Danger, Bill Robinson!

That's what always pops into my head when I think of Bill Robinson (maker of this tie), though it's actually Will Robinson that the Lost In Space robot (whose name was, naturally, Robot) would always warn with that phrase. Will Robinson was played by Bill Mumy; whatever happened to him? Is he just a washed-up has-been like so many other former child stars (Dean Stockwell and Kurt Russell excepted)? No way! He's been an off-and-on member of the band America since the 70s, he was one half of novelty rock act Barnes and Barnes ("Fish Heads") in the 80s (and whenever they still get together, as when they were inducted into the Novelty Music Hall of Fame last year), he was on Babylon 5 for five years, he's done a shipload of voice-over work in cartoons and documentaries on most of the major cable channels, and he's made a whole bunch of albums, both solo and with his band The Jenerators, which he co-fronts with Miguel Ferrer (whose role as the snide but peace-loving Albert in Twin Peaks was the perfect foil for Kyle McLachlan's eccentric Dale Cooper). So in a nutshell, he's doing all right. But back to the tie: it's a basic four-color grid which is livened up by white lines placed at seemingly-random angles, with a nifty jacquard weave (you can just see it at the top) identical to the one on my previous Bill Robinson tie, thus from the same silk stock and most likely the same season.