Malcolm Roberts
Encyclopedia
Malcolm Roberts was an English
traditional pop music
singer, who enjoyed three hit single
s from 1967 to 1969 in the UK Singles Chart
.
, Manchester
, Roberts arrived in the music industry through a previous career in acting
- even appearing briefly in a tiny role in ITV
's soap opera
, Coronation Street
. It was while appearing as Tony in West Side Story that he received his big break. Composer
Lionel Bart
spotted his potential and cast him in appear in his West End
production of Maggie May
at the Adelphi Theatre
, in 1964.
His first single
, "Time Alone Will Tell" reached number 45 in May 1967, followed by his biggest hit, "May I Have the Next Dream With You" in November 1968, reaching number 8 and staying on the charts for 15 weeks. His final hit, in November 1969, was "Love is All", which reached number 12. According to the sleeve notes of his 2001 retrospective CD
collection, his recording career continued in Brazil
, where he scored many hits.
He also appeared on American
television
on 6 November 1970, via the The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
. He had previously sung on both the The Morecambe and Wise Show
(1969
) and The Kenneth Williams Show
on the UK's
BBC Television
. Roberts later appeared in pantomime
, starring opposite Ronnie Corbett
and Clodagh Rodgers
in the 1971 production of Cinderella at the London Palladium
. In 1985, he joined a six-member group to represent Luxembourg
in the Eurovision Song Contest
. The song, "Children, Kinder, Enfants
" was written
by Ralph Siegel
, Bernd Meinunger and Jean-Michel Beriat, all of whom had written Eurovision entries before, with Seigel and Meinunger writing the 1982 German winner. The group consisted of an international line-up of the UK's
Roberts and Ireen Sheer
, Dutch
singer Margo, Belgian Franck Olivier, German
Chris Roberts and Canadian
Diane Solomon
. The song was performed mainly in French
, with a counterpane sung in English
and German
. They got 37 points and finished in 13th place.
In 1991, Roberts attempted alone to represent the UK, with his own composition, "One Love", but finished last in the A Song For Europe
contest.
Roberts died, at the age of 58, after suffering a heart attack
on 7 February 2003, near his home in Chertsey
, Surrey
. He was found collapsed at the wheel of his car in the car park of council offices in Addlestone
, near Chertsey. His funeral
took place at Henley-on-Thames
, and he was buried at Remenham Cemetery near Henley on 20 February 2003.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
traditional pop music
Traditional pop music
Traditional pop or classic pop or standards music denotes, in general, Western popular music that either wholly predates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s, or to any popular music which exists concurrently to rock and roll but originated in a time before the appearance of rock and roll,...
singer, who enjoyed three hit single
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a 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...
s from 1967 to 1969 in the UK Singles Chart
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 ...
.
Career
Born in BlackleyBlackley
Blackley is an area of the city of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England. It is north of Manchester city centre, by a meander of the River Irk. Further north is Middleton...
, 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...
, Roberts arrived in the music industry through a previous career in acting
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
- even appearing briefly in a tiny role in ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
, Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
. It was while appearing as Tony in West Side Story that he received his big break. Composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Lionel Bart
Lionel Bart
Lionel Bart was a writer and composer of British pop music and musicals, best known for creating the book, music and lyrics for Oliver!-Early life:...
spotted his potential and cast him in appear in his West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
production of Maggie May
Maggie May (musical)
Maggie May is a musical with a book by Alun Owen and music and lyrics by Lionel Bart.Based on "Maggie May", a traditional ballad about a Liverpool prostitute, it deals with trade union ethics and disputes and the life of streetwalker Margaret Mary Duffy after her sweetheart dies.The show includes...
at the Adelphi Theatre
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
, in 1964.
His first single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, "Time Alone Will Tell" reached number 45 in May 1967, followed by his biggest hit, "May I Have the Next Dream With You" in November 1968, reaching number 8 and staying on the charts for 15 weeks. His final hit, in November 1969, was "Love is All", which reached number 12. According to the sleeve notes of his 2001 retrospective CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
collection, his recording career continued in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, where he scored many hits.
He also appeared on American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
on 6 November 1970, via the The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
. He had previously sung on both the The Morecambe and Wise Show
Morecambe and Wise
Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, usually referred to as Morecambe and Wise, or Eric and Ernie, were a British comic double act, working in variety, radio, film and most successfully in television. Their partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death in 1984...
(1969
Morecambe & Wise Show (1968) Episodes
This is an episode summary of British TV comedy show The Morecambe & Wise Show.The nine series of 50 minute programmes produced between 1968 and 1976 by Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise are generally considered to be their best output; From series two all are penned by Eddie Braben these programmes...
) and The Kenneth Williams Show
Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Charles Williams was an English comic actor and comedian. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the Carry On films, and appeared in numerous British television shows, and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne.-Life and career:Kenneth Charles Williams was born on 22 February...
on the UK's
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
. Roberts later appeared in pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
, starring opposite Ronnie Corbett
Ronnie Corbett
Ronald Balfour "Ronnie" Corbett, OBE is a Scottish actor and comedian of Scottish and English parentage who had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the British television comedy series The Two Ronnies...
and Clodagh Rodgers
Clodagh Rodgers
Clodagh Rodgers is a singer and actress from Northern Ireland, best known for her hit single, "Jack in the Box".-Career:...
in the 1971 production of Cinderella at the London Palladium
London Palladium
The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...
. In 1985, he joined a six-member group to represent Luxembourg
Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest
Luxembourg was one of the countries to participate in the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956.From their debut to 1993 Luxembourg competed frequently in the Contest, being absent from the contest once during this period...
in the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 1985
The Eurovision Song Contest 1985 was the 30th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 4 May 1985 in Gothenburg, Sweden. The presenter was Lill Lindfors, and Norwegian duo Bobbysocks! was the winner of this Eurovision with the song "La det swinge"....
. The song, "Children, Kinder, Enfants
Children, Kinder, Enfants
"Children, Kinder, Enfants" was the Luxembourgish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985, performed in French by Margo, Franck Olivier, Diane Solomon, Ireen Sheer, Malcolm and Chris Roberts.This group is for obvious reasons sometimes referred to as "The Internationals"; Margo is Dutch,...
" was written
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
by Ralph Siegel
Ralph Siegel
Ralph Siegel is a German record producer and songwriter. He is married to the opera singer Kriemhild Jahn. He has three daughters, one of them Giulia Siegel divorced from German entrepreneur Hans Wehrmann....
, Bernd Meinunger and Jean-Michel Beriat, all of whom had written Eurovision entries before, with Seigel and Meinunger writing the 1982 German winner. The group consisted of an international line-up of the UK's
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Roberts and Ireen Sheer
Ireen Sheer
Ireen Sheer is a German-British pop singer, who has competed in several Eurovision Song Contests over the past four decades...
, Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
singer Margo, Belgian Franck Olivier, German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Chris Roberts and Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
Diane Solomon
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"...
. The song was performed mainly in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, with a counterpane sung in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. They got 37 points and finished in 13th place.
In 1991, Roberts attempted alone to represent the UK, with his own composition, "One Love", but finished last in the A Song For Europe
A Song for Europe
A Song for Europe may refer to:*A Song for Europe, former name of British pre-selection competition for the Eurovision Song Contest, now known as Eurovision: Your Country Needs You...
contest.
Roberts died, at the age of 58, after suffering a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
on 7 February 2003, near his home in Chertsey
Chertsey
Chertsey is a town in Surrey, England, on the River Thames and its tributary rivers such as the River Bourne. It can be accessed by road from junction 11 of the M25 London orbital motorway. It shares borders with Staines, Laleham, Shepperton, Addlestone, Woking, Thorpe and Egham...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. He was found collapsed at the wheel of his car in the car park of council offices in Addlestone
Addlestone
Addlestone is a town in the borough of Runnymede in the county of Surrey, England.Immediate surrounding towns and villages include Weybridge, Ottershaw, Chertsey, and New Haw. It is near Junction 11 of the M25 motorway and is served by Addlestone railway station on the Chertsey Branch Line. It also...
, near Chertsey. His funeral
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
took place at Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, 10 miles upstream and west from Maidenhead...
, and he was buried at Remenham Cemetery near Henley on 20 February 2003.