Rodney Lynn "Rod" Temperton (born October 15, 1947 in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England)^[1] is an English songwriter, record producer and musician most famous for writing a number of songs performed by Michael Jackson, including the title track of Jackson's Thriller,^[2] the biggest-selling album of all time.

Biography[link]

As Temperton remembers music was in his bones from an early age; "My father wasn't the kind of person who'd read you a story before you went off to sleep - he used to put a transistor radio in the crib, right on the pillow, and I'd go to sleep listening to Radio Luxemburg and I think that had an influence."^[3] (It is worth noting that transistor radios did not appear on the market until the late 1950s -- early 1960s, when Temperton would long have outgrown his crib). Temperton attended the De Aston School in Market Rasen and he formed a group for the school's music competitions. He was a drummer at this time. "I'd get in the living room with my snare drum and my cymbal and play along to the Test Card, which was all kinds of music they'd be playing continuously." On leaving school he started working in the office of a frozen food company in Grimsby. He soon became a full-time musician however, a keyboard player now, and played in several dance bands, and this took him to Worms in Germany. In 1972 Temperton and guitarist Bernd Springer formed a soul cover band called Sundown Carousel. With Temperton on an old Hammond organ the band performed in clubs and GI bars in cities such as Mannheim.^{[citation needed]} In 1974 he answered an advert in Melody Maker placed by Johnnie Wilder, Jr. and so became a member of the popular funk/disco band, Heatwave which Wilder was putting together at the time. "He was the first British guy that I had ever met personally. He spoke kind of funny but he had a good sense of humour and he was a very friendly guy. After meeting him and then seeing him play I kind of determined he was a good enough player and entertainer and I just knew he would fit in the group", said Wilder.^[4] Temperton played tunes he had been composing to Johnny Wilder, Jr.: "I was very interested because we were doing a lot of cover tunes - we weren't doing a lot of original material - I was really interested." The songs provided material for 1976's Too Hot to Handle including "Boogie Nights", which broke the band in Britain and the United States, and the memorable ballad, "Always and Forever" - both tracks were million-sellers in the U.S.^[5]

Temperton's work attracted the attention of Quincy Jones, and he asked his engineer Bruce Swedien to check out the Heatwave album. "Holy cow! I simply loved Rod's musical feeling - everything about it - Rod's arrangements, his tunes, his songs - was exceedingly hip," recalled Swedien. Despite the slick American sound, Temperton's working surroundings were still far from glamorous. Alan Kirk, a Yorkshire musician with Jimmy James and the Vagabonds who toured with Heatwave in the mid 1970s remembered: "The Always and Forever track was written on a Wurlitzer piano at the side of a pile of pungent washing - sorry to disappoint all the romantics." And producer Barry Blue recalled: "He had a very small flat, so everything had to be done within one room and he had piles of washing, and had the T.V. on top of the organ. It was a nightmare (...) he had trams running outside (...) but he made it, he just absorbed himself in the music and Rod seemed to come up with these amazing songs." ^[6] In 1977 Heatwave followed up the success of their first L.P. with their second, Central Heating, Barry Blue again producing, and Temperton behind the majority of the songs. It included The Groove Line, another huge selling hit single with the by now familiar Heatwave sound and Rod Temperton hook. In 1978 Temperton decided to concentrate on writing and left Heatwave though he continued to write for the band. In the early 1980s Temperton left Germany and moved to Beverly Hills, California.^[7]

In 1979 he was recruited by Quincy Jones to write for what became Michael Jackson's first solo album in four years, and his first full-fledged solo release for Epic Records, entitled Off The Wall. Temperton wrote three songs for the album, including "Rock with You" which became the second US #1 single from the album. In 1982 Temperton wrote three songs, including the title track, for Jackson's next LP, Thriller, which became the biggest-selling album of all time. On coming up with the title Thriller, Temperton once said:

Temperton was nominated for an Oscar for a song on the soundtrack of the film, The Color Purple, as the co-writer of the song "Miss Celie's Blues".^[8]

Songwriting credits[link]

Temperton wrote/co-wrote for the following singers/bands:^[9][10]

• Michael Jackson: "Rock with You", "Off the Wall", "Burn This Disco Out", "Baby Be Mine", "The Lady in My Life", "Thriller", "Someone in the Dark", "Hot Street".
• Heatwave: "Boogie Nights", "Always and Forever", "The Groove Line", "Gangsters of the Groove", "Lettin' It Loose", "Keep Tomorrow for Me", "Party Suite"
• James Ingram & Michael McDonald: "Yah Mo B There".
• Tamia: "You Put a Move on My Heart".
• Rufus: "Masterjam", "Live In Me".
• The Brothers Johnson: "Stomp!" and "Treasure" "Light up the Night", "All About The Heaven".
• Donna Summer: "Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)", "Livin' In America" and "Love Is Just A Breath Away".
• Quincy Jones: "The Dude", "Razzamatazz", "Somethin' Special", "Turn On The Action", "The Secret Garden" and "Back On The Block", "You Put a Move on My Heart" and "Q's Jook Joint".
• Herbie Hancock: "Lite Me Up", "Getting To The Good Part", "Motor Mouth".
• Aretha Franklin: "Livin' In The Streets".
• Jeffrey Osborne: "We Belong To Love" (which Temperton also produced).
• Bob James: "Sign Of The Times" and "The Steamin' Feelin'".
• The Manhattan Transfer: "Mystery", "The Spice Of Life", from their Bodies and Souls album.
• George Benson: Give Me the Night LP, including "Love x Love", "Turn Out the Lamplight" and the title track.
• James Ingram: "One More Rhythm" from his It's Your Night LP (also includes "Yah Mo B There").
• Anita Baker: "Mystery" from her Rapture album.
• Patti Austin: Every Home Should Have One LP; "Do You Love Me?", "The Genie", "Baby, Come To Me" (with James Ingram).
• Second Image: "Lights Out" on Strange Reflections
• Michael McDonald: "Sweet Freedom".
• Stephanie Mills: "Time of Your Life" and "Hold On to Midnight".
• Karen Carpenter: "Lovelines" and "If We Try".
• LL Cool J featuring Boyz II Men: "Hey Lover" (Temperton listed as co-writer for sampled section from Michael Jackson's "The Lady in My Life").
• Mica Paris: "Love Keeps Coming Back", "Two in a Million", & "You Put A Move On My Heart".
• Mýa: "Man in my Life".
• Klymaxx: "Man-Size Love".
• C+C Music Factory: "Share That Beat of Love".
• Angie Stone: "Lovers' Ghetto" from her Stone Love album.
• Mariah Carey: "I'm That Chick" (Temperton listed as co-writer for sampled section from Michael Jackson's "Off the Wall") from her E=MC² album.

Production credits[link]

• Kim Wilde: "Say You Really Want Me".
• Jeffrey Osborne: "We Belong To Love".
• Quincy Jones: "I'll Be Good to You", "The Secret Garden", "I Don't Go For That", "Stomp"^[11]
• Patti Austin: "Givin' In To Love"

See also[link]

• Grammy Awards of 1991
• Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement
• Academy Award for Best Original Song
• Academy Award for Original Music Score

References[link]

External links[link]

• MyPairOfShoes - A tribute mix to Rod Temperton originally recorded in July 2007
• Six Million Steps - Rod Temperton Special radio show from March 2008
• Rod Temperton biography at Allmusic website
• Irreverent website info
• Mini biography
• "The Yorkshire Post" article (2006)

Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones attending an after-party of a tribute to his work at Life Restaurant, Los Angeles, CA on October 1, 2008
Background information
Birth name	Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr.
Also known as	Leigh Warren
Born	(1933-03-14) March 14, 1933 (age 79) Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres	Rhythm and blues, funk, soul, big band, swing, bossa nova, jazz, hip hop, rock and roll
Occupations	Musician, conductor, producer, arranger, composer, film composer
Instruments	Trumpet, French horn, drums, vocals, piano synthesizer
Years active	1951–present
Labels	Columbia, Mercury, Qwest
Associated acts	Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Sarah Vaughn, Aaliyah,[1] Michael Jackson, Rod Temperton, The Brothers Johnson, Frank Sinatra, Eddie Van Halen, Dinah Washington, Dean Martin, 2Pac, Patti Austin, Tevin Campbell, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Will Smith, Trey Songz
Website	quincyjones.com

Jones in 2004 at the World Economic Forum in Davos

Quincy Delight Jones, Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, conductor, arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations,^[2] 27 Grammys,^[2] including a Grammy Legend Award in 1991. He is particularly recognized as the producer of the album Thriller, by pop icon Michael Jackson, which has sold more than 110 million copies worldwide,^[3] and as the producer and conductor of the charity song “We Are the World”.

In 1968, Jones and his songwriting partner Bob Russell became the first African Americans to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song "The Eyes of Love" from the Universal Pictures film Banning. That same year, he became the first African American to be nominated twice within the same year when he was nominated for Best Original Score for his work on the music of the 1967 film In Cold Blood. In 1971, Jones would receive the honor of becoming the first African American to be named musical director/conductor of the Academy Awards ceremony. He was the first African American to win the Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, in 1995. He is tied with sound designer Willie D. Burton as the most Oscar-nominated African American, each of them having seven nominations. At the 2008 BET Awards, Quincy Jones was presented with the Humanitarian Award. He was played by Larenz Tate in the 2004 biopic about Ray Charles, Ray.

