Austin Roberts (born
George Austin Robertson Jr., September 19, 1945,
Newport NewsNewport News is an independent city in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. It is at the south-western end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News Point on the...
,
VirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. The geography and climate of the state are shaped by the Blue...
) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singerSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist...
and
songwriterA songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics, as well as the musical composition or melody to songs. One who writes only lyrics is a lyricist, while one who writes only music is a composer.-History and background of songwriters:...
. His most successful
recordingSound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
was 1975's "Rocky"; a
transatlanticThe term transatlantic refers to something occurring all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. Most often, this refers to the exchange of passengers, cargo, information, or communication between North America and Europe.-Transatlantic crossings:...
Top 40
hit singleA hit single is a recorded track or single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio airplay and/or significant...
.
A guitarist since the age of thirteen, Roberts began his musical aspirations in a number of local
bandsRock band redirects here. For the video game series, see Rock Band A musical ensemble is a group of two or more musicians who perform instrumental or vocal music...
, mainly playing as part of the local
beach musicBeach music, also known as Carolina beach music, is a regional genre which developed from various musical styles of the forties, fifties and sixties. These styles ranged from big band swing instrumentals to the more raucous sounds of blues/jump blues, jazz, doo-wop, boogie, rhythm and blues,...
scene. Wanting to expand beyond a genre which had little interest outside of
VirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. The geography and climate of the state are shaped by the Blue...
and the Carolinas, Roberts began making summer trips to relatives in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, hanging around the music districts and trying to get attention from publishers.
Austin Roberts (born
George Austin Robertson Jr., September 19, 1945,
Newport NewsNewport News is an independent city in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. It is at the south-western end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News Point on the...
,
VirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. The geography and climate of the state are shaped by the Blue...
) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singerSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist...
and
songwriterA songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics, as well as the musical composition or melody to songs. One who writes only lyrics is a lyricist, while one who writes only music is a composer.-History and background of songwriters:...
. His most successful
recordingSound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
was 1975's "Rocky"; a
transatlanticThe term transatlantic refers to something occurring all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. Most often, this refers to the exchange of passengers, cargo, information, or communication between North America and Europe.-Transatlantic crossings:...
Top 40
hit singleA hit single is a recorded track or single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio airplay and/or significant...
.
Early years
A guitarist since the age of thirteen, Roberts began his musical aspirations in a number of local
bandsRock band redirects here. For the video game series, see Rock Band A musical ensemble is a group of two or more musicians who perform instrumental or vocal music...
, mainly playing as part of the local
beach musicBeach music, also known as Carolina beach music, is a regional genre which developed from various musical styles of the forties, fifties and sixties. These styles ranged from big band swing instrumentals to the more raucous sounds of blues/jump blues, jazz, doo-wop, boogie, rhythm and blues,...
scene. Wanting to expand beyond a genre which had little interest outside of
VirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. The geography and climate of the state are shaped by the Blue...
and the Carolinas, Roberts began making summer trips to relatives in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, hanging around the music districts and trying to get attention from publishers. Eventually these efforts were rewarded when
record producerIn the music industry, a record producer has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes...
Terry Phillips recorded a 1967 single for
ABC RecordsABC Records was an American record label, founded in New York City in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records. It originated as the main popular music label operated the Am-Par Record Corporation, the music subsidiary of the American Broadcasting Company...
as The Virginia Wolves, with fellow Virginia native Johnny Reese filling out the group. "I Can't Believe that You're In Love With Me" c/w "Rose Peddles (sic) Everywhere She Goes", the latter song penned by Roberts under his birth name, was cited as a Top 60 pick by
Billboard magazineMagazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles, generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
.
Roberts joined the
United States Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for providing force projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
shortly before the single was released, and the record died from lack of promotion. However, Roberts had made an agreement with
Terry CashmanTerry Cashman is a record producer and singer-songwriter, best known for his 1981 hit, "Talkin' Baseball." While the song is well recognized today, it was all but ignored by typical Top 40 radio during its chart life, making only the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.Cashman was the lead singer...
at ABC-Pampco Music to sign with the company after basic training, and he began writing full-time for the company in early 1968. This led to a
recording contractA recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
with
Philips RecordsPhilips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics giant Philips. It was started as Philips Phonographische Industries in 1950. During much of the 1950s, it served to distribute recordings made by the US Columbia Records and Columbia Masterworks Records labels in the United...
later that year, with his first single, "Mary and Me", becoming a regional hit in parts of Florida and his second, "Ricky Ticky Ta Ta Ta", being used as the template for the sound of a ficticious cartoon "band" being developed for Hanna-Barbera Productions called the 'Mysteries Five'. Initially, Roberts was cited to provide the
vocalsThe human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary sound source...
for the group, but the band was dropped in development as the project gradually developed into the popular series
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! is the first incarnation of the long-running Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon Scooby-Doo. It premiered on September 13, 1969 at 10:30 a.m. EST and ran for two seasons on CBS as a half-hour long show...
