Bob had the contact information for Bobby Newsome from the Vontastics which he passed along to me, with the warning that apparently he was quite old and out of it. I called them up, it was a bit of an awkward interaction they were living in some type of old folks home and I had to convince the staff member who answered to let me speak with him first. Once I got on the line with Bobby he didn't have much interest in talking with me about his music unfortunately, unless I was enough of a big shot, which I definitely was not and had not interest in convincing otherwise.
I let Bob know what happened, and I remember he was quite surprised that I was actually able to get through to him and said he would like to try calling himself. Never heard anything back from Bob about it after that though.
Blackcab's post in Earl Jackson/ Vontastics was marked as the answer