Raymond Donnez

Last updated • 1 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Raymond Donnez (September 9, 1942 – March 7, 2019), or Don Ray, was a French disco producer, arranger and performer.

Contents

Early life

A cult hero among fans of Eurodisco, Don Ray played keyboards on Cerrone's records "Love in C Minor", "IV", "VI", and "VIII" and released one solo album, Garden of Love, which featured his successful single "Got to Have Loving", [1] cowritten with Cerrone, who drummed on the track. He also produced Santa Esmeralda's hit cover of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and their third LP, "House of the Rising Sun". His single "Got To Have Loving" had cross-over success on pop radio, and reached #44 in the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1978. [2]

Also, was conductor in the Eurovision Song Contest in three years, 1974 (for the Monegasque entry "Celui qui reste et celui qui s'en va"), 1976 (for the Monegasque entry "Toi, la musique et moi") and 1977 (the winner of this year, the French "L'oiseau et l'enfant"). [3]

Don Ray was a musician with Alec Costandinos and his name appears on many of Alec's albums and jazz-funk classic singles "Standing in the Rain" and the slower "My Desire". The disco stomper "Midnight Madness" is only available on UK 12inch. [4]

Donnez died at the age of 76 on 7 March, 2019. [5]

Albums

The Garden Of Love (1978) [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cerrone</span> French musician

Marc Cerrone is a French disco drummer, composer, record producer and creator of concerts. Cerrone is a producer of 1970s and 1980s disco songs. He has sold over 30 million albums worldwide, including over four million copies in France, and eight million copies of Supernature. The single "Love in C Minor" (1976) reached No. 3 and was in the charts for two months, selling three million copies. With "Supernature" (1977), Cerrone merged symphonic orchestration with synthesizers. At the 1978 Billboard Disco Forum, Cerrone received six awards including Disco Artist of the Year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Van McCoy</span> American musician, producer and songwriter (1940–1979)

Van Allen Clinton McCoy was an American record producer, arranger, songwriter and singer. He is known for his 1975 internationally successful hit "The Hustle". He has approximately 700 song copyrights to his credit, and produced songs by such recording artists as Brenda & the Tabulations, David Ruffin, The Stylistics, The Presidents, Faith, Hope & Charity, New Censation, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Aretha Franklin, Peaches & Herb, Lesley Gore, and Stacy Lattisaw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Paquette</span> Canadian folk singer-songwriter (born 1949)

Robert Paquette is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter.

Love & Kisses is a 1970s disco group assembled by European producer Alec Costandinos, with a variety of male and female singers.

Alec Rupen Costandinos, is a French composer, music producer, songwriter and singer of the 1970s, known for his contributions to disco music. His father was Armenian and his mother was Greek. Costandinos dominated the disco and Euro-disco genres in the late 1970s. He began his career as a publisher and producer for various artists, including French pop star Claude Francois and chanteuse Dalida. After writing Cerrone's "Love in C Minor" (1976), Costandinos was signed to Barclay Records. He released his first album, Love & Kisses in 1977, which featured the hit track "I Found Love ". Costandinos went on to release a number of wildly successful records under the prominent American disco label, Casablanca. His album, Romeo & Juliet has been credited for bringing the concept album to dance music. He also wrote "Thank God It's Friday", the theme track to the disco film by the same name.

Voyage was a French disco and pop group, consisting of André "Slim" Pezin (guitar/vocals), Marc Chantereau (keyboards/vocals), Pierre-Alain Dahan (drums/vocals) and Sauveur Mallia (bass), together with British lead vocalist Sylvia Mason-James, who sang on the group's first two albums, Voyage (1977) and Fly Away (1978).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Can't Stop Loving You</span> 1957 song by Don Gibson

"I Can't Stop Loving You" is a popular song written and composed by country singer, songwriter, and musician Don Gibson, who first recorded it on December 3, 1957, for RCA Victor Records. It was released in 1958 as the B-side of "Oh, Lonesome Me", becoming a double-sided country hit single. At the time of Gibson's death in 2003, the song had been recorded by more than 700 artists, most notably by Ray Charles, whose recording reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart.

