Bruce Roberts

I first encountered this singer-songwriter through ‘I Don't Wanna Go,’ which the black vocal group the Moments took into the R&B charts in 1977. A perfect match for the Moments' moody world, it seems to me one of the finest songs among the many sweet-soul records. The songwriter's own version is on this debut album.

Its sound has earned it a place among AOR classics, but its greatest attraction is surely Bruce Roberts's gentle melody writing. Many songs are co-written with Carole Bayer Sager, known for her partnership with Burt Bacharach. The sentimental ballads ‘I Don't Wanna Go,’ ‘Starmaker’ and ‘I'm Comin' Home Again’ are especially outstanding, as is ‘I Don't Break Easily,’ recorded by Roberts alone. It is easy to understand why Barbra Streisand, Paul Anka and Engelbert Humperdinck subsequently covered songs from this record.