In The 1970s Tom Robinson

Tom Robinson was born in the UK back in 1950 and in the 1970s made a big name for himself as a protester in song. Tom knew he was gay from about thirteen years of age and  led him to a nervous breakdown later in his teen years.

In 1973 he moved to London  and became a member of a group called Cafe Society and had an unsuccessful recording session with Ray Kinks. When that failed Tom became a well known member of the London gay scene in 1976. It was at this time he formed his group the Tom Robinson Band which also included Danny Kustow who would later join Jam.

Other members included Brian Taylor who appeared on New Faces in 1976 with a group that included Annie Lennox.  Two other members of Tom Robinson Band were Mark Ambler and Stan Tracey.

 In 1978they had an EP in the charts which had on it the song Glad To Be Gay and dates back to 1976 when Tom wrote the song for that years Gay Pride. The song was banned by the BBC and is now considered a gay anthem. The other track on the EP was Don't Take No For An Answer which received most of the air play.

Here is Tom in a 1978 interview

The last single for the group was a smaller hit only getting to No. 33 with Up Against The Wall.

Years later Tom is now married.