What were you expecting?
Led Zeppelin and a keg?
Think again.
Dozens of candles flickered on the walls and in the fireplace as Burt Bacharach tunes played softly in the background. Bottles of Pierreno Grigio chilled on ice in the dining room as the stove was warmed to prepare the night's repast, including a vegetarian pasta Robert would cook using his wine.
Just after 5, the long-haired, T-shirt-wearing Robert made his entrance. His deep, trademark laugh boomed down the hallway to announce his arrival - swinging on tie-dyed crutches pasted with WMMR stickers.
He's been using them since he broke his foot in a February tumble over a curb, though he prefers to say he sustained the injury while interrupting a bank robbery in progress.
Robert took a seat on a kitchen bar stool, poured a glass of wine and dug into a Mediterranean hors d'oeuvre spread of olives, peppers, tapanade and crostini.
Robert's longtime friend Rob Hyman, lead vocalist for the Hooters, was among the first to arrive. He grabbed some wine and took a seat on the couch with his wife, Sally, who'd been there since much earlier in the day to help set up the party. The two chatted as Hyman flipped through a coffee- table book about Bruce Springsteen.
Next to arrive was Hooters guitarist John Lilley and his friend, Bob Lorhmann, director of the long-running Washington, D.C., musical "Shear Madness."
Robert has been friends with the Hooters since they started out in the early '80s playing local clubs. He was one of the first to spin their songs on the air.
"We go back a long way," said Robert, perched on the stool and picking at the tapanade.
Other guests included interior designer Ann Hoffman of ARK Creative Inc., masseuse Bill Tourtual and songwriter David Foreman.
