Mike Piccirillo

Last updated
Mike Piccirillo
Born1951 (age 7071)
Origin Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres
Years active1976–present

Michael Lynn Piccirillo (born 1951) is an American record producer, songwriter, and musician, who began working professionally in the Los Angeles music business in 1976. In conjunction with production partner George Tobin, and subsequently Gary Goetzman, Piccirillo co-produced 31 albums between 1976 and 1992.

Contents

Career

Piccirillo has also been an underscore composer on many animated TV series. Between 1995 and 2004, Piccirillo's musical underscore appears on over 500 half-hour TV animated episodes, mainly for DIC Entertainment produced shows. Many of these TV series also feature main title songs composed by Piccirillo. Animated series highlights include Sabrina: The Animated Series , Sabrina's Secret Life , Inspector Gadget's Field Trip , Sonic Underground , The Wacky World of Tex Avery , Trollz , Gadget Boy , Archie's Weird Mysteries , and many others. Piccirillo is still active in professional music production, songwriting and being a performing musician.

Piccirillo production hits include Smokey Robinson's “Being With You", [1] Robert John's "Sad Eyes", and Kim Carnes' "More Love", along with many other charted songs and productions. Artists include La Toya Jackson, Natalie Cole, Smokey Robinson, Tiffany, Kim Carnes, Thelma Houston, The Staple Singers, Go West, Robert John, and many others.

Mike Piccirillo and music partner Gary Goetzman co-wrote the vast majority of the 100+ plus Piccirillo songs that were released on various artists albums between 1976 and 1995.

Works

In 1995, Piccirillo wrote and produced 15 songs that were featured in the Tom Hanks written and directed film That Thing You Do . [2] [3] Six of those songs appeared on the film's soundtrack CD.

Additional Piccirillo songs appear in approximately 28 theatrical films released between 1982 and 1995, including A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master , Police Academy 2 , Child's Play , Fright Night , Kickboxer , Jetsons: The Movie , Big Momma's House, Little Monsters and many others.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Carnes</span> American singer and songwriter

Kim Carnes is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she began her career as a songwriter in the 1960s, writing for other artists while performing in local clubs and working as a session background singer with the famed Waters sisters. After she signed her first publishing deal with Jimmy Bowen, she released her debut album Rest on Me in 1971. Carnes' self-titled second album primarily contained self-penned songs, including her first charting single "You're a Part of Me", which reached No. 35 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart in 1975. In the following year, Carnes released Sailin', which featured "Love Comes from Unexpected Places". The song won the American Song Festival and the award for Best Composition at the Tokyo Song Festival in 1976.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Tobin</span> American record producer

George Tobin is an American musical artist and record producer who has produced albums for a long list of musical artists including Robert John, Smokey Robinson, Kim Carnes, Kicking Harold, and PC Quest. He is best known, however, for discovering, managing, and producing the teenage singer Tiffany and showcasing her in malls across the country. From the 1980s, Tobin owned a large recording studio complex in North Hollywood, California, which was frequently rented by people making demo tapes and radio commercials. Tiffany was recording a demo at the studio at age 12 when Tobin heard her and decided that she could be a star; soon, he was managing and producing her. Under Tobin's management, Tiffany released two very successful albums, and toured for two years with New Kids on the Block. Although Tiffany separated from Tobin's management in 1989, the two briefly reunited to record the 1993 album Dreams Never Die which Tobin produced. Ultimately, the album only saw release in Asia and Tiffany and Tobin went their separate ways again.

<i>Romance Dance</i> 1980 studio album by Kim Carnes

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Being with You (song)</span> 1981 single by Smokey Robinson

"Being with You" is a 1981 song recorded by American singer Smokey Robinson and is the title track from his Gold-certified album with the same name. The song spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Soul Singles chart from March to early May 1981 and reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, behind "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes, his highest charting solo hit on the Billboard pop charts. It also reached number one in the UK Singles Chart.

Now let me tell you about a coincidental relationship between Smokey at #2 and Kim Carnes who's at #1 again this week. Kim's last hit was "More Love", her remake of an old Smokey Robinson hit. Well, Smokey liked Kim's version so much that he wrote her another song, but when Smokey's producer heard the demo, he told Smokey, "You oughta record it yourself!", and that's the song we just heard in the #2 position. And how ironic it is that Smokey's recording of the song he'd written for Kim Carnes has been kept out of the #1 spot by a Kim Carnes hit for 3 weeks running. - Casey Kasem, American Top 40

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cory Lerios</span> American pianist and vocalist

Cory Charles Lerios is an American pianist and vocalist. He is a founding member of the platinum-record-selling soft rock band Pablo Cruise, and since the mid-1980s he has scored music for film and television.

