Cock Robin (band)

History

The band took its name from a 17th-century story titled 'The Marriage of Cock Robin and Jenny Wren'. Formed in San Francisco, California, they signed to CBS Records. Their self-titled debut album, produced by Steve Hillage, was released in 1985. While it had limited impact in the United States, it became an overnight success in Europe, topping charts in several countries including Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands. The singles 'When Your Heart Is Weak', 'The Promise You Made' and 'Thought You Were on My Side' were hits, with the latter two reaching number 1 and number 4 respectively in Flanders, Belgium. 'When Your Heart Is Weak' was the band's only U.S. chart single, peaking at number 35 in late summer 1985, and also became a radio favorite in South Africa in early 1986.

By mid-1987, the band had reduced from its original quartet to the duo of Peter Kingsbery and Anna LaCazio. Their second album, 'After Here Through Midland', was produced by Don Gehman, who had worked with John Mellencamp. It reached the Top 5 in continental Europe and yielded hits with 'Just Around the Corner', 'The Biggest Fool of All' and 'El Norte'. In 1989, the band released a third album, 'First Love/Last Rites', produced by Rhett Davies of Roxy Music. It performed well in mainland Europe, especially in France, but did not succeed in the USA.

On 30 April 1990, while on tour, the band recorded their only live VHS video at the Grand Rex theatre in Paris, France, titled 'Cock Robin Live in Concert' (also known as 'Live au Grand Rex'), a 14-track 66-minute video that included an interview with Kingsbery and LaCazio. Shortly after the European tour, Kingsbery and LaCazio split. Kingsbery released solo projects in France, including a hit single 'Only the Very Best' (a Top 10 hit in France and Belgium in 1993) recorded for the Starmania musical album. Anna LaCazio recorded a solo album, 'Eat Life', around 1992–93, which was officially released for download in 2009.