<i>Fame</i> (Grace Jones album) 1978 studio album by Grace Jones

Fame is the second studio album by Grace Jones, released on 7 June 1978 by Island Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disco Inferno</span> 1976 single by the Trammps

"Disco Inferno" is a song by American disco band the Trammps from their 1976 studio album of same name. With two other cuts by the group, it reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart in early 1977, but had limited mainstream success until 1978, after being included on the soundtrack to the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever, when a re-release hit number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

"You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You" is a popular song written by Russ Morgan, Larry Stock, and James Cavanaugh and published in 1944. The song was first recorded by Morgan and was a hit for him in 1946, reaching the No. 14 spot in the charts. The best known version was Dean Martin's, which was released in 1960 and reissued in 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">L'amour s'en va</span> 1963 song by Françoise Hardy

"L'amour s'en va" is a song composed, written, and performed by French singer-songwriter and actress Françoise Hardy. It represented Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963, she recorded it in other languages, gained chart success in Belgium, won France's prestigious award Grand Prix du Disque, and over time it has become one of Hardy's signature songs.

<i>Double Fun</i> 1978 studio album by Robert Palmer

Double Fun is the fourth solo album by Robert Palmer, released in 1978. Self-produced, this pop album is influenced by multiple genres including blue-eyed soul, disco and heavy rock but maintains an overall consistency of production which holds it all together. The album peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart in 1978, his highest rank up to that point, and includes a top 20 hit, "Every Kinda People".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oh Lonesome Me</span> 1957 song by Don Gibson

"Oh Lonesome Me" is a popular song written and recorded in December 1957 by Don Gibson with Chet Atkins producing it for RCA Victor in Nashville. Released in 1958, the song topped the country chart for eight non-consecutive weeks. On what became the Billboard Hot 100, it peaked at No. 7. It was Gibson's only Top 10 hit on the pop chart. Its B-side was "I Can't Stop Loving You", which peaked at No. 7 on the C&W Jockey charts and became a standard song about unrequited love. The vocal backings on both songs were provided by the Jordanaires.

<i>Elsa</i> (album) 1988 studio album by Elsa Lunghini

Elsa is the debut album of the French singer Elsa Lunghini, released in 1988.

<i>Love Explosion</i> 1979 studio album by Tina Turner

Love Explosion is the fourth solo studio album by Tina Turner, released late 1979 on the EMI label in Europe, Ariola Records in West Germany and United Artists Records in the UK. Italy and South Africa followed in early 1980. The album was not released in the United States. It was her second solo album released after she left husband Ike Turner and the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Love Explosion failed to chart, so Turner lost her recording contract. She wouldn't record another album until the critically acclaimed Private Dancer in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Never My Love</span> 1967 single by The Association

"Never My Love" is a pop standard written by American siblings Don and Dick Addrisi, and best known from a hit 1967 recording by the Association. The Addrisi Brothers had two Top 40 hits as recording artists, but their biggest success as songwriters was "Never My Love". Recorded by dozens of notable artists in the decades since, in 1999 the music publishing rights organization Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) announced it was the second most-played song on radio and television of the 20th century in the U.S.

<i>Supernature (Cerrone III)</i> 1977 studio album by Cerrone

Supernature is Cerrone's third album, released in September 1977. It was released in France on Malligator Records. It is known also as Cerrone III, since it is the third album by Cerrone, who labeled his albums with a number.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Real Thing (British band)</span> British soul group

The Real Thing is a British soul group formed in the 1970s. The band charted internationally with their song "You to Me Are Everything", which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. They also had successes with a string of British hits such as "Can't Get By Without You" and "Can You Feel the Force?". They returned to mainstream success in 1986 with the Decade Remix of "You to Me Are Everything". By number of sales, they were the most successful black rock/soul act in England during the 1970s. The journalist, author and founder of Mojo magazine Paul Du Noyer credits them alongside Deaf School with restoring "Liverpool's musical reputation in the 1970s" with their success.

Retta Young is an American former singer best known for her 1975 disco hit "Sending Out An S.O.S." which made the Billboard Hot Soul Singles, Cash Box Top 100 R&B and UK Top 30 charts. She released an album and three singles during the 1970s.

<i>Romeo and Juliet</i> (album) 1978 studio album by Alec R. Costandinos and the Syncophonic Orchestra

Romeo & Juliet is the first studio album by the disco musician Alec R. Costandinos and the Syncophonic Orchestra released in 1978. It was recorded at Trident Studios, London, in September 1977 and released by Ibis in France and Casablanca Records in the US.

References

  1. Aletti, Vince (April 2009). The disco files 1973–78: New York's underground, week by week. DJhistory.com. pp. 397–. ISBN   978-0-9561896-0-8 . Retrieved 31 July 2011.
  2. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Hits 1955–1990 Compiled from Billboard
  3. Raymond Donnez, Andtheconductoris.com
  4. Discogs – Don Ray Discography
  5. "Don Ray : disparition d'une légende française – ChronicleFred" (in French). 8 March 2019.
  6. "Don Ray - the Garden of Love". Discogs . 1978.