Joe Roberts is a Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

 based English musician, and one of the artists in soul

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

/dance

Dance music

Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...

 group Bodhi, formerly known as Dark Flower

Dark Flower

Dark Flower is the 2001 incarnation of pop duo Melanie Williams and Joe Roberts marking the first time that these two artists were recording under one band name...

. Roberts recorded for London Records

London Records

London Records, referred to as London Recordings in logo, is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 to 1979, then becoming a semi-independent label....

 for several years, but his interest in clubland led him to Grass Green Records, which released his "Sweet Mercy" single in 1995. The track did well in the dance charts

Record chart

A 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....

, leading him to record an album in that vein.

Prior to Roberts starting to record

Sound recording and reproduction

Sound 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...

 with business and life-partner Melanie Williams

Melanie Williams

Melanie Williams is a UK based singer. She is best known for singing on the hit single, "Ain't No Love " alongside the Manchester dance outfit Sub Sub .-Career:...

, he also had solo hits

Hit record

A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...

 with "Lover", "Back In My Life" and "Adore" originally by Prince

Prince (musician)

Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...

 on his Sign “☮” the Times album. Together with Williams, Roberts covered

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 "You Are Everything

You Are Everything

Another cover was by one-time Motown singing duo, Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye. Released as the second UK single from their Diana & Marvin album, the song reached #5 in the UK Singles Chart in April 1974. It also reached #13 on the Dutch charts and #20 on the Irish Singles Chart...

", previously recorded by The Stylistics

The Stylistics

The Stylistics are a soul music vocal group, and were one of the best-known Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s. They formed in 1968, and were composed of lead Russell Thompkins, Jr., Herbie Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith, and James Dunn. All of their US hits were ballads, graced by the...

 and later covered by Diana Ross

Diana Ross

Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...

 and Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye

Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....

.

Chart discography

• "Back In My Life" (1993) – UK
  UK Singles Chart
  The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
  
   No.59
• "Lover" (1994) – UK No.22
• "Back In My Life" (re-issue) (1994)- UK No.39
• "Adore" (1994) – UK No.45
• "You Are Everything
  You Are Everything
  Another cover was by one-time Motown singing duo, Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye. Released as the second UK single from their Diana & Marvin album, the song reached #5 in the UK Singles Chart in April 1974. It also reached #13 on the Dutch charts and #20 on the Irish Singles Chart...
  
  " (1995) – UK No.28 †
• "Happy Days" (1996) – UK No.63 ‡

† Melanie Williams and Joe Roberts

‡ Sweet Mercy featuring Joe Roberts

External links

• Joe Roberts discography at Discogs