Frank Robson (born 27 April 1946,

Bradford on Avon Bradford-on-Avon (sometimes Bradford on Avon or Bradford upon Avon) is a town and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England, near the border with Somerset, which had a population of 9,402 at the 2011 census. The town's canal, historic buildings, s ...

, United Kingdom) is a rock musician of English extraction who has achieved fame in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. He is known as a singer and a piano and

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

player. He first came to Finland in 1967. Robson had met some Finns in a London

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, and someone had given him their phone number. When Robson's band subsequently was on tour in Scandinavia, he found himself in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

and got an idea to call the Finnish number. As a result of this, he found himself in Finland. At that time there was a demand for rock musicians in Finland who had English as their native language, especially for someone with experience from the music circles in London. It is said that in London he had played with the

Small Faces Small Faces were an English rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966. The band w ...

. In Finland, Robson was quickly employed by a band named Mosaic, as their lead singer Kirill Babitzin had just gone solo under the name Kirka. Mosaic made a single, both songs on which were penned by Robson. Next Robson was asked to join

Blues Section Blues Section are a Finnish rock music group. They started in 1967, formed around the vocalist Jim Pembroke, a British expatriate songwriter now living in Finland. The other members of the band were Eero Koivistoinen (saxophone), Ronnie Österbe ...

, to fill in for

Jim Pembroke James Francis Pembroke (27 January 1946 – 8 October 2021) was a British musician who was the vocalist of the Finnish progressive rock band Wigwam. Life and career Pembroke was born in London, and played with London group Taverners' Guild befo ...

. With Blues Section Robson likewise made a single. During the summer of 1968 Robson played 50 gigs with Blues Section, and after the summer the band broke up and Robson returned to England. Robson had thought he had gone home for good, but soon he was called back to Finland, to join a new group, the

Tasavallan Presidentti Tasavallan Presidentti (in English '' President of the Republic'') is a Finnish progressive rock band. It was founded in 1969 by guitarist Jukka Tolonen and drummer Vesa Aaltonen. Other founder members were Måns Groundstroem (bass) and Frank ...

. He played and sang lead vocals on their first two albums, but before the third one he was fired. This was unfortunate, as the band would now go on to play some high profile gigs in Robson's native England. However, he later got another chance, when the band was reformed in 1999 and made one more album, Six Complete, in 2006. The songs on this album were penned by Robson and

Jukka Tolonen Jukka Jorma Tolonen (born 16 April 1952) is a Finnish jazz guitarist.Lönnqvist, Niclas.Jukka Tolonen är musikern av Guds nåde (in Swedish), Hufvudstadsbladet, August 3, 2018. Tolonen became famous as guitarist for the progressive rock band T ...

. Robson has released five solo albums. He hopes to do at least one more, although in 2013 he was diagnosed with a cancer of the pharynx. After a number of operations, his voice is not what it used to be, but he sounds hopeful, saying that "it's somewhere between

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...

and

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

." Also his first two albums, '' Robson'' and '' Stay Awhile'' are about to be re-released by the Finnish record company Svart Records. The same company will also put out a collection of Robson's early singles, with a total of 14 songs. Robson has two daughters, of which one, Jenny Robson, is also a singer.

Solo albums

* '' Robson'' (1974) * '' Stay Awhile'' (1976)} * '' I Painted a Picture'' (1986) * '' Sings Mick Hanian'' (1987) * '' Back in Business'' (1998)

References

External links

Frank Robson and Mosaic
at YLE Elävä arkisto. {{DEFAULTSORT:Robson, Frank Finnish rock singers Finnish rock musicians Finnish keyboardists 1946 births Living people English expatriates in Finland