B A Robertson
Hi, can I ask what inspired your song The Living Years, as it reminds me of my dad.
Mike Rutherford - The lyrics were written by BA and the song is about something he went through.
He lost his dad and it's about the lack of communication between him and his father before he died. There's also the irony of him having a baby just after losing his father.
I had exactly the same thing happen to me at the same time, so it meant a lot to me too.
Paul Carrack - We get a lot of people tell us how the song affected them. Some say it made them do something about repairing a relationship. When you hear that sort of story it's fantastic. (The Sun Online )
BA Robertson is the hardest person to write with. He takes it more seriously. It's the most precious thing to him. (The Guardian)
Next, Paul Carrack brought out BA Robertson. To those who are unfamiliar with him, BA wrote many of the Mechanics' hits and still works with the Mechanics behind the scenes. Paul slid over to the piano and played "All The Light I Need" with BA on vocals. I thought the performance was outstanding, BA provided a beautiful rendition of the song. I'll never know why Mike Rutherford didn't get him to record some of the songs he helped write with The Mechanics! (World Of Genesis)
The Living Years is one of the finest lyrics in the last 10 years. (Burt Bacharach, Mojo Magazine)
I saw this movie nearly 20 years ago as part of a Channel 4 season of dramas & recall being impressed by BA Robertsons' acting ability, and Judi Trotts' musical work. I actually tape recorded the songs late into the film, as I was really enjoying them! (sadly I only have 3 and I cannot find it on sale or in any private collections, which saddens me). I was 15.
There is a "Living Apart Together" on sale but it's a Dutch adult movie starring Sylvia Kristel, not a romantic musical comedy.
A realistic tale of, as I recall, a couple called Richey & Amy (Barbara Kellerman) who split up due to differences in character. Richey is a very talented, eccentric, but overall irresponsible husband, who you can't help but love. Amy is a romantic, beautiful, all-woman "English rose".
Richey has an affair with Judi Trotts' character, experiencing his "grass on the other side" and the two indulge in a "Baker Dr. Who/ Romana II" mad week, involving a number of well-written songs, created for the movie by Robertson & utilising the talents of himself, Trott, and, very memorably, the incredible Carol Kenyon, known for her work on the Heaven 17 track "Temptation".
The movie does have a happy ending, and gave this 15 year old a good look at modern relationships. A film I have wanted for AGES! (Amazon)
“Bang Bang” “Knocked It Off”, and “Kool In The Kaftan”, make up a trio of punchy, satirical singles, as instant as jingles and packed with more incident than an episode of “Coronation Street”.
The album, is a chocolate box tight with astonishingly clever pop. BA has stuffed it with enough in jokes to script “The Muppet Show”, laced it with many a catchy tune, and arranged the finished article with meticulous care. (David Hepworth, Smash Hits)
If BA Robertson doesn’t become one of the biggest stars of the eighties, I’ll eat my typewriter. He is one of the brightest most appealing new talents on the pop scene. He is the funniest thing to escape from Glasgow since Billy Connolly - a natural comedian who leaves you helpless with laughter at his deadpan quickfire delivery. (Nina Myskow, The Sun)
BA may just be a pop star, but one suspects the beanpole Glaswegian is never seriously intellectually threatened by anyone. In the short space of ten months he has had four hit records. His latest, “To Be Or Not To Be”, is shooting up the Top Ten. (Ken Irwin, The Daily Record)
It was inevitable with 125 chart songs and 1152 weeks on the charts there had to be a couple of decent songs from his writers. On “Carrie” it was BA Robertson and Terry Britten composing lyrics of a compact narrative in a deceptively fragile but tightly held tune. Robertson's next assignments were the themes for “Maggie” and “Wogan” and banishment from the kingdom of pop. (Soundchecks, 10 Guilty Pleasures)
This Scottish fellow is not exactly a rock ‘n” roller - he’s closer to George Gershwin than Ritchie Blackmore - but he has a knack for putting across clever/complicated melodies with a real style of his own. Robertson’s a fine songwriter, introspective without being self indulgent or clumsy, and manages to bring his debut album off without contrivances, or pomposity which mar similar efforts. (Circus)
An extremely interesting album that is really the score for a rock opera. Robertson sings well and writes intelligently in his story about the rock life. All of the cuts can stand alone, and the best are “In The Limelight”, and “Myths & Illusions”. (Record World)
His debut disc is totally impressive as an a la Bowie theatrical experience, with an exclamation point, and should do much to further the cause for such progressive musical attempts. The artist totally emotes his material, while performing his music on keyboards, and utilizing special effects wondrously, to make the entire trip a delightful journey. Especially note “These Fantasies”, and “Moira’s Hand”. Encore! Encore! (Cash Box)
It has taken me years to find this album, it was my most played vinyl of the early 80's, and although this doesn’t have the complete album on it (or the complete second one either) it’s still as close as you are ever going to get. Absolutely brilliant, 12 out of 10
A great buy - if you could buy it....At last, a collection of some of the wittiest pop songs ever recorded. I was really looking forward to buying this. It wasn't to be. The album must have been available for oh, about half an hour, before being deleted. Now prospective purchasers have to try their luck in the second hand market and with copies reaching £50 or £60 on Ebay,
BA is part of a forgotten gem in a "hard to classify" genre. If Kirsty MacColl does it for you, then give BA a listen....you won't be disappointed.
This man is a genius.
BA, he of the witty lyrics and good tunes, has always been successful whether it was working for Disney or Mike & The Mechanics, but his early 80's solo stuff was packed full of gems too. I recommend his literate, sometimes tongue-in-cheek work to pretty much anyone with a working pair of ears.
A compilation for one of the finest pop song writers of the late 1970's and 80's.
Like any compilation there will always be room for argument as to what should have been included (where's Saint Saens? Sci-Fi? Hot Shot?) but this is a decent starting point worth it for "To Be or Not To Be", "Fallin' In Luv", "Flight 19" and "Maggie" alone.
Warner Brothers should now do the decent thing, get the finger out and release all the original albums.
Every single song he's released has impeccable production and demonstrates a brilliant understanding of pop composition. Although this collection skips a couple of career highlights - most notably the 1982 Scotland World Cup song 'We Have A Dream', and the highly underrated single 'Saint Saens' - it is by far a testament to the most excellent set of popular music tracks ever placed on one disc.
He surfaced in the very late 70's with a selection of quirky yet brilliantly produced pop songs. All the big hits are here, and of course the album tracks of note. There is, however one song missing. The theme to the UK hit TV show 'Swap Shop' but this does not spoil the pleasure of hearing these songs in superb quality. The price of this CD on eBay reflects how long fans of this genre have been waiting for this album to emerge... perhaps the record company will now consider releasing his albums as they were and if they did...they need to include the said TV theme as a bonus track. 10/10 and if they promoted it properly, who knows how high in the album chart it could go. BRAVO!!!
This is a must for all late 70's to early 80's lovers. I've been trying to find a CD by this man for ages, when I saw it on ebay I was over the moon.