Bob Taylor, a Sun City resident, has been doing vocal performances for over 25 years and has an impressive repertoire that spans music from to 30s to the 80s.
His love of music began in his childhood.
Taylor said, “I was born into music. My father had a record collection. My mother played the organ. As a toddler, I would watch her work her magic playing the keyboard and pedals. And my grandfather had a huge stereo system and I would sit on his lap and listen to his favorites like Perry Como.”
As a result, Taylor began his musical career early on.
“One evening in 1964, my dad came to get me and said come and hear these people sing. I saw Ringo playing those drums and I started playing the drums, but I didn’t have drums. I used tin cans and pie tins. But I got the urge to play in front of people.”
Then in high school, he formed a band.
Taylor said, “We were pretty popular. We played at a lot of schools, homecomings, and VFW Halls. We were called White Shadow we played a lot of soul music. I also was a DJ at Elgin Larkin High School, WEPS 88.9 FM Radio. We hit the airwaves on the School District’s Radio Station and it had a range of 100 miles.”
WEPS is a radio station licensed to serve Elgin, Illinois owned by the Elgin Area School District U46 and licensed to Board of Education School District U-46. Founded in 1950, WEPS is the oldest non-commercial educational radio station in the state of Illinois.
Taylor never abandoned his musical inclinations.
“I joined the air force,” he said. “I was able to moonlight as a DJ. It was the age of disco in 1976, and I had a gift to be able to sequence music for dancing. After the military, I got a job in the electronic industry, working with design and programming advanced audio video systems for commercial and residential.”
Later, Taylor tried out vocals.
Taylor said, “In the 1990s I found karaoke and started to experiment. I had dreamed of being a singer. I started recording and singing and pursued it with a passion. I spent hundreds of hours practicing. I ran into a group that mimics artists Elvis and Patsy Cline, and I emceed for them between songs and after they were done, I would sing to make people dance.”
In 2019, Taylor formed a duo with Tim Kennedy, calling themselves The Kennedy Taylor Experience. Lead guitarist and vocalist, Kennedy started his professional career in 1966 and toured with his band The Legends for 25 years before recording seven CDs and backing up radio personality John ‘Records’ Landecker for 10 years and touring as “Landecker and The Legends.” Kennedy has performed in over 100 shows opening for stars such as Davey Jones of The Monkees and Eric Burdon of The Animals.
Where do you perform now?
“We play at private shows, and neighborhood parties and clubs. We have an upcoming performance at “One Twenty Live” in Bartlett on August 6 and at The Duck Inn in Wadsworth on July 29. You can find our upcoming scheduled shows on our website, bobtaylorentertainment.com.”
Taylor is still keeping up his DJ work on 101.5 FM, Huntley Community Radio. He has a one-hour radio program called Bob’s Used Record Shop. The show airs every Wednesday from 11 am to noon and every Sunday from 6-7 p.m. The show can be streamed anytime by going to www.huntleyradio.com and navigating to Bob’s Used Record Shop.
“I moved to Sun City five years ago when I fell in love with Adriane Kaplan, and I have been so graciously accepted into the theatre community. I am thankful for all the opportunities to keep music a constant in my life.”
