Rod Temperton R.I.P.

The death has been announced of the great British songwriter Rod Temperton. He was 66 and had been suffering from cancer. Never a household name, his songs were, and always will be, known to millions upon millions of music fans, most notably for his work for Michael Jackson, but also a host of other stars, and as a frequent collaborator with Quincy Jones.
The news was confirmed today (5 October), some days after the event, by Jon Platt, chairman and CEO of his music publisher, Warner/Chappell. “Rod Temperton, British composer and musician, died last week at the age of 66 in London following a brief aggressive battle with cancer. His funeral was private.
Temperton, born in Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire, became a full-time musician in the early 1970s, and in 1972 he and guitarist Bernd Springer formed a soul band. In 1974, he answered an advert in Melody Maker and became a member of the classy British soul-funk band of the late 1970s, Heatwave.
Rod’s talents were spotted by Jones, who hired him to write for Michael Jackson’s major solo breakthrough album Off The Wall. Temperton composed some the signature songs for not only that album, in ‘Rock With You’ and the title track,
As a writer, he was firmly established as Jones’ trusted collaborator on other productions for such artists as the
Other credits included work on further Jones productions for Patti Austin, James Ingram, Rufus and Siedah Garrett as well as Herbie Hancock, the Carpenters (‘Lovelines’ and others, for the 1989 album of that name), the Manhattan Transfer, Mariah Carey and Aretha Franklin.
Listen to our Songs Of Rod Temperton playlist on Spotify


uDiscover
October 5, 2016 at 4:38 pm
A slip of the drag and drop mechanism! it’s gone :0