Marty & Elayne

Marty & Elayne Roberts were a lounge act who played at the Dresden Room in Los Angeles, six nights a week for nearly 40 years until Marty’s death on January 17, 2022, at the age of 89.

They first came to prominence appearing in the video for Tom Petty’s “Yer So Bad”, but it was a snippet of their performance of the Bee Gees' “Stayin' Alive” in the 1996 film Swingers that really catapulted them to fame.

Marty played the drums and bass, and Elayne played piano and flute. She had sung with Count Basie as a teenager. Marty was from New York City and met Elayne in Los Angeles when she was only 16 years old. They married soon after.

They played in Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, and Palm Springs before returning to Los Angeles, setting up shop at the Dresden Room in 1981. After Swingers came out, crowds at the Dresden became enormous for a number of years before finally becoming more manageable.

Numerous celebrities were patrons of their show. Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers was a regular visitor who would play with them.