Roberta Kelly
Encyclopedia
Roberta Kelly is an African American
singer, who scored three hits on the US
Billboard
Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart
between 1976 and 1978. Her biggest hit
, "Trouble-Maker
", spent two weeks at #1 on that chart.
From 1975 until 1983, she also performed as a backing vocalist
with Thelma Houston
, and on a number of Donna Summer
's album
s.
's Oasis record label
during the 1970s, Kelly recorded a single
in Germany
entitled "Kung Fu Is Back Again" (1974), released on Atlantic
and produced
by the songwriter
-producer Pete Bellotte
alongside Moroder.
She released the single "Love Power" a cover version
of a 1967 hit for The Sandpepples, written
by Teddy Vann, and later made famous as part of the repertoire of Luther Vandross
. She also released the album
, This is Roberta Kelly (1975). In April 1976, Kelly turned to disco
with the single "Trouble-Maker" and released an album by the same name. The album contained five tracks, including an extended version of "Love Power".
In 1977, she released Zodiac Lady, a controversial album that Casablanca Records
, during the disco heyday, refused at first to release. Imports from Italy
swamped the international dance floors, creating a hit for the title track and songs such as "Love Sign". This album spawned a twelve-inch single, "Zodiacs," which had major club and radio play. "Funky Stardust" was release from that album, in addition to "Zodiacs" itself. "Zodiacs" peaked at #24 in the US Hot Dance/Club Play chart in 1977, and at #44 in the UK Singles Chart
in 1978. "Love Sign" was released as a single in Italy
only. Both "Trouble-Maker" and "Zodiac Lady" were produced by Moroder and Bellotte.
The album Gettin' The Spirit followed in March 1978. Produced by Giorgio Moroder and Bob Esty, it was an album consisting of gospel songs, performed in the disco style. The album featured dance versions of the Edwin Hawkins
penned, "Oh Happy Day
" and "To My Father's House," with both songs released on one single. "Gettin' the Spirit" was also released with a disco version of "My Sweet Lord
," on the b-side
. It peaked at #9 in the US Hot Dance/Club Play chart in 1978.
When Pope John Paul II
succeeded Paul VI in 1979, Kelly released the single "John Paul II", The single never made it onto an album, but the "Tribute to Love" did in the late 1980 release, Roots Can Be Anywhere. By this time, Kelly was no longer with Casablanca Records. Two singles were released: "Kabacka Shaka" and "Roots Can Be Anywhere", but the album had limited success. It was available with two different covers and was produced by Michael Holm.
In 1981, Kelly released the album Tell Me through Baby Records
in Italy
, featuring "Patty Cake", produced by Jürgen Koppers. After that, Kelly's next release was not until 1995, when she issued The Sound of Color and "Jubilee in Germany," celebrating the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II
.
During the summer of 2008, Kelly resurfaced with the single, "America (The Sound of Colour Realized)."
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
singer, who scored three hits on the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
between 1976 and 1978. Her biggest hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
, "Trouble-Maker
Trouble-Maker
"Trouble-Maker" is a 1976 single by disco/gospel singer, Roberta Kelly. The single, produced by Giorgio Moroder, was a number-one hit on the disco/dance chart for two weeks. . It failed to reach either the pop or soul charts....
", spent two weeks at #1 on that chart.
From 1975 until 1983, she also performed as a backing vocalist
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
with Thelma Houston
Thelma Houston
Thelma Houston is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She scored a number-one hit in 1976 with her cover version of the song "Don't Leave Me This Way", which won the 1978 Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.-Early life & career:Houston is the daughter of a cotton picking mother...
, and on a number of Donna Summer
Donna Summer
LaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...
's album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s.
Career
Prior to releases in the US through composer Giorgio MoroderGiorgio Moroder
Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder is an Italian record producer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records...
's Oasis record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
during the 1970s, Kelly recorded a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
entitled "Kung Fu Is Back Again" (1974), released on Atlantic
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
and produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by the songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
-producer Pete Bellotte
Pete Bellotte
Peter J. Bellotte is a British songwriter and record producer, most famous for hismain body of work with Donna Summer alongside his partner Giorgio Moroder...
alongside Moroder.
