Biography
Chip Taylor, born James Wesley Voight in 1940 in Yonkers, New York, assembled the fictional Senator Bobby strictly inside the studio as a writer and producer. He recruited voice impersonator Bill Minkin to deliver a satirical impression of Senator Robert Kennedy’s Massachusetts accent over a reworking of the Troggs’ garage-band staple “Wild Thing,” releasing the result in 1967. The single climbed to number 20 on the pop charts, prompting an album that placed Minkin inside the comedy ensemble the Hardly Worthit Players alongside Dennis Wholey, Steve Baron, and Carol Morley. Like most novelty projects, the troupe failed to sustain momentum and only reached number 99 with its 1967 parody of Donovan’s “Mellow Yellow,” a double send-up of Senators Kennedy and Everett McKinley Dirksen. Whorley later became a prominent television talk-show host. Before the Senator Bobby venture, Taylor had scored a lone hit as part of the duo Just Us; during the 1970s he enjoyed moderate success as a country and western performer.