John Batdorf (born March 26, 1952 [1] ) is an American singer and songwriter from Yellow Springs, Ohio. He is the son of Jack and Nancy Batdorf, and nephew of Earl Batdorf, aka Earl Scott, a Country singer who charted several hits during the mid-1960s. [2]
Batdorf came from a musical family, he had originally aspired to play professional baseball. However, these dreams were crushed following his being stricken with osteomyelitis (OM), an infection of the bones, at age 11. It was necessary for him to be in a full-body cast for a year, and he was told that he would never be able to play competitive sports again. Out of boredom he picked up a guitar and began to learn, and then the piano, giving him a new set of musical aspirations. [3]
Batdorf's musical career began in 1967 after moving to Los Angeles. He joined with Mark Rodney in 1971 to form the duo Batdorf & Rodney. Their biggest hit was "Somewhere in the Night" (U.S. #69, 1975).
Following their breakup in 1975, he formed the group Silver, with whom he had his biggest hit, "Wham Bam" (U.S. #16, 1976). [4] He sings lead on the song, which was their only hit. "Wham Bam" was revived by appearing in 2017's blockbuster movie, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 , and had nearly 8 million plays on YouTube.
Batdorf has also enjoyed success as a film and TV composer with credits from Touched by an Angel , Promised Land , Book Of Days and The Best Two Years , session vocalist on several hit records and commercials, and songwriter for Kim Carnes, England Dan and America. [5]
In 1997 he formed Batdorf & McLean with Michael McLean, with whom he had collaborated earlier as arranger and vocalist, and they released an album, Don't You Know. In 2012, the two teamed up to make Soundtrax2Recovery.
In 2006, he released the solo album Home Again, reuniting him with Mark Rodney on some of the tracks. The album features many Batdorf & McLean compositions. Since that release John has released, Old Man Dreamin’, One Last Wish, Beep Beep, Next Stop Willoughby, Me And My Guitar, Last Summer, An Extraordinary Ordinary Life and his latest 2022 release, Side II.
Emmylou Harris is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including becoming a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1992 and an induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2018, she was presented the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Robert Clark Seger is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and The Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s, breaking through with his first album, Ramblin' Gamblin' Man in 1969. By the early 1970s, he had dropped the 'System' from his recordings and continued to strive for broader success with various other bands. In 1973, he put together the Silver Bullet Band, with a group of Detroit-area musicians, with whom he became most successful on the national level with the album Live Bullet (1976), recorded live with the Silver Bullet Band in 1975 at Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan. In 1976, he achieved a national breakout with the studio album Night Moves. On his studio albums, he also worked extensively with the Alabama-based Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, which appeared on several of Seger's best-selling singles and albums.
Kingdom Come is a Germany-based hard rock band formed in 1987. The band was originally fronted by Lenny Wolf, until their hiatus in 2016. While there have been no constant Kingdom Come members throughout the band's history, their most recent lineup features four original members who left the band in 1989 and returned in 2018. Wolf was replaced by Keith St John in 2018. The group's 1988 debut album, Kingdom Come, is to date their most internationally popular and biggest selling recording and features their most notable hit "Get It On".
Prism is a Canadian rock band formed in Vancouver in 1977. They were originally active from 1977 to 1984 and have been active again from 1987 to present. Their classic line-up consisted of lead singer Ron Tabak, guitarist Lindsay Mitchell, keyboardist John Hall, bassist Allen Harlow and drummer Rocket Norton.
Andrew John Ridgeley is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer, best known for his work in the 1980s in the musical duo Wham!.
Audio Adrenaline was an American Christian rock band that formed in 1986 at Kentucky Christian University in Grayson, Kentucky. The band gained recognition during the 1990s and received two Grammy Awards and multiple Dove Awards. Audio Adrenaline were regular performers at the annual Creation Festival, Spirit West Coast festival, Agape Music Festival, and Alive Festival. In 2007, the group disbanded due to lead singer Mark Stuart's spasmodic dysphonia. During this time, they released eight studio albums.
Unit 4 + 2 were a British pop band, who had a number one hit on the UK Singles Chart in 1965 with the song "Concrete and Clay". The track topped the UK chart for one week.
Rodney Crowell is an American musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music. Crowell has had five number one singles on Hot Country Songs, all from his 1988 album Diamonds & Dirt. He has also written songs and produced for other artists.
Earl Stephen Bishop is an American singer-songwriter, actor, and guitarist. His biggest hits include "On and On", "It Might Be You" and "Save It for a Rainy Day". He has appeared in and contributed musically to many motion pictures, including National Lampoon's Animal House.
Rodney Allan Atkins is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Curb Records in 1996, he charted his first single on the Billboard country chart in 1997, but did not release an album until 2003's Honesty, which included the hit single "Honesty ".
Gone is the sixth studio album by American country music artist Dwight Yoakam, released on October 31, 1995, by Reprise Records. The album peaked at #5 on the Billboard Country Albums chart. It produced three singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts: "Nothing" at #20, "Gone " at #51, and "Sorry You Asked?" at #59. The final single, "Heart of Stone", failed to chart in the United States. This was also the first album of his career not to produce a Top Ten country hit.
Silver was an American 1970s country rock band, best known for their 1976 pop hit "Wham Bam," written by country songwriter Rick Giles. The song peaked in charts in USA, Canada and Australia.
Deryl Dwaine Dodd is an American Texas country music artist. Originally a regular on the Texas club circuit, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, soon finding work as a lead guitar player, background vocalist and songwriter. After moving to Nashville in 1991 he played lead guitar for Tracy Lawrence and Martina McBride. By 1996, he was signed to a recording contract, releasing two albums for Columbia Records Nashville before a debilitating bout of viral encephalitis put his career on hiatus.
"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.
Thanks for the Memory (Wham Bam Thank You Mam) is a song by the British rock band Slade, released in 1975 as a non-album single. It was written by lead vocalist Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea, and produced by Chas Chandler. It reached No. 7 in the UK, remaining in the charts for seven weeks.
"Wham Bam" is a 1976 song by the American group Silver, written by country songwriter Rick Giles. It was the only charting song by the group. John Batdorf sings lead vocals.
Batdorf & Rodney were an early-1970s folk rock duo consisting of John Batdorf and Mark Rodney.
Harry Stinson is an American multi-instrumentalist, noted as a session drummer and vocalist in the Nashville music community. He is also a songwriter and producer.
"Wall of Tears" is a song written by Richard Leigh and Peter McCann. It was originally recorded by American country music artist Gus Hardin and was the title track of her 1984 album. The song was also recorded by American country music artist K. T. Oslin. It was released in December 1986 as the first single from Oslin's album 80's Ladies. The song reached #40 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.
Where I Stand is the eleventh studio album by Christian singer-songwriter Twila Paris released on April 2, 1996. After being on Star Song Records for more than ten years, Paris signed on with sister label Sparrow Records starting with this release. The album debuted and peaked at number 87 on the Top 200 Albums chart, marking Paris' first time on that chart and number 3 on the Top Christian Albums chart in Billboard magazine. The album's first single "Faithful Friend" is a duet with singer-songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman, which they wrote together and placed in the top 5 on Christian radio and Paris' second single "(I Am) Not Afraid Anymore" reached number 1 on the Christian AC chart.
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