Shades of Love is a collection of romantic and dramatic made-for-television and direct-to-video films. The films paired well-known leading men with lesser known Canadian actresses. Aired in Canada and sold individually on VHS in North America, the Shades of Love film series was geared towards females who bought romance novels. Each title featured a popular love song that appeared as part of the soundtrack. Some of the later titles were paired with older ones and sold as "A Double Feature Romance".

<i>Being with You</i> (album) 1981 studio album by Smokey Robinson

Being With You is a 1981 album by American singer Smokey Robinson. It is one of the few Smokey Robinson solo albums that have been released in the CD format. It features the million-selling, Gold-certified single title track "Being With You", which hit #1 on the Cash Box Top 100. It just missed the #1 Pop position in Billboard, peaking at #2, making it Robinson's highest-charting solo hit after leaving The Miracles. It was also #1 for five consecutive weeks on the R&B Chart and for two weeks on the UK Singles Chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">More Love (Smokey Robinson and the Miracles song)</span>

"More Love" is a 1967 hit single recorded by the American soul group The Miracles for Motown Records' Tamla label. The single, included on the group's 1967 album Make It Happen, later reissued in 1970 as The Tears of a Clown. Kim Carnes' husky 1980 cover of the song hit the Top 10 of Billboard's Adult Contemporary and Hot 100 charts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Goetzman</span> American film and television producer

Gary Michael Goetzman is an American film and television producer and actor, and co-founder of the production company Playtone with actor Tom Hanks.

<i>Groove Patrol</i> 1983 studio album by High Inergy

Groove Patrol was the eighth and final album by High Inergy. It was unique among their albums because instead of using a plethora of producers, the entire album was produced by the same production team. It featured the song, "He's a Pretender," that was a Top 30 Dance single on Billboard and one of their few recordings to hit the Hot 100 pop charts. Smokey Robinson also appeared on two songs. The song, "So Right" was also the title track of the group's previous album. "Groove Patrol" peaked at #62 on the R&B charts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pure Smokey (song)</span> 1976 song by George Harrison

"Pure Smokey" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released in 1976 on his debut album for Dark Horse Records, Thirty Three & 1/3. The song was the second of Harrison's musical tributes to American soul singer Smokey Robinson, following "Ooh Baby " in 1975. Harrison frequently cited Robinson as one of his favourite vocalists and songwriters, and Robinson's group the Miracles had similarly influenced the Beatles during the 1960s. In the lyrics to "Pure Smokey", Harrison gives thanks for the gift of Robinson's music, while making a statement regarding the importance of expressing appreciation and gratitude, rather than forgetting to do so and later regretting it. The song title came from the name of Robinson's 1974 album Pure Smokey.

<i>One Taste of Honey</i> 1984 studio album by Janice-Marie Johnson

One Taste of Honey is the debut solo album by Janice-Marie Johnson of the American rhythm and blues group A Taste of Honey. It was produced by Mike Piccirillo and Gary Goetzman for Goetzman/Piccirillo Productions in association with Janice-Marie Enterprises Inc. and included the minor R&B hit Love Me Tonight. The album was recorded following the departure of Hazel Payne from A Taste of Honey in 1983 and after the commercial disappointment of their 1982 album, Ladies of the Eighties.

<i>Yes Its You Lady</i> 1982 studio album by Smokey Robinson

Yes It's You Lady is a 1982 album by American singer Smokey Robinson. As 1981's Being with You it was produced by George Tobin in association with Mike Piccirillo and recorded and mixed at Studio Sound Recorders, North Hollywood, California. It was released on the Motown sub-label Tamla.

Old Fashioned Love may refer to:

References

  1. Himes, Geoffrey (April 8, 1982). "Smokey Robinson, at His Best". The Washington Post.
  2. ROSEN, CRAIG (October 26, 1996). "EPIC SOUNDTRAX 'THING' COULD BOOST PARTICIPATING ACTS". Billboard.
  3. WOLF, JEANNE (September 29, 1996). "Wonders: Tom Hanks makes directing debut in musical movie". Calgary Herald.