Cock Robin is an American

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

band, mostly popular in the 1980s, particularly in continental Europe, where it achieved major success, notably with the single "

The Promise You Made "The Promise You Made" is a song by American pop rock band Cock Robin. Written by Peter Kingsbery, the song appeared on the group's self-titled debut album. It was released as a single first in the US in November 1985, then in early 1986 in E ...

". The band was founded by singer-songwriter Peter Kingsbery in 1982, disbanded in 1990, and reformed in 2006. Their most successful singles from the period also include " When Your Heart Is Weak", " Just Around the Corner", "Thought You Were on My Side", "Every Moment" and "El Norte".

History

1985–1990: European success

Named after a 17th-century story titled "The Marriage of Cock Robin and Jenny Wren", the band formed in San Francisco, California and was signed to CBS Records. Cock Robin's eponymous debut album was produced by

Steve Hillage Stephen Simpson Hillage (born 2 August 1951) is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s. Besides his solo sound recording and reprodu ...

. Released in 1985, it had a limited impact in their native country, as with the majority of their output, but was an overnight success in Europe, especially in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

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Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

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and the

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, where the singles "When Your Heart Is Weak", "

" and " Thought You Were on My Side" became big hits (with for example the latter two singles peaking at number 1 and number 4 respectively in Flanders, Belgium), and the album itself a chart-topper. "When Your Heart Is Weak" was the band's only chart single in the U.S., where it reached No. 35 in the late summer of 1985. It also became a radio favorite in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in early 1986. In mid-1987, the band, reduced from the original quartet to the duo of Peter Kingsbery and Anna LaCazio, released a second album, '' After Here Through Midland'', produced by Don Gehman, who had previously worked with

John Mellencamp John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumentation ...

, among others. As with their debut, Cock Robin's second album attracted much attention in continental Europe, where it reached the Top 5 and also scored hits with the singles " Just Around the Corner" (again a European Top 20 hit, from

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

to Italy), "The Biggest Fool of All" and "El Norte". Two years later, in 1989, the band released their third, and, to many critics, most accomplished album, '' First Love/Last Rites'', with

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veteran Rhett Davies in the role of producer. As with their previous releases, the LP fared well in mainland Europe (especially in France), but, due to poor management and promotion, failed to make an impact in the USA. On 30 April 1990 while on tour, the band recorded their only and rare live VHS video at the Grand Rex theatre in Paris, France, titled 'Cock Robin Live in Concert' also known as 'Live au Grand Rex'. The 14-track 66-minute video is intertwined between the tracks with a Kingsbery and LaCazio interview. Shortly after the European Tour Kingsbery and LaCazio split, with Kingsbery releasing a string of solo projects (three albums in English, one in French) in France, most notably a hit single "Only the Very Best" (English version of a Daniel Balavoine song and a Top 10 hit in France and Belgium in 1993) recorded for the

Michel Berger Michel Jean Hamburger (28 November 1947 – 2 August 1992), known professionally as Michel Berger, was a French singer and songwriter. He was a figure of France's pop music scene for two decades as a singer. As a songwriter he wrote for artists ...

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concept musical album '' Starmania'', with English lyrics by

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in 1992. Anna LaCazio recorded her own solo album (''Eat Life'') circa 1992–93, but it was only officially released in its entirety for download in 2009.

Recent years

On 20 June 2012, Peter Kingsbery announced in his blog on the official Cock Robin website Cockrobinmusic.com that "there will be a new tour next Summer 2013 with a new album". Another Cock Robin remix by Umpff, "Extraordinary Thing", appeared on ''Mixtape'' from Mabel the Label in October 2012. The November 2015 issue of the French magazine ''Topo'' reported that Anna LaCazio had left Cock Robin in May 2015. Kingsbery had relocated to France and LaCazio preferred to remain in the United States and be close to her family. Peter Kingsbery announced that Coralie Vuillemin had been chosen as the new female voice in the group. The band released their sixth studio album, ''Chinese Driver'', on 11 March 2016. A 5-track EP was released as download only in April 2017. The first track ("Roman Holiday he Making Of) is an original song, whereas the second one ("Just Before It Begins") is an original instrumental track. The last three tracks, however ("The Long Last Second", "Thought You Were on My Side" and "White Folks"), are reprises of Peter Kingsbery's solo albums or of Cock Robin songs, with new arrangements and vocals by Peter Kingsbery and Coralie Vuillemin. With the current line-up, Cock Robin has performed in France, Portugal, Iceland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Luxembourg and Denmark. On 17 September 2021 the band released a seventh studio album, ''Homo Alien''. In September 2022 it was announced on their Facebook account "COCK ROBIN The Band" that they have had to withdraw from their planned 2023 tour but still hoped to release their new album of original material called ''Part of Your Tribe'' in conjunction with an autobiographical lyric book of the same name at some point during the year. Cock Robin have no current plans for future tour dates in 2024 or beyond.

Band members

* Peter Kingsbery: lead vocals, keyboards, bass, guitar * Coralie Vuillemin: lead vocals, keyboards, percussion * Didier Strub: Drums, backing vocals

Ex-members

* Anna LaCazio: lead vocals, keyboards, percussion (1982–1990, 2006–2015) * Clive Wright: guitars (1982–1988) * Lou Molino III: drums, percussion, backing vocals (1982–1987)

Other members

* Stéphane Bonacci : guitars * Pat Mastelotto: drums, percussion *

Tris Imboden Gregory Tristan "Tris" Imboden (born July 27, 1951) is an American rock and jazz drummer. As a performer, he has been in studio sessions and on tour with some of the most notable and highest-selling musicians of all time. He was the drummer fo ...

: drums * Hervé Koster: drums * Corky James: guitars * John Pierce: bass * Lise Anderson: keyboards, backing vocals

Discography

*'' Cock Robin'' (1985) *'' After Here Through Midland'' (1987) *'' First Love/Last Rites'' (1989) *'' I Don't Want to Save the World'' (2006) *''Songs from a Bell Tower'' (2010) *''Chinese Driver'' (2016) *''Homo Alien'' (2021)

References

External links

* * https://www.muzivox.com/cock-robin * Official f
International forum dedicated to Cock Robin
{{Authority control Cock Robin (band), 1982 establishments in California American new wave musical groups American pop rock music groups Musical groups established in 1982 Musical groups disestablished in 1990 Musical groups reestablished in 2006 Musical groups from San Francisco