Chris Robison was an American musician, songwriter and recording artist. He toured with the

New York Dolls New York Dolls were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved much commercial succe ...

, Steam and

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

’s backing band,

Elephant's Memory Elephant's Memory (also billed as Elephants Memory, without the apostrophe) was an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in the late 1960s, known primarily for backing John Lennon and Yoko Ono from late 1971 to 1973. For live p ...

. He died in December 2021, at age 73

Elephant’s Memory

Robison sang back up with Lennon,

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

and Elephant’s Memory during a 1972 session at New York City’s Record Plant East on the track ''Baddest of the Mean,'' which appeared on the album ''Lossless,'' released September 18, 1972. Robison is credited as an author along with Rick Frank and Stan Bronstein on the track ''Power Boogie,'' the released version of which featured Lennon on vocals and guitar and Ono on backing vocals. Elephant’s Memory was known for contributing the track ''Jungle Jim at the Zoo'' to the

Midnight Cowboy ''Midnight Cowboy'' is a 1969 American drama (film and television), drama film, based on the 1965 Midnight Cowboy (novel), novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. The film was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars ...

soundtrack and for bizarre stage shows with an inflatable stage set and music that incorporated psychedelia, jazz and acid-tinged rock.

New York Dolls

Robison played keyboards with the 1975 lineup of the New York Dolls that included David Johansen, Sylvain Sylvain, Peter Jordan and Tony Machine. He toured with the Dolls during their 1975 tour of Japan with Jeff Beck, performing on the album Tokyo Dolls Live.

Solo career

Robison released two albums in the early 1970s that were among the first to deal with explicitly gay themes. "Chris Robison and His Many Hand Band" (1973) and "Manchild" (1974), were both released on Gypsy Frog Records. The former has been released on CD by

Chapter Music Chapter Music is one of Australia's longest-running independent record labels. Chapter Music has worked with a broad range of mostly Australian artists, in genres such as rock and roll, indie pop, post punk, country and western and folk. Between ...

. The style of these albums differed from the

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...

that was in vogue at the time, being much more varied, improvisational and loose. Where glam artists from the time, such as

Jobriath Bruce Wayne Campbell (December 14, 1946 – August 3, 1983), known by his stage name Jobriath, was an American rock musician and actor. He was the first openly gay rock musician to be signed to a major record label, and one of the first in ...

, wrapped homosexual themes in a veneer of science fiction and otherworldliness, Robison was much more direct in his approach, with songs such as "Doctor Doctor" and "Looking for a Boy Tonight", both from his first album, dealing with the issue head on.

Stumblebunny

After his release from the New York Dolls, Robison formed Stumblebunny, which premiered at Max's Kansas City in 1977. The band issued a self produced EP and the European label Phonogram signed the band, which toured until the band split up in 1979. Robison reformed the power-pop band in the 2000s, and it played the C2SV Music & Technology festival, headlined by

Iggy and the Stooges The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, was an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave ...

. in San Jose, California in 2012.

Personal life

Robison taught piano, keyboard, guitar and songwriting for over 30 years & was the founder of Half Mile Music Studios near Coleytown, Connecticut. He has two sons, Dr. Tiger Robison, an assistant professor of music education at the University of Wyoming, and Dexter Scott. Robison died at the age of 73 in December 2021

References

External links

Official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robison, Chris American male songwriters Living people American LGBT musicians Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century LGBT people