Obit on Bob Biggs from Chris Morris, who is literally writing the book on Slash... Slash Records Leader Bob Biggs Dies at 74; Label Brought Los Lobos, X, Violent Femmes to Fame via variety
to national prominence in the ‘80s, died Oct. 17 in Tehachapi, CA. He was 74, and had suffered from Lewys body dementia.
“If I were a consummate fan I’d be incapable of making certain business moves because I’d consider the music too precious. My job is to find — or create — a market for a record and that requires me to be a bit ruthless at times. You have to be willful to run a record company and if you ever play victim you’re dead. This business is about survival of the fittest and it requires mental toughness and the ability to bluff.”“RIP, Bob Biggs,”bassist Bill Gould wrote on Twitter.
In 1977, Biggs’ Pico Boulevard studio was next door to the offices of Slash magazine, an attitude-flexing new publication catering to the burgeoning L.A. punk rock community. Slash’s publisher Steve Samiof approached Biggs for a loan to record the unpredictable punk act the Germs, and he kicked in $600 for the recording of the three-track “Lexicon Devil” EP, which the magazine sold via mail order.
In early 1981, the label issued the soundtrack for “The Decline of Western Civilization,” a documentary directed by Biggs’ then-wife Penelope Spheeris, which featured both class-of-‘77 L.A. punk bands and new hardcore acts like Black Flag and the Circle Jerks. Biggs and Slash magazine staffers, including the label’s early producer and A&R man Chris Desjardins, were featured in the film.
Through the ‘80s, Slash continued to move well beyond the confines of punk with albums from Boston’s rock quartet Del Fuegos, the tongue-in-cheek folk-punk act the Knitters and the Wisconsin roots band the BoDeans. The year 1987 brought the arrival of the San Francisco band Faith No More; Biggs designed the cover of their label debut “Introduce Yourself” and co-directed their first video for a remake of the group’s “We Care a Lot.
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