Ronald Bruce Rogers (born November 5, 1952), better known as Ron Rogers or Ronnie Rogers, is a songwriter, [1] composer, recording artist and record producer from New York City. His career spanned from the late 1970s until the 1990s.
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Ronald Bruce Rogers (born November 5, 1952), better known as Ron Rogers or Ronnie Rogers, is a songwriter, [1] composer, recording artist and record producer from New York City. His career spanned from the late 1970s until the 1990s.
Rogers was born in Soundview, South Bronx, New York in 1952.
After recording a debut RCA Victor LP entitled Gichy Dan’s Beachwood # 9, [2] co-produced with songwriter August Darnell, Rogers composed the words and music to Don Armando's hit "Deputy of Love", which reached number one on the Billboard U.S. dance chart. Following this initial success, Michael Zilkha, founder of ZE Records, began publishing Rogers' compositions through Island Records. The compositions were recorded on 24-track analog recording decks by New York session musicians, including Rogers multitracking on piano, drums and vocals. [3] Among the disco-inspired recordings were: "Spooks In Space" by The Aural Exciters, written by Rogers; Gichy Dan's "Cowboys and Gangsters", written and produced by Rogers; and Rogers' own solo EP "Don't Play With My Emotions", all released on ZE Records / Arista Records / Island Records.
Rogers went on to compose, produce and perform on recordings including "The Lifeboat Party", [4] lead track of the Kid Creole and the Coconuts album Doppelganger ; [5] "Gina Gina", from Kid Creole's Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places LP; [6] "City Nights/ Manhattan Cafe's" [7] and "In The Middle Of The Night", [8] released on Rogers' own Blue Chip record label, [9] featuring vocalist Cory Daye of Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band; and Elbow Bones and the Racketeers' UK Top 40 hit "A Night In New York", co-written with lyricist D. Clarkin and released on EMI. In total Rogers has writing or production credits on over 30 recordings. [10]
* (#)X = denotes re-issues/remixes+number of releases
| Year | Song (s) | Producer (s) | Written By | Artist | Title/Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Deputy of Love* (8) | August Darnell / Andy Hernandez | Ron Rogers | Don Armando | Don Armando's Rhumba Band / Ze Records |
| 1978 | all cuts | Ron Rogers / August Darnell | August Darnell | Gichy Dan | Gichy Dan's Beachwood # 9 / RCA |
| 1983 | The Lifeboat Party *3X | August Darnell | Ron Rogers / August Darnell | Kid Creole and the Coconuts | Doppelganger [11] ZE / Island Records |
| 1984 | Take Me For A Night In NY*2X | August Darnell | Ron Rogers / D. Clarkin | Elbow Bones and the Racketeers | New York At Dawn / EMI America |
| 1983 | Cowboys & Gangsters *5X | Ron Rogers | Ron Rogers | Gichy Dan | Gichy Dan [12] / ZE / Island Records |
| 1979 | Spooks In Space* 5X [13] | Bob Blank | Ron Rogers | Aural Exciters | Spooks In Space / ZE |
| 1987 | So Far So Good *2X | Ron Rogers | Ron Rogers August Darnell | Kid Creole | I Too Have Seen The Woods [14] / Sire Records |
| 1986 | City Nights / Manhattan Cafe's | Ron Rogers | Ron Rogers / B.D.Hutz | Cory Daye | Cory Daye / Profile Records |
| 1987 | Gina Gina | August Darnell | Ron Rogers / August Darnell | Kid Creole and the Coconuts | Fresh Fruit In Foreign Places / Ze Records |
| 1987 | In The Middle Of The Night - all cuts | Ron Rogers | Ron Rogers | Cory Daye | In The Middle of the Night / Blue Chip / Profile Records |
| 1983 | Don't Play With My Emotions * (2) - all cuts | Ron Rogers / Vince Traina | Ron Rogers | Ron Rogers | Don't Play With My Emotions / [15] ZE / Island Records |
| 1983 | Piranana * (2) - all cuts | Ron Rogers | Ron Rogers / Caroline Loeb | Caroline Loeb | Piranana / [16] ZE |
| 1995 | Dr. Paradise | Ron Rogers | August Darnell | Kid Creole | Private Waters in the Great Divide / [17] Columbia |
| 1995 | Calling Out to Marlboro | Ron Rogers | August Darnell Ron Rogers | Kid Creole | Traveling Sideways / [18] --- |
| 2004 | Naughty Boy / YA YA | Ron Rogers | Ron Rogers | Ron Rogers | Mutant Disco / [19] Strut Records |
| 2009 | Various cuts | Ron Rogers | Ron Rogers | Compilation | Zevolution / [20] Strut Records |
Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Along with his younger twin brothers, Robin and Maurice, he rose to worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees, one of the most commercially successful groups in the history of popular music. Gibb is well known for his wide vocal range including a far-reaching high-pitched falsetto. Gibb's career has spanned over 60 years.
Lesley Gore was an American singer and songwriter. At the age of 16, she recorded her first hit song "It's My Party", a US number one in 1963. She followed it up with ten further US Billboard top 40 hits including "Judy's Turn to Cry" and "You Don't Own Me". Gore said she considered "You Don't Own Me" her signature song.
Kid Creole and the Coconuts is an American musical group created by August Darnell with Andy Hernandez and Adriana Kaegi. Its music incorporates a variety of styles and influences, in particular a mix of disco and Latin American, Caribbean, and Calloway styles conceptually inspired by the big band era. The Coconuts are a trio of female backing vocalists/dancers, founded and originally choreographed and costumed by Kaegi.
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Cristina Monet Zilkha, known during her recording career simply as Cristina, was an American singer and writer, best known for her no wave recordings made for ZE Records in the late 1970s and early 1980s in New York City. She "was a pioneer in blending the artsiness and attitude of punk with the joyful energy of disco and pop.... [which] helped pave the way for the massive successes of her contemporaries, like Madonna and Cyndi Lauper, and anticipated the rise of confrontational but danceable alt-pop acts..." in a mode that was at once "campy, self-aware, and infectious."
Thomas August Darnell Browder, known professionally as August Darnell and under the stage name Kid Creole, is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He co-founded Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band and subsequently formed and led Kid Creole and the Coconuts.
Andy Hernandez, better known by his stage name Coati Mundi, is an American musician, percussionist, notably playing the vibraphone, and a member of Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band, then of Kid Creole and the Coconuts. He scored the Top 40 UK hit "Me No Pop I" in 1981, just before the release of Tropical Gangsters. He produced and arranged an album by Don Armando's Second Avenue Rhumba Band, which spurred the disco hit song "Deputy of Love".
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"Deputy of Love" is a 1979 disco single by Don Armando.
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