Biff Rose


Paul "Biff" Rose is an American comedian and singer-songwriter.

Biography

Born in New Orleans, Rose moved to Hollywood where he found a job working as a comedy sketch writer with George Carlin working sometimes on the Mort Sahl show. Eventually, Rose moved to songwriting.
Following the release of 1968's The Thorn in Mrs. Rose's Side, Rose made a string of appearances on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show from 1968 to 1970. Rose performed on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, American Bandstand, and Hugh Hefner's Playboy After Dark. He emceed the Atlantic City Pop Festival of 1969 and the Atlanta Pop Festival of 1970.

Music

Rose recorded his first two records for Tetragrammaton Records. Following the release of 1968's The Thorn in Mrs. Rose's Side, which contained his hit single "Buzz the Fuzz", Rose made 12 appearances on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show from 1968 to 1970. He performed his songs on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, and appeared on American Bandstand, the Merv Griffin Show, the David Frost Show, and Hugh Hefner's Playboy After Dark.
The song "Fill Your Heart", one of Rose's best-known compositions, was adopted by Tiny Tim as the B-side of his 1968 hit single "Tiptoe through the Tulips" before the release of Biff's own version, and recorded by David Bowie on his album Hunky Dory, with Rick Wakeman commenting that Rose "obviously influenced David". Rose wrote the song with Paul Williams: Williams later wrote that Rose was his first songwriting collaborator and his first connection to A&M Records, having arranged a meeting for him with the publisher Chuck Kaye. Rose and Williams also wrote "I'll Walk Away", from Rose's third, eponymous, record, and "Someday", recorded by Sajid Khan in 1969.
Rose's songs have also been covered by John Denver, Michael Johnson, Vetiver and Pat Boone.
In October, 2017, Indy Week pointed out that Rose's website contained "blatantly racist and anti-semitic material". Rose has since taken down the website.

Full-length releases