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Pete Wingfield | |
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| Birth name | William Peter Wingfield |
| Born | 7 May 1948 [1] Liphook, Hampshire, England [2] [ deprecated source ] |
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William Peter Wingfield (born 7 May 1948) is an English record producer, keyboard player, songwriter, singer, and music journalist.
Whilst at Sussex University, Wingfield and three other students formed the group Jellybread. In 1969, he played keyboards and sang on their First Slice album, which was produced by Mike Vernon for the Blue Horizon label. [3]
In the 1970s, Wingfield was a specialist in soul music and regularly contributed articles and reviews to the monthly journals, Let It Rock and Melody Maker . As a performer, he played with the British soul band Olympic Runners, and Albert Lee & Hogan's Heroes.
In 1971, Wingfield played the piano on the B.B. King in London album, and in the following year received similar credits for Seventy-Second Brave , the Keef Hartley Band album. Wingfield played keyboards on Bryn Haworth's 1974 album, Let the Days Go By and on his 1975 follow-up Sunny Side of the Street . In 1983, Wingfield played keyboards on Haworth's album, Pass It On . He also played on several albums by Colin Blunstone including his 1974 album Journey . [4]
Wingfield hit the singles charts on both sides of the Atlantic in 1975 with "Eighteen with a Bullet," a pastiche doo-wop number involving wordplay on hit record chart positions—a bullet, in record-chart parlance, referring to a song still selling strongly and/or moving up the charts. [5] It entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart on 23 August 1975. [6] On the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending 22 November 1975, the tune lived up to its name by charting at no. 18, with a bullet. The song peaked at no. 15 a week later. [1] It also reached no. 7 in the UK Singles Chart. [7] while peaking at no. 31 on the Australian charts in late 1975. [8] The song was Wingfield's only charting single in the UK or Australia, or on the American Hot 100; however, the follow-up, "Lovin' As You Wanna Be", made it to no. 108 in the US.
"Eighteen with a Bullet" featured on the only album Wingfield released, Breakfast Special, on Island label and also in 1975. A follow-up album, Love Bumps and Dizzy Spells, was never released. [9] The song later featured on the soundtrack to the 1998 film, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels . [10]
"Eighteen with a Bullet" is the official theme song of the 18th Street gang. [11]
He played piano for the Alan Parsons rhythm section at Abbey Road Studios, with Pete Moss on bass guitar, for Dexys Midnight Runners and Paul McCartney.
In 1977, his song "Making a Good Thing Better" appeared on Olivia Newton-John's album of the same name. [1] In 1978, he wrote an amusing cult dance hit for Patti LaBelle titled "Eyes in the Back of My Head", featured on her Tasty album. Wingfield also played keyboards with The Hollies during this period (1975-1980). In 1980, he produced Searching for the Young Soul Rebels the first album by Dexys Midnight Runners. [1] In the 1980s, Wingfield teamed with the film producer Mel Brooks, and co-wrote the songs "It's Good to Be the King" and "To Be or Not to Be". In 1985, he produced the Kane Gang's debut album Bad and Lowdown World of the Kane Gang. [12] Three years later his production credits appeared on The Proclaimers UK Top 20 hit "I'm Gonna Be" and their album Sunshine on Leith .
The Pasadenas 1988 song "Tribute (Right On)" was written by Wingfield. [13]
Wingfield played with Van Morrison at the 1974 Montreux Jazz Festival, which was one of the two shows featured on Morrison's first DVD (2006). Several years later, Wingfield also did a summer tour of Europe with Morrison's band, featuring the songs from the latter's 1979 album, Into the Music . Beginning with their 1983 reunion shows, Wingfield spent 18 years handling keyboard duties for The Everly Brothers. [1]
He also played on sessions for The Housemartins, Level 42, The Beautiful South, Van Morrison, Interview, Jimmy Witherspoon, Freddie King, Buddy Guy and Paul McCartney on his Run Devil Run album. [1]
Dexys Midnight Runners are an English pop rock band from Birmingham, with soul influences, who achieved major commercial success in the early to mid- 1980s. They are best known in the UK for their songs "Geno" and "Come On Eileen", both of which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, and achieved six other top-20 singles. "Come On Eileen" also topped the US Billboard Hot 100, and, with extensive airplay on MTV, they are associated with the Second British Invasion.
Kool & the Gang is an American R&B, soul, and funk band formed in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1964. Its founding members include brothers Robert "Kool" Bell and Ronald Bell aka "Khalis Bayyan", Dennis "Dee Tee" Thomas, Robert "Spike" Mickens, Charles Smith, George Brown, Sir Earl Toon, Woodrow "Woody" Sparrow, and Ricky Westfield. They have undergone numerous changes in personnel and have explored many musical styles throughout their history, including jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, funk, disco, rock, and pop music. The group changed their name several times. Settling on Kool & the Gang, the group signed to De-Lite Records and released their debut album, Kool and the Gang (1969).
The Bureau were an English new wave soul group formed in November 1980 in Birmingham, England, when the original line-up of Dexys Midnight Runners split up. The Bureau retained their Dexys roots and played powerful brass-driven soul sounds. They are best known for their single "Only For Sheep", which reached No. 5 in Australia.
