Marc Jordan | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Marc Wallace Jordan |
Born | Brooklyn, New York, U.S. | March 6, 1948
Genres | Rock, jazz fusion |
Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, record producer, actor |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, Keyboard |
Years active | 1974–present |
Labels | EMI/Blue Note, Warner Bros., RCA, CBS |
Website | marcjordan |
Marc Wallace Jordan (born March 6, 1948) is an American-born Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, session musician, and actor. Covering a wide variety of genres, he has written songs for a number of well-known artists, including Diana Ross, Rod Stewart, Cher, Bette Midler, Chicago, and Josh Groban. He was named best producer with Steven MacKinnon at the Juno Awards in 1994 for "Waiting for a Miracle" from Reckless Valentine. In early 2014, Jordan was named Chair of Slaight Family Music Lab at Norman Jewison's Canadian Film Centre.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Canadian singer Charles Jordan, Marc Jordan grew up in a musical household in Toronto after his father returned to Canada. He studied film at Brock University but soon turned to music, coming to public attention as a guitarist for Bobby Vee.
With the Canadian division of CBS Records, Jordan released some singles in 1974, which included "It's a Fine Line", "New York Kids", "Original Sin"). They were not very successful themselves, but they impressed American music producer Gary Katz, and in 1977 Jordan reached a U.S. deal with Warner Bros. Records. [1] This period with Warner spawned the Canadian hit songs "Marina del Rey" and "Survival" from the record Mannequin; a second record produced by Jay Graydon called Blue Desert was released in 1979, and is regarded as a classic of the West Coast Sound of the period.
In the 1980s, Jordan was signed to RCA for two records. Paul De Villiers produced the first, Talking Through Pictures, and Kim Bullard the second, called C.O.W.. In 1988, Jordan sang and co-wrote the theme song to the hit Australian movie Boulevard of Broken Dreams which was nominated for an AFI Award for Best Film. In 1989, he and Jay Gruska received a Genie Award nomination for Best Original Song for "Shadow Dance", a song they wrote for the film Shadow Dancing . [2]
In 1994, Jordan won a Juno Award for "Producer of the Year" (along with co-producer Steven MacKinnon) for "Waiting for a Miracle" from his Reckless Valentine album.
After independently releasing the critically acclaimed recordings Reckless Valentine and Cool Jam Black Earth, he was signed to Blue Note/EMI Canada in 1999, and followed up with two more jazz-oriented CDs, This Is How Men Cry and Make Believe Ballroom.
In 2014 the Canadian Film Centre appointed Jordan as the Musical Director of its Slaight Family Music Lab. [3]
During the summer of 2016, Jordan was performing with singers Murray McLauchlan, Cindy Church and Ian Thomas in the group Lunch At Allen's, in a number of towns and small cities in Ontario, Canada. [4] He is married to fellow singer-songwriter Amy Sky. They live in Toronto and have a cottage in Muskoka with their two children, Ezra and Zoe. Jordan and Sky are both national UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors for Canada.
Jordan made his acting debut in Michael McGowan's 2010 sports musical Score: A Hockey Musical , where he plays Edgar Gordon, a pacifist father who along with his wife (Olivia Newton-John) have a 17-year-old son who has a talent for hockey.
Jordan's fifteenth and latest studio album, Waiting for the Sun to Rise, was released on April 21, 2023 through Linus Entertainment. It is Jordan's first album of original material since On a Perfect Day (2013). [5]
In October 2023, Jordan and his long-time collaborator John Capek were announced as new inductees into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. [6]
First released in Canada by Blue Note/EMI on October 25, 1999, This is How Men Cry contains six tracks written by Jordan: "This Is How Men Cry," "Charlie Parker Loves Me" (covered by Rod Stewart on his album Human, released February 6, 2001), "Slow Bombing the World," "I Must Have Left My Heart," "Let's Get Lost," and "London in the Rain". There are an additional three covers: Willie Nelson's '"Crazy," Elvis Costello's "Almost Blue," and Manny Curtis' "Let It Be Me". The lead track, "This is How Men Cry," is a poem about how men communicate, or more often how they don't. [7]
Marc Jordan is married to Amy Sky and they have two children together, a son, Ezra and a daughter, Zoe. Jordan is Jewish. His father was a cantor. [8]
