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Robin Lane (born 1947) is an American rock singer and songwriter. Her band,Robin Lane & the Chartbusters, released three albums onWarner Bros. Records in the early 1980s, and was best known for its single "When Things Go Wrong".
BornLos Angeles, California, Robin Lane grew up in Los Angeles. Her father wasKen Lane, songwriter and pianist forDean Martin; her mother was a model. While in her teens, Robin began singing and performing infolk-rock clubs in southern California. From 1968 to 1970 she was married to futurePolice lead guitaristAndy Summers.[citation needed] In 1969, she sang backing vocals on the song "Round & Round" onNeil Young's albumEverybody Knows This Is Nowhere. In the 1970s, Lane moved to eastern Pennsylvania and then toCambridge, Massachusetts, where her musical interests turned from folk-rock to a harder sound influenced by the growingpunk rock andnew wave genres.[1]
In 1978, Lane formed the Chartbusters with Asa Brebner and Leroy Radcliffe (ofThe Modern Lovers), Scott Baerenwald and Tim Jackson. She had signed withPrivate Stock Records, which shortly afterward went out of business. AfterJerry Wexler saw a Chartbusters show, however, he signed the band toWarner Brothers. Their first album,Robin Lane & the Chartbusters (1980) featured the singles "When Things Go Wrong" and "Why Do You Tell Lies?", earned favorable reviews, and received widespread airplay. "When Things Go Wrong" (which made, if not exactlybusted, theBillboard singles chart at #87) was the eleventh video shown onMTV'sfirst broadcast day on August 1, 1981. The band had two more releases on Warner, the EP5 Live (1980) andImitation Life (1981). The limited commercial success of these records, combined with business disputes and Lane's desire to have a child, led to the breakup of the Chartbusters in 1983.
Lane continued writing and recording music, and released the independent EPHeart Connection (1984), the self-produced cassetteIn Concert (1989), and the full-lengthCatbird Seat (1995). She co-wrote the song "Wishing On Telstar" for the 1991Susanna Hoffs albumWhen You're a Boy.
In 2001, Lane and several of the Chartbusters regrouped for two reunion concerts, and decided to continue recording and performing; they releasedPiece of Mind in 2003. Since then, Lane has moved to western Massachusetts, where she works with theTurners Falls, Massachusetts Women's Resource Center, usingmusic therapy to aid survivors of abuse.
On 4 April 2014 Tim Jackson premiered his film of Robin Lane's life and career,When Things Go Wrong, followed by a Q & A and a set by Robin Lane & the Chartbusters, at the Regent Theatre inArlington, Massachusetts.
On March 2 and 3, 2019, band members staged another reunion concert at The Burren inSomerville, Massachusetts to support the release ofMany Years Ago: The Complete Robin Lane & the Chartbusters Collection (Blixa Sounds). That weekend's edition of the Chartbusters consisted of most of the original lineup: Lane on vocals and guitar, Asa Brebner on guitar, Scott Baerenwald on bass, drummer Tim Jackson, and guitarist Billy Loosigian (taking the place of original guitarist Leroy Radcliffe).
Many Years Ago is a three-disc set. Previously released material consists of the two studio LPs,Robin Lane & the Chartbusters (1980) andImitation Life (1981); and the EPs5 Live (1980) andHeart Connection (1984). In addition, the set contains outtakes from the recording sessions forHeart Connection, as well as a series of demos, previously unreleased studio tracks, and various live performances.[2]
Since then, Lane has released the doubleInstant Album (2020), which consists of solo material from her entire 40-year career, and the country-tingedDirt Road to Heaven, released on Red on Red Records, to much acclaim in June 2022.
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