Roger Love

Roger Hatcher's biggest claim to fame is being a cousin to Edwin Starr (aka Charles Hatcher). Unfortunately, Hatcher's success hasn't come close to Edwin's. A prolific songwriter, Roger has written more than 1,000 songs. His two biggest successes were an album cut by the Dramatics of his "I Dedicate My Life to You," and Clarence Carter's rendition of "I Got Caught," a deep soul classic. Clarence added a rap and scored on the R&B charts with the Hatcher song. Roger Hatcher was born in Birmingham, AL, in 1946. His two older brothers, Will and Roosevelt, inspired him musically – Will played sax and Roosevelt sang. Hatcher wrote his first song, "I Need Someone," at Hayes High in Birmingham, where he would develop tunes on the piano in the music room. Hatcher had no formal training and played by ear.

The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast is a concept album and subsequent live rock opera appearing in 1974 and 1975 respectively, based on the children's book of the same title (The album cover design is from Alan Aldridge's design for the book).
It was originally conceived as a solo vehicle for Jon Lord and to be produced by Roger Glover who had recently left Deep Purple, but Lord proved too busy with Deep Purple and Glover took up the reins on his own. Using his connections, Glover recruited a large cast of noted rock musicians to perform on it, with a different vocalist for each track including David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes…

Of all the multitudinous highways and byways down which the enterprising Deep Purple collector can travel, none, perhaps, is so surprising as The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast, Purple bassist Roger Glover's first "solo" album, and – almost incidentally – one of the most delightful children's records ever made. Yes, a children's record. In 1973, Glover was approached about creating a musical adaptation of artist Alan Aldridge and poet William Plomer's book of the same name – a commission that surprised him, but which he nevertheless accepted…

A true sleeper in the context of California pop. As a songwriter, Roger Nichols wrote with such luminaries as Paul Williams and Tony Asher (fresh from his collaboration with Brian Wilson on Pet Sounds, who co-wrote several of the selections here). The album is a lot of things at once. Soft pop, a smattering of rock, and a heavy dose of easy listening…

This box set is quite nice. First you get the main album. Next up is a disc that is split between alternate mixes and demos in the first half and a radio show Glover did promoting the album for the second half of the disc. The third disc is a reissue of a three song EP of tunes from the album.
Of all the multitudinous highways and byways down which the enterprising Deep Purple collector can travel, none, perhaps, is so surprising as The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast, Purple bassist Roger Glover's first "solo" album, and - almost incidentally - one of the most delightful children's records ever made. Yes, a children's record. In 1973, Glover was approached about creating a musical adaptation of artist Alan Aldridge and poet William Plomer's book of the same name - a commission that surprised him, but which he nevertheless accepted…

' Roger Troutman's vocoder/funk seemed a bit thin by the early '90s. While many of his classic vamps with ZAPP had been sampled by numerous rappers, Troutman hadn't found a new gimmick. He occasionally generated an interesting riff or lick, but mostly this album demonstrated that Roger's best days were behind him, at least as a hit act.' Ron.Wynn@allmusic.com

As Long as I Have You was a long time coming for Roger Daltrey. Set aside the fact that it's his first solo album since 1992's Rocks in the Head: the album was nearly four years in the making, started after his 2014 Wilko Johnson collaboration, Going Back Home, and not released until June of 2018. During that time, Daltrey battled viral meningitis, a struggle that had him on the verge of ditching the record, but his old Who cohort Pete Townshend heard some rough mixes and encouraged the singer to finish, volunteering his services as a session musician…