Waliou Jacques Daniel Isheola "Wally" Badarou (born 22 March 1955) is a French musician. Born in France with ancestry from Benin, West Africa, Badarou is known for his close association with the English group Level 42, and for his prolific work as a session musician with a wide variety of performers from around the world.
Badarou was the long-time associate of the British band Level 42, contributing on keyboards, synthesizers and programming. He has co-written and performed on a number of the band's tracks since their recording début in 1980, later co-producing them.
Though never an official member of Level 42, he could be considered a de facto "fifth member" of the band's classic line-up from 1980 through 1994, as he played keyboards and synths on all their studio albums, and co-wrote and/or co-produced much of their material. However, Badarou did not play with Level 42 on concert dates, and he has not been involved with the revived version of the group, which reunited in the early 2000s.
His solo instrumental work includes two albums: Echoes (1984) and Words of a Mountain (1989). The former included "Chief Inspector", "Mambo" (sampled for Massive Attack's "Daydreaming" (Blue Lines album)), and "Hi-Life". "Chief Inspector" peaked at #46 in the UK Singles Chart in October 1985.[4]
The Words of a Mountain album is believed to be one of the first fully tapeless recordings in contemporary/new-age history: co-pioneering the computerised home studio concept with other electronic musicians of his generation, Badarou established a reputation on the field with his extensive use of Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, New England DigitalSynclavier, and custom voice-controlled Yamaha digital mixers.[5][citation needed]
He has embraced stage acting since the early 2000s, showing interest in aviation, movies, science-fiction and philosophy.[citation needed]
By the end of 2009, starting with Fisherman, a 15 mn long "marathon in afro-beat territory ",[6] Badarou released his latest album (The Unnamed Trilogy): online exclusively, one single at a time, via the JukeSticker, a direct and sharable transaction tool: "At very long last, my fans are to receive the music that never stopped haunting me all these years. The whole of it will be available as a physical collector set, once the three albums are fully revealed ".[6]
Discography
Solo
1979: Back to Scales Tonight
1984: Echoes
1985: Chief Inspector (EP)
1989: Words of a Mountain
1997: So Why
2001: Colors of Silence: Musical poetry for Yoga
2009: The Unnamed Trilogy
Movie scores
1981: Dickie Jobson: Countryman
1982: Nathalie Delon & Yves Deschamps: They Call It an Accident
1985: Hector Babenco: Kiss of the SpiderWoman (additional music)
Level 42 are an English jazz-funk band formed on the Isle of Wight in 1979. They had a number of UK and worldwide hits during the 1980s and 1990s.
Melissa Etheridge is the debut album by American singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge, released in 1988.
M is an English new wave and synthpop music project from London, England, led by English musician Robin Scott. M is most known for the 1979 hit "Pop Muzik", which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart in May 1979, and number one in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart on 3 November 1979. Musicians who contributed to M at one time or another included Wally Badarou, Mark King, Phil Gould and Gary Barnacle of Level 42.
Philip Gabriel Gould is a British drummer, songwriter and singer from the Isle of Wight in southern England. He founded the band Level 42 with Mark King.
Alex Sadkin was an American record producer, engineer, mixer and mastering engineer.
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).
Robin Edmond Scott is an English singer and founder of the music project M. His career encompasses six decades.
Compass Point Studios was a music recording studio in the Bahamas, founded in 1977 by Chris Blackwell, the owner of Island Records. The concept of the studio was of a recording facility supported by in-house sets of artists, musicians, producers and engineers, all dedicated to a specific and recognisable sound and style. The session band at the studios, as well as visiting recording artists, became known as the Compass Point All Stars.
Level 42 is the debut album released in August 1981 by the British group Level 42.
David Gilmore is an American jazz guitarist.
Warm Leatherette is the fourth studio album by Jamaican singer and songwriter Grace Jones, released on 9 May 1980 by Island Records. The album features contributions from the reggae production duo Sly and Robbie and is a departure from Jones's earlier disco sound, moving towards a new wave-reggae direction.
The Early Tapes , also known as Strategy, is the second album released, but first to be recorded, by the British group Level 42. Originally recorded for Elite Records, the band subsequently signed to Polydor, who bought the masters from Elite and issued it in March 1982. It features Level 42's first two singles - "Love Meeting Love" and "Wings of Love".
The Pursuit of Accidents is the third studio album released by the jazz/funk British musical group Level 42, in 1982. It was issued on CD in 1985. It was re-issued on CD in 2000 as part of a two disc set with the album "Standing In The Light", and again in 2007 as a stand-alone disc. The album reached #17 on the UK album charts.
The Very Best of Level 42 is a compilation released by the UK band Level 42. It features a chronological track listing of the band's hit single releases from 1981 to 1994.
Tony Wright, also known as Sue Ab Surd, is an artist who created album covers such as Bob Marley's Natty Dread and Traffic's The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys and others including Bob Dylan's Saved. His art work for The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys and Steve Winwood's Arc of a Diver were listed amongst Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Album Covers. The cover for The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
Barry Reynolds is a British guitar player, songwriter, composer and producer, best known for his long-lasting collaboration with Marianne Faithfull.
"Weave Your Spell" is a single by English jazz-funk band Level 42, released in 1982.
"Are You Hearing?" is a single by English jazz-funk band Level 42, released in 1982.
"Turn It On" is a single by English jazz-funk band Level 42. The single was released in 1981.
Language Barrier is a studio album by Jamaican musical duo Sly and Robbie, released in 1985 by Island Records. The album features guest musicians Herbie Hancock, Bob Dylan, Afrika Bambaataa, and Manu DiBango.
References
↑ Chris Salewicz's "Keep on running: The story of Island Records", Universe, p. 120 & 135.
↑ David Dalton's "Faithfull: An Autobiography", Little Brown & Co, p. 242 & 245.
↑ Alain Gardinier "365 jours de l'histoire du rock" Ed. de la Martinière, p.154.
↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19thed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p.39. ISBN1-904994-10-5.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
