Robbie Tart first emerged from Britain’s rock scene in 1989, when his short-lived hair metal group Heartbreak Angels released the double A-side Shoot Me Down/Desperado. Originally performing under the stage name Robbie Jay Dee, Tart had high hopes for his band as they began to attract the attention of metal magazines, but just as they were on the brink of success it all fell apart overnight.
Disillusioned by his experiences, Tart decided to focus on various projects behind the scenes, before returning to the stage for a short time as a member of the punk outfit The Vibrators. More recently, he has been working with his new group The DeRellas, as well as recording material as a solo artist.
Robbie Tart looks back on over two decades of surviving in the music industry.
Where did you grow up and how did this environment shape your introduction to music?
After moving around a lot, my family settled in St Albans in Hertfordshire… it wasn’t my favourite place, though I had a couple of close friends there. I spent a lot of time on my own so I guess music was my best friend. Every Sunday (weather permitting) I would sit on the roof of the house with my little transistor radio, listening to the top 20!
What were the first albums you bought and did you fantasise from a young age about being in a rock band?
As a kid I couldn’t afford albums so singles were my thing. The first single I bought was Can the Can by Suzi Quatro. I loved that song… still do! The first album I owned was Double Platinum by KISS. Got that for me birthday!
Was there one specific moment, perhaps an album or TV broadcast, that turned you onto this kind of music and fuelled tour passion?
Seeing the Sweet on Top of the Pops. God, I was blown away. I couldn’t get enough; the Sweet, Gary Glitter, T.Rex. I knew I wanted to be in a band!
Growing up in the late 1970s, were you at all inspired by the punk scene of the New Wave of Heavy Metal? What kind of fashion were you into and which rock stars did you idolise during this time?
I loved Billy Idol and Tony James from Generation X. They really were very influential on me, as was Marc Bolan. I saw a lot of the NWOBHM bands. Girl were my favourite, got to see them a whole bunch of times, even the Wembley show with KISS. Me and my mate Neil used to try and look like Phil Lewis and Gerry Laffy. Qe were never that cool!
What part did glam rock play in your taste in music and what were you key influences when you started out as a musician?
’70s Glam played (and still does) a huge part of my life; Bolan, Bowie, Slade, etc. It was hard to find anyone that shared my passion. There was no internet, so I used to trawl through classifieds of music papers, such as Sounds.
Was your first band one that you formed or did you audition? How did this come together and do you remember the first time you went on stage to perform?
I was fourteen and there was this band at school that needed a drummer, so I told them I could play drums. I borrowed a kit from this guy down the road and managed to get through a rehearsal! We only did one show then split up. I did audition for a few bands as a guitarist but I was crap and never got a call back!
How would you describe the music scene during these early years? Did you build your reputation on the road or did you feel more comfortable in the studio?
The music scene in London was rockin’, so I moved to Doncaster to join the Heartbreak Angels! It was tough up there, us with our make-up and big hair. Then there was the rest of Doncaster who wanted to kill us! We were definitely a live band; studios were way to expensive back then, we worked very hard in the three years together.
What was the story behind Heartbreak Angels? Little is known about them as they were only on the scene for a short time; how did the band come together and what crowd were targeting?
In February 1988 I had this shitty job; I daydreamed every day of being in a kick-ass rock band. It was a lunch time and I was tucking into a pizza and reading Kerrang!, and there was this classified ad. I phoned up, auditioned, jacked in my job and moved!
I don’t know that we were targeting a particular crowd, more of a creating our own scene. We would tour with The Dogs D’amour and The Quireboys, maybe that was the crowd we wanted. To be honest, I was just happy getting forty quid a week and playing all these shows and meeting some truly wonderful people!
How long were you touring for before you signed with MTI Records and what kind of restrictions or demands did your contract come with?
MTI Records was set up as a subsidiary of FM Revolver… man, did we get fucked! We had to finance the first two thousand singles, which we did. The week the single was released it charted. Being FM Revolver’s fastest-selling single ever, the first pressing had sold out. FM Revolver refused to finance a second pressing and we didn’t get any money from the sales of the first pressing. Our then-manager did a runner with the master tapes! The band was left to rot. I guess this was the start of the end… fuckers!
Your band incorporated the image of what has since become known as “hair metal,” which the back combed bleached hair and make-up. Why do you think bands like Poison and Cinderella were so flamboyant and effeminate, particularly when the majority of their audience were young men?
It was a rock star thang!
It wasn’t just the bands that were dressing up, the fans were as well. It was great; you could look like a star and be on the dole (Rocky quote). A lot of the bands were shit but looked great. Every record company wanted their own Mötley Crüe or Poison.
How do you feel about the way that Penelope Spheeris portrayed hair metal in her 1988 documentary The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, insinuating that all those bands were dumb and talentless?
I thought it was funny. Some of the bands were dumb and talentless, but they got their fifteen minutes!
There seemed to be elements of both Michael Monroe and Stiv Bators in your image and style of singing; were either of these a major influence on you?
Well, two of my favourite bands are Hanoi Rocks and the Dead Boys, so I guess you could say there was a slight influence!
The track Desperado had an almost country feel to the acoustic guitar, what other genres aside from rock were you influenced by?
Punk and ’70s glam, baby!
How did magazines like Kerrang!, Raw and Metal Forces play a part in helping to publicise the band and were there any well known acts that you opened for?
Raw absolutely loved us and they would print anything. Metal Forces absolutely hated us, not sure why. I was called the ugliest man in rock n’ roll in that mag… maybe they had a point! Kerrang! quite liked us but I reckon it was because of the ads we we put in!