Jordan is a member of the Canadian charity Artists Against Racism. [9]
Year | Details | Peak chart position | |
---|---|---|---|
Canada [10] | |||
1978 | Mannequin
| 83 | |
1979 | Blue Desert
| 74 | |
1983 | A Hole in the Wall
| – | |
1987 | Talking Through Pictures
| – | |
1990 | Cow
| 73 | |
1993 | Reckless Valentine
| – | |
1996 | Cool Jam Black Earth
| – | |
1999 | This Is How Men Cry
| – | |
2004 | Make Believe Ballroom
| – | |
2010 | Crucifix in Dreamland
| – | |
2013 | On a Perfect Day
| – | |
2019 | Both Sides
| – | |
2022 | He Sang She Sang
| – | |
2023 | Waiting for the Sun to Rise
| – | |
Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
CAN AC | CAN | CAN Country | |||
1974 | "New York Kids" | — | — | — | singles only |
"Original Sin" | — | — | — | ||
"It's a Fine Line" | — | — | 47 | ||
1978 | "Survival" | — | 83 | — | Mannequin |
"Marina del Rey" | 23 | — | — | ||
"One Step Ahead of the Blues" | — | — | — | ||
1979 | "I'm a Camera" | 30 | 80 | — | Blue Desert |
"Generalities" | — | — | — | ||
1980 | "Secrets" | — | — | — | Live at El Mocambo |
"New York City" | 13 | 81 | — | ||
"Potential and Air" | — | — | — | ||
1981 | "You Found Out" | 25 | — | — | single only |
1987 | "I Was Your Fool" | — | — | — | Talking Through Pictures |
"This Independence" | 27 | — | — | ||
1988 | "Catch the Moon" | — | — | — | |
1989 | "Shadow Dance" | — | — | — | single only |
"Burning Down the Amazon" | — | — | — | C.O.W. (Conserve Our World) | |
1990 | "Edge of the World" | — | — | — | |
1992 | "Her Body Makes Vows" (with Exchange) | — | — | — | Exchange(Exchange album) |
"'Til the Last Teardrop Falls" (with Exchange and Amy Sky) | 13 | 44 | — | ||
1994 | "Rhythm of My Heart" | — | — | — | Reckless Valentine |
"Waiting for a Miracle" | — | — | — | ||
"Back Street Boy" | — | — | — | ||
1996 | "Beautiful Disguise" | — | — | — | Cool Jam Black Earth |
1997 | "I Will Be Your Priest" | — | — | — | |
1999 | "Charlie Parker Loves Me" | — | — | — | This Is How Men Cry |
2002 | "Rockets" | — | — | — | Living in Marina del Rey and Other Stories |
2003 | "Everything Love Is" (with Amy Sky) | — | — | — | With This Kiss(Amy Sky album) |
2008 | "Every Time It Snows" | — | — | — | single only |
2012 | "Your Love Was All" | — | — | — | Crucifix in Dreamland |
A list of artists who have performed songs written by Jordan include the following:
David Walter Foster is a Canadian record producer, film composer, and music executive. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. Foster's career began as a keyboardist for the pop group Skylark in the early 1970s before focusing largely on composing and production. Often in tandem with songwriter Diane Warren, Foster has contributed to material for prominent music industry artists in various genres since then, and is credited with production on over 40 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100. He has also chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016.
"I Don't Wanna Cry" is a song recorded by American singer Mariah Carey for her first album Mariah Carey (1990). Written by Carey and producer Narada Michael Walden, Columbia Records released it as the album's fourth single in March 1991. A Latin soul–influenced pop ballad, the torch song describes the end of romance. It features drums, guitars, digital synthesizers, and a classic song structure with highly delineated section roles. Modulations occur between these segments that emphasize the singer's emotions. Varying from whispering to belting, Carey's vocal range spans more than two octaves.
Melanie Doane is a Canadian singer, songwriter, actress, and music educator.
Reckless is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams, released by A&M Records on November 5, 1984 to coincide with Adams' 25th birthday. Like its predecessor Cuts Like a Knife, the album was entirely produced by Adams and Bob Clearmountain.
Amy Sky is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, theatre actress, and television host. Sky started classical music lessons at the age of five, and plays piano, guitar, cello and recorder. She has a degree from the University of Toronto in music theory and composition. In 1983, Sky was signed as a staff songwriter to MCA Music Nashville, and subsequently to Warner-Chappell Music in Los Angeles, EMI Music Los Angeles, and Warner-Chappell Music Germany. As a writer she has penned songs for many artists including Diana Ross, Anne Murray, Olivia Newton-John, Reba McEntire, Belinda Carlisle, Aaron Neville, Heart, Cyndi Lauper, Mark Masri, Roch Voisine, and Sheena Easton.
