The many musical hats of Bob Wayne

MEET BOB WAYNE

Over the years, Bob has juggled a myriad of roles in the music business: Recording Studio Owner, Director and Chief Engineer at Sunburst Recording; Record Producer (Rhino Records and Shout Factory Entertainment), Lead Vocalist for 1950’s parody Rock & Roll band Big Daddy, and Recording Arts Instructor at The University of California at Los Angeles (U.C.L.A.), West L.A. College and L.A. City College.

After graduating from U.C.L.A. with an M.B.A., Bob became a Market Researcher for Preview House (also known as A.S.I. Market Research) in Hollywood, California.  While there, he analyzed audience responses to T.V. pilots, commercials and finally from his life-long passion...music.

In 1976, Bob traded his clerical desk in for a recording console with the opening of Sunburst Recording, which he eventually moved to Culver City, California in 1982.  In over forty years of operation, Sunburst served as a premiere local recording facility and one of the most popular commercial studios in the greater Los Angeles area.

Bob’s studio production credits include well over three hundred albums - winning a Grammy in 2002 for his work on George Carlin’s “Napalm & Silly Putty.”  A Grammy finalist four times Bob has worked with such diverse talents as Adam Sandler, Cesar Millan (The Dog Whisperer), Ska bands Fishbone & Hepcat, Richie Havens, Micky Dolenz of The Monkees, Dr. Demento, Firesign Theatre, television pioneer Steve Allen and Jazz greats: Plas Johnson, Al McKibbon, Ernie Andrews and Barbara Morrison among others.  Bob also has a long list of T.V. and film credits, including a gold record for his work on the 1996 Miramax / Hollywood Records soundtrack for the film “Swingers” (starring Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau).

Big Daddy, a 1950’s Rock & Roll parody band, formed in 1982 by Bob, along with long-time musician collaborators, including Marty Kaniger, gained popularity with the release of four albums on Rhino Records from 1983 – 1992 followed by “The Best of Big Daddy” in 2000.

In 1985, the eight-piece ensemble had a top 20 national hit in the UK, with a remake of the Bruce Springsteen classic “Dancing In The Dark.” The following year, Big Daddy was honored as a Clio Finalist for their original musical composition, “My Kind of Zoo,” written and performed by the band for a T.V. and radio jingle promoting the then newly renovated Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.  The jingle also won both New York and Chicago Film Festival awards that same year.

Throughout the 1980’s & 90’s, Bob and Big Daddy toured in the U.S. and internationally with T.V. and live performances in the UK, Germany, and Australia.  After a few years of inactivity, the band reformed in 2012 to record their sixth album, “Smashing Songs of Stage & Screen,” which was released the following year on Mash King Records.  Rhino also released a Big Daddy album in 2014, a retrospective on the group titled “Cruisin’ Through The Rhino Years.”

Bob continues his involvement in music with Big Daddy, as well as analog tape restoration and audio consulting.  Additionally, he spent much of 2020 - 2022 writing “Reel To Real Tales.”