Robin Lane (born 1947) is an American rock singer and songwriter. Her band, Robin Lane & the Chartbusters, released three albums on

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

in the early 1980s, and was best known for its single "When Things Go Wrong".

Early life

Born

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, Robin Lane grew up in Los Angeles. Her father was

Ken Lane Kermit "Ken" Lane (December 20, 1912 – November 23, 1996) was an American musician from Brooklyn, New York. He was best known to audiences as Dean Martin's pianist on ''The Dean Martin Show'' in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but was already ...

, songwriter and pianist for

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor, and comedian. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Cool", he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of ...

; her mother was a model. While in her teens, Robin began singing and performing in folk-rock clubs in southern California. From 1968 to 1970 she was married to future

Police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

lead guitarist

Andy Summers Andrew James Summers (born 31 December 1942) is an English guitarist best known as a member of the rock band the Police. Prior to joining the Police, Summers had been a member of several bands during the 1960s, including Zoot Money's Big Roll ...

. In 1969, she sang backing vocals on the song "Round & Round" on

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

's album ''

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere ''Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere'' is the second studio album by Canadian-American musician Neil Young, released in May 1969 on Reprise Records, catalogue number RS 6349. His first with longtime backing band Crazy Horse, it emerged as a sleeper ...

''. In the 1970s, Lane moved to eastern Pennsylvania and then to

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, where her musical interests turned from folk-rock to a harder sound influenced by the growing

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

and new wave genres.

The Chartbusters

In 1978, Lane formed the Chartbusters with Asa Brebner and Leroy Radcliffe (of

The Modern Lovers The Modern Lovers were an American rock band formed in Natick, Massachusetts in 1970 by Jonathan Richman. The original band existed from 1970 to 1974 but their recordings were not released until 1976 or later. It featured Richman and bassist ...

), Scott Baerenwald and Tim Jackson. She had signed with

Private Stock Records Private Stock Records was a record label that operated from 1974 to 1978. The label was founded by Larry Uttal after he left Bell Records. The label primarily focused on pop music and had numerous hit records, many of them one-hit wonders, incl ...

, which shortly afterward went out of business. After

Jerry Wexler Gerald Wexler (January 10, 1917 – August 15, 2008) was a music journalist turned music producer, and was a major influence on American popular music from the 1950s through the 1980s. He coined the term "rhythm and blues", and was integra ...

saw a Chartbusters show, however, he signed the band to

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

. Their first album, ''Robin Lane & the Chartbusters'' (1980) featured the singles "When Things Go Wrong" and "Why Do You Tell Lies?", earned favorable reviews, and received widespread airplay. "When Things Go Wrong" (which made, if not exactly ''busted'', the ''Billboard'' singles chart at #87) was the eleventh video shown on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's first broadcast day on August 1, 1981. The band had two more releases on Warner, the EP ''5 Live'' (1980) and ''Imitation Life'' (1981). The limited commercial success of these records, combined with business disputes and Lane's desire to have a child, led to the breakup of the Chartbusters in 1983.

Later years

Lane continued writing and recording music, and released the independent EP ''Heart Connection'' (1984), the self-produced cassette ''In Concert'' (1989), and the full-length ''Catbird Seat'' (1995). She co-wrote the song "Wishing On Telstar" for the 1991

Susanna Hoffs Susanna Lee Hoffs (born January 17, 1959) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actress. With Debbi Peterson and Vicki Peterson, she founded the Bangles in 1981. Their debut album, ''All Over the Place (The Bangles album), All Over ...

album ''

When You're a Boy ''When You're a Boy'' is the debut solo album by Susanna Hoffs. It begins with the ''Billboard'' Top 40 single "My Side of the Bed", includes the track "Unconditional Love" (co-written by Cyndi Lauper), and ends with a cover of " Boys Keep Swingi ...

''. In 2001, Lane and several of the Chartbusters regrouped for two reunion concerts, and decided to continue recording and performing; they released ''Piece of Mind'' in 2003. Since then, Lane has moved to western Massachusetts, where she works with the

Turners Falls, Massachusetts Turners Falls is an unincorporated village and census-designated place in the town of Montague in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,512 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropo ...

Women's Resource Center, using

music therapy Music therapy, an allied health profession, "is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music t ...

to aid survivors of abuse. On 4 April 2014 Tim Jackson premiered his film of Robin Lane's life and career, ''When Things Go Wrong'', followed by a Q & A and a set by Robin Lane & the Chartbusters, at the Regent Theatre in

Arlington, Massachusetts Arlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is six miles (10 km) northwest of Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, and its population was 46,308 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Europe ...

. On March 2 and 3, 2019, band members staged another reunion concert at The Burren in

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 81, ...

to support the release of ''Many Years Ago: The Complete Robin Lane & the Chartbusters Collection'' (Blixa Sounds). That weekend's edition of the Chartbusters consisted of most of the original lineup: Lane on vocals and guitar, Asa Brebner on guitar, Scott Baerenwald on bass, drummer Tim Jackson, and guitarist Billy Loosigian (taking the place of original guitarist Leroy Radcliffe). ''Many Years Ago'' is a three-disc set. Previously released material consists of the two studio LPs, ''Robin Lane & the Chartbusters'' (1980) and ''Imitation Life'' (1981); and the EPs ''5 Live'' (1980) and ''Heart Connection'' (1984). In addition, the set contains outtakes from the recording sessions for ''Heart Connection'', as well as a series of demos, previously unreleased studio tracks, and various live performances. Since then, Lane has released the double ''Instant Album'' (2020), which consists of solo material from her entire 40-year career, and the country-tinged ''Dirt Road to Heaven'', released on Red on Red Records, to much acclaim in June 2022.

Discography

With The Chartbusters

*''Robin Lane & The Chartbusters'' (Warner Bros., 1980; #207) *''5 Live EP'' (Warner Bros., 1980) *''Imitation Life'' (Warner Bros., 1981; #172) *''Piece of Mind'' (Windjam Records, 2003) *''Many Years Ago: The Complete Robin Lane & the Chartbusters Collection'' (Blixa Sounds, 2019)

Robin Lane

*''Heart Connection EP'' (Independent release, 1984) *''In Concert'' (Independent release, 1989) *''Catbird Seat'' (1995) *''Out of the Ashes'' (2011) *''The Sweet Candy Collection'' (2011) *''A Woman's Voice'' (2013) *''Instant Album'' (2020) *''Dirt Road to Heaven'' (2022)

References

External links

Official site - Robin Lane's Songbird Sings Organization - A unique approach to healing trauma using the creative process of songwriting.

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' The Daily P ...

for 2003 rerelease of "Robin Lane & the Chartbusters"
Another profile of Robin Lane & the Chartbusters

Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the now defunct ''Boston Phoenix'', '' ...

, Feb. 13, 2003
Alan Lecker, "On the wings of a songbird - Robin Lane uses music to help victims of abuse"
Many Hands magazine

* Allmusic.com entrybr> MTV Yearbook:1981 - "When Things Go Wrong" music video
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Robin Living people 1947 births American rock songwriters American rock singers Musicians from Cambridge, Massachusetts Music therapists People from Greenfield, Massachusetts Singer-songwriters from Massachusetts