Biography
Born in South Africa during 1910, Roberts passed away in England in September 1975. Trained as a songwriter, pianist and vocalist, he completed his initial schooling in England, then enrolled at a South African university and later entered a legal firm. Determined to pursue composition full-time, he relocated once more to Britain and achieved early recognition in the closing years of the 1930s through pieces such as “Angel Of The Great White Way,” created with Elton Box, Desmond Cox and Don Pelosi, together with “Horsey, Horsey,” fashioned alongside Box, Cox and Ralph Butler, numbers that gained favor with Jack Jackson, Billy Cotton and Henry Hall.
While serving with the RAF throughout World War II, he later captained BOAC Constellation aircraft after the conflict ended. Returning to music in the 1950s, he secured multiple British chart entries that included “The Book” for David Whitfield, “Heart Of A Man” for Frankie Vaughan, “Lay Down Your Arms” for Anne Shelton, “Meet Me On The Corner” for Max Bygraves, “Pickin’ A Chicken” for Eve Boswell, and three titles performed by Ruby Murray—“Evermore,” the chart-topping “Softly, Softly” and “You Are My First Love.” The last of these appeared in the British musical film It’s Great To Be Young; Roberts supplied additional screen songs, among them “In Love For The Very First Time” for An Alligator Named Daisy starring Diana Dors and the theme for The Good Companions. Further 1950s works comprised “Johnny Is The Boy For Me,” “It’s A Boy,” “That Dear Old Gentleman,” “Send For Me” and “The Three Galleons (Las Tres Carabelas).”
Most of these numbers resulted from partnerships with Hans Gottwald, C.A. Rossi, Geoffrey Parsons, Peggy Cochran, Jack Woodman, Gerry Levine, Ake Gerhard, Leon Land, Peter Hart, Garfield De Mortimer, Derek Bernfield, Augusto Alguego, G. Moreu and Lester Powell, the last being a pseudonym for Ray Martin. By the decade’s close, however, he increasingly composed independently, and throughout the 1960s he incorporated many of his own characteristically wry, witty and sophisticated pieces into a polished cabaret repertoire. Among the best-known was “The Ballad Of Bethnal Green,” which received extensive broadcasts, though numerous others also appeared, such as “The Belle Of Barking Creek,” “The Big Dee-Jay,” “Follow Me,” “Country Girl,” “I Love Mary,” “The Tattooed Lady,” “What’s All This Fuss About Love?,” “The Lavender Cowboy” and “Don’t Upset The Little Kiddywinks.” Roberts collected several Ivor Novello Awards and occupied senior roles within the Performing Right Society and the Song Writers Guild.
While serving with the RAF throughout World War II, he later captained BOAC Constellation aircraft after the conflict ended. Returning to music in the 1950s, he secured multiple British chart entries that included “The Book” for David Whitfield, “Heart Of A Man” for Frankie Vaughan, “Lay Down Your Arms” for Anne Shelton, “Meet Me On The Corner” for Max Bygraves, “Pickin’ A Chicken” for Eve Boswell, and three titles performed by Ruby Murray—“Evermore,” the chart-topping “Softly, Softly” and “You Are My First Love.” The last of these appeared in the British musical film It’s Great To Be Young; Roberts supplied additional screen songs, among them “In Love For The Very First Time” for An Alligator Named Daisy starring Diana Dors and the theme for The Good Companions. Further 1950s works comprised “Johnny Is The Boy For Me,” “It’s A Boy,” “That Dear Old Gentleman,” “Send For Me” and “The Three Galleons (Las Tres Carabelas).”
Most of these numbers resulted from partnerships with Hans Gottwald, C.A. Rossi, Geoffrey Parsons, Peggy Cochran, Jack Woodman, Gerry Levine, Ake Gerhard, Leon Land, Peter Hart, Garfield De Mortimer, Derek Bernfield, Augusto Alguego, G. Moreu and Lester Powell, the last being a pseudonym for Ray Martin. By the decade’s close, however, he increasingly composed independently, and throughout the 1960s he incorporated many of his own characteristically wry, witty and sophisticated pieces into a polished cabaret repertoire. Among the best-known was “The Ballad Of Bethnal Green,” which received extensive broadcasts, though numerous others also appeared, such as “The Belle Of Barking Creek,” “The Big Dee-Jay,” “Follow Me,” “Country Girl,” “I Love Mary,” “The Tattooed Lady,” “What’s All This Fuss About Love?,” “The Lavender Cowboy” and “Don’t Upset The Little Kiddywinks.” Roberts collected several Ivor Novello Awards and occupied senior roles within the Performing Right Society and the Song Writers Guild.
Albums
