Malcolm James Roberts (31 March 1944 – 7 February 2003) was an English traditional pop music singer, who enjoyed three

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

s from 1967 to 1969 on the UK Singles Chart. He was also an actor and musical theatre star.

Actor

Born in Blackley, Manchester, England, Roberts began his career in the entertainment industry as an actor. He had a small role in the TV show ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

''. His work as Tony in '' West Side Story'' led to a role in the musical '' Maggie May'' at the Adelphi Theatre in 1964. Roberts later appeared in pantomime, starring opposite Ronnie Corbett and Clodagh Rodgers in the 1971 production of ''Cinderella'' at the London Palladium. 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, based on the life of Joan of Arc. 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 John Barry Mason (12 July 1935 – 16 April 2021) was an English singer and songwriter. A leading songwriter of the 1960s, he wrote the bulk of his most successful songs in partnership with Les Reed. Mason gained many gold and platinum awar ...

), 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, 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''. 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 BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

Songwriter

Roberts also was a songwriter, collaborating with Sammy Cahn, 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 ''

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''.

Eurovision

He represented Luxembourg at the Eurovision Song Contest 1985. The song, " Children, Kinder, Enfants" was written by Ralph Siegel, Bernd Meinunger and Jean-Michel Beriat, all of whom had written

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

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, Dutch singer Margo ( Annemieke Verdoorn), native Luxembourgian Franck Olivier, German Chris Roberts and American

Diane Solomon Diane Solomon is an American singer, songwriter and nutritionist, who was part of the group who represented Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985, in which they sang "Children, Kinder, Enfants". They received 37 points and finished ...

. 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 Phil ...

, Roberts attempted alone to represent the UK, with his own composition "One Love", but finished last in the '' A Song For Europe'' contest.

Death

Roberts died of a heart attack on 7 February 2003. He was buried at Remenham Cemetery near

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buc ...

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