Jim Bob was born to two parents Frank and Jenny. Jenny was a singer, long distance swimmer and speed skater, while Frank was a theatre stage manager and carpenter. So, as show business, showing off and to a lesser extent carpentry was in the blood, Jim set out on the yellow brick road to fame and fortune.
Following years of pop struggle Jim would release his first records with the band Jamie Wednesday, whose horn section Jim would work with again fumfty years later as a solo artist (when Jim was reading a book about learning to play the recorder and discovered it was written by Jamie Wednesday sax player Simon).
After Jamie Wednesday Jim Bob formed Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine with guitarist Fruitbat. Together as Carter they would have 14 top 40 singles and four top ten albums (including a number one), selling over a million records and touring the world. With Carter, Jim Bob would become known for his socially aware pop lyrics and in particular his use of puns.
Carter split in 1997 but reformed ten years later for two massive sell out, life affirming gigs that would lead to more sell out Carter shows in 2008 and 2009. In 2011 they headlined the Beautiful Days festival in Devon and three more Carter gigs followed in 2012: Glasgow, Leeds & London. Finally in 2014, the last Carter shows were announced: A headline slot at the Bearded Theory Festival, a BBC 6music live performance from Maida Vale and two last hurrahs in London. The 5,000 capacity Brixton Academy gig sold out in minutes.
Outside of Carter Jim Bob has had a long and varied solo career. He has released eight albums solo and with his discopoppunk band Jim's Super Stereoworld.
Jim's autobiography 'Goodnight Jim Bob On The Road With Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine' was published by Cherry Red Books in 2004 to critical acclaim. Jim has written songs for Ian Dury and for the 2006 Barbican production of Mark Ravenhill's Dick Whittington & His Cat, directed by Edward Hall and starring Trigger from Only Fools and Horses. In August 2010 he made his Edinburgh Fringe debut in the Ward and White musical 'Gutted, A Revenger's Musical'.
His seventh solo album 'A Humpty Dumpty Thing' came with a mini novel 'Word Count', which Jim adapted as a screenplay for a Hollywood production company. His eighth solo album 'What I Think About When I Think About You' was recorded with 26-piece The Mystery Fax Machine Orchestra.
Jim Bob has written four novels; 'Storage Stories' (Ten Forty Books), 'Driving Jarvis Ham'(Harper Collins), the award winning best seller 'The Extra Ordinary Life of Frank Derrick, Age 81' (Pan Macmillan) and its follow up 'Frank Derrick's Holiday Of A Lifetime' (Pan Macmillan), published under the name J.B. Morrison and translated into French, Italian, German and Dutch.