Career
Roker first worked as a song-plugger. His first taste of chart success was provided by the theme music to children's TV programme The Adventures of Rupert Bear. The song "Rupert", co-written with Len Beadle and recorded by Beadle's wife Jackie Lee, made the UK Singles Chart in 1971. Further success was attained when Roker met up with Lynsey Rubin (who was about to change her name to Lynsey de Paul). Together they penned "Storm in a Teacup" for The Fortunes, which landed them a Top Ten hit single, and also De Paul's third single, "All Night", which just missed the chart.
He also wrote the theme for Inigo Pipkin (later renamed Pipkins).
Roker also began writing with De Paul's partner Barry Blue, (with whom he is often confused) notably on the song, "Do You Wanna Dance", a Top Ten hit at the end of 1973, as well as some album tracks.
Moving from pop to a more soulful/dance vein, he was behind the Tina Charles hits "Love Bug" and "Dance Little Lady Dance". His profile in the US benefited from Dionne Warwick recording one of his songs, "Do You Believe in Love at First Sight", and this became the theme song of the film of the same name, starring Dan Aykroyd. "Up in a Puff of Smoke", also written by Roker and recorded by Polly Brown (aka Polly Browne, formerly of Pickettywitch), was a Top 20 hit in America in the 1970s. Together with Gerry Shury, he wrote "Guilty", which was recorded both by The Pearls and First Choice and was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
One song he did not write was Sweet Dreams' cover version of the ABBA song "Honey, Honey", although Roker actually sang the male vocal on that record, in a duet with Polly Brown. He also co-wrote and co-produced "Stone Cold Love Affair", a 1975 single by The Real Thing.
In 1983, Roker resurfaced with Jan Pulsford and Phil Wigger as the songwriters of the UK's Eurovision Song Contest entry, "I'm Never Giving it Up". It was recorded by another band called Sweet Dreams, which came in sixth in the song contest. That year his protégé group, Two Way (featuring actor Anthony Head), released a single "Face in the Window", penned by the same writers.
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