Robin Lane (born 1947,

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

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

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

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

Early life

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; 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 a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

lead guitarist

Andy Summers Andrew James Summers (born 31 December 1942), is an English guitarist who was a member of the rock band The Police. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a band member in 2003. Summers has recorded solo albums, collaborated wi ...

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

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...

'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 peaked at number 34 ...

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

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

, where her musical interests turned from folk-rock to a harder sound influenced by the growing punk rock 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 led by Jonathan Richman in the 1970s and 1980s. The original band existed from 1970 to 1974 but their recordings were not released until 1976 or later. It featured Richman and bassist Ernie Brooks w ...

), 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 was ousted from Bell Records. The label primarily focused on pop music and had numerous hit records, many of them one-hit wo ...

, which shortly afterward went out of business. After Jerry Wexler saw a Chartbusters show, however, he signed the band to

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

. 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'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 album '' When You're a Boy''. 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 Metropoli ...

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. The town is six miles (10 km) northwest of Boston, and its population was 46,308 at the 2020 census. History European colonists settled the Town of Arlington in 1635 as a village w ...

. 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, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81,045 people. With an area o ...

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 January 19, 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 '' ...

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 of America by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the ''Portland Phoenix'' an ...

, 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