| Roberta was born in New Mexico and was raised in Los Angeles. WOW...a whole lot of info to share with you! Once again I am confronted with the dilemma of the need to both honor and preserve the legacy of an artist and the blatant lack of information about them. Roberta is very special to me. In 1976 when I was 17 and in the midst of gay bars, disco and partying she was the bomb. Many a night was spent dancing to "Love Power" and "Trouble Maker" under the crude light show of disco's dawning era. I remember vividly buying my copy of "Trouble Maker" and feeling like I was on the cutting edge of popular music.....and both she and I were! I was not the only young gay man to be influenced by her vocal charms......Luther Vandross would recall his affection for "Love Power" 15 years later when he recorded his version of it. But her recording career actually began before that landmark recording. In 1974 she was already connected to Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellote when she recorded the outdated "Kung Fu Is Back Again" single for them. Listening to Donna's "The Hostage" , (also from that era), one can see that Giorgio and Pete had not quite found their niche yet. But oh when they did! And Roberta was along for the ride! Speculation is upon whether or not Roberta was part of the German "Hair" company. I can safely say that Roberta cemented a long friendship with Donna from those days either way. In fact Roberta has recorded for Donna well into the 1980's. She was an office worker for Donna on her Vine Street Offices as late as 1984. But back to Roberta's career. With the release of "Trouble Maker" in 1976 she sailed up the charts and gained immediate acceptance within the disco community. On this release she was strictly under the guidance of Moroder and the material was of his choice. She was given the A-list tracks along the lines of Donna Summer. However the following year she was relegated to the A- list and the material was not up to par with the stuff Giorgio and Pete were doing with Donna. "Zodiacs" however prevailed and became her most international hit. Probably because of her raucous delivery the record holds up today as a classic piece of disco? By 1978, Giorgio, Donna and Pete had all made disco history by now. Roberta oddly enough had seemed to float on the fringes of the disco community. Having either returned to her, or adopted, a religous nature marked her next and final release for Casablanca Records. While the rest of the world was getting down to blatant sexually charged disco hits she opted to take a higher ground with "Gettin' The Spirit." I for one loved the album. Giorgio obviously adept at any style of music gave her a religous disco epic. Just listen to "My Father's House" and tell me that the girl wasn't getting the spirit? Regardless of the quality, it found limited exposure and for reasons unknown she left Casablanca and missed being the star diva at disco's apex. It's rumoured that during this period she was the one responsible for getting Donna Summer back into the religous fold. I could care less. But it is believable considering their friendship and the timing. 1980 was a bad year for disco music. In it's terminal stages artists fled the country and those that didn't were dropped like the plague from their labels. Roberta surfaced on Baby Records with an expansive album of tunes entitled "Roots Can Be Anywhere." Now I'm not sure where the album came from. I have seen it on Canadian, Japanese, Germany and U.K. vinyl. I can not recall anything striking my fancy off of it. I can tell you that my favorite song on her next release was the title track of 1981's "Tell Me" however a Baby 12" single of "Patty Cake" made the rounds. Since there is little known about our R. Kelly we're not sure where she was based at the time. I do have reports that she was working for Donna Summer around the early 1980's in Los Angeles. The fact can be verified as she appears on backgrounds on Donna's "She Works Hard For The Money" album. Always a "star" in my eyes the humble Kelly has been equally successful as a studio background singer.I can trace her back to 1976 on backgrounds, obviously the Giorgio-Summer sessions, but also an album that year by Tom Winter entitled "Winterference." Other backing notables include the Disco Circus project and appearances on albums by Claudja Barry and Lipstique. Since the early 1980's she has gained even more mystique by being even more elusive. She recorded a religious song about the Pope in the 1990's and an album entitled "Sound Of Colour" was released in 1995. PLEASE anyone with information on Miss Kelly contact us, she rates in the top ten of those that need to have their legacy preserved. And my personal plea to Roberta...you have been a favorite for many years... hope you are happy, healthy and blessed. |
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| Miss Roberta Kelly |
| Miss Roberta Kelly |
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