Bobby on Thin Ice

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Bobby On Thin Ice is an American rock band formed in Minnesota in 2010. The band consisted of Sam Black, (vocals, keyboard, drums) Emmett Haberman, (guitar, vocals) and Sam Kurschner (guitar, vocals). The band was heavily influenced by rock groups of the 60's and 70's, such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd. Their sound usually cannot be categorized, as they often use multiple genres for their music.

From left to right: Sam Kurschner, Emmett Haberman and Sam Black

Bobby On Thin Ice started their career as a psychedelic duo band, consisting of just Sam Black and Emmett Haberman. They began recording original songs and recorded an album titled 1 Subject. When Bobby On Thin Ice went on to make a second album, The Planet We Live With, they added lead guitarist Sam Kurschner to the line-up. Their music began to grow more varied, from Indian style to hard rock.

Sam Kurschner and Sam Black got into a fight over leadership of the band in the middle of recording their fourth album, the rock opera Bass Land. Kurschner believed Black wasn't allowing any input from other band members. This angered Black, causing him to break up the group. Despite this, Black and Haberman still record together under the persona The Scarf People.

Bobby On Thin Ice released three albums in their career:

  • 1 Subject
  • The Planet We Live With
  • Dirf

This band provides example of:

  • Big Rock Ending "My Lovely Rose" contains a great example of this trope.
  • Blue Eyes In Carrie Me Back: "Blue, brown, green eyes..." And in My Lovely Rose: "Her smokey blonde hair and her deep blue eyes..."
  • Book Ends The first track on their album "1 Subject" is titled "Buffalo Men." The final track on the album is titled "Buffalo Men (Reprise)."
  • Call Back As well as having the Book Ends trope, "Buffalo Men (Reprise)" also calls back to "Carrie Me Back," another track on the same album.
  • Careful With That Axe Sam Black lets off two unexpected blood-curdling screams in the song "My Lovely Rose."
  • Christmas Songs "Christmas, Stay Awhile."
  • Cover Version Bobby On Thin Ice has covered two songs: "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" by Paul McCartney and "Like A Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan.
  • Drugs Are Bad Emmett and Sam Black wrote an anti-marijuana song titled "Stay Away Mary Jane."
  • Drum Roll, Please The song "Buffalo Men" is highly dependent on its haunting drum rolls.
  • Epic Rocking The eleven-minute track "All The Answers."
  • Evil Laugh Heard in certain parts of "Becoming Purple."
  • Genre Roulette The band used a wide variety of musical genres, including psychedelic, folk, hard rock and jazz.
  • I Am the Band Sam Black sings and plays all the instruments on the song "Time Is Ticking."
  • Incredibly Long Note Emmett draws out a really long worldless yell in the scream-o parody song "As I Say."
  • It Got Worse Sam Black and Sam Kurschner's friendship quickly evaporated after "The Planet We Live With," eventually causing the group's break-up.
  • Long Title "From Now On All Of You Answer To Me."
  • Missing Episode The group has two (yes, two) rock operas that have been fully written and recorded but remain unreleased, consecutively titled "Youth Revolt" and "Bass Land," the latter being a major cause for the group's break-up.
  • No-Hit Wonder Bobby On Thin Ice has only gained popularity in their hometown of Coon Rapids, Minnesota.
  • Non-Appearing Title "Down In The Basement," "From Now On All Of You Answer To Me," "Afterthoughts" and obviously all their instrumentals.
  • One-Scene Wonder Sam Black's father, Mike Black, plays a brief harmonica solo on the song "I Saw Her Eyes."
  • Protest Song The song "Won't Give In (To Them)" protests against people who are intolerable to homosexuals.
  • Record Producer All three members of the band took the responsibility of production.
  • Scatting Used throughout "Down In The Basement".
  • Self-Backing Vocalist Sam Black backs his lead vocals up alongside Emmett in "Cookie Dough Castle."
  • Step Up to The Microphone Emmett does only one lead vocal in Bobby On Thin Ice, fittingly on the song "The 'Creative' Mind Of Emmett Haberman."
  • Studio Chatter Emmett is heard saying "I don't know what you mean" at the beginning of "Down In The Basement" and Sam Black mutters "that was pretty good" at the end of "Lady."
  • Take That "Dear Worst Enemy..."