Why did you decide to perform under the alias Robbie Jay Dee and where did your bandmates get their stage names from (Scratch ‘n’ Sniff and Heathy Blues Baby)?
Well, I can only really speak for myself… the Jay Dee is the spelling of the initials of my real name, and also a well known beverage! Heathy always called himself the Blues Baby and Scratch n’ Sniff came about from a rock night they were running, I think!
How long was the band together for and how much material did you release? What caused you to split and do you feel that Heartbreak Angels had reached their full potential by that point?
We were together for around three years, and in that time we wrote a shitload of songs but only got to record five of them, two being the single. The band never reached its full potential. I think it could have/should have been a whole lot more. We were very naïve and got ripped off a lot!
What projects did you move onto following the split and how did changes in music taste affect the kind of material you were producing?
After the Heartbreak Angels, I decided that I needed to know a bit more about the recording side of things and worked in various studios, gaining as much knowledge as I could. I even got to work, albeit in small capacity, on some Whitesnake tracks. I spent three days with George Martin (the Beatles), which was amazing!
Eventually, I opened a mastering and songwriting studio in Kilburn. I also spent a short period of time with a band called Q*Sling. Paul Ronney Angel was the singer and he went on to form the Urban Voodoo Machine.
What led to you involvement with The Vibrators and how were you first introduced to them? Having been around since the late 1970s, was this a band you were familiar with when you were younger?
I was remastering the first Fallen Angels album for release on CD for Raw Power Records, thats when I first met Knox. Then one day, out of the blue, I get this phone call from the record company, asking if I would play bass on a two-week UK tour. I jumped at the chance. I mean, playing with a legendary band like the Vibrators. I said yes, put down the phone and ran around the studio! My first show was in Chelmsford (can’t remember the place) and I was nervous. I hadn’t rehearsed with the band and I met the drummer, Eddie, for the first time on stage! I guess I did okay, as the two weeks turned into four years!
Why did you decide it was time to move on and where did you go from there?
It was a very tough decision. Knox and myself had become very good friends. The Vibrators had given me the chance to tour the world and I will be forever honoured to have been part of such a great rock n’ roll band. I had a lot of things that I wanted to do, which just wasn’t possible with the band being on tour all the time. So I made the decision to leave after the European tour in 2003. I still keep in touch and have worked with Knox a couple of times since.
How did MySpace and YouTube allow you to reconnect with your fans and unearth some of your long-forgotten material?
MySpace when it first started was amazing, it was like an instant press kit and anyone could do it. It didn’t take long to set up and before I knew it I had thousands of “friends,” and that was when the power of the internet really became apparent to me. No longer were bands reliant on record companies. You could do it all yourself; it was very liberating! YouTube was just as great, you could make budget videos and get them to an audience anywhere in the world… love it!
For the track Tired of Living With You you were joined by former Vixen bassist Share Pedersen, while the video was directed by her husband, Bam Bam from The Dogs D’Amour. How did this collaboration come about and in what ways were you inspired by their involvement?
Bam was already making music videos and doing stuff for MTV, and I really wanted to make a video. You’re the One That I Want with Beki Bondage was my original first choice, would have been so much fun, but conflicting schedules and cost meant a rethink. I called up Bam and we had a brainstorming session fuelled by Stella. Well, to be honest, Bam pretty much came up with everything. When it came to videos I didn’t really have a clue!
Both Bam and Share made the whole thing; so much fun. Share is a natural when it comes to being in front of a camera, she gave me loads of advice. I can’t say enough good things about the two of them, they have been truly fantastic friends to me over the years. They even filmed my marriage to Sherry.
When did The DeRellas come together and how did this differ to your earlier bands? How did you form and what music scene are you influenced by?
June 2006. I managed to get Tim’s (Sniff from the Heartbreak Angels) number from a mutual friend (we hadn’t spoken for ten years) and gave him a call. He was living in Brighton and invited me down for a few lagers! We originally discussed ideas about reforming the Heartbreak Angels but, realistically, it was never going to happen at that time.
I had some new songs written and we both sat down with a drum machine and thrashed the buggers out! It was rough but it was great, we got Tom in on drums and rehearsed as a three-piece. Eventually, we got Luca in on lead guitar, recorded an EP and did our first show opening for Hanoi Rocks, which was nice! As far as influences go, there are many… and we don’t hide it!
Do you feel that The DeRellas’ debut album Hollywood Monsters has captured the raw attitude that you have in your live performances and is this the introduction that you would want listeners to have to your music?
Hollywood Monsters was recorded on a very tight budget, but I think we did a good job. It is certainly raw! Live, we rock! We are still doing it and doing it better than ever!
Over twenty years later and you are still playing punk rock, would you say this music is you through and through?
Pretty much. I still have Glam Rock Fridays where only ’70s glam gets played in my house! I listen to the radio a lot, where I live there is a station called Hair Nation, which is always good for a listen!
Do you still have the energy onstage that you had in your early twenties and do you ever cover your older material?
I actually think I have more energy onstage now, it’s when I get offstage that I suffer! We don’t do any Heartbreak Angels songs… never really thought about it.
Is it likely that your Heartbreak Angels material will ever be remastered for CD? How much studio and live recordings do you have that could be released?
I think about this a lot. Unfortunately, the master tapes were stolen from us by our greedy manager. I do have plenty of recordings that I have transferred digitally, maybe one day!
Where will Robbie Tart go from here?
Lots of fingers in lots of pies; the DeRellas go on tour with the Fleshtones this winter and recording a new album with Pat Collier. I have a few side projects that I’m working on, as well as mastering and producing some trax for a well known ’80s hair band. I can’t say more than that for now!
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