Batdorf & Rodney | |
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 John Batdorf (left) and Mark Rodney in 1971 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1970–1975, 2007–2008 |
| Labels | |
| Past members |
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Batdorf & Rodney were an early-1970s folk rock duo consisting of John Batdorf and Mark Rodney. [1] [2]
The two began performing in the summer of 1970 in Las Vegas. They toured extensively with many of the most famous acts of the 1970s. Their tours included playing at Carnegie Hall. They issued three albums on three different labels between 1971 and 1975, logging two chart hits during their final year after signing with Arista Records. Their self-titled second album featured the track "Home Again," an FM radio staple that at 6:30 was perhaps too long to be a hit single. A track from their third album, "You Are a Song," written by Jim Weatherly, was released as a single and reached number 87 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 during the summer of 1975. It also reached #19 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart. [3]
Their other hit, a non-album single, was an early version of "Somewhere in the Night," which reached number 69 in December of that year. [4] Issued concurrently with Helen Reddy's version, the song became a Top 40 hit for her in 1976 and a Top 10 hit for Barry Manilow in 1979. Another song, "All I Need," reached the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart in 1973, peaking at #79. [5]
Their third album, recorded under Arista Records with Clive Davis, faced creative differences. While Davis pushed for more commercially viable songs, Batdorf & Rodney were reluctant, feeling it compromised their artistic integrity. Internal strains and management changes eventually led to the duo’s breakup in 1975.
Remaining with Arista, Batdorf soon formed the group Silver then released "Wham Bam" in 1976, the most successful single of his career, which reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100. [6] In 2007, the duo reunited to record an album titled Still Burnin'.
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [7] | ||||||
| Off The Shelf |
| — | ||||
| Batdorf & Rodney |
| 185 | ||||
| Life Is You |
| 140 | ||||
| Still Burnin' |
| — | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | ||||||
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | CA AC | |||||
| 1971 | "Oh My Suprise" | — | — | Off The Shelf | ||
| 1972 | "Simone" | — | — | Non-album Single | ||
| "All I Need" | — | 79 | Batdorf & Rodney | |||
| "Home Again" | — | — | ||||
| 1975 | "You Are A Song" | 87 | 19 | Life Is You | ||
| "Life Is You" | — | — | ||||
| "Somewhere in the Night" | 69 | — | Non-album Single | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | ||||||
Deborah Cox is a Canadian singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Born and raised in Toronto, she began performing on television commercials at age 12, and entered various talent shows in her teenage years before becoming a professional backing vocalist for Celine Dion. In 1994, Cox relocated to the United States and was signed to Arista Records by Clive Davis, releasing her self-titled debut album the following year. Her second studio album, One Wish (1998), was certified platinum in the United States. It was marked by the commercial success of the pop crossover single "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here", which would become her most successful entry on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number two and remaining there for eight consecutive weeks. Cox signed with J Records for her third studio album The Morning After (2002), which saw moderate commercial success.
Next is an American R&B musical trio, popular during the late 1990s and early 2000s. They are best known for their Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit single "Too Close". They are also known for "Wifey", "Butta Love" and "I Still Love You", all of which still receive frequent airplay on Urban Adult Contemporary radio stations in the U.S. and internationally.
Paul Lavon Davis was an American singer and songwriter, best known for his radio hits and solo career that started worldwide in 1970. His career encompassed soul, country, and pop. His most successful songs are 1977's "I Go Crazy", a No. 7 pop hit that once held the record for the longest chart run on the Billboard Hot 100, and 1982's "'65 Love Affair", which at No. 6 is his highest-charting single. Another pop hit, "Cool Night", was released in 1981. In the mid-1980s, he also had two No. 1 country hits as a guest vocalist on songs by Marie Osmond and Tanya Tucker.
"'65 Love Affair" is a song performed by Paul Davis on his album Cool Night.
"I Write the Songs" is a popular song written by Bruce Johnston in 1975 and released on his album Going Public in 1977. Barry Manilow's version reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in January 1976 after spending two weeks atop the Billboard adult contemporary chart in December 1975. It won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year and was nominated for Record of the Year in 1977. Billboard ranked it as the No. 13 song of 1976.
"Angel of Mine" is a song by British R&B girl group Eternal from their first compilation album, Greatest Hits (1997). It was written by Rhett Lawrence and Travon Potts, produced by Lawrence, and released on 29 September 1997. The song became Eternal's 12th and final top-10 hit on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number four. "Angel of Mine" was the ensemble's final single as a three-piece, as after its release, Kéllé Bryan left the group. In June 2019, "Angel of Mine" was ranked at number 91 on the Official Charts Company's "Top 100 Girl Band Singles of the Last 25 Years".