Ian Campbell Thomas is a Canadian singer, songwriter, actor and author. He is the younger brother of comedian and actor Dave Thomas. He was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Jude Anthony Cole is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and talent manager from Carbon Cliff, Illinois. He began his career as part of Moon Martin's backing group the Ravens, and joined the English power pop band the Records in 1980, by the age of 19. After his work on their album Crashes (1980), he signed with Reprise Records to pursue a solo recording career and released his eponymous debut studio album (1987), which was followed by four subsequent releases—A View from 3rd Street (1990), Start the Car (1992), I Don't Know Why I Act This Way (1995), and Falling Home (2000). Afterward, he outsourced his work onto management, production, and songwriting for the alternative rock band Lifehouse. Cole was credited on most of their singles throughout the 2000s, including "You and Me," "First Time," "Whatever It Takes" and "Halfway Gone" — each became hit songs on the Billboard Hot 100, Mainstream Top 40, Adult Top 40, and Adult Contemporary charts.
The Juno Award for "Producer of the Year" has been awarded since 1975, as recognition each year for the best record producer in Canada. It was renamed the "Jack Richardson Producer of the Year" award in 2003, after Jack Richardson who was a noted Canadian record producer.
"Right Here Waiting" is a song by American singer and songwriter Richard Marx. It was released on June 29, 1989, as the second single from his second album, Repeat Offender (1989). The song was a global hit, topping charts in many countries around the world, including Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United States where it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The same year, it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was the UK's most streamed love song on Spotify ahead of Valentine's Day in 2013 and has since been covered by many artists, including R&B singer Monica.
The Juno Awards of 1994, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 20 March 1994 in Toronto at a ceremony in the O'Keefe Centre. Roch Voisine was the host for the ceremonies, which were taped that afternoon for broadcast that evening on CBC Television.
Don't Cry Now is the fourth solo studio album by American singer Linda Ronstadt. It was released by Asylum Records on October 1, 1973 and contained ten tracks. While some tracks were new material, many of the songs were cover tunes. The album explored the genres of Country folk, country rock and pop rock. It was Ronstadt's first album recorded on the Asylum label and first to feature producer Peter Asher. Don't Cry Now was given favorable reviews from several music publications and was a commercial success. Along with reaching chart positions in multiple countries, it also certified gold in the United States for selling over 500,000 copies.
"Somewhere", sometimes referred to as "Somewhere (There's a Place for Us)" or simply "There's a Place for Us", is a song from the 1957 Broadway musical West Side Story that was made into films in 1961 and 2021. The music is composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) is a charitable organization founded in 1988 by filmmaker Norman Jewison in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally launched as a film school, today it provides training, development and advancement opportunities for professionals in the Canadian film, television and digital media industries, including directors, producers, screenwriters, actors and musicians.
John Capek is a composer, arranger, keyboardist, and producer.
Michael Thompson is an American guitarist and songwriter.
Judith Glory Hill is an American singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California. She has provided backing vocals for such artists as Michael Jackson, Prince, and Josh Groban. In 2009, Hill was chosen as Jackson's duet partner for the song "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" during his This Is It rehearsals. After Jackson's death in 2009, she, along with the rest of the This Is It cast members, performed at Jackson's memorial service and attracted global attention when she sang the lead on the song "Heal the World". Hill's rise to fame is recounted in 20 Feet from Stardom, a documentary film that tells the untold story of the backup singers behind some of the "greatest musical legends of the 21st century". She is also a featured artist on the film's soundtrack. She won the Grammy Award for Best Music Film for her performance in this film.
"Midnight Blue" is a song by American singer and songwriter Melissa Manchester, written by herself alongside Carole Bayer Sager and produced by Vini Poncia with an executive production by Richard Perry. It was released in April 1975 as the first single from Manchester's third studio album, Melissa (1975).
Boulevard of Broken Dreams is a 1988 Australian film. It was the first movie produced by Boulevard Films.
"Soldier of Fortune" is a song written by John Capek and Marc Jordan, and first released by the Manhattan Transfer on their 1983 album Bodies and Souls. Australian pop singer John Paul Young released his version in October 1983 as the lead single from his seventh studio album One Foot in Front (1984). The song peaked at number 17 on the Australian Kent Music Report and stayed on the chart for 19 weeks.
The Canadian Film Centre opened the Slaight Family Music Lab in 2013, sponsored by the Slaight Family Foundation. Every year a small group of promising composers and song-writers are invited to study under a distinguished composer.
His appointment was unveiled at a gala event in Beverly Hills on Wednesday night, attended by Jewison, CFC topper Slawko Klymkiw and music lab residents Matthew O'Halloran, Lodewijk Vos, Joseph Murray, Robyn Dell'Unto, Adaline, Rob Teehan and Erica Procunier.
Their approach to a concert is like a band, not as a singer-songwriter event. They all play on each others' songs and sing and harmonize together.