Wally Badarou: Biography

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• Discography
• Biography
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• Andreas Vollenweider
• Michael Pluznick

• Stevie Wonder
• Herbie Hancock
• Tonto

• Sly Dunbar
• Mikey Chung
• Uziah "Sticky" Thompson
• Sly & Robbie
• Robbie Shakespeare
• Level 42
• Barry Reynolds

• Sly Dunbar
• Mark King
• Robert Palmer
• Steven Stanley
• Mike Lindup
• Robbie Shakespeare
• Phil Gould

Birth Name:

Waliou Isheola Jacques Daniel

Born:

Mar 22, 1955 in Paris, France

Genres:

Electronic & Dance Music, Ambient Music, Disco Music, Dance Pop Music

Decades Active:

1970's|1980's|1990's|2000's

Artistic Quality

Low

Cultural Impact

Low

Ratings Guide

Wally Badarou was born in Paris, where his physician parents were educated and his father later served as ambassador from their West African homeland of Cotonon Benin (formerly Dahomey). Although he planned a career as a pilot, he was seduced by synthesizers and rock roll, eventually becoming a well-known session keyboardist in England and his own Nassau, Bahamas, studio. Badarou's early career included work with M (on the hit "Pop Music"), Joe Cocker, Herbie Hancock, and Island Records artists like Grace Jones, Black Uhuru, and the British funk band Level 42. In addition to his production and keyboard work for Level 42, he has done several film scores, most notably Kiss of the Spider Woman. You can hear both the rhythmic sensitivity of his African heritage and the harmonic sensibility of his classical training in his music. His expressive and sophisticated synthesizer textures are full of life, especially on his more dance-oriented Echoes album. In the nineties he released two albums, 1991's Chief Inspector and 1997's So Why.

- Scott Bultman, All Music Guide