"Smooth" is a song performed by American rock band Santana and Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty, who sings the lead vocals. It was released on June 15, 1999, as the lead single from Santana's 1999 studio album, Supernatural. It was written by Itaal Shur and Thomas, who re-wrote Shur's original melody and lyrics, and produced by Matt Serletic.
"Could It Be Magic" is a song written by Adrienne Anderson and composed by American singer-songwriter Barry Manilow, inspired by Frédéric Chopin's Prelude in C minor, Opus 28, Number 20.
"Weekend in New England" is a song recorded by Barry Manilow for his fourth studio album, This One's for You (1976). Written by Randy Edelman, it was released as the second single from the album, and became a Top Ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, while topping the Adult Contemporary chart.
"Thank You" is a song written and performed by English singer-songwriter Dido. The song made its first appearance in 1998 on the soundtrack of the movie Sliding Doors. It was later included on Dido's 1999 debut album, No Angel, and was released in September 2000. The same year, American rapper Eminem sampled the track for his hit single "Stan", which helped propel "Thank You" and No Angel to mainstream success.
"How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" is a song co-written in 1982 by Doug James and Michael Bolton. The track was originally recorded by Laura Branigan in 1983, charting at number one in both the US and Canadian Adult Contemporary charts. Bolton later recorded his own version of the song that topped the US Billboard Hot 100 and became a worldwide hit.
Silver was an American 1970s country rock band, best known for their 1976 pop hit "Wham Bam Shang-A-Lang," written by country songwriter Rick Giles. The song peaked in charts in USA, Canada and Australia.
"Love Will Keep Us Together" is a song written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. It was first recorded by Sedaka in 1973. The brother-sister duo Mac and Katie Kissoon also recorded a version in 1973. American pop duo Captain & Tennille covered it in 1975, with instrumental backing almost entirely by “Captain” Daryl Dragon, with the exception of drums played by Hal Blaine; their version became a worldwide hit.
"My Maria" is a song co-written by B. W. Stevenson and Daniel Moore. Lindy Blaskey, a music publisher at ABC/Dunhill Records, thought Moore had a possible hit with his verse and chorus, but couldn't get him to finish the song, so Blaskey took what Moore had so far and asked Stevenson to finish writing it with an additional verse. David Kershenbaum, Stevenson's producer at RCA, agreed with Blaskey that it sounded like a hit and produced and released "My Maria" as a single in August 1973. The song became a Top 10 hit, peaking at No. 9 on the US pop chart. It remained in the Top 40 for twelve weeks. In addition, "My Maria" spent one week at No. 1 on the US adult contemporary chart. The guitar portion of the track was played by Larry Carlton. A cover version by Brooks & Dunn reached No. 1 on the US country music chart and won the 1997 Grammy for Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
One Wish is the second album by Canadian singer-songwriter Deborah Cox. It was released by Arista Records on September 15, 1998, in the United States. As with her self-titled debut album, One Wish was once again executive-produced by Clive Davis, but features more uptempo, contemporary R&B, and a slew of new producers and personnel, including Montell Jordan, Anthony "Shep" Crawford, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, DJ Quik, Stevie J and David Foster. It also contains dance and club music. Diane Warren, Daryl Simmons and Lascelles Stephens also returned with contributions to the album.
"Somewhere in the Night" is a ballad written by Richard Kerr and lyricist Will Jennings which was a US Top 20 hit for both Helen Reddy and Barry Manilow.
"Somewhere Down the Road" is a popular song written by Cynthia Weil and Tom Snow and most famously recorded in 1981 by Barry Manilow. Weil wrote the song's lyrics and Snow wrote the melody.
"Right Time of the Night" is the title of a composition by Peter McCann, which became a top-ten hit single in 1977 via a recording by Jennifer Warnes.
"The Greatest Love of All" is a song written by Michael Masser, who composed the music, and Linda Creed, who wrote the lyrics. It was originally recorded in 1977 by George Benson, who made the song a substantial hit, peaking at number two on the US Hot Soul Singles chart that year, the first R&B chart top-ten hit for Arista Records. The song was written and recorded to be the main theme of the 1977 film The Greatest, a biopic of the boxer Muhammad Ali, and is performed during the opening credits.
"Wham Bam" is a 1976 song by the American band Silver, written by country songwriter Rick Giles. It was the only charting song by the group. John Batdorf sings lead vocals.
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