Bob Bert


Robert Bertelli, better known professionally as Bob Bert, is an American rock drummer.

Biography

Based in Hoboken, New Jersey, Bert initially came to prominence as drummer for the experimental rock band Sonic Youth from 1982 to 1985. Bert played on the Sonic Youth albums Confusion Is Sex and Bad Moon Rising, in addition to the live album Sonic Death, EP Kill Yr Idols, and the singles "Death Valley '69" and "Flower". After Bad Moon Rising, Bert quit the group. His departure was amicable, and he even appeared in the music video of "Death Valley '69" alongside his replacement, Steve Shelley.
Bert contributed during the last half of the 1980s as percussionist for noise band Pussy Galore. He was a member of Action Swingers in the early 1990s.
In the early 1990s, Bert drummed for the Chrome Cranks.
After the dissolution of the Cranks, Bert joined forces with guitarist Kid Congo, guitarist Jack Martin, bassist/vocalist Jerry Teel and organist Barry London in the rootsy New York City band Knoxville Girls.
Throughout, Bert managed to release a handful of recordings by his percussive/concussive vehicle Bewitched. Releases by Bewitched include the Chocolate Frenzy 12" EP; some albums, including Harshing My Mellow on No. 6 Records; and the "Hey White Homie" 7" on Sub Pop. Bewitched toured with Sonic Youth and STP during the summer of 1990, the year Goo was released.
During the late 1990s, Bert and his wife, artist Linda Wolfe, began publishing BBGun, a zine that primarily covers punk rock.
In 1998, Bert contributed the liner notes and interviewed Suicide for the reissue of the band's eponymous second album.
Bert played with Five Dollar Priest as well as with the International Shades, which features ex-Live Skull guitarist Mark C. and former Pier Platters shop assistant-turned-keyboardist Dorien Garry among others.
In 2011 Thick Syrup Records released the compilation cd Bewitched - Bob Bert Presents: The Worst Poetry Of 1986 - 1993, featuring all tracks Bob Bert recorded with Bewitched. The label also released the last album of the re-united Chrome Cranks featuring Bert on drums.
Bert is now playing with Retrovirus, who have released studio and live albums, and also with Wolfmanhattan Project with Kid Congo Powers and Mick Collins.
In 2019, Bert released I'm Just the Drummer: My Time Behind Sonic Youth, Pussy Galore, Chrome Cranks & BB Gun Magazine, a book compiling his photographs and interviews he did with artists he collaborated with or that influenced him.
Bert's father is Angelo Bertelli, who played college and pro football, and won the Heisman Trophy in 1943.

Discography

With Sonic Youth

  • Confusion is Sex, 1983
  • Kill Yr Idols, 1983
  • Sonic Death, 1984
  • Death Valley 69, 1984
  • Bad Moon Rising, 1985

    With Lee Ranaldo

  • Between the Times and the Tides, 2012

    Bewitched

  • Chocolate Frenzy 12" EP
  • Brain Eraser, No. 6 Records
  • Harshing My Mellow, No. 6 Records
  • "Hey White Homie" 7" Sub Pop.
  • Bob Bert Presents: The Worst Poetry of 1986-1993, Thick Syrup Records 2011

    Chrome Cranks

  • Dead Cool, CD Crypt, 1995
  • Love In Exile, CD PCP, 1996
  • Oily Cranks, CD Atavistic Records, 1997
  • Diabolical Boogie: Singles, Demos & Rarities CD, Atavistic Records, 2006
  • Ain't No Lies In Blood CD, Thick Syrup Records 2011

    With Lydia Lunch Retrovirus

  • Retrovirus, Recorded live at the Knitting Factory, Brooklin, NY, Nov 15, 2012
  • Urge to Kill
  • Live in Zurich

    With Wolfmanhattan Project

  • Smells Like You,
  • Blue Gene Stew,

    With Jon Spencer and the HITMakers

  • Spencer Gets It Lit,