Parents of Bobby Caldwell
by J. Malls
On March 14th, 2023 we lost Robert Hunter Caldwell, better known to the world as Bobby Caldwell, the "blue-eyed soul" singer/songwriter responsible for the mid-tempo, disco era hit "What You Won't Do for Love." Many fans, from Pittsburgh especially, will be surprised to learn that Caldwell's parents had a television career, here in Pittsburgh, in the 1950's.
In 2005 Caldwell shared "My parents had a television show in Pittsburgh that lasted between 1951 and 1953, and Johnny Costa was their musical director, and pianist, on a show called Suppertime. He was Uncle Johnny to me and his son was my best friend." Again in 2011, he adds "I was a show business baby. My folks had a television show in Pittsburgh, sponsored by a local brewery there called Fort Pitt Beer. It was a variety show and their pianist was none other than Johnny Costa, who later on the same television station, went on to be Mister Rogers' piano player for forty years ... So I was born during one of the weeks that they were doing the show. My mom took a leave of absence and you know, ever since then I've been ensconced in this show business thing. It was genetically unavoidable." Some of the details here are more accurate than others. Luckily Harold V. Cohen, a journalist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, mentioned Caldwell's parents frequently in his Drama Desk column. Television was brand new and the early TV celebrities, and their more established radio counterparts, were often mentioned in such columns.
Bob Caldwell and Carolyn Hunter definitely hosted Suppertime, but not with Johnny Costa. The band on Suppertime was led by Maurice Spitalny (piano), with Joe Wallace (bass) and William Condeluci (drums). Bill Hinds was a co-host on Suppertime, as was Mary Martha Briney and Colleen Delaney, who quickly replaced Carolyn Hunter after Hunter's pregnancy was announced in April of 1951. Again, Suppertime was on Channel 3 WDTV, which existed from January 1949 until January 1955, at which point the station became KDKA. Channel 13 WQED, the station that aired Mister Rogers Neighborhood, didn't begin broadcasting until April 1954. There's no information (so far) indicating that the Caldwells ever appeared on WQED.
Carolyn Hunter retired from WDTV in May of 1951, after only three months with the station. She returned to New York mid-July to prepare for the birth of Bobby Caldwell, who Harold V. Cohen wrote was due at the end of that month. In the meantime, Bob Caldwell, Sr. was here in Pittsburgh appearing on WDTV, and scheduled to make his big singing debut at Lenny Litman's Copa that August. On Thursday, August 16th, 1951 Cohen wrote "It's a boy in New York for the Bob Caldwells (Carolyn Hunter). The Suppertime singer who is doubling this week at the Copa missed last night's shows so he could fly home to see the baby, but he'll be back on the job this evening." Later that month Cohen wrote "Bob Caldwell has rented a house in Overbrook for his wife (Carolyn Hunter) and the new baby boy to come home to early next month."
The first year in Pittsburgh kept Bob Caldwell busy, as new father and first generation local television celebrity. In June 1952 he opened at Bill Goldie's Blue Ridge on Sawmill Run Boulevard and at the Monte Carlo, which was located Downtown in the Jackson Building. In addition to his daily TV appearances, he was featured on the first televised Children's Hospital telethon that December, as well as a March of Dimes benefit that New Years Eve. Pittsburgh Press columnist Ralph Lewando featured Caldwell in Who's Who in Pittsburgh Music Circles, also that December. Lewando's column is as informative as Caldwell's biography is interesting ...
"This popular tenor appears each morning, Monday through Friday on WDTV and is featured frequently throughout the Pittsburgh district. Mr. Caldwell was born in Maywood, Illinois. When very young his parents moved to Massachusetts. His father - Ross H. Caldwell, played violin in the Boston Symphony. Bob attended English High School in Boston and studied music at the New England Conservatory where his voice teacher was Serena Bradley. He also studied piano with Raymond White and took a fling at theory and counterpoint. Right after Pearl Harbor, Bob enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and saw a lot of active service for four years. He was a navigator over the famed China-Burma-India run, often referred to as "Old Hump." Bob also did a stint in the European Zone. Mr. Caldwell joined Columbia Broadcasting Company in 1946 and was featured on the "54th Street Review." He appeared in several top musical shows such as "Student Prince", "Annie Get Your Gun", and "Break It Up." With his wife, Mr. Caldwell toured the South singing in important clubs. They also did broadcasts for Voice of America."
In 1953 Bob Caldwell's show Room With a View begins appearing in the evening television listings. The program aired Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and this is the program that Bob Caldwell hosted along with Johnny Costa. In addition, Caldwell also hosted Bob Caldwell's Music Shop, which aired Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 2 PM. The Post-Gazette's Boos and Boosts column mentioned Caldwell and Room With a View many times that spring. Some viewers were disappointed when a news program, News Caravan, was canceled and Caldwell took over the time slot. One viewer wrote in "We think Room With a View is a great little show. TV needs more of Bob Caldwell." Another viewer opposed "Bob Caldwell and Room With a View is the worst show on TV. Why doesn't he give up?" On March 1st, 1954 the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph wrote "Singer Bob Caldwell, a favorite vocalist hereabouts on the TV, will begin an engagement tonight in the Vogue Terrace", which was a popular theater restaurant in McKeesport, PA. Caldwell and Costa made a couple of public appearances together in 1954, hosting Room With a View during a remote broadcast from the Hunt Armory that March, and appearing together, along with the popular radio celebrity Rege Cordic, at Kennywood amusement park in June of that summer.
Then on August 16th, 1954, the day after his son Bobby Caldwell's third birthday, Cohen wrote "Crooner Bob Caldwell and WDTV will part company on September 6. A network show is scheduled for Monday, Wednesday and Friday 2 PM spot come fall." Perhaps Caldwell saw the writing on the wall for WDTV, which would be sold to Westinghouse and, as stated earlier, would become KDKA in January of 1955. In September of 1954 Cohen mentioned the Caldwells just once more in his column "The Dave Crantzes - he's the Playhouse press-agent - have just about closed a deal to buy the Bob Caldwell's house. Caldwell, the television singer, and his wife, Carolyn Hunter, are moving back to New York." And that's likely the last time that most Pittsburghers heard of the Bob Caldwells, until now - over seventy years later.
I contacted Bobby Caldwell in March of 2022, which is when I first learned that he was in poor health and no longer able to perform. I received responses to a few questions, but I did not get an opportunity to do an actual interview. Sadly Caldwell passed away on March 14th, 2023. Luckily there are a number of interviews online, some of which give us insight about his parents and how they influenced his professional career as an entertainer. In a 2014 interview Caldwell says "They (his parents) didn't move to Miami until ... I believe I was four years old at that time. They were heavily involved in the industry, television and theater. They had a television show from '51 to '53, I think. And then it continued on even after we moved to Miami. They continued to do theater, summer-stock and road shows for quite some time. Eventually they left the industry for something more stable."
In a 2011 interview Caldwell stated "(The guitar) was my first instrument much to my parent's chagrin. They didn't encourage me whatsoever. They had suffered some hard knocks in the business and they felt that they wanted me to do something more secure like most parents want for their kids. I think they wanted me to be a doctor. What father doesn't want his son to be a doctor? I actually did a year at Dade Junior in Miami, Florida to be a diagnostician. I was studying diagnosis." He elaborates in a 2012 interview. "When my folks finally saw that I was serious, after years of trying to discourage me because they were in the business and they didn't see it as a particularly dependable business, so they encouraged me to take formal piano. So I did and I got a good foundation from which to build. A piano teacher, that was a private teacher, came to the house when I got home from school. I was thirteen or fourteen. I was self-taught on guitar. The idea of taking formal piano training, I was not too keen on that. But in order to get my parent's blessings, I did that and I began to like it and see the possibilities as far as songwriting."
"I started writing in '75 or '76 and I amassed a lot of songs that I thought were pretty good. I shopped around in the Los Angeles area for a record deal and I was constantly being likened to Stevie Wonder. I never heard this, the sound alike thing, but people were insistent. It was flattering, but there was no record deal. After beating the streets in Hollywood for several years, I actually went back to Miami with my tail between my legs a little bit. And my dad offered to take me under his wing. He was into construction. You know, land development and stuff like that. I thought about it and thought about it. I was wrestling with the notion. And one day my mom came to me with an article from the Miami Herald all about K.C. and the Sunshine Band and this local record label that was based in Hialeah, Florida, T.K. Records. So under her insistence I went down with my grocery bag full of tapes and three days later I signed a record deal. And about a year and a half later, something I never would have imagined, I had the number one record in the country and in a lot of the world. It was in my own backyard the whole time ... My mom and dad, now these are the people who discouraged me, when it was the number one record they went 'THAT'S MY SON!'"
If you believe in the possibility of a "multi-verse", maybe there's a timeline where Bobby Caldwell's parents stayed in Pittsburgh and became household names to generations of Pittsburghers, like many of their early television contemporaries did, but this universe of ours obviously intended for Bobby Caldwell to be in Florida at that particular time when everything clicked. And the rest is history. But what about her-story? Caldwell said that his father, Bob Caldwell, Sr., went into land development, but what about Carolyn (Hunter) Caldwell? In a 2018 interview Caldwell shares his famous anecdote about his mother, and how she became involved with real estate. "There was this hangout in Hialeah, Florida. It was a Rasta hangout. And I was recording my album in Hialeah, which is like ten minutes away. Some of the guys from T.K. Records would come hang (in) this broken down shell of a house, and we'd barbecue and smoke the hookah and all that stuff. That's where I met Bob (Marley). We were introduced and he heard my name and said 'Caldwell. Your mom is a real estate broker?' I said 'Yeah, why?' He says 'She just sold me my house in Miami.' So this friendship ensued. And he starts passing on all of this Rasta wisdom and it was pretty awesome."
I will end on that "high note", with Bob and Bobby hitting the hookah. Rest in peace to Bobby Caldwell who I admired, an artist who's work I will always enjoy. I was looking forward to sharing my research with him. I offer my deepest condolences to his family, friends and to the fellow Bobby Caldwell fans around the world.
And before I sign off, it's very possible that acetates, radio or television transcriptions exist of Bob Caldwell, Sr. performing. If so I would be interested to hear them. Seeing as I typically share audio with these stories, here is a link to a rare live recording of Johnny Costa from 1978, the same year that "What You Won't Do for Love" was released.
