Robotman and Friends

Straight From The Heart

In 1984, Peter Shelley recorded an album (apparently released in 1985) called "Robotman and Friends, Straight From The Heart".  This album was the soundtrack to an animated cartoon.  The soundtrack included keyboard work by John Woloschuk.  It was also co-produced by John Woloschuk.  One of the songs, though, goes back to 1977. It appears that Mr. Shelly was working on this concept for a while.

In 1985, United Feature Syndicate asked Jim Meddick to create a comic strip based around the Robotman character.  The visual appearance of Robotman was about all that Meddick kept from the original Robotman. Over the years, the strip went through some changes. Eventually it was renamed "Robotman and Monty".  Later, Robotman was phased out and the strip was again renamed, this time to just "Monty".

Of interest to Klaatu fans is the soundtrack album to that animated cartoon because of John Woloschuk's involvement.

Here are some scans from this very rare release.

(click images to see a larger version)

LP front cover	LP back cover
Labels from A and B side of LP as well as a label from a test pressing (both sides of test pressing have the same label).
Lyric Sheet for side one of the album	Lyric Sheet for side two of the album
Straight From The Heart Robotman and Friends
Side 1 1: I Wanna Be Your Robotman 2: Straight From The Heart 3: Robots' Parade/Instrumental 4: Roberon 5: False Love	Side 2 1: Hi Tech Heart Touch 2: Hey! Stellar 3: We'll Be There 4: Oops! 5: We Are The Robots
All songs © Chordal Songs Executive Producer, Peter Shelley Co-Producer, John Woloschuk All Songs written by Peter Shelley Cover Painting by Hugh Syme Art Direction by Heather Brown and Peter Shelley Design by Heather Brown featuring : Robot Robotman & Friends © 1984-UFS INC. Chordal Records and Tapes Reg'd CIL00001	Album Concept and Originator of Robotman, Peter Shelley © Chordal Songs. Chordal Songs is a Division of Chordal Investments, Ltd. (P) © Chordal Records and Tapes. A Division of Chordal Investments, Ltd. 4 Don Ridge Drive, Toronto, Ontario  M2P 1H4 Manufactured by Chordal Records and Tapes.  Distributed in Canada by Capitol Records - EMI of Canada Limited

  In addition to the LP, there was also a single released.  Here are some scans from the single.

Picture Sleeve Front	Picture Sleeve Back
Side A label (note that it says "side 1")	Side B label (note that it says "side 1")
		Robotman and Friends a: I Wanna Be Your Robotman b: Hi-Tech Heart Touch Label / Catalog # : Columbia DB 9126 Year: 1985 John Woloschuk co-produced this recording. John Woloschuk plays keyboards on this recording. Newly discovered in November of 2009 by David Bradley, this is a UK pressing of the Robotman single on the Columbia label. Columbia 45 RPM Chordal Songs - a division of Chordal Investments Ltd. (P)1985 Chordal Investments Ltd. under exclusive license to EMI Records Ltd. Executive Producer Peter Shelley Co-Producer John Woloschuk All Rights Of The Producer and Of The Owner Of The Recorded Work Reserved Unauthorised Copying, Hiring, Renting, Public Performance and Broadcasting of This Record Prohibited. Manufactured in the UK by EMI Records Limited DB 9126A I Wanna Be Your Robotman - (Peter Shelley) - Robotman and Friends Runoff groove - Penthouse - DB 9126 A-1-1-1-4 (the 4 is more like a tree shaped symbol) DB 9126B Hi Tech Heart Touch - (Peter Shelley) - Robotman and Friends Runoff groove - Penthouse - DB 9126 B-1-1-1-4 (the 4 is more like a tree shaped symbol)

Here's the album artwork without the credits, taken from the back of the single picture sleeve.

Some interesting notes:
The "Robotman and Friends "album was the first LP release on Chordal Records [CIL00001] (and the only Chordal LP release I've been able to locate).
The "Robotman and Friends" single was the first single release on Chordal Records [CIL 45001] (and the only Chordal single release I've been able to locate).
The single says that "I Wanna Be Your Robotman" is © 1977 Chordal Songs, but (P) 1985 Chordal Records and Tapes.
"I Wanna Be Your Robotman" is listed as "Side 1" on the single, with a matrix number of 45001-A. (The UK single on Columbia uses matrix number DB 9126A.)
"Hi Tech Heart Touch" is listed as "Side 1" on the single also, but has a matrix number of 45001-B. (The UK single on Columbia uses matrix number DB 9126B.)




Album Test Pressing artwork courtesy of John Woloschuk.
Single artwork courtesy of Liz Racz.
UK single artwork courtesy of Dave Bradley.