Static Live Magazine February 2019

On theBlock By Jenny McLain
While trying to settle on a topic for my article
this month, I was contemplating a list of some
sort – top singles of 2018, top albums of 2018,
perhaps a list of artists we lost in 2018 … and
then I remembered a conversation I had with
someone after Roy Clark passed away. How
many of us only knew the goofy Hee Haw guy
and not the great musician he was? I heard
someone ask, “Who was Roy Clark?” and after
someone else said, “Hee Haw” they immediately
knew who he was, although they didn’t recognize
him by name. He was, in fact, a quite highly
regarded and renowned guitarist, banjo player
and fiddler. His autobiography “My Life in Spite
of Myself” was published in 1994.
Another passing came to mind, though. This
man is probably responsible for many of us
getting through a test or two in school at some
point in time, yet very few would have even
known his name. I’m referring to Bob Dorough
– the man behind “Schoolhouse Rock”. In 1969,
Bob Dorough was asked by advertiser David
McCall to put multiplication tables to music and
“Three is a Magic Number” was the result, which
landed him the job of the music director for the
series. Dorough wrote all the songs for Multiplication
Rock, the first of six subject areas for
Schoolhouse Rock and he contributed songs and
performances to the five subjects that followed
(Grammar Rock, America Rock, Science Rock,
Money Rock and Earth Rock).
Robert Lrod Dorough was born in Arkansas on
December 12, 1923 and grew up in Texas. He
passed away at the age of 94 on April 23, 2018
at his home in Pennsylvania. Bob’s first piano
lessons came about when his father let the
piano teacher catch up on her bread delivery
payments by giving lessons to his son, who
loved to sing songs he learned from the radio.
He began his career as a musician and composer
in the Army. He was once hired by Sugar Ray
Robinson, who had taken a break from boxing to
pursue music; he co-wrote a top-40 hit (Comin’
Home Baby) for Mel Tormé and has the distinction
of being one of few musicians with a vocal
performance on a Miles Davis record.
With all of his accomplishments, though, all I
can think of is “Three is a Magic Number”, “Figure
Eight” and “Naughty Number Nine”, along with
all of the Schoolhouse Rock tunes that helped
me remember more things than any lecture or
school book ever did. In my day, my brothers
and I would see Schoolhouse Rock during Saturday
morning cartoons while reading the back of
a cereal box and waiting for wrestling to come
on TV.
So, thank you, Mr. Dorough, for lending your
considerable talent to helping children of my
generation (and hopefully many more to come)
remember their “times tables” and so many other
things that got us through school days, when
you actually had to go to school.
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