Kevin Rowland is a British singer and musician best known as the frontman for the pop band Dexys Midnight Runners. The band had several hits in the early 1980s, the most notable being "Geno" and "Come On Eileen", both of which reached number one on the UK Singles Chart.
"Come On Eileen" is a song by the English group Dexys Midnight Runners, released in the United Kingdom in June 1982 as a single from their second studio album Too-Rye-Ay. It reached number one in the United States and was their second number one hit in the UK, following 1980's "Geno". The song was produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley and was initially claimed to be written by Kevin Rowland, Jim Paterson and Billy Adams, although Rowland later stated that the essence of the tune should be attributed to Kevin Archer.
Robert Clark Seger is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded with the groups 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.
David Frank Paich is an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter, best known as the co-founder, principal songwriter, keyboardist, and secondary vocalist of the rock band Toto since 1977. He wrote or co-wrote much of Toto's original material, including the band's three most popular songs: "Hold the Line", "Rosanna", and "Africa". With Toto, Paich has contributed to 17 albums and sold over 40 million records. He and guitarist and singer Steve Lukather are the only members to appear on every studio album.
Graham Thomas Parker is an English singer-songwriter, who is best known as the lead singer of the British band Graham Parker & the Rumour.
The Kane Gang are an English pop trio formed in Seaham in 1982. The group comprised Martin Brammer, Paul Woods and Dave Brewis. They scored several UK and US hits in the 1980s. Named alluding to the movie Citizen Kane, the trio recorded for the record label Kitchenware, which was also home to Prefab Sprout. The group announced a comeback on 14 August 2024.
Searching for the Young Soul Rebels is the debut studio album by English band Dexys Midnight Runners, released on 11 July 1980, through Parlophone and EMI Records. Led by Kevin Rowland, the band formed in 1978 in Birmingham, England, and formed a strong live reputation before recording their first material. Recorded during April 1980, the album combines the aggressiveness of punk rock with soul music, particularly influenced by the Northern soul movement.
"The Tracks of My Tears" is a song written by Smokey Robinson, Pete Moore, and Marv Tarplin. It is a multiple award-winning 1965 hit R&B song originally recorded by their group, the Miracles, on Motown's Tamla label. The Miracles' million-selling original version has been inducted into The Grammy Hall of Fame, has been ranked by the Recording Industry Association of America and The National Endowment for the Arts at No. 127 in its list of the "Songs of the Century" – the 365 Greatest Songs of the 20th Century, and has been selected by Rolling Stone as No. 50 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", among many other awards. In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked the Miracles' original recording of "The Tracks of My Tears" as "The Greatest Motown Song of All Time".
"Geno" is a song by Dexys Midnight Runners, released in 1980 as the lead single from their debut album Searching for the Young Soul Rebels. Written by Kevin Archer and Kevin Rowland, it was the band's second overall single and their first UK number one, staying at the top of the singles chart for two weeks. In Ireland, the song charted at number two.
Tim Moore is an American pop singer and songwriter who recorded four albums for Asylum Records in the 1970s. Moore's songs were praised by critics and admired by a diverse range of peers including Keith Richards, Jimmy Webb, James Taylor and Michael McDonald.
"Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)" is a song written and performed by Van Morrison and featured as the opening track on his sixth studio album, Saint Dominic's Preview. It was released by Warner Bros. in July 1972 as the first of three singles from the album and charted at number sixty-one on the US Billboard Hot 100. Both the music and lyrics are inspired by rhythm and blues singer Jackie Wilson and his song "Reet Petite", which is directly quoted in the song.
"Respect Yourself" is a song by American R&B/gospel group the Staple Singers. Released in late 1971 from their album Be Altitude: Respect Yourself, the song became a crossover hit. The Staple Singers' version peaked at No. 12 on the Hot 100, No. 2 on the Hot Soul Singles chart, and is one of the group's most recognizable hits. In 2002, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and in 2010 it was ranked #468 on the Rolling Stone list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, moving down 4 spots from #464 in 2004.
Atomic Rooster are a British rock band originally formed by members of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, organist Vincent Crane and drummer Carl Palmer. Their history is defined by two periods: the early-mid-1970s and the early 1980s. The band went through radical style changes, but they are best known for the hard, progressive rock sound of their hit singles, "Tomorrow Night" and "Devil's Answer", both in 1971.
To Whom It May Concern is the debut album by the British R&B/pop group the Pasadenas, released in 1988. The album contains three UK top 40 hits: "Tribute ", "Riding on a Train", and "Enchanted Lady". "Tribute " also reached No. 52 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Ennismore is the second solo studio album by the English singer Colin Blunstone of rock band the Zombies. The name of the album comes from Ennismore Gardens, a square in Knightsbridge where Blunstone was living; the name being a variant spelling of the island Inishmore.
Steve Bingham is an English bass guitarist, best known for being in the band The Foundations in 1970, and remaining with them until their break-up.
The Olympic Runners were a 1970s British funk band, put together by record producer Mike Vernon who also played percussion, and fronted by singer George Chandler. They also included multi-instrumentalist Pete Wingfield, and had a number of hit singles in both the US and the UK.
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