In the meantime, Roberts had been developing a partnership with fellow ABC songwriter
Johnny CymbalJohnny Cymbal was a Scottish born American songwriter, singer, and record producer who had numerous hit records, including his signature song, "Mr...
, who had been writing and producing with former
Motown RecordsMotown Records was a group of record labels originally based in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. on January 12, 1959 as Tamla Records, the company was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of the words motor and town, is also a...
associate
George TobinGeorge Tobin is a record producer who has produced albums for a long list of musical artists including Robert John, Smokey Robinson, Kim Carnes, Kicking Harold, and PC Quest. He is best known, however, for discovering, managing, and producing the teenage singer Tiffany and showcasing her in malls...
. When Cymbal and Tobin decided to move the base of their operations to
Los AngelesLos Angeles is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California...
,
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
, Roberts went with them. Several singles featuring his vocals appeared under a variety of assumed band identities, but these raised objection at Philips as to whether or not this activity breached Roberts' contract. Tobin gave the
record labelIn the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
Roberts' latest master, "One Night Ann", for release but the label dropped him shortly after the disc was released.
Freed from his contractual obligations with Philips, Roberts began a whirlwind succession of projects with a plethora of partners. With
record producerIn the music industry, a record producer has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes...
Danny Janssen, Roberts worked on music for the
Hanna-BarberaHanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. , was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
Saturday morning cartoonA Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming which was typically scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American television networks from the 1960s to the 1990s. In the United States, the generally accepted times considered to be Saturday mornings...
,
Josie and the PussycatsJosie and the Pussycats is an American animated television series, based upon the Archie Comics comic book series of the same name created by Dan DeCarlo...
. Show producers Joe Ruby and Ed Spears had been thinking of adding 'chase songs' to
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, and upon learning that Roberts was part of Janssen's creative team they offered him the job of providing vocals for
Scooby's second season. Meanwhile,
record producerIn the music industry, a record producer has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes...
Steve BarriSteve Barri is an American songwriter and record producer.Early in his career Barri was a staff writer with Dunhill Records. He frequently collaborated with P.F. Sloan, and the partners were responsible for the success of The Grass Roots & the Bubblegum Pop group Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods...
at
Dunhill RecordsDunhill Records was started by Lou Adler, Al Bennett, Pierre Cossette and Bobby Roberts in 1964 as Dunhill Productions, originally for the purpose of releasing Johnny Rivers recordings on Imperial Records. It became a record label in 1965 and was distributed by ABC Records...
was looking for a singer to fill out a developing act based around songwriters Harvey Price and
Dan WalshDan Walsh is a painter based in New York.He studied at the Philadelphia College of Art in Pennsylvania and Hunter College in New York....
. Price and Walsh had released a single for the label in early 1970 as Arkade, but the three men felt a stronger lead singer would both improve the sound of the group and expand the image beyond the writing team.
Successes as an artist
His most successful
singleIn music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats.-History:...
was "Rocky" which reached number 9 on the
Billboard Hot 100The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday; while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in 1975. The track reached #22 in the
UK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record industry. The full chart contains the top 200 singles based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 of this list...
in November 1975; Roberts' only
chartA record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
appearance in the
UKThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
.
A close runner-up was the
hitA hit single is a recorded track or single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio airplay and/or significant...
, "Something's Wrong With Me",
writtenA songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics, as well as the musical composition or melody to songs. One who writes only lyrics is a lyricist, while one who writes only music is a composer.-History and background of songwriters:...
by Danny Janssen and
Bobby HartTommy Boyce and Bobby Hart were a prolific songwriting duo, best known for the songs they wrote for The Monkees.Hart's father was a church minister...
, which reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972. Roberts and Hart later wrote the song "Over You" for the 1983
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
,
Tender MerciesTender Mercies is a 1983 American drama film directed by Bruce Beresford. The screenplay by Horton Foote focuses on Mac Sledge, a recovering alcoholic country music singer who seeks to turn his life around through his relationship with a young widow and her son in rural Texas...
; "Over You" was nominated for the 1984
Academy Award for Best Original SongThe Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
. "
Keep on Singing"Keep on Singing" is a 1972 song composed by Danny Janssen and Bobby Hart. Recorded by Austin Roberts and released by Chelsea Records from the album Austin Roberts, the single only reached #50 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Helen Reddy recorded the song in 1974 for her album Love Song For...
" (
Helen ReddyHelen Reddy is an Australian/American singer-songwriter and actress. She has won a Grammy Award, appeared on Broadway and feature films, and been credited with writing and singing one of the most iconic and culturally significant songs of the 1970s, "I Am Woman".Reddy became one of the world's...
recorded a more successful version) was another important hit for Austin Roberts (#50 on the Hot 100 in 1973.) He was a member of the group Arkade, which had two Billboard Top 100 hits in 1970-71, including the easy listening
crossoverCrossover is a term applied to musical works or performers appearing on two or more of the record charts which track differing musical tastes, or genres...
, "The Morning Of Our Lives".