About

The BBC play toe-tapping, feel-good, Rhythm & Blues bringing their own unique style to classic blues tracks and original songs.

Meet the Band

Bob Cranham – Guitar & Vocals
Bob has often been mistaken for a guitarist. In the past artists like Five Star, John Denver, The Nolans, Michael Nyman, Newton Faulkner, The BBC (the other BBC), the National Theatre and many others, both in the U.K. and around the world, have fallen into this trap.
When not masquerading as a musician, Bob has produced over 50 albums for artists from all genres (including six Top 5 singles on the iTunes Rock Chart in 2021) and also offers an Artist Development Programme for those aspiring to a career in the music industry.
There appears to be no end to this man’s limitations.

Dave Williamson – Bass and Vocals
A native of Aberdeen, once Dave moved south and learned to speak The Queen’s English, his career took off.
Over the years he has worked with a veritable ‘Who’s Who’ of rock, pop and soul bands and artists, including Midge Ure, Beverley Knight, Emma Bunton, Ronan Keating, Heatwave, Katrina and the Waves, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Diamond Head, Maggie Reilly, Russell Watson, Errol Brown, Junior Giscombe, Lisa Stansfield, Dina Carroll and Leo Sayer, as well as many more in the ‘Who’s That?’ category.

Ben Keen – Guitar and Vocals
An accomplished guitar……….owner and described by Bob as the second best guitarist in the band, Ben has a strong track record of availability, is taller than average and generally punctual.

Mike ‘Ozzie’ Osborn – Drums ‘n’ stuff
Mike ‘Ozzie’ Osborn studied industrial noise pollution at the Royal Academy of Music and, since leaving, has been pursued by many Environmental Health Officers but has yet to be caught. Ozzie attributes this to his strict modus operandi of regular plastic surgery and only ever working once with major artistes and organisations.
Ozzie has caused annoyance to many artistes including Van Morrison, Bette Midler, Tom Jones, Joss Stone, Gregory Porter, Natalie Cole, Mark Knopfler, Albert Lee, Mary Wilson, Bobby Womack, Freddie Mercury, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, and Dame Edna Everage, who obtained a restraining order preventing him drumming within her earshot.
Jazz artists were also not safe as Cleo Laine, Johnny Dankworth, Mica Paris, Kenny Ball, George Melly and the Syd Lawrence Orchestra would all testify. TV work that Ozzie has tried to derail include the Laurence Olivier Awards, Evening Standard Awards, Parkinson, The Sound of Musicals, The Big Breakfast house band and Lily Savage Live and An Audience with Harry Hill.
The many West End shows that he was barred from include Blues in the Night (Original Production and cast album), High School Musical (Original Production at Hammersmith Apollo), Fame, Rent, Guys and Dolls (National Tour and West End), 42nd Street (National Tour), Showboat (National Tour and West End), Five Guys named Moe (Original West End production) and Annie Get your Gun. Ozzie was also the drummer for the Panto at Wimbledon Theatre for over 20 years… oh yes he was!
As a composer, Ozzie has recently finished co-writing and recording the new Trinity College of Music drum kit syllabus and has also composed and recorded the graded modern syllabus music for the ISTD Dance examination board. He is a well-known and respected tutor and has just about held on to teaching posts at Trinity College of Music, Royal Academy of Music, Epsom College, Reigate Grammar School and Tiffins School as well as being the principal percussion coach with the National Schools Symphony Orchestra.
Ozzie is thrilled to be asked to hit things with old bits of wood for the BBC, although a little daunted to fill the cavernous shoes of their previous multi-skilled noise monger, Barry Cook, and is looking forward to a reduction in his license fee in return.

Previous members

Barry Cook – Drums, Cowbell and Bullhorn
Known in the business as “One of the better cheaper players” Barry has managed to make a living from playing the drums for over 40 years. He started his professional career playing in MECCA Ballrooms where he first met the very talented Bob Cranham.
Tours include – The Drifters, The Three Degrees, Gerrard Kenny, Gloria Gaynor, The Supremes Billy Paul, Ben E King, Martha Reeves, Marv Johnston, Cannon and Ball, Cilla Black, Bradley Walsh, Tommy Copper, Lily Savage and The Bay City Rollers. In 2019 he joined ABBA Tribute Band Bjorn Again and toured the USA, Europe, Australia and the UK.
He has also worked on numerous TV Shows including – Pebble Mill At One, Noel Edmonds House Party, Blue Peter, Top of the Pops, The Wogan Show and The Oliver Awards for the BBC and also The Tube, This Morning and The Brian Conley Show and The Alan Titchmarsh Show for ITV.
He has played on 17 West End Musicals including The Genius of Ray Charles, The Haymarket, Guys and Dolls. The Piccadilly Theatre. The Rat Pack, Savoy Theatre, Summer Holiday, A Tribute To The Blues Brothers, Whitehall Theatre, Blood Brothers and recently 5 Guys Named Moe for Cameron Mackintosh, a show he first played on 25 years ago. (Cameron has not contacted him since).
More recently he has performed on tours with Strictly Star, Brendan Cole finishing the day before the first Lockdown in 2020. To this day, he is still mystified how he’s managed to get away with it.