“Baby, I’m Back”

Published March 2nd, 2008

By Skip Sheffield
Staff Writer

There are many Realtors® in Boca Raton. Dennis Lambert is one of them.

But Dennis Lambert is unique among local real estate brokers. He is the subject of a documentary film, “Of All the Things,” which has its world premiere at the South By Southwest Film Festival (SXSW) in Austin Texas March 7-15.

Dennis Lambert was a singer and very successful songwriter before he began a new career in real estate eight years ago. On his own and with his partner Brian Potter he wrote such pop classics as “It Only Takes a Minute,” “Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I’ve Got),” ‘Rock and Roll Heaven,” “Baby Come Back,” “She’s Gone,” “One Tin Soldier,” and for British group Freddie & The Dreamers, “Do the Freddie.”

Lambert is 60 now, but suddenly his musical career is hot again, thanks in no small part to his son Jody, 36.

Jody Lambert is writer and director of the documentary “Of All the Things,” which was filmed in Boca Raton and the Philippines in July of 2007.

“I always felt there was a good movie in the story of my dad’s life,” said Jody Lambert in New York. “The tour of the Philippines had all the elements of a good road trip comedy. We are really excited about the reception we’ve had so far.”

After 25 years of resistance, Dennis Lambert agreed in December 2006 to an offer from Philippines promoter Renan de Guia. Along with fellow singer-songwriter Paul Williams, Lambert agreed to do four dates in the Philippines, where Lambert is a cult hero and his sole solo album, “Bags and Things,” is revered.

“Bags and Things’ was released in 1972 in the USA and promptly went nowhere.

However, it developed a cult following in the Philippines, where its signature song, “Of All the Things,” is kind of an unofficial national anthem.

“My son encouraged me to do the tour, and my wife and daughter were all for it too,” said Lambert recently over lunch in Boca Raton. “When Jody decided to film the tour, I felt at the very least it would be a nice memento. Things have really snowballed since then.”

Viper Room

And how. Dennis Lambert is performing a comeback concert March 4 at the ultra-trendy Viper Room in Los Angeles. “Of All the Things” will be shown three times at SXSW, and it has been accepted at the Memphis Film Festival March 27-30, Sarasota Film festival April 3-10 and Nashville Film Festival at the end of April.

“The support for the film has been phenomenal,” Lambert marvels. “I never thought I could play an arena alone, so I insisted on having another person on the bill. Paul Williams was great. He’s a very quirky entertainer who thinks of himself as an actor/singer. We got along very well.”

Dennis Lambert was no stranger to the stage. His mother was a performer in Yiddish theater in New York, and Dennis began performing as a child in Catskills resorts. He landed his first record deal at age 13 and by age 16 he was writing and producing for others.

Lambert visited England for the first time in 1965 at the peak of the British Invasion, and he met songwriter Brian Potter. Potter was a kindred spirit. Lambert and Potter moved to Los Angles and began writing a series of hit songs for the likes of Hall and Oates, the Four Tops, Jerry Lee Lewis, Glen Campbell, Jefferson Starship, Santana others.

In the 1990s Lambert moved back to New York and began producing for Dave Koz, Little River band, Moody Blues, Cliff Richard and more.

A second chapter began for Lambert when he met and married his wife Tina, who bore him a daughter, Misha, now 14.

“It’s not that I didn’t miss music,” he muses. “I just entered a new phase of my life. I started dabbling in real estate in New York, and because of our daughter Misha, we felt it would be better to raise her in Boca Raton. My son’s film has opened many new doors. We still don’t know where it’s leading, but it’s very exciting.”

For more information, visit www.ofallthethingsmovie.com.