GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and Blotto
Episode 92:  Hello! My Name Is Blotto! The Interview

Blotto hit the sand on MTV with “I Wanna Be A Lifeguard”, being among the first 40 videos played on their first morning as a station.  Then came “Metal Head”, Metal For Breakfast, and a heck of a lot of gigs.  The core members were all named Blotto:  Sarge, Cheese, F Lee, Broadway and Bow Tie.  Sadly we lost Cheese and Sarge, but for this special interview, F Lee, Broadway and Bow Tie reunited with director Bert Blotto on Grab A Stack of Rock.  It’s a Blotto reunion, and a good time was had by all.

The subject is a new movie about to premier on April 12 at Cohoes Music Hall:  Hello!  My Name Is Blotto!  The Movie.  Director Rob “Bert Blotto” Lichter has carved this film from many hours of archives, like a sculptor cuts wood.  Join the Blotto guys and I, as we check out the movie trailer and hear firsthand stories from the band.  There are laughs a-plenty, some serious moments, and some fan geekery.  You’ll always hear about the one (hilarious) unreleased track that was never recorded.

It is clear that for Rob, this is a work of passion and pride, as well as hope.  Indeed, Blotto deserve a larger audience, for their music still rings true and makes us laugh.

Plus, Bow Tie does the “Dr. Bow” laugh from “Goodbye Mr. Bond” and if that isn’t worth the price of admission, I don’t know what is.

Video premieres at 7:00 PM Eastern.

Thursday February 27 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube.

 

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Show notes

Rob Lichter’s Hello! My Name Is Blotto – The Movie! Is set to premiere at Cohoes Music Hall on Saturday, April 12.  The film spans the origins of the band members starting as The Star-Spangled Washboard Band in the 1970’s, their evolution to Blotto and heyday in the 1980’s, and their long afterlife up to the present.

This film is the brainchild of Rob Lichter, aka Bert Blotto, a multimedia expert and longtime friend of Blotto. 25 years of footage and interviews plus archives going back to 1972!  Why a documentary, and why now in 2025?  Whose idea was it to create a film?  How did this evolve?

Is the film done, edited, finished, ready to roll?

Obviously MTV was important to the success of the band, having been one of the first 40 videos played on the station.  MuchMusic in Canada also played a lot of Blotto and I’m wondering what your career was like in Canada.

What were you guys thinking, making music videos before there even was an MTV?

What was that feeling like, seeing your music video on national TV?

Did the Metal For Breakfast compilation album bring “Metal Head” to another level?

When prepping this interview, a friend asked me if Buck Dharma from BOC was on Metalhead and I confirmed.  How did you get that to happen?

“Video 45” on VHS from Sony with three videos of Blotto songs that also received wide exposure from airplay on MTV, including “Metalhead,” with Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser from Blue Öyster Cult on lead guitar.”  How did this happen?

I was struck by the one quote in the trailer about how some people thought Blotto was making fun of the music they liked.  I felt the same way!  I didn’t know how to take this band.  There was a bald guy and a guy with a tie and glasses!  They did look like they were “taking the piss” as the English say.

Each guy in the band had a different look.  How did you approach Blotto as a visual band?

Were there any musical genres off limits to you guys?

What about musicianship?  Obviously you guys could play.  Were there any ideas you had that were beyond your abilities?

I’ve always wondered who is singing lead on HSH?  Bowtie?

Any plays for DVD or Blu?  Or even a soundtrack album?