Early life[link]

Jones was born in Chicago, the oldest son of Sarah Frances (née Wells), an apartment complex manager and bank executive who suffered from schizophrenia, and Quincy Delight Jones, Sr., a semi-professional baseball player and carpenter.^[4] He sometimes ate rat as a child^[5][6] Jones discovered music in grade school at Raymond Elementary School on Chicago's South Side and took up the trumpet. When he was 10, his family moved to Bremerton, Washington and he attended Seattle's Garfield High School. It was in Seattle that Jones, 14, first met a 17-year-old Ray Charles^[7] and developed musically under the tutelage of Robert Blackwell.

His brother, Richard Jones, is a federal district court judge in Seattle, and has presided over several very high-profile cases, including the notorious Green River Killer Gary Ridgway. ^[8]

In 1951, Jones won a scholarship to the Schillinger House (now Berklee College of Music) in Boston, Massachusetts. However, he abandoned his studies when he received an offer to tour as a trumpeter with the bandleader Lionel Hampton. While Jones was on the road with Hampton, he displayed a gift for arranging songs. Jones relocated to New York City, where he received a number of freelance commissions arranging songs for artists like Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Gene Krupa, and his close friend Ray Charles.

Musical career[link]

In 1956, Jones toured again as a trumpeter and musical director of the Dizzy Gillespie Band on a tour of the Middle East and South America sponsored by the United States Information Agency. Upon his return to the United States, Jones got a contract from ABC-Paramount Records and commenced his recording career as the leader of his own band.

In 1957, Quincy settled in Paris where he studied composition and theory with Nadia Boulanger and Olivier Messiaen. He also performed at the Paris Olympia. Jones became music director at Barclay Disques, the French distributor for Mercury Records.

During the 1950s, Jones successfully toured throughout Europe with a number of jazz orchestras. As musical director of Harold Arlen's jazz musical Free and Easy, Quincy Jones took to the road again. A European tour closed in Paris in February 1960. With musicians from the Arlen show, Jones formed his own big band, called The Jones Boys, with 18 artists—plus their families—in tow. The band included jazz greats Eddie Jones and fellow trumpeter Reunald Jones, and organized a tour of North America and Europe. Though the European and American concerts met enthusiastic audiences and sparkling reviews, concert earnings could not support a band of this size, and poor budget planning made it an economic disaster; the band dissolved and the fallout left Jones in a financial crisis. Quoted in Musician magazine, Jones said about his ordeal, "We had the best jazz band in the planet, and yet we were literally starving. That's when I discovered that there was music, and there was the music business. If I were to survive, I would have to learn the difference between the two." Irving Green, head of Mercury Records, got Jones back on his feet with a personal loan and a new job as the musical director of the company's New York division, where he worked with Doug Moody, who would later go on to form Mystic Records.

His 1960s breakthrough and rise to prominence[link]

In 1964, Jones was promoted to vice-president of the company, thus becoming the first African American to hold such an executive position in a white-owned record company.^[9] In that same year, Quincy Jones turned his attention to another musical arena that had long been closed to blacks—the world of film scores. At the invitation of director Sidney Lumet, he composed the music for The Pawnbroker. It was the first of his 33 major motion picture scores.

Following the success of The Pawnbroker, Jones left Mercury Records and moved to Los Angeles. After his score for The Slender Thread, starring Sidney Poitier, he was in constant demand as a composer. His film credits in the next five years included Walk, Don't Run, In Cold Blood, In the Heat of the Night, A Dandy in Aspic, Mackenna's Gold, The Italian Job, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, The Lost Man, Cactus Flower, and The Getaway. In addition, he also composed "The Streetbeater," which became familiar as the theme music for the television sitcom Sanford and Son, starring close friend Redd Foxx.

In the 1960s, Jones worked as an arranger for some of the most important artists of the era, including Billy Eckstine, Sarah Vaughn, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, and Dinah Washington. Jones's solo recordings also garnered acclaim, including Walking in Space, Gula Matari, Smackwater Jack, You've Got It Bad, Girl, Body Heat, Mellow Madness, and I Heard That!!.

He is well known for his 1962 tune "Soul Bossa Nova", which originated on the Big Band Bossa Nova album. "Soul Bossa Nova" was a theme for the 1998 World Cup, the Canadian game show Definition, the Woody Allen film Take the Money and Run and the Mike Myers movie Austin Powers in Goldmember, and was sampled by Canadian hip hop group Dream Warriors for their song, "My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style".

Jones was also responsible for producing all four million-selling singles for Lesley Gore during the early and mid-sixties, including "It's My Party" (UK #8; US #1), "Judy's Turn To Cry" (US #5), "She's A Fool" (also a US #5) in 1963, and "You Don't Own Me" (US #2 for four weeks in 1964). He continued to produce for Lesley until 1966, including the Greenwich/ Barry hit "Look of Love" (US #27) in 1965.

