Message from Dr Hoppo and the Urban Rooftops:
Hi there. It's September 2026 at last and we are up and running at the start of what might be a long road - promoting our grass roots band. (NB 'grass roots' means we have no money...and do everything ourselves...but are driven by creative juice...)
Our long anticipated album and single are now available for free streaming. Just click the images above, where you can hear the full tracks on the platform of your choice - Spotify, iTunes, Amazon etc. And yes, 250 streams will earn the band about £1. Huzzah!
And right here on our Home page, you can buy a physical CD of the album. It's a fabulous, tangible, old-school product that will serve you well after the Apocalypse, so long as you have a CD player and a generator and, oh yeah, some petrol...
If you don't use CDs, but like to have your own permanent copy of the music files, you can buy digital downloads (high-quality WAV, MP3, or FLAC files) right here on our Home page.
Finally, when we've made enough money to pay for a roadie and a soundman and some horn players and some cheese sandwiches, we'll be gigging like fury, at a venue near you...
Welcome to Dr Hoppo's Urban Rooftops
- Purveyors of mighty fine live music
Rated 5+ stars by ExtraTerrestials
★★★★★
Welcome to Dr Hoppo's Urban Rooftops
- jazz, soul, latin, funk and more
Dr Hoppo's Urban Rooftops -
Are they the real life??
Or just AI fantasy??
'Dr Hoppo's Urban Rooftops' is the latest grass roots musical project from Manchester musician Steve Hopkins - a seed to be nurtured into a flourishing orchestra playing jazz, latin, soul, funk, rock, dance music, with music guaranteed to lift your spirits.
Since our first gigs in 2019, we have performed shows varying from a ten-piece outfit, with drums, percussion and horn section, down to an intimate quartet. Whichever way we go, expect an uplifting mixture of jazz and other cool songs for listening, along with latin- and soul-tinged sunny music for dancing.
The Urban Rooftops 'core five' are: prima chanteuse Lauren Mullarkey, with Dave Howells on lead vocals and guitar, Rob Murray on bass, the very-much-alive Snuff on kit and myself Steve (Dr Hoppo) Hopkins on the pianoforte. At various times, the ten-piece band has included Myke Wilson and Paul Burgess on drums, with Mick Gilbourne and Chris Cruiks on congas.
And our horn section features some of Manchester's finest: Steve Arrand, Helen Pillinger, Carole Williams, Neil Shaw-Hulme, Neil Fitzpatrick, Stuart Butler, Ed Kainyek and Matt Nickson.
The Rooftops are thrilled to announce the upcoming release on 14th September 2026 of our first album, 'Persuasive', a collection of original songs and exciting cover versions by the ten-piece band. Simultaneously, we are releasing a single from the album - our cover of the classic Dylan song 'I Shall Be Released'. We hope to be gigging again soon to promote the new album. Meanwhile, check out our video page!
Mission statement from Dr Hoppo
