![]() |
Austin Roberts | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Background information | |
Birth name | George Austin Robertson Jr. |
Born | Newport News, Virginia | September 19, 1945
Genres | Pop, soft rock |
Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
Years active | 1968–present |
Labels | Philips, ABC-Dunhill, Chelsea, Private Stock, Newpax, MCA-Songbird |
Austin Roberts (born George Austin Robertson Jr.; September 19, 1945) [1] is an American singer and songwriter. His most successful recording was 1975's "Rocky"; a transatlantic Top 40 hit single. He also wrote several songs that featured in episodes of Scooby-Doo Where Are You! and performed the theme for season 2 of the show.
Roberts was born on September 19, 1945, in Newport News, Virginia. As the lead singer of Arkade, he had two Billboard Hot 100 hits in 1970-71, including the easy listening crossover, "The Morning of Our Lives", which became the Bridal Fair theme, later a Top 15 Adult Contemporary hit, and "Sing Out the Love (In My Heart)", which reached No. 99 on the Hot 100.[ citation needed ]
Roberts performed the theme song to the second season of the animated series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! as well as the season 2 "chase songs", many of which he also composed.
In 1972 he sang the hit "Something's Wrong With Me", written by Danny Janssen and Bobby Hart, which reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972. [2] "Keep on Singing", later a No. 15 single for Helen Reddy in April 1974, was another hit for Roberts, reaching No. 50 on the Hot 100 in March 1973. [2]
"Rocky" brought his greatest success, reaching No. 9 on the Hot 100 in October 1975. [2] The track also reached No. 22 in the UK in November 1975, which to date is Roberts' only chart appearance in the UK. [3]
![]() | This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources .(June 2020) |
Roberts has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, two of which he won ("I.O.U" by Lee Greenwood and "Chance of a Lifetime" by Take 6).
He also won a German award (for "Mission of Love"), four Canadian awards (for "He Would Be Sixteen" by Michelle Wright, as well as the 1993 CCMA Single of the Year), a CMA Award, an ACM Award, a Music City News Award, two NSAI Awards, and numerous ASCAP and SESAC Awards for airplay. Roberts has also been nominated for an additional CMA Award and ACM Award.
The O'Jays are an American R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in Summer 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles. The O'Jays made their first chart appearance with the minor hit "Lonely Drifter" in 1963, but reached their greatest level of success once the producers Gamble & Huff signed them to their Philadelphia International label in 1972. With Gamble & Huff, the O'Jays emerged at the forefront of Philadelphia soul with Back Stabbers (1972), and topped the US Billboard Hot 100 the following year with "Love Train". Several other US R&B hits followed, and the O'Jays were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, and the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2013.
Ike & Tina Turner were an American musical duo consisting of husband and wife Ike Turner and Tina Turner. From 1960 to 1976, they performed live as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, supported by Ike Turner's band the Kings of Rhythm and backing vocalists called the Ikettes. The Ike & Tina Turner Revue was regarded as "one of the most potent live acts on the R&B circuit."
Barry Knapp Bostwick is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Brad Majors in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and Mayor Randall Winston in the sitcom Spin City (1996–2002). Bostwick has also had considerable success in musical theatre, winning a Tony Award for his role in The Robber Bridegroom.
Rufus is an American funk band from Chicago, Illinois, best known for launching the career of lead singer Chaka Khan. They had several hits throughout their career, including "Tell Me Something Good", "Sweet Thing", "Do You Love What You Feel" and "Ain't Nobody". Rufus and Chaka Khan were one of the most popular and influential funk bands of the 1970s, with four consecutive number-one R&B albums, ten top 40 pop hits and five number-one R&B singles, among other accolades.
"Everyday People" is a 1968 song composed by Sly Stone and first recorded by his band, Sly and the Family Stone. It was the first single by the band to go to number one on the Soul singles chart and the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. It held that position on the Hot 100 for four weeks, from February 9 to March 8, 1969, and is remembered as one of the most popular songs of the 1960s. Billboard ranked it as the No. 5 song of 1969.
Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds were a 1970s soft rock trio from Los Angeles. The original members were Dan Hamilton, Joe Frank Carollo (bass/vocal), and Tommy Reynolds (multi-instrumentalist/vocal), all of whom had previously played in The T-Bones, a 1960s band noted for the instrumental hit "No Matter What Shape ."
Larry Eugene Carlton is an American guitarist who built his career as a studio musician in the 1970s and 1980s for acts such as Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell. One of the most sought after guitarists of his era, Carlton has participated in thousands of recording sessions, recorded on hundreds of albums in many genres, including more than 100 gold records, as well as for television and movies. He has been a member of the jazz fusion group the Crusaders and the smooth jazz band Fourplay, and has maintained a long solo career.
The Tokens were an American doo-wop band and record production company group from Brooklyn, New York City. The group has had four top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, all in the 1960s, their biggest being the chart-topping 1961 hit single "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" borrowed heavily from the 1939 song "Mbube" by South African singer Solomon Linda. They are also known for having Neil Sedaka as an original member, before he pursued a solo career.
"Strangers in the Night" is a song composed by Bert Kaempfert with English lyrics by Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder. Kaempfert originally used it under the title "Beddy Bye" as part of the instrumental score for the movie A Man Could Get Killed. The song was made famous in 1966 by Frank Sinatra.
Lester Louis Adler is an American record and film producer and the co-owner of the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California. Adler has produced and developed a number of high-profile musical artists, including The Grass Roots, Jan & Dean, The Mamas & the Papas, and Carole King. King's album Tapestry, produced by Adler, won the 1972 Grammy Award for Album of the Year and has been called one of the greatest pop albums of all time.
Bubble Puppy is an American psychedelic rock band originally active from 1967 to 1972. They are best remembered for their Top 20 hit, "Hot Smoke & Sasafrass".
"Shining Star" is a song by Earth, Wind & Fire's album That's the Way of the World, issued as a single in January 1975 on Columbia Records. The song rose to No. 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart, becoming their first single to top both charts. It has also been certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.
"Baby, Come to Me", a love ballad from Patti Austin's 1981 album Every Home Should Have One, was her duet with James Ingram. It was written by Rod Temperton. The song was released as a single in April 1982, initially peaking at No. 73 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Several months later, American soap opera General Hospital began to feature the song heavily as the love theme for character Luke Spencer. It was re-released in October of that same year and reached No. 1 on the US chart in February 1983.
"Don't Pull Your Love" is the debut single by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds which became a top ten hit single in 1971. The song was written by Brian Potter and Dennis Lambert.
Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods are an American pop music group, known mainly for their 1970s hit singles, "Billy Don't Be a Hero" and "Who Do You Think You Are".
A1A or A-1-A is the fifth studio album by American popular music singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett and the third major label album in Buffett's Don Gant-produced "Key West phase". It was initially released in December 1974 as Dunhill DS-50183 and later re-released on Dunhill's successor labels ABC and MCA.
Max Bennett was an American jazz bassist and session musician.
"Up In Heah" is a song written by Tina Turner and Leon Ware. It was released as a single by R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner on United Artists Records in 1972.
The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet from Detroit, Michigan. They were one of the most commercially successful American pop music groups of the 1960s and helped propel the Motown label to international fame. The group's repertoire has included aspects of soul, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes.
Luis Rosa, professionally known as DJ Kass, is a Dominican-American disc jockey and recording artist from the Bronx. His single “Scooby Doo Pa Pa” was referred to by E! Online as "the new dance craze that you need to know about" in 2018.