Jones's 1981 album The Dude yielded multiple hit singles, including "Ai No Corrida" (a remake of a song by Chaz Jankel), "Just Once" and "One Hundred Ways", the latter two featuring James Ingram on lead vocals and marking Ingram's first hits.

In 1985, Jones scored the Steven Spielberg film adaptation of The Color Purple. He and Jerry Goldsmith (from Twilight Zone: The Movie) are the only composers besides John Williams to have scored a Spielberg theatrical film. After the 1985 American Music Awards ceremony, Jones used his influence to draw most of the major American recording artists of the day into a studio to record the song "We Are the World" to raise money for the victims of Ethiopia's famine. When people marveled at his ability to make the collaboration work, Jones explained that he'd taped a simple sign on the entrance: "Check Your Ego At The Door".

Starting in the late 1970s, Jones tried to convince Miles Davis to re-perform the music he had played on several classic albums that had been arranged by Gil Evans in the 1960s. Davis had always refused, citing a desire not to revisit the past. In 1991, Davis, then suffering from pneumonia, relented and agreed to perform the music at a concert at the Montreux Jazz Festival. The resulting album from the recording, Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux, was Davis' last released album (he died several months afterward) and is considered an artistic triumph.^[10]

In 1993, Jones collaborated with David Salzman to produce the concert extravaganza An American Reunion, a celebration of Bill Clinton's inauguration as president of the United States. In 1994, Salzman and Jones formed the company Quincy Jones/David Salzman Entertainment (QDE) with Time/Warner Inc. QDE is a diverse company which produces media technology, motion pictures, television programs (In the House, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and MADtv), and magazines (Vibe and Spin).

In 2001, he published his autobiography, Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones. On July 31, 2007, Jones partnered with Wizzard Media to launch the Quincy Jones Video Podcast.^[11] In each episode, Jones shares his knowledge and experience in the music industry. The first episode features Jones in the studio, producing "I Knew I Loved you" for Celine Dion, which is featured on the Ennio Morricone tribute album, We All Love Ennio Morricone. Jones is also noted for helping produce Anita Hall's CD, Send Love, which was released in 2009.

Work with Michael Jackson[link]

While working on the film The Wiz, Michael Jackson asked Jones to recommend some producers for Jackson's upcoming solo record. Jones offered some names, but eventually asked Jackson if he would like for him to produce the record. Jackson replied that he would, and the result, Off The Wall, has sold approximately 20 million copies and made Jones the most powerful record producer in the industry. Jones's and Jackson's next collaboration Thriller has sold a reputed 110 million copies and has become the highest-selling album of all time.^[12] Jones also worked on Michael Jackson's album Bad, which has sold 45 million copies. Bad was the last time the pair would work together in the studio, although an audio interview with Jones features on the 2001 special editions of 'Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad.

In a 2002 interview, when Jackson was asked if he would ever work with Jones again he replied, "The door is always open".^{[citation needed]} However, in 2007, when NME.COM asked Jones a similar question, he said "Man, please! We already did that. I have talked to him about working with him again but I've got too much to do. I've got 900 products, I'm 74 years old."^[13]

Following Jackson's death on June 25, 2009, Jones said:

Work with Frank Sinatra[link]

Jones first worked with Frank Sinatra when he was invited by Princess Grace to arrange a benefit concert at the Monaco Sporting Club in 1958.^[15] Six years later, Sinatra hired him to arrange and conduct Sinatra's second album with Count Basie, It Might as Well Be Swing (1964). Jones conducted and arranged 1966's live album with the Basie Band, Sinatra at the Sands.^[16] Jones was also the arranger/conductor when Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, and Johnny Carson performed with the Basie orchestra in St. Louis, Missouri, in a benefit for Dismas House in June 1965. The fund-raiser was broadcast to a number of other theaters around the country and eventually released on DVD.^[17] Later that year, Jones was also the arranger/conductor when Sinatra and Basie appeared on The Hollywood Palace TV show on October 16, 1965.^[18] Nineteen years later, Sinatra and Jones teamed up for 1984's L.A. Is My Lady, after a joint Sinatra-Lena Horne project was abandoned.^[19]

Brazilian culture[link]

Jones is a great admirer of Brazilian culture and a film on Brazil's Carnival is among his recent plans: "one of the most spectacular spiritual events on the planet";^[20] Simone, whom he cites as "one of the world´s greatest singers",^[21] Ivan Lins,^[22] Milton Nascimento and Gilson Peranzzetta, "one of the five biggest arrangement producers of the world"^[23] stand as close friends and partners in his recent works.