- Wally Badarou
Wally Badarou (born
22 March 1955 ,Paris ,France ) is amusician fromBenin .A
synthesizer specialist, Badarou is best known as the longtime associate of the British bandLevel 42 , known for its blend offunk , pop, soul and rock. He has co-written, performed on and (later) co-produced a number of the band's tracks since its debutalbum in 1981. Though not an official member of Level 42, he has long been considered an informal "fifth member" of what has otherwise usually been aquartet led bybassist , Mark King. Badarou can be seen in the video for "Love Games" on the "Level 42 - The Collection"DVD .A friend of
Chris Blackwell (Island Records founder), Badarou also worked on albums byJoe Cocker ,Mick Jagger ,Grace Jones , Robert Palmer,Marianne Faithfull ,Herbie Hancock ,Robin Scott "M" ("Pop Muzik "),Talking Heads , Foreigner, Power Station,Melissa Etheridge ,Sly and Robbie ,Black Uhuru ,Jimmy Cliff ,Lizzy Mercier Descloux ,Gregory Isaacs ,Manu Dibango , andMiriam Makeba ; produced albums byFela Kuti ,Salif Keita ,Wasis Diop ,Trilok Gurtu , andCarlinhos Brown ; and wrote moviesoundtrack s (part ofHector Babenco Kiss of the Spider Woman most notably).In 1989, he acted as musical director and composer for
Jean-Paul Goude 's show on theFrench Revolution , "Bicentennial".In 1990,
Massive Attack 's "Daydreaming" (subsequently appearing on the "Blue Lines " album) is largely sampled from "Mambo" (on the "Echoes" album, 1984).In 1997, Badarou helped setting up the All African Music
Kora Awards , and produced & co-wrote "So Why" for theICRC , along withYoussou N'Dour andPapa Wemba , a call againstethnic cleansing inAfrica .Discography
*1982 "Back to Scales Tonight"
*1984 "Echoes"
*1989 "Words of a Mountain"
*1997 "So Why"
*2001 "Colors of Silence: Musical Poetry for Yoga"External links
* [http://www.wallybadarou.com Official website]
* [http://www.ultimatelevel42.com/media/groups_list.php?a=search&value=1&SearchFor=16&SearchOption=Equals&SearchField=group_band Wally Badarou discography]
* [http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/TUTORS.9.0.html?act_session=309 Wally Badarou RBMA video lecture session Pt.1]
* [http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/TUTORS.9.0.html?act_session=310 Wally Badarou RBMA video lecture session Pt.2]
* [http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/TUTORS.9.0.html?act_session=311 Wally Badarou RBMA video lecture session Pt.3]
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