Robert Bateman (songwriter)

Robert Bateman (April 30, 1936 – October 12, 2016) was an American R&B singer, songwriter and record producer. Among other songs, he co-wrote the hits "Please Mr. Postman" and "If You Need Me".

Born in Chicago, Illinois, he was one of the founding members of vocal group the Satintones in Detroit, Michigan, in 1957. Bateman was the bass singer. In 1959, the group made their first recordings for Motown, and Bateman did additional work for the company as a backing singer and engineer. He was reportedly responsible for acquiring Motown's first recording equipment, a tape recorder discarded by radio station WJLB.

When the Satintones disbanded in 1961, after several record releases on Motown but without a hit, Bateman formed a writing and production partnership with Brian Holland, being credited as "Brianbert". They worked with Georgia Dobbins of the Marvelettes to rewrite "Please Mr. Postman", a song that had been partly written by Dobbins' friend William Garrett. Bateman and Holland then produced the Marvelettes' recording of the song, which became the first Motown song to reach the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart, and was later also recorded successfully by the Beatles and the Carpenters, among others. Bateman also co-wrote and co-produced some of the Marvelettes' follow-up singles, including "Twistin' Postman" and "Playboy", and conducted the audition that led to Motown signing Mary Wells.

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