Malcolm James Roberts (31 March 1944 – 7 February 2003)
was an English
traditional pop music
Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standard ...
singer, who enjoyed three
hit singles from 1967 to 1969 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
.
He was also an actor and musical theatre star.
Actor
Born in
Blackley
Blackley is a suburban area of Manchester, England. Historically in Lancashire, it is approximately north of Manchester city centre, on the River Irk.
History
The hamlet of Blackley was mentioned in the Domesday Book. The name derives from ...
,
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, England,
Roberts began his career in the entertainment industry as an actor. He had a small role in the TV show ''
Coronation Street''.
His work as Tony in ''
West Side Story
''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents.
Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...
'' led to a role in the musical ''
Maggie May
"Maggie May" is a song co-written by singer Rod Stewart and Martin Quittenton, and performed by Rod Stewart on his album '' Every Picture Tells a Story'', released in 1971.
In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked the song number 130 on its list of ...
'' at the
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...
in 1964.
Roberts later appeared in
pantomime
Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...
, starring opposite
Ronnie Corbett
Ronald Balfour Corbett (4 December 1930 – 31 March 2016) was a Scottish actor, broadcaster, comedian and writer. He had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the BBC television comedy sketch show ''The Two Ronnies''. He achieved promine ...
and
Clodagh Rodgers
Clodagh Rodgers (born 5 March 1947) is a retired singer and actress from Northern Ireland, best known for her hit singles including " Come Back and Shake Me", "Goodnight Midnight", and "Jack in the Box".
Career
Rodgers was born in Warrenpoin ...
in the 1971 production of ''Cinderella'' at the
London Palladium
The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 a ...
. In 1982, he performed in the pantomime ''Robinson Crusoe'', this time in Eastbourne, and in 1984 in ''Goldilocks & the Three Bears'' in Bournemouth. He also starred in a musical at the
Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre ...
, based on the life of
Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronat ...
. It ran for several weeks. In 1996, he took part in a different theatrical show at
The Café Royal in London. In this, titled ''Joey & Gina's Wedding'', the audience became the guests at the wedding and reception and Roberts took the part of the Irish priest who was officiating at the ceremony.
Music
Robert's first single, "Time Alone Will Tell", reached number 45 in May 1967; this was followed by the hit "May I Have the Next Dream With You" in November 1968, which reached number 8 and stayed on the chart for 15 weeks. Another hit, in November 1969, was "Love is All" (written by
Les Reed and
Barry Mason), which reached number 12.
Roberts won as a performer the IV International Music Festival in Rio de Janeiro and the song attained third place in this Festival in 1969. According to the sleeve notes of his 2001 retrospective CD collection, his recording career continued in Brazil, where he had an affectionate reception and scored many hits. On 7 December 1968, he was the special guest singer at the 1968
Malta Song Festival held at the Plaza Theatre in
Sliema
Sliema ( mt, Tas-Sliema ) is a town located on the northeast coast of Malta in the Northern Harbour District. It is a major residential and commercial area and a centre for shopping, bars, dining, and café life. It is also the most densely po ...
, Malta.
In May 1970, Roberts appeared in concerts and numerous TV shows. He was in demand worldwide and went to Las Vegas, New York, and Hong Kong. He also went to South America and did shows in Peru, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, and Brazil.
After returning to England, in 1972, Roberts, Penny Lane and Union Express went to The European Song Festival, in which groups of singers from different countries competed. This English group won the contest.
Featured guest appearances
He also appeared on American television on 6 November 1970, via ''
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...
''.
He had previously sung on both ''
The Morecambe and Wise Show'' (
1969
This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon.
Events January
* January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco.
* January 5
**Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
) and ''
The Kenneth Williams Show'' on
BBC Television.
Songwriter
Roberts also was a songwriter, collaborating with
Sammy Cahn
Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premi ...
, Les Reed and
Lynsey de Paul ("The Way It Goes" on de Paul's debut album ''
Surprise''), as well as writing incidental music for ITV's dramatisation of ''
Lady Chatterley's Lover''.
Eurovision
He represented
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
at the
Eurovision Song Contest 1985
The Eurovision Song Contest 1985 was the 30th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Gothenburg, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" by Herreys. Organised by the European ...
.
The song, "
Children, Kinder, Enfants" was written by
Ralph Siegel
Ralph Siegel (born 30 September 1945) is a German record producer and songwriter. Siegel is one of the most notable figures at the Eurovision Song Contest, in which he has participated with 24 songs so far, among them the 1982 winner song Ein bi ...
, Bernd Meinunger and Jean-Michel Beriat, all of whom had written
Eurovision entries before, Siegel and Meinunger having written the 1982 winner for West Germany. The group consisted of an international line-up of the UK's Roberts and
Ireen Sheer
Ireen Sheer (born 25 February 1949) is a German-English singer. She had a top five hit on the German singles chart with "Goodbye Mama" in 1973. She went on to finish fourth at the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 representing Luxembourg, sixth at t ...
, Dutch singer Margo (
Annemieke Verdoorn), native Luxembourgian
Franck Olivier, German
Chris Roberts and American
Diane Solomon. The song was performed mainly in French, with a counterpane sung in English and German. They received 37 points and finished in 13th place.
In
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...
, Roberts attempted alone to represent the UK, with his own composition "One Love", but finished last in the ''
A Song For Europe
A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name ...
'' contest.
Death
Roberts died of a heart attack on 7 February 2003.
He was buried at Remenham Cemetery near
Henley-on-Thames on 20 February 2003.
Discography
Studio albums
*''Mr. Roberts'': 1968
*''Malcolm'': 1969
*''The Voice of Malcolm Roberts'': 1970
*''Sounds Like Malcolm Roberts'': 1971
*''Living for Life'': 1973
Live albums
*''Live at the Talk of the Town'': 1974
Compilation albums
*''This is Malcolm Roberts'': 1980
*''The Best of the EMI Years'': 1993
*''The Essential Malcolm Roberts'': 2000
Posthumous releases
*''The Very Best of Malcolm Roberts'': 2003
*''Rio'': 2003
*''Lost and Found'' : 2021
References
External links
Guardian newspaper obituaryMalcolmrobertsfanclub.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Malcolm
1944 births
2003 deaths
English male singers
Traditional pop music singers
Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Luxembourg
Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1985
Male actors from Manchester
Singers from Manchester
People from Blackley
20th-century English singers
20th-century British male singers