Best of Bob & Ray, Volume 4
Bob [Elliott] & Ray [Goulding], legendary American humorists, are loved by fans and by fellow humorists, comedians and broadcasters. Bob & Ray's 40-year career began at WHDH, Boston. Bob was a disc jockey, and Ray a newscaster. When the Red Sox games were delayed on account of rain, they began to amuse each other to fill the time. Soon they had a daily show of their own, "Matinee with Bob & Ray," an improvised, madcap exercise in controlled chaos. Over their long career, they created more than a hundred characters, all played by Bob or Ray: Ace reporter Wally Ballou, winner of 17 awards for diction; Mary McGoon, whose recipe for frozen ginger ale salad prefigures Martha Stewart; Biff Burns in the sports room; Webley Webster; Barry Campbell, a third rate actor with an ego the size of the universe; Mary Backstayge, Noble Wife whose pals travel the world in search of goofy adventure. Their humor is subtle, dry, intelligent and clean but never treacly. Bob & Ray have a keen ear for language, how it is used and misused by the con artists, hucksters and hustlers who populate radio and television, even today. Their humor is timeless. Bob & Ray's satire of soap operas, game shows, radio shrinks and other self-appointed "experts," and commercials, is as pertinent today as it was in 1946 when they began. They belong in the pantheon of American humor, alongside Mark Twain, George Ade, Will Rogers, S. J. Pearlman, Kurt Vonnegut and Garrison Keillor. In 1951 NBC brought them to New York for a daily 15-minute television program, and network radio shows including, Monitor. Over the next thirty years they appeared on every major network, and on three powerful New York radio stations. They finished their radio career on public radio with the "The Bob & Ray Public Radio Show" (1982-2004), and two sold-out, farewell appearances at Carnegie Hall (1984). All of these performances have been preserved on CDs from Bobandray.comâ„¢. Bob & Ray have won three Peabody Awards and three GrammyÂ® nominations, as well as many other prestigious honors. For more information about Bob and Ray, and for detailed track listings, visit our website at bobandray.com (just copy and paste into your browser as this is not a link.)