1980 Steve Forbert – Romeo’s Tune

This entry is now included in Lost or Forgotten Oldies Volume 3

https://www.amazon.com/Rembert-N-Parker/e/B071Z4GXNT/

Steve Forbert was born in Mississippi and moved to New York City in 1976 to pursue a career playing guitar and harmonica and writing songs. He drifted from Greenwich Village, where he played mostly folk music.

He signed with Nemperor Records and released his first album in 1978.

Jackrabbit Slim, his second album, contained Romeo’s Tune, his most successful single. He wrote the song about a girl from his hometown. The album cover dedicated the song to Florence Ballard of the Supremes, who had died in 1976. The single peaked at #11 in early 1980. Bobby Ogdin, the piano player on the song, had previously worked for Elvis.

The album cover dedicated the song to Florence Ballard of the Supremes, who had died in 1976. The single peaked at #11 in early 1980. Bobby Ogdin, the piano player on the song, had previously worked for Elvis.

Say Goodbye To Little Jo, the second single from his album, was the only record that peaked at #85 in 1980. Steve never charted on the Hot 100 again.

Steve appeared in Cyndi Lauper’s video for Girls Just Want To Have Fun in 1983. He played her boyfriend. I assume that was him carrying the flowers around in the house.

Steve’s 2003 album, Any Old Time, was a tribute to the music of Jimmie Rodgers, who was from the same town in Mississippi as Steve. The album received a Grammy nomination for the Best Traditional Folk Album (the award that year went to John Carter Cash, June Carter Cash, and Chuck Turner for Wildwood Flower).

Songs steve has written have been recorded by several Country Artists, including Rosanne Cash, Marty Stewart, and Keith Urban. Twenty-one artists contributed covers of his songs to the 2017 tribute album, An American Troubadour: The Songs of Steve Forbert.

Steve has recorded twenty studio albums, including Early Morning Rain, which he released in 2020.

He recently recorded a cover of Goodtime Charlie’s Got The Blues since, as he explained it, “The lonesome lyrics seem to sync right up with the self-quarantine, Coronavirus strangeness of daily life.”