Bob Coltart

Bob Coltart (Scott) - Musician, Singer, Songwriter, Lyricist and Entertainer has died

20TH December 1956 - 24TH July 2001

After a battle with cancer, Bob Coltart the leader of the celebrated Kent band "The Maroondogs" has died.
A professional guitarist and vocalist since leaving school, Bob was one of the most sought after session musicians in Kent and with his band probably the best known frontsman in the private function music scene in the South East.

When we ran Europa Sound Studios in Folkestone Bob was selfless in the way he was always ready to help us and our customers get to grips with the tricky stuff and would go to great lengths to explain what a "bridge" was and how to cross it.
He would occasionally bring tears to our eyes as he zipped up and down the frets, The man was a part of that Strat, I swear it. In his off-guard moments he was sometimes "elsewhere" and a bit clumsy. One night in Herne bay he left his beloved Stratocaster behind "The Arthur Kays Originals" van and it got run over. The carrying case was smashed but Bob calmly extracted the guitar, ran his fingers up the neck with a quick strum and said "don't worry, its still in tune but have you got a hammer or something the switch is all bent"

Sandi and I have spent many hours wondering what he kept in that carrier bag, perhaps it's one of those thing you never know the answer to.

Bob always wanted to be a pop star, even with all of his talents that personal success never came but he played with many famous stars over the years around the world and the limelight continued to shine in his eyes.

Regular releases of singles, albums, cassettes and CD's meant that the public could buy the Maroondogs own music easily. The big time success did not happen for the band but their radio jingles probably got more airplay in Kent that the greatest artistes.
Growing success over 30 years in the function band sector meant that the Maroondogs were not so easily available on the public gig circuit but Bob was always loyal to those landlords who supported the band in their early days. To keep in touch with his roots Bob would also entertain as a solo artiste "Bob Scott" or convert "The Dogs" into a Rock'n'Roll - Ska or Punk band as a one-off. Just for the fun it.

Bob, We will miss you. The music world owes you debt of gratitude for your contribution.

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The music world in Folkestone was stunned last month to hear about the death of Bob Coltart, frontman with The Maroondogs, after a short illness.

Bob, aged 44, was one of the first people I interviewed when I first became involved in the local music scene as a fanzine editor back in 1984 (around about the time of Maroondogs' debut single release - a ballad called "Dark Nights Falling"). He was genuinely one of the nicest guys I came across and we remained friends from that first meeting onwards. I always found him approachable, knowledgeable and always keen to stick the kettle on before playing you his latest releases at his flat In Foord Road.

Bob's band Maroondogs (with whom he was lead vocalist and guitarist for nearly 20 years along with bass player Kevin Bowyer and drummer Ian Cheswright, and latterly Bernie Watts) used to dominate the Gig Guide when I first started "Your Momings Will Be Brighter back in 1987 (something Bob once told me he often used to feel embarrassed about).

Bob enjoyed a varied musical career and just about anybody involved in the Folkestone music scene will have come across him somewhere along the line as Maroondogs remained unrivalled as the area's top pub and function act (they were always booked up years in advance for New Year's Eve). He even undertook some solo gigs under the guise of Bob Scott and local radio stations used to benefit from jingles performed by Maroondogs. The sombre reaction around Folkestone to Bob's death reflects just how many people's lives in the area he touched though his music.

Bob's musical career (and it was a career - he was a full-time musician) began as part of a new band for Peter Noone after the latter had left hugely successful 60s band Herman's Hermits. 50s and 60s rock 'n' roll was Bob's forte and I suppose his career reached a height when he performed a few dates as part of the legendary Chuck Berry's backing band (I also remember how proud he was when supporting Carl Perkins at the Leas Cliff Hall in Folkestone).

He also performed with ska band Arthur Kay & The Originals and I remember being at the Potsdam Ska Festival in Berlin during July 1995 when Bob (as well as his fellow Maroondogs Kev and Ian) were recorded as part of Arthur's band in front of a vast crowd. Arthur Kay & The Originals had their debut "Play My Record"/"Sootie Is A Rudie" single released on the Folkestone based Red Admiral Records in 1979. Arthur Kay is something of a legendary name in ska circles, but I am sure that he would be one of the first to recognise the part Bob played in the band's success. That ska scene also saw Bob front another band called The Volecanoes as well as play in a punkier band called The Cho-Zen.
Bob also toured Germany in the early 1990s with Chris Andrews (of 1965 hit "Yesterday Man" fame) when the latter enjoyed a dramatic revival and started to have big hits again overseas.

But it is as frontman with Maroondogs and as such a nice person to know that Bob Coltart will be best remembered. Everyone had their favourite choice of covers from the band - as well as fave songs of their own "Sausage Roll" anyone?). Somebody once wrote that the devil had all the best tunes, but in Bob's case we know that this was not the case and I am sure he will be looking down approvingly at whoever tries to keep the spirit of rock 'n' roll alive in this corner of the world. He leaves a huge void.

Our thoughts are with his fellow band mates, his family and especially Bob's wife Angie (whom he also knew affectionately as Lynne) and his teenage daughter Vicky.

Richard Murrill.
Extracted from "Your Mornings Will be Brighter"