Roachford

In the late 1980s British soul-pop singer and songwriter Roachford, together with his band, rose to prominence on the strength of singles such as "Family Man" and the Top Five hit "Cuddly Toy."

Andrew Roachford came into the world in London in 1965 to West Indian parents and absorbed a household soundtrack that ranged from Motown and glam rock to reggae and jazz. As a boy he one day began playing the family piano without any prompting, and by fourteen he was performing jazz-club dates alongside his uncle, a virtuoso saxophonist.

He assembled the group Roachford in 1987 with Hawi Gondwe on guitars, Derrick Taylor on bass, Chris Taylor on drums, and himself handling vocals, keyboards, and percussion. The following year the band toured alongside the Christians and Terence Trent d'Arby, then secured an unprecedented seven-album contract with Columbia, becoming the first act to do so.

Although the 1988 self-titled debut album delivered their strongest commercial showing by reaching number 11 in the U.K., the next three releases—Get Ready (1991), Permanent Shade of Blue (1994), and Feel (1997)—also registered solid chart placements. Listeners responded to the ensemble’s singular blend of Motown-esque soul, smooth pop/rock, funk, and blues, as well as to Andrew’s candid and incisive lyricism. Even after the group’s mainstream visibility declined, a devoted audience remained, sustaining continued recording and touring.

Once the Columbia agreement ended, Word of Mouth surfaced on SPV in 2005.

Andrew Roachford launched his solo career with Heart of the Matter, Vol. 1 in 2003 on his own M3 Records label and followed it with three further solo albums: Addictive (2011), The Beautiful Moment (2013), and Encore (2016). In 2010 he joined the re-formed Mike + the Mechanics as co-lead singer, appearing on multiple tours and on the albums The Road, Let Me Fly, and Out of the Blue.

He received an MBE for services to music in 2019. The Roachford band’s sixth album, Twice in a Lifetime—their first in fifteen years—was issued in 2020.