Birth name Malcolm James Roberts Genres Traditional pop music Years active 1964–2003 | Origin Manchester Instruments Vocals Genre Traditional pop music | |
Born 31 March 1944
Blackley, Manchester, England ( 1944-03-31 ) Occupation(s) Singer, actor, musical theatre Died 7 February 2003, Chertsey, United Kingdom Albums The Very Best of Malcolm Roberts, Rio, Love Is All, The Talk Of The Town, Malcolm Roberts Sings Will Tura - EP Record labels Major Minor Records, RCA Records Similar Diane Solomon, Franck Olivier, Annemieke Verdoorn, Ireen Sheer, Chris Roberts | ||
Malcolm James Roberts (31 March 1944 – 7 February 2003) was an English traditional pop music singer, who enjoyed three hit singles from 1967 to 1969 in the UK Singles Chart. as well as an actor and musical theatre star.
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Career
Born in Blackley, Manchester, Roberts began his career in the entertainment industry as an actor. He had a small role in the TV show Coronation Street. His work as Tony in West Side Story led to a role in the musical 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" (Les Reed, Barry Mason), which reached number 12. According to the sleeve notes of his 2001 retrospective CD collection, his recording career continued in Brazil, where he had a very affectionate reception and scored many hits.
On 7 December 1968 he was the special guest singer in the 1968 Malta Song Festival held at the Plaza Theatre in Sliema Malta.
He also appeared on American television on 6 November 1970, via The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. He had previously sung on both 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. He represented Luxembourg at the Eurovision Song Contest 1985. 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 Siegel 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 (Annemieke Verdoorn), native Luxembourgian Franck Olivier, German Chris Roberts and American 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 of a heart attack on 7 February 2003. He was buried at Remenham Cemetery near Henley-on-Thames on 20 February 2003.
Songs
May I Have the Next Dream With YouThe Talk Of The Town · 2002
Love Is AllThe Talk Of The Town · 2002
What Becomes of My WorldThe Talk Of The Town · 2002