They wanted to involve Springsteen in the “Bob the Builder” cartoon
In a recent interview given to the “Guardian”, Neil Morrissey recalled the success of the theme song from the original version of the animated series “Bob the Builder” (in Italian “Bob the Fixer”), for which the British actor provided the voice of the main character Bob. In the special, Morrissey recounted the moment the show’s creators decided to release the main theme as an official single titled “Can we fix it?”, and how they were stunned by the impressive result it achieved in the UK charts.
In reporting how it went, Neil Morrissey also revealed that there was once talk of involving Bruce Springsteen in a new version of the “Bob the Builder” theme song, but that the plans were nixed to avoid being “political.”
“The TV show was having a huge success all over the world,” the actor recalled: “Towards the end of 2000, someone said, ‘Why don’t we record the theme song as a single again?’ We didn’t think it would come of it. nothing out there, even though it was a lot of fun.”
He added: “Then presenter Chris Evans kept featuring the theme song on his radio show ‘Virgin Breakfast Show’, which gave it a huge boost. It entered the charts at number two, then displaced Eminem’s ‘Stan’ from number one the following week, which I’m sure I’ve never forgiven. Then it stayed at number one for Christmas, beating Westlife’s ‘What Makes a Man’.”
Speaking then of the opportunities that came thanks to the theme song of the cartoon, Neil Morrissey later narrated: “We didn’t manage to go to Top of the Pops, they only showed the video. I was, however, dragged to the Ivor Novello Awards in 2001, which they are full of the most brilliant musicians and singers. I was sitting between Annie Lennox and Stevie Wonder when they opened the envelope and ‘Bob the Builder’ was announced as the winner of the best-selling single of the year Pete Townshend from The Who, sitting somewhere behind me, going, ‘What the fuck is this shit?'”
In the interview Morrissey also recalled when the idea of bringing the single back into the spotlight came up when Barack Obama began his campaigns for the US presidential elections, for which the slogan “Yes we can” was adopted. also in the theme song of the animated series.
“When Barack Obama came into office and started saying ‘Yes we can’ all the time, I thought, ‘Here’s an opportunity: We could phone Bruce Springsteen and see if he wants to record a version of it,'” Morrissey revealed, before confirming that the idea was rejected in an attempt not to divide opinion: “But Hit Entertainment (among the producers of the series, ed.), which held the rights, didn’t accept. I don’t think they wanted Bob to do in any way politics”.
