Robert "Doc" Cox (born 1 July 1946 in Sheffield, Yorkshire), also known as Ivor Biggun, is a British musician and former television journalist. He is best known for his appearances on the BBC TV programme That's Life! from 1982 to 1992.
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"Coxy", as he was known at school was educated at the King Edward VI Grammar school Retford, Nottinghamshire and at one point became a prefect. He was active as the writer and singer of such classics as Charlotte the Harlot whilst at school and performed as the lead singer of Nurk Widebeest and the Mutations. This was in the mid 1960s. Their performances were mostly at various local village hall dances and were quite bold at the time for the use of risque lyrics but not as explicit as now allowed.
A former teacher, Cox had worked as a sound engineer with the BBC since 1969. Becoming employed as a warm-up man for That's Life!, he recalled that 'Someone didn't turn up for one of the auditions or something, and I was sort of pushed in'.[1]
Under the Biggun name, he fronts a humorous band that is sometimes billed simply as "Ivor Biggun", or with varying band names, e.g. "Ivor Biggun and Red-nosed Burglars" or "Ivor Biggun and the Left-handed Wankers". His specialty is innuendo-laden smutty songs. One song, "The Winker's Song (misprint)" was Johnny Rotten's single of the week for New Musical Express when he was a guest reviewer in 1978, and sold well because of Rotten's interest. However, it was banned by nearly all radio stations due to its explicit content. He has since made four albums of bawdy songs (and recorded with Judge Dread and David "Screaming Lord" Sutch), the latest being Handling Swollen Goods, released by Stiff Weapon records in 2005. In 2000, under the name Ivor Biggun and the D-Kups, the song "Bras on 45" (aka "Bra Size 45") was released as a part of the Dementia 2000! collection.
The single, billed as "Bras on 45 (Family Version)" by "Ivor Biggun and the D Cups", was released on the Dead Badger label. It entered the UK Singles chart on 12 September 1981, reached a high of number 50, and was in the chart for 3 weeks.[2]
In 1999, he released a best-of CD entitled The Fruity Bits of Ivor Biggun, which included four sets of lewd artwork:
Songs on the CD include
In October 2006, record label Stiff Weapon released a second best-of release, double CD titled More Fruity Bits! The Rest of Ivor Biggun.
Ivor Biggun is sometimes compared and even confused with George Formby as "The Winker's Song" is quite clearly a parody of George Formby's comical musical style. Currently resident in Suffolk, he is active in several pub bands, including the Trembling Wheelbarrows.