Origin: Born in Boston (USA), settled in Toronto (Canada)
DAVID ROBERTS
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| David Roberts |
All dressed up - 1982 (with lyrics)Notes:
- The last instalment in Avenue of Allies series of Westcoast releases this month is a trio of albums from David Roberts, a Canadian session vocalist. 'All Dressed Up' was his debut album, released on the Elektra label in 1982.
Roberts had journeyed to Los Angeles to find a producer who shared the same vision, and was also willing to commit to an unknown artist. The man enlisted was multi-talented keyboard player and up-and-coming producer Greg Mathieson, who had valuable connections to some of the best session players around at the time. There were fewer better than the likes of Toto members Steve Lukather (guitars), Jeff Porcaro (Drums) and Mike Porcaro (bass), who had enjoyed a lot of success with their first three albums, but were still not the megastars that they would become. It's worth noting that while the recording of 'All Dressed Up' was taking place in the day, Lukather and the Porcaro's were also working on what would become the 'Toto IV' album by night, which would go on to turn the band into household names and win them several Grammy awards along the way. It's a shame that the same rewards didn't come David Roberts' way with this album as it's a fine representation of the Westcoast scene at the time, full of great performances, a great collection of songs, and David's melodic easy-on-the-ear vocal style. -
(Notes by Ant Heeks: http://www.rocktopia.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1379:david-roberts-all-dressed-up&catid=910:cd-reviews&Itemid=121)
- David Roberts was born in Boston and grown up in Toronto, Canada. One demo song changed his fate when he was 19. David got a deal with WEA Canada and went to Los Angeles to record his first album with all star line-up musicians listed below. He wrote all songs of this album including "Anywhere You Run To" which was covered by Diana Ross later.
At Sunset StudioDavid looked back on the recording sessions of the album and said "I recall entering the once famous Sunset Sound Studio in Hollywood. The musicians had their setups in place. I was totally in awe. It was really truly exciting to me. There was Jeff Pocaro, Steve Lukather, and Mike Pocaro with me at the keyboard. As you can imagine, it was also a little intimidating to be jamming your songs with some of the world's best, but these guys were professional and made me feel comfortable right away. I recall one day when I was noodling at my keyboard during a break and Jeff Pocaro, who absolutely loved to play drums all the time, enthusiastically began to play along with me. Steve Lukather and Mike Pocaro would take his lead and begin to jam on my keyboard rift. As the days progressed, I found our jams to be as much fun as actually recording the record. I have to tell you that after playing and recording with these guys, it's been really hard to lower my standards when recording with other musicians. There's a reason these guys are the best. Unfortunately Jeff Porcaro passed away several years ago ( far too soon) but I will always have the fondest memories of our time together. As an artist recording a record, there is nothing like hearing your songs come to life in such an inspired way by such wonderful musicians. These guys were so enthusiastic and also a lot of fun to hang out with. They liked to play practical jokes on each other and had real good senses of humour. I also remember shooting hoops on the studio lot every afternoon. I like to think we became fast friends because they hung out at the studio longer then they needed to be there. Talking or eating dinner, offering suggestions on how to approach the next song that was slated to be recorded. I even heard from David Leonard, the studio engineer, that one night when Toto was recording in the same room, they played David Paich our previous days work. I like to think they were proud of their contribution. It was a special moment in time not only for me but also for them. Toto was busy completing what would turn out to be their multi grammy winning record Toto IV at Record One Studio in the Valley. On a few occasions they invited me to come over to hear what they were working on, unfortunately I was burning the candle at both ends trying complete my record (12-14hrs in the studio). I wish I had gone."
David Roberts 82In any event, "All Dressed Up..." was released in 1982. The sound of the album is really the one of Toto's because Porcaro brothers and Steve Lukather supported on all tracks of this album. Thus, this album became one of the legendary album among WestCoast / AOR music lovers since then. However, we could never have his 2nd solo album during 80's. -
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