member of the college band the Beetles. In 1974 he moved to Cambridge, where he did some busking, and joined a series of local bands: B.B. Blackberry and the Swelterettes, the Worst Fears, and Maureen and the Meatpackers.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Soft Boys Biography : OLDIES.com )〕 His next group, Dennis and the Experts, became the neo-psychedelia band The Soft Boys in Cambridge in 1976, recording their first EP, "Give It to the Soft Boys", at Spaceward studios, Cambridge, in 1977. After recording ''A Can of Bees'' (1979) and ''Underwater Moonlight'' (1980) the group broke up in 1981. Hitchcock released his solo debut, ''Black Snake Diamond Röle'' in 1981, which included instrumental backing by several former Soft Boys. He followed it in 1982 with the generally critically maligned ''Groovy Decay'', a record which he would ultimately disown.〔''The Rough Guide to Rock'', Peter Buckley, 2003〕 Following his solo acoustic album ''I Often Dream Of Trains'' in 1984, he formed a new band, The Egyptians, comprising former members of the Soft Boys (Andy Metcalfe and Morris Windsor, supplemented at first by early keyboardist Roger Jackson), resulting in their 1985 debut ''Fegmania!'', which featured typically surrealist Hitchcock songs such as "My Wife and My Dead Wife" and "The Man with the Lightbulb Head". (A live album, ''Gotta Let This Hen Out!'', was released at the end of that year.) Their popularity grew with the 1986 album ''Element of Light'' and they were subsequently signed to A&M Records in the U.S. The album ''Globe of Frogs'', released in 1988, further expanded their reach, as the single "Balloon Man" became a college radio and MTV hit, followed in 1989 by "Madonna Of The Wasps" from their ''Queen Elvis'' album. In 1989 they also teamed up with Peter Buck of R.E.M. and Peter Holsapple of The dB's, playing two gigs as Nigel and the Crosses, mostly covers.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=R.E.M. side-projects )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Robert Loerzel interviews Hitchcock )〕 The Crosses also had their cover of "Wild Mountain Thyme" included on a Byrds tribute album, though Hitchcock always alluded to the Bryan Ferry version when performing it live with the Egyptians. At the beginning of 1990, Hitchcock took a break from the Egyptians and A&M Records to release another solo acoustic album, ''Eye'', then resumed with the band's ''Perspex Island'' release in 1991. 1993's ''Respect'', influenced a great deal by his father's death,〔(RollingStone.com, Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians: ''Respect'' Review, 1993 ).〕 marked the last Egyptians release and the end of his association with A&M Records. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Robyn Hitchcock」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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