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-minute long "marathon in afro-beat territory",[6] Badarou releases his albums—including his latest, The Unnamed Trilogy—exclusively online, 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)
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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.
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