Mick Roberts obit

'One of a kind' singer of Leeds band The Bridewell Taxis dies as family pays loving tribute

 He was not on the list.

The “one of a kind” singer of a Leeds indie band that built a significant local following in the 1980s and 1990s has died.

Michael ‘Mick’ Roberts died peacefully in his sleep aged 57 on Wednesday (March 25), his family has confirmed.

Mr Roberts was the frontman for the group The Bridewell Taxis, who formed as Morality Play in 1987 and were active until 1993 before reforming briefly in 2005.

His sister Lee Middleton said that he was “such an amazing, wonderful brother and a fantastic artist”, adding: “Devastated doesn’t even begin to describe how we feel as a family.”

Mr Roberts was born in Cross Gates and had three sisters and leaves behind a son.

Mrs Middleton said that the family grew up in a musical household, with The Beatles, Abba and Michael Jackson playing often.

She said: “He did a mean moonwalk, did Mick. He was actually a good dancer. But that was only for us at home.

“It was a very noisy and happy household.”

Mr Roberts joined Morality Play in 1987 and began writing lyrics for the band, who later changed their name to Bridewell Taxis, a local nickname for police vans.

The group went on to make indie dance music in line with the ‘Madchester’ sound of the time coming from the likes of The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays.

Mrs Middleton said: “I think they were going to get signed at one point. They had a few meetings.

“They all got on really well. They were just typical lads.”

Mrs Middleton said that they developed a strong local following among the Leeds United football firm at the time known as ‘The Service Crew’.

She said: “I think I snuck into one concert and got right to the front and was dead chuffed with myself but he saw me and stopped singing and went ‘move her’.

“The whole band liked football and Leeds United but Michael was never in to it really. He more liked writing and drawing. But Leeds United fans liked Michael.

“It usually goes on Facebook whenever they play their songs at Elland Road.”

She said that Mr Robert’s hearing began to suffer into the 1990s and the band had to disband as a result. They reformed in 2005 and received a huge local response but could not continue playing due to his struggles with hearing.

Mrs Middleton said: “He was 90 per cent deaf when they played those gigs. I asked him ‘how did you sing?’ and he said because he could feel the music through his feet.

“It’s such a shame because that was his life. He just loved singing.

“He kept trying. We did a few good karaoke's.

“But he enjoyed everything he did. He would say ‘I have nothing to go back for’.”

She said that in his later years Mr Roberts wrote “thousands and thousands” of songs in the hope that others would be able to sing them. She said: “I’ve been in his flat and there’s just books and books of notes and songs and drawings.

“He was such a fantastic artist.”

Mrs Middelton added that he was “very family orientated”, adding: “He was strangely very quiet but also a wildcard. He was such a lovely person.”

She said that social media has “exploded” with tributes to Mr Roberts which was “warming to think how much people did think about him”.

A tribute was shared online by fellow band member Chris Walton, who said: “Mick was an absolute one-off in so many ways and if you were a mate you were a mate for life.

“He had so many friends up and down the country and always had time for everyone.

“We had some mad times on tour, some great, some not so great and some absolutely mental ones.”

He added: “Mick’s song-writing and lyrics are some of the best I've ever come across. I can see him now huddled in the corner scribbling away with his pen and paper while we got the music together.

“It all happened a long time ago now but the memories are something that can never be taken away and never die.”