Robin Lane

Inspired by L.A.'s folk-rock scene during the '60s, Robin Lane worked with Crazy Horse and sang backup vocals for Neil Young, but re-emerged in the early '80s as a new wave bandleader. Another comeback in the '90s featured a more stripped-back, folky sound reminiscent of Young himself. Lane, born and raised in Los Angeles, was the daughter of a songwriter and an actress. She began performing in clubs around L.A. while still in her teens, and a hook-up with Crazy Horse led to her appearance on Neil Young's Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere album in 1969. During the '70s, she worked on her songwriting while living in Pennsylvania and later Massachusetts. By the end of the decade, she formed the Chartbusters with Leroy Radcliffe and Asa Brebner (formerly of the Modern Lovers) and signed with Warner Brothers. Her self-titled debut album featured the single "When Things Go Wrong," which scraped the national charts in July 1980. It was her only charting single, and Warner dropped her after the following year's Imitation Life. She released one additional album, Heart Connection for Recon in 1984, and then semi-retired. During the late '80s and into the '90s, Lane contributed songs to Susannah Hoffs among others, and supported Warren Zevon, Taj Mahal and John Hiatt in concert. She returned in 1994 with Catbird Seat, recorded for the Ocean label by her husband, Ducky Carlisle. ~ John Bush