She released the single "Love Power" a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of a 1967 hit for The Sandpepples, written
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
by Teddy Vann, and later made famous as part of the repertoire of Luther Vandross
Luther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times...
. She also released the album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, This is Roberta Kelly (1975). In April 1976, Kelly turned to disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
with the single "Trouble-Maker" and released an album by the same name. The album contained five tracks, including an extended version of "Love Power".
In 1977, she released Zodiac Lady, a controversial album that Casablanca Records
Casablanca Records
Casablanca Records was an American record label started by Neil Bogart, who partnered with Cecil Holmes, Larry Harris, and Buck Reingold in 1973, and based in Los Angeles. The label was formed after all of them had left Buddah Records and secured financing by Warner Bros. Records to start the venture...
, during the disco heyday, refused at first to release. Imports from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
swamped the international dance floors, creating a hit for the title track and songs such as "Love Sign". This album spawned a twelve-inch single, "Zodiacs," which had major club and radio play. "Funky Stardust" was release from that album, in addition to "Zodiacs" itself. "Zodiacs" peaked at #24 in the US Hot Dance/Club Play chart in 1977, and at #44 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in 1978. "Love Sign" was released as a single in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
only. Both "Trouble-Maker" and "Zodiac Lady" were produced by Moroder and Bellotte.
The album Gettin' The Spirit followed in March 1978. Produced by Giorgio Moroder and Bob Esty, it was an album consisting of gospel songs, performed in the disco style. The album featured dance versions of the Edwin Hawkins
Edwin Hawkins
Edwin Hawkins is a Grammy Award-winning American gospel and R&B musician, pianist, choir master, composer and arranger. He is one of the originators of the urban contemporary gospel sound. He are best known for his arrangement of "Oh Happy Day" , which was included on the Songs of the Century list...
penned, "Oh Happy Day
Oh Happy Day
"Oh Happy Day" is a 1967 gospel music arrangement of an 18th century hymn. Recorded by the Edwin Hawkins Singers, it became an international hit in 1969, reaching US #4 and UK #2 on the pop charts...
" and "To My Father's House," with both songs released on one single. "Gettin' the Spirit" was also released with a disco version of "My Sweet Lord
My Sweet Lord
"My Sweet Lord" is a song by former Beatles lead guitarist George Harrison from his UK number one hit triple album All Things Must Pass. The song was written in praise of the Hindu god Krishna...
," on the b-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
. It peaked at #9 in the US Hot Dance/Club Play chart in 1978.
When Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
succeeded Paul VI in 1979, Kelly released the single "John Paul II", The single never made it onto an album, but the "Tribute to Love" did in the late 1980 release, Roots Can Be Anywhere. By this time, Kelly was no longer with Casablanca Records. Two singles were released: "Kabacka Shaka" and "Roots Can Be Anywhere", but the album had limited success. It was available with two different covers and was produced by Michael Holm.
In 1981, Kelly released the album Tell Me through Baby Records
Baby Records
Baby Records or Baby Record may be refer to:*Baby Records , Italian record label* Baby Records, recorl label of the Virgin Prunes*Rourke Baby Record, a medical guideline for pediatrics*birth certificate...
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, featuring "Patty Cake", produced by Jürgen Koppers. After that, Kelly's next release was not until 1995, when she issued The Sound of Color and "Jubilee in Germany," celebrating the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
During the summer of 2008, Kelly resurfaced with the single, "America (The Sound of Colour Realized)."
Albums
- This Is Roberta Kelly (1975)
- Trouble-Maker (1976)
- Zodiac Lady (1977)
- Gettin' the Spirit (1978)
- Roots Can Be Anywhere (1980)
- Tell Me (1981)
Singles
- "Kung Fu Is Back Again" (1974)
- "Love Power" (1975)
- "Trouble-Maker" (1976)
- "Zodiacs" (1977)
- "Gettin' the Spirit" (1978)
- "John Paul II" (1979)
- "Roots Can Be Anywhere" (1980)
- "Patty Cake" (1981)
- "America (The Sound of Colour Realized)" (2008)
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart