Bobby Caldwell was likely destined to be an entertainer. The son of Bob and R.H. Caldwell, longtime singers and dancers who were also the hosts of an early TV variety show, Suppertime, he was raised in a world surrounded by great entertainers and classic music. Exposed by his parents to opera, jazz, swing, blues, folk and other popular forms of music, he developed an early appreciation for the different architectures of various types of music -- an appreciation that would later help him to move from soul to adult contemporary to smooth jazz to big band sounds during his career.
Bobby Caldwell was likely destined to be an entertainer. The son of Bob and R.H. Caldwell, longtime singers and dancers who were also the hosts of an early TV variety show, Suppertime, he was raised in a world surrounded by great entertainers and classic music. Exposed by his parents to opera, jazz, swing, blues, folk and other popular forms of music, he developed an early appreciation for the different architectures of various types of music -- an appreciation that would later help him to move from soul to adult contemporary to smooth jazz to big band sounds during his career.
Leaving home at age 17 with his band, Bobby went first to Las Vegas and then to Los Angeles before returning to Miami to record his 1979 eponymous debut album. It became an instant smash on the strength of "What You Won't Do For Love," a spellbinding mid-tempo number that would became one of the most recorded songs of the next two decades (with hit remakes by Peabo Bryson and Natalie Cole, Go West and Phyllis Hyman, among others). Ironically, that track almost didn't make the album. The LP was completed without the song, but TK Records head Henry Stone sent Caldwell back into the studio because he "didn't see a hit" on the album. Caldwell went back and quickly penned "What You Won't Do For Love," which ironically became his signature song. Overall, the album Bobby Caldwell was a solid debut that featured a few top notch ballads ("My Flame" and "Come To Me") along with listenable, if unspectacular, light disco tunes... Read full biography
Back in 1991, Bobby recorded a concert in Tokyo, Japan, where he performed some of his biggest pop, soul and jazz hits. It's a rare video treat. Check it out below.