‘Bob The Builder’ theme composer reveals plans to involve Bruce Springsteen were nixed by label to avoid being “political”

Neil Morrissey – the voice of Bob in Bob The Builder – has revealed that there were once some talks about involving Bruce Springsteen in a rendition of the theme tune.

The actor, who is also recognised for roles in Men Behaving Badly, Waterloo Road and Line Of Duty, recalled the success of the theme song for the children’s show during a new interview with The Guardian.

In the piece, he looked back at the time the show’s creators decided to release the theme as an official single, and how they were taken aback by the impressive mark it left on the UK charts.

“The TV show was going bonkers all around the world. By the time it came to the end of 2000, someone said: ‘Why don’t we re-record the theme tune as a single?’ We didn’t think anything would come of it, even though it was a lot of fun,” Morrissey recalled.

“Then Chris Evans kept playing it on the Virgin breakfast show, which gave it a massive push. It entered the charts at Number Two, then knocked ‘Stan’ by Eminem off Number One the week after – for which I’m sure he’s never forgiven me. Then it stayed at Number One for Christmas, beating ‘What Makes a Man’ by Westlife.”

He continued, sharing some of the opportunities the track led to: We didn’t get to go on Top of the Pops – they just showed the video. I was, though, dragged to the Ivor Novello Awards in 2001, which is rammed with 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 bestselling single of the year. All I could hear was [The Who‘s] Pete Townshend, who was sitting somewhere behind me, going: ‘What the fuck is this shit?’ You can’t argue with that.”

Later in the interview, Morrissey went on to recall how there were brief talks to bring the single into the spotlight once again when Barack Obama began his campaigns in the US Presidential election. The idea arose as the leader of the Democratic Party would adopt the slogan “Yes we can” – which also features in the theme song for the children’s show.

“When Barack Obama came into office and started to say ‘Yes we can’ all the time, I said: ‘Here’s an opportunity – we could phone up Bruce Springsteen and see if he wants to record a version,’” Morrissey revealed, before confirming that the idea was shot down in a bid to not divide opinion.

“But Hit Entertainment, who owned the rights, weren’t biting. I don’t think they wanted Bob to get in any way political.

The first episode of Bob The Builder aired in April 1999, and the series would continue regularly up until New Year’s Eve 2011.

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