Roberta Kelly -

Roberta Kelly is an American soul and disco singer whose career developed through the Munich production circle of Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte. She released six albums between 1976 and 1981 and scored dance hits with “Trouble-Maker,” “Zodiacs,” and “Oh Happy Day.” As a sessionist, she backed Silver Convention, Donna Summer, and Thelma Houston.

Background

Roberta Kelly was born November 23, 1942, in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and grew up in Los Angeles, California, where she sang in a church choir. Kelly reached Europe with a touring production of Hair and settled in West Germany, where she performed for U.S. military personnel and joined the Munich session circuit.

In 1974, Kelly befriended fellow Munich-based American singer Donna Summer, who introduced Roberta to producers Pete Bellotte and Giorgio Moroder. Their liaison generated the 1974 Atlantic single “Kung Fu’s Back Again” (Pt 1 and II).

Producers Michael Kunze and Sylvester Levay hired Kelly for sessions Silver Convention, a studio trio comprised of singers Gitta Walther, Betsy Allen, and Lucy O’Neale. Kelly sang backup on their 1975 album Save Me, including the international hit “Fly, Robin, Fly.”

Kelly recorded a version of the Teddy Vann composition “Love Power,” which appeared as her August 1975 second single. Moroder and Bellotte reunited with Kelly at Musicland Studios in Munich in January 1976 for four additional songs that completed the material for her first album, Trouble Maker.

Discography: