It is hard to tell why Bobby Chandler is overlooked and forgotten so largely, although he even had a chart hit in the mid 1950s. Many of his contemporaries, recording less with even lesser success, are remembered better than Chandler and his vocal group, the Stardusters.
Robert Harold "Bobby" Chandler was born on August 3, 1937, in Little Rock, Arkansas to Horace and Valeria Chandler. He had a brother, Billy, and a sister, Betty, who played piano and with whom he had a very close relationship. Chandler was influenced by all kinds of music, listening to country music, gospel, jazz, big band, and pop music.
While at Little Rock Central High School, Chandler formed a vocal group called the "Stardusters", patterned after the Platters. The line-up included Chandler, Bill Sharp, Bobby Blount, Bill Glasscock, and Bill Detman on guitar. The group performed at school events and other local Little Rock venues. About a year later, the Stardusters were discovered by Bill Biggs and Red Mathews, who operated Old Judge Music Publishing in Memphis and set up their own record label, OJ Records, in 1957. They chose Chandler and the Stardusters to be the first group on the label. They recorded "I'm Serious", a Quinton Claunch and Bill Cantrell penned song, and "If You Love'd Me", released around April 1957 on OJ #1000.
The success came unexpected and the disc sold well locally and "I'm Serious" made the Billboard pop charts a short time later, peaking at #38. The group went out on the road and appeared regularly in their home town Little Rock, becoming frequent guests at Steve Stephens' TV show on KTHV. "Any time he wanted to come on the show, I said, ‘Sure, come on down.’ I’d always make space available for him," Stephens, who was especially fond of Chandler's voice and talent, later recalled. They also performed on Wink Martindale's "Dance Party" TV show in Memphis. The group became so popular in Little Rock that when Ray Charles, already one of the top names in music by then, played the Robinson Auditorium in April 1957, the main spot was given to the Stardusters and Charles became the opening act.
"I'm Serious" was covered the same year by the Hilltoppers and saw release in various European countries in this version. Chandler and the Stardusters recorded a follow-up to their hit, "Shadows of Love" b/w Me and My Imagination" (OJ #1005), which couldn't repeat the success of its precursor. After a third disc for the label, their association with OJ ended. Though, among the many artists that recorded for the label, Chandler and the Stardusters were the most prolific and successful.
Chander cut one more record for Hi Records in Memphis, a label that had been in business for about a year by the time Chandler's record was released. However, success eluded this disc again and by 1959, he had grown tired of being constantly touring. "He was just a hometown boy, always was," remembered his sister Betty. When Chandler settled in Little Rock, marrying his high school sweetheart Kate Smith, he brought an end to the professional career of the Stardusters. However, they would reunite every year for the high school reunion.
Chandler went on to work for the City of Little Rock for the next 30 years, limiting his singing to a hobby. When he retired, however, he took up performing professionally again, though mostly in Little Rock and other Arkansas areas, and recorded a total of eight albums for Blue Chair Records.
Bobby Charles died unexpectedly from lung cancer on April 6, 2012, at the age of 74 years at St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center in Little Rock.
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