Tom Robinson

Tom Robinson

Tom Robinson is a British singer-songwriter, bassist and radio presenter from Cambridge, United Kingdom. Born in 1950, he is known for work that moves between hard rock, new wave, pop rock, punk and folk rock.

Tom Robinson Band and early work

Robinson is the founding member of the Tom Robinson Band, a politically minded group that has several hits in the 1970s. Among its best-known songs are “2-4-6-8 Motorway” and “Power in the Darkness”. His own best-known song is “Glad to be Gay”, and he becomes an outspoken figure in the gay movement during the 1970s.

Sector 27 and solo career

In the 1980s Robinson fronts Sector 27, another political rock band that releases one album. The project leaves him virtually bankrupt. He later moves to Hamburg to escape his creditors, where he writes the 1983 hit “War Baby” and releases his first solo album, North by Northwest.

After returning to the UK, he gives late-night performances at the Edinburgh Fringe, and some of these later appear on the live album Midnight at the Fringe.

Broadcasting

From 1985 Robinson develops a career as a DJ and radio presenter. He works for several radio stations, including BBC Radio 1, where he stands in for Janice Long, BBC Radio 4 on The Locker Room from 1992 to 1995, and the BBC World Service.

Later life and performance

Robinson later presents himself as an advocate for a broader view of sexuality than his earlier public image as a gay campaigner. He marries a woman and starts a family. He rarely performs, but continues to appear at two annual fan events, called The Castaway Club, in South London and Belgium in January. At the Belgian concerts, he introduces many songs in Flemish, and the events feature a mix of established and lesser-known artists, including Paleday and T.V. Smith.