Shalamar is an American R&B and soul music vocal group created by Dick Griffey and Don Cornelius in 1977 and active throughout the 1980s. Shalamar's classic lineup on the SOLAR label consisted of Howard Hewett, Jody Watley, and Jeffrey Daniel, together with dancer Jermaine Stewart. It was originally a disco-driven group created by Soul Train booking agent Dick Griffey and show creator and producer Don Cornelius. They went on to be an influential dance trio, masterminded by Cornelius. As noted in the British Hit Singles & Albums, they were regarded as fashion icons and trendsetters, and helped to introduce "body-popping" to the United Kingdom. Their name was created by Griffey.
Jody Vanessa Watley is an American singer, songwriter and producer whose music crosses genres including pop, R&B, jazz, dance and electronic soul. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was a member of the R&B/funk band Shalamar, who scored many hits, notably in the UK. In 1988, she won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist and has been nominated for three Grammy awards.
Jody Watley is the debut studio album by American singer Jody Watley, released on February 23, 1987, by MCA Records. Although Watley already found success as a part of the trio Shalamar, the impact of this album made Watley a cultural style icon in contemporary R&B, pop and dance music. Its success culminated in Watley winning a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1988 against fellow artists Breakfast Club, Cutting Crew, Terence Trent D'Arby and Swing Out Sister. The album also produced three top-ten singles on the US Billboard Hot 100: "Looking for a New Love" (#2), "Don't You Want Me" (#6) and "Some Kind of Lover" (#10). The album has sold two million copies in the United States and over four million copies worldwide.
Larger Than Life is the second studio album by American singer Jody Watley, released by MCA Records on March 27, 1989.
Affairs of the Heart is the third studio album by American pop singer Jody Watley, released on December 3, 1991, by MCA Records.. Affairs of the Heart supplies a handful of energetic dance numbers and a plentiful selection of quiet storm ballads, the new material result is a set that's much thicker and deeper sound. Watley co-wrote nine of the album's 11 tracks, which delivers a good mixture flow of R&B-funk, to classy house, to inspirational dance pop and groovy melody Motown-inspired soul.
Reveille was an American nu metal band from Harvard, Chelmsford, and Shirley, Massachusetts.
Paul Milton Jackson Jr. is an American fusion/urban jazz composer, arranger, producer and guitarist.
Michele Watley, better known by her stage name Midori, is an American singer, dancer, model, actress and former pornographic actress. She was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Urban X Hall of Fame in 2023. She was the first African-American woman to win an AVN award, when she was named "Best Supporting Actress" in 2001. Watley was also named one of the top 10 "hottest black porn stars" of all time by Complex and The Independent named her "the queen of the black hardcore market".
Playmate of the Year is the third studio album released by American punk rock band Zebrahead, it is also their final album released via Columbia Records.
Studio X is a music and media recording studio on 4th Avenue in downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. Originally part of the Kaye-Smith Enterprises media conglomerate founded by Lester Smith and actor Danny Kaye, the studio was used to record commercials and musicians. The studio was re-launched as Steve Lawson Productions by Steve and Debbie Lawson in 1979. The sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson of the band Heart owned the studio from 1991 until 1997, and named it Bad Animals after their 1987 album of the same name. Artists such as Heart, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Queensrÿche, Mad Season, Foo Fighters, Audioslave, Aerosmith, The Beach Boys, Jerry Cantrell, Eddie Vedder, Duff McKagan, Johnny Cash, B.B. King, Radiohead, R.E.M., Deftones, Soulfly, Steve Vai, KMFDM, and Neil Young have recorded at the studio.
Ulrich Wild, is an American record producer, engineer and mixer specializing in the rock and metal genres. Born and raised in Switzerland, Ulrich is now a naturalized citizen in the United States, living in Los Angeles. In a career that has spanned over 20 years, his numerous credits include producing or engineering albums for bands such as Dethklok, Sex Slaves, Project 86, Pantera, Here Comes the Kraken, Static-X, Otep, Stabbing Westward, Powerman 5000, Deftones, Seether, Bleeding Through, Breaking Benjamin, Taproot, SOiL, World Entertainment War, and many other artists, and for soundtracks including Freddy vs. Jason, Mission: Impossible 2, and House of Wax. He has also remixed songs by the band Mindless Self Indulgence. He was nominated for a Grammy for best engineered non-classical album in 1995 for his work with White Zombie.
