Doc Cox


Robert "Doc" Cox, 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 humorous, smutty songs. Currently resident in Suffolk, he is active in several pub bands, including the Trembling Wheelbarrows.

Education

Cox was educated at the Retford [King Edward VI Grammar School|King Edward VI Grammar School] in Retford, Nottinghamshire.

''That's Life!''

After some years as a teacher, Cox became a sound engineer with the BBC in 1969. Later he became a warm-up man for That's Life!; he recalled that one day "Someone didn't turn up for one of the auditions or something, and I was sort of pushed in". 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'."

Ivor Biggun

Under the Biggun name, Cox fronts a humorous band that is sometimes billed simply as "Ivor Biggun", or variously "Ivor Biggun and the Red-nosed Burglars" or "Ivor Biggun and the Left-handed Wankers", also "Ivor’s Jivers", or Ivor Biggun's Vulgar Band. He specialises in double entendre-laden smutty songs. Ivor Biggun has released four albums of bawdy songs, the most recent being 2005's Handling Swollen Goods.
Johnny Rotten selected "The [Winker's Song (Misprint)]" as his single of the week in 1978 when he was a guest reviewer for New Musical Express. The single sold well, reaching number 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. The single "Bras on 45 ", credited to "Ivor Biggun and the D Cups", reached number 50 in the UK Singles Chart in 1981 and remained in the charts for three weeks.

Discography

  • 1978 The Winker's Album BBL1CD
  • 1979 "The Winker's Rock 'n' Roll" BOP5
  • 1981 More Filth! Dirt Cheap BBL3CD
  • 1987 Partners in Grime BBL79CD
  • 1999 The Fruity Bits of Ivor Biggun
  • 2005 Handling Swollen Goods TOSSA2CD
  • 2006 More Fruity Bits! The Rest of Ivor Biggun
  • 2021 The Compleat Works of Ivor Biggun TOSSA5CD