Wally Badarou

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Wally Badarou
Wally Badarou Pop Montreal 2016.jpg
Wally Badarou in 2016
Background information
Birth nameWaliou Jacques Daniel Isheola Badarou
Born (1955-03-22) 22 March 1955 (age 69)
Paris, France
Genres Synthpop, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, progressive rock, African music, neoclassical, minimalist
Occupation(s)Composer, songwriter, musician, record producer
Instrument(s)Keyboards, guitar, programming
Years active1978–present
Labels Barclay Records (1978–1982)
Island Records (1982–1995)
Blue Mountain Music (1995–2002)
Ishe Music (2002–present)
Website http://www.wallybadarou.com/

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.

Contents

Biography

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.

Badarou was close to Island Records's founder Chris Blackwell, and he was one of the Compass Point All Stars (with Sly and Robbie, Barry Reynolds, Mikey Chung and Uziah "Sticky" Thompson), the in-house recording team of Compass Point Studios responsible for a long series of albums of the 1980s recorded by Grace Jones, Tom Tom Club, Joe Cocker, Mick Jagger, Black Uhuru, Gwen Guthrie, Jimmy Cliff and Gregory Isaacs. [1]

Badarou's keyboard playing could also be heard on albums by Robert Palmer, Marianne Faithfull, [2] Herbie Hancock, M (Pop Muzik), Talking Heads, Foreigner, Power Station, Melissa Etheridge, Manu Dibango, Miriam Makeba, and Lizzy Mercier Descloux.

He produced albums by Fela Kuti, Salif Keita, Wasis Diop, Trilok Gurtu, Carlinhos Brown; wrote for the films Countryman , and Kiss of the Spider Woman ; plus directed and wrote for Jean-Paul Goude's French Bicentennial parade, Bastille Day 1989. [3] So succinct was his involvement on Lizzy Mercier Descloux's classic 2nd album, Mambo Nassau, he is tantamount to uncredited co-producer and unacknowledged co-songwriter.

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 Digital Synclavier, and custom voice-controlled Yamaha digital mixers. [5] [ citation needed ]

Badarou also helped organise the Kora All Africa Music Awards in 1997, while co-writing and producing So Why, a charity album for the ICRC, conceived as a call against ethnic cleansing in Africa, featuring Youssou N'Dour and Papa Wemba.

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

Movie scores

Producer (and co-producer)

Session player

Bibliography

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Level 42</span> English jazz-funk band

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.

M is an English new wave and synth-pop 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Gould (musician)</span> British musician

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Sadkin</span> American record producer

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<i>Nightclubbing</i> (Grace Jones album) 1981 studio album by Grace Jones

Nightclubbing is the fifth studio album by Jamaican singer and songwriter Grace Jones, released on 11 May 1981 by Island Records. Recorded at Compass Point Studios with producers Alex Sadkin and Island Records' president Chris Blackwell, as well as a team of session musicians rooted by rhythm section Sly and Robbie, the album marked her second foray into a new wave style that blends a variety of genres, including reggae, R&B, dub and funk. The album has cover versions of songs by Bill Withers, Iggy Pop, Astor Piazzolla, and others, and original songs, three of which were co-written by Jones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Compass Point Studios</span> Recording studio in Nassau, Bahamas

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.

<i>Level 42</i> (album) 1981 studio album by Level 42

Level 42 is the debut album released in August 1981 by the British group Level 42.

Steven J. C. Stanley, is a Jamaican audio engineer, record producer and keyboardist who has worked in the reggae, dub and rock music genres since 1975, most notably with Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club and Black Uhuru.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lizzy Mercier Descloux</span> French musician, singer-songwriter, composer, actress, writer and painter

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<i>Warm Leatherette</i> (album) 1980 studio album by Grace Jones

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<i>Private Life: The Compass Point Sessions</i> 1998 compilation album by Grace Jones

Private Life: The Compass Point Sessions is a compilation album constisting of recordings by recorded by Jamaican singer and songwriter Grace Jones released in 1998 by Island Records. The two-disc anthology consists mostly of material pulled from 1980–1982 recording sessions.

<i>The Early Tapes</i> 1982 studio album by Level 42

The Early Tapes , also known as Strategy, is the second album released, but first to be recorded, by English jazz-funk 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 "(Flying on The) Wings of Love".

<i>The Pursuit of Accidents</i> 1982 studio album by Level 42

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up)</span> 1983 single by Level 42

"The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up)" is a single released in 1983 by English jazz-funk band Level 42. It is one of the few songs by the group which featured Mike Lindup on lead vocals (although Mark King did contribute as lead vocalist on this track). After the success of "The Chinese Way", and of the album The Pursuit of Accidents, this song featured on the newly released Standing in the Light album. The first single from the album, "Out of Sight, Out of Mind", did not obtain the expected success for the recording and for the members of the band, leaving the whole expectation for the second single.

<i>A Physical Presence</i> 1985 EP by Level 42

A Physical Presence is a two-disc live album by English jazz-funk band Level 42, released in June 1985 and recorded in England during March of that year at the Coronet Woolwich, the Hexagon, Reading and Goldiggers, Chippenham, Wiltshire. This album is notable for being the first live album by Level 42, and for containing a previously unreleased song and a live recording of a non-LP track. "Love Games" is preceded by an extended bass intro, which contains also part of "Dune Tune". Also, the first track starts with a taped intro which quotes "Hot Water".

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.

<i>Mambo Nassau</i> 1981 studio album by Lizzy Mercier Descloux

Mambo Nassau is the second studio album by French singer Lizzy Mercier Descloux. It was released on ZE Records in 1981 and recorded at the Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas.

Barry Reynolds is a British guitar player, songwriter, composer and producer, best known for his long-lasting collaboration with Marianne Faithfull.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Are You Hearing (What I Hear)?</span> 1982 single by Level 42

"Are You Hearing?" is a single by English jazz-funk band Level 42, released in 1982.

References

  1. Chris Salewicz's "Keep on running: The story of Island Records", Universe, p. 120 & 135.
  2. David Dalton's "Faithfull: An Autobiography", Little Brown & Co, p. 242 & 245.
  3. Alain Gardinier "365 jours de l'histoire du rock" Ed. de la Martinière, p.154.
  4. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 39. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  5. Keyboard Magazine, May 1986, p. 69.
  6. 1 2 Official Wally Badarou web site http://www.wallybadarou.com .