Howard Hewett Jr. is an American singer–songwriter. Hewett rose to fame as the lead vocalist of the group Shalamar. In 1985, he left the group to pursue his solo career, but he later returned to the group in 2001. He signed with Elektra Records. In 1986, he released his Platinum debut solo album I Commit to Love. Hewett and his group Shalamar contributed material to the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack. The soundtrack won a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media in 1986.
Jerry Hey is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's Thriller, Rock with You, "Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough", "Workin’ Day and Night" and the flugelhorn solo on Dan Fogelberg's hit "Longer". Additionally, he has performed with artists such as George Benson, Nik Kershaw, Al Jarreau, Barbra Streisand, Donna Summer, Earth, Wind & Fire, Whitney Houston, Frank Sinatra, George Duke, Lionel Richie, Rufus and Chaka Khan, Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin, Patti Austin, Toshiki Kadomatsu, Yumi Matsutoya, among many others.
Bob Rosa is an American record producer who has worked with artists such as Madonna, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey and Espen Lind. One of his first recording projects was working on the track "Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force in 1982.
Bruce R. Gaitsch is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He is best known for working with notable bands and musicians such as Chicago, Peter Cetera, Madonna, and Agnetha Fältskog as a session musician and songwriter. Gaitsch co-wrote the Madonna song "La Isla Bonita", an international #1 single that earned Gaitsch an award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers in 1987. He has collaborated numerous times with fellow Chicago native Richard Marx whose career he was instrumental in launching.
Michael Christopher Landau is an American musician, audio engineer, and record producer. He is a session musician and guitarist who has played on many albums since the early 1980s with Boz Scaggs, Minoru Niihara, Joni Mitchell, Rod Stewart, Seal, Michael Jackson, James Taylor, Helen Watson, Luis Miguel, Richard Marx, Steve Perry, Pink Floyd, Phil Collins on "Two Hearts" and "Loco in Acapulco", Roger Daltrey, Stevie Nicks, Glenn Frey, Eros Ramazzotti, Whitney Houston, and Miles Davis. Landau, along with fellow session guitarists Dean Parks, Steve Lukather, Michael Thompson and Dann Huff, played on many of the major label releases recorded in Los Angeles from the 1980s–1990s. He has released music with several record labels, including Ulftone Music and Tone Center Records, a member of Shrapnel Label Group.
Rob Chiarelli is an American record producer, mix engineer, musician, published author and multiple Grammy Award winner. Widely recognized as a music producer for Will Smith and Men in Black II (2002), Chiarelli's work appears on numerous gold and platinum albums and motion picture soundtracks, including twenty Grammy winners.
Lawrence Lowell Williams is an American record producer, composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist. He is proficient on the keyboards, saxophone, flute, and clarinet. Williams began his musical career in the 1970s, and has since established himself as a prominent figure in the music industry. He regularly toured and recorded with Al Jarreau for over 3 decades and also was a musician on Michael Jackson's albums Off The Wall, Thriller, and Bad.
Brannen Temple is an American three time Grammy Award winning drummer, who is best known as a drummer for acts such as Eric Burdon, Robben Ford, Lizz Wright, Eric Johnson, and currently Ruthie Foster.
William S. Schnee is an American musician, music producer, and audio engineer. Schnee has been nominated 11 times for the Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical Grammy Award and worked on a multitude of other Grammy nominated and awarded albums. He has won two Grammys, an Emmy for Outstanding Sound for a Television Special, and a Dove Award. In a 45+ year career of very diverse artists, Schnee has received over 135 gold and platinum records and has recorded/mixed over 50 top twenty singles.
