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About this concert
TOM ROBINSON
with Adam Phillips
THEN & NOW
Tall tales and top tunes from 50 years in the record industry
TOM ROBINSON
Tom Robinson's first record release was in 1975 as one-third of Café Society: an acoustic harmony
trio discovered by Ray Davies at The Troubadour folk club in London's Earls Court. The album sold
just 500 copies.
After seeing an early Sex Pistols gig at The 100 Club, Tom made a rapid change of direction and
formed the Tom Robinson Band with rock guitarist Danny Kustow. TRB were early supporters of
Rock Against Racism and soon enjoyed Top 5 success with their debut single for EMI: 2-4-6-8
Motorway. Brief notoriety followed in early 1978 with the LGBT anthem Glad To Be Gay, and a
few months later the band's first album Power In The Darkness entered the charts at No.4.
Over the last 50 years Tom's been mentored by Alexis Korner and Martin Carthy, written songs
with Elton John and Peter Gabriel, toured with The Police, Red Wedge and The Undertones, and
Rocked Against Racism for a crowd of 80,000 - alongside The Clash, Steel Pulse and X-Ray Spex.
He's been banned by Radio One, exiled in East Berlin, and hounded by the tabloids for being in
love with a woman.
More recently he's given over ten thousand artists their first national airplay on his BBC
Introducing shows for 6 Music and served for ten years on the Ivor Novello Awards committee. At
age 75 Tom still enjoys a reputation among his punk contemporaries - and in the world of
acoustic/roots music - as both a master songsmith and a funny, ferocious live performer.
Support - Gabrielle Sey
?An outstanding artist and one of the most original records I?ve heard all
year? (referring to her single Patterns) - Tom Robinson BBC 6 Music
?Sey manages to deliver a balance between soulful R&B and irresistible African
panache that truly places her in a league of her own.? - AFROPUNK
?A beautiful, rich voice that pours out like sweet wine over a lithe beat? - Gal-dem
South London-born singer/songwriter Gabrielle Sey describes her sound ?like a round trip
from London to Accra with a stop-off at a Cali Sunday Service?.
Richly rhythmic, lyrically lead and soulfully infused, Sey draws from her Ghanaian heritage
to craft a distinctive sound true to her roots but also embodies the influences of her Black
British upbringing. Sey?s artistry is incomplete without her signature performative flair; a
characteristic of her music that can only be appreciated at her live shows. These shows
have taken place at renowned venues and events including:, The Roundhouse, BST Hyde
Park, Black Deer Festival, Tedx Soho, Tedx Brighton, The Green Note and Earth Hackney.
She has gained praise and recognition from the likes of BBC Radio 6 Music, BBC
Introducing, Worldwide FM, Fresh on the Net, Exile fm, Gal-Dem and AFROPUNK
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What fans are saying
Ellie
November 27th 2023
Phenomenal! Very intimate gig with the man himself.
Warm up act Amelia Coburn is amazing!
Sunderland, United Kingdom@The Peacock
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Tom Robinson Biography
Tom Robinson (b. 1st June 1950) is an English musician.
Born in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, Robinson was the founding member of the Tom Robinson Band, an overtly political band with several hits in the 1970s, such as "2-4-6-8 Motorway" and "Power in the Darkness". Robinson's other best known song is "Glad to be Gay", and he was an outspoken hero of the gay movement in the 1970s.
In the 1980s he fronted Sector 27, another highly political rock band, which released one album and left Robinson virtually bankrupt. He fled to Hamburg to escape his creditors, where he wrote his 1983 hit "War Baby" and released his first solo album North by Northwest. His return to the U.K. led to late-night performances at the Edinburgh Fringe, some of which later surfaced on the live album Midnight at the Fringe.
In 1985 he found a new career as a D.J. for a variety of radio stations, including BBC Radio 1 (standing in for Janice Long), BBC Radio 4 (The Locker Room from 1992-1995), and the BBC World Service.
He has become an advocate for a wider sexuality than his earlier potrayal as only a homosexual campaigner allowed - marrying a woman and starting a family. Robinson maintains that he suffered abuse from Homosexual Activists as a result.
Robinson rarely performs nowadays, save for two annual parties for his fan-base "The Castaway Club", which take place in South London and Belgium in January every year. In the Belgian Castaway concerts, he introduces many songs in Flemish. The Castaway Parties invariably feature a wide variety of established and unknown artists and groups such as Paleday and T.V. Smith.
Read MoreBorn in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, Robinson was the founding member of the Tom Robinson Band, an overtly political band with several hits in the 1970s, such as "2-4-6-8 Motorway" and "Power in the Darkness". Robinson's other best known song is "Glad to be Gay", and he was an outspoken hero of the gay movement in the 1970s.
In the 1980s he fronted Sector 27, another highly political rock band, which released one album and left Robinson virtually bankrupt. He fled to Hamburg to escape his creditors, where he wrote his 1983 hit "War Baby" and released his first solo album North by Northwest. His return to the U.K. led to late-night performances at the Edinburgh Fringe, some of which later surfaced on the live album Midnight at the Fringe.
In 1985 he found a new career as a D.J. for a variety of radio stations, including BBC Radio 1 (standing in for Janice Long), BBC Radio 4 (The Locker Room from 1992-1995), and the BBC World Service.
He has become an advocate for a wider sexuality than his earlier potrayal as only a homosexual campaigner allowed - marrying a woman and starting a family. Robinson maintains that he suffered abuse from Homosexual Activists as a result.
Robinson rarely performs nowadays, save for two annual parties for his fan-base "The Castaway Club", which take place in South London and Belgium in January every year. In the Belgian Castaway concerts, he introduces many songs in Flemish. The Castaway Parties invariably feature a wide variety of established and unknown artists and groups such as Paleday and T.V. Smith.
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