Boyd H. Jarvis (October 26, 1958 – February 17, 2018) was an American record producer,

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

er and musician, best known for his song, co-written with Jason Smith, "The Music Got Me"; released in 1983 by

Prelude Records Prelude Records was a New York-based independent record label that was active from 1976 to 1986. At one time, François Kevorkian held an A&R position at Prelude. The label's owner was Marvin Schlachter. History Prelude was first launched in 19 ...

. He has collaborated with artists such as

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

La Toya Jackson La Toya Yvonne Jackson (born May 29, 1956) is an American singer and television personality. The fifth child and middle daughter of the Jackson family, Jackson first gained recognition on the family's variety television series, ''The Jacksons'', ...

and

Johnny Kemp Jonathan "Johnny" Kemp (August 2, 1959 – April 16, 2015) was a Bahamian singer, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a songwriter in late 1979 and is perhaps best known for his solo work, including his single " Just Got Pai ...

. Boyd Jarvis started his career as an intern for renowned professor of Anthropology Pearl Primus, training under Sandra Ross in theater lighting and set design. He went on to design lighting for shows in Lincoln center, Perry Street theater, and Riverside church theater. In the early 1980s, a time in which New York City was the world's nexus of burgeoning musical movements such as underground club/post-disco, rap, hip hop and electro, Jarvis created a musical sound through the use of home made, reel to reel and hand-played sparse synthesizer and drum machine tracks, that were featured extensively as overdubs on early-mid 1980s New York WBLS FM “extended music sweeps” with DJs Timmy Regisford and later, Merlin Bobb. In 1990, Jarvis sued

Robert Clivillés Robert Manuel Clivillés (; born July 30, 1964
from

David Cole of

C+C Music Factory C, or c, is the third letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''cee'' (pronounced ), plural ''cees''. History "C" ...

for

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...

over their song "Get Dumb", which illegally (by sampling a sound recording without authorization) incorporates parts of "The Music Got Me". He resided in New Jersey with his wife and continued to write, record, and produce music under his label, CFX Records.

Solo career

Jarvis worked as a session musician for

John "Jellybean" Benitez John Benitez (born November 7, 1957), also known as Jellybean, is an American musician, songwriter, DJ, remixer, and music producer. He has produced and remixed artists such as Madonna, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, and the Pointer Sisters ...

, Wally Jump, Jr. & the Criminal Element,

Colonel Abrams Colonel Abrams (May 25, 1949 – November 24, 2016) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, dancer and actor. Early life Colonel Abrams (his real name) was born in Detroit, Michigan. His family later moved to East 13 Street, in Manhattan's ...

, and

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

acts like

Club Nouveau Club Nouveau is an American R&B group formed by record producer/performer Jay King in 1986 in Sacramento, California, following the breakup of the Timex Social Club. The group's name ( French for "New Club") was changed from its original inca ...

and Pretty Poison. and as a producer and remixer he collaborated with

Little Louie Vega Luis Ferdinand Vega Jr. (born June 12, 1965), as known as "Little Louie" Vega, is an American DJ, record producer and Grammy Award winner remixer of Puerto Ricans in the United States, Puerto Rican ancestry. He is one half of the Masters at Work ...

and

François Kevorkian François Kevorkian (born 10 January 1954), also known by the stage name François K, is a French-born, U.S.-based DJ, producer, remixer and label owner of Armenian descent, who started his career DJing in clubs such as the Paradise Garage an ...

Lawsuit

''Jarvis v. A & M Records'' is one of the early cases involving digital sampling.Jarvis v. A & M Records 827 F. Supp. 282 (D.N.J. 1993
UCLA

Summary

"Get Dumb! (Free Your Body)" was recorded and released under names ' The Crew (featuring

Freedom Williams Frederick B. Williams (born February 13, 1966), better known by his stage name Freedom Williams, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter, who gained fame as the lead vocalist on C+C Music Factory's biggest hits. Career Born in Brooklyn in 1 ...

)' and '

Seduction Seduction has multiple meanings. Platonically, it can mean "to persuade to disobedience or disloyalty", or "to lead astray, usually by persuasion or false promises". Strategies of seduction include conversation and sexual scripts, paralingual ...

'. Multiple versions were released by

Vendetta Records Vendetta Records was a dance music, dance record label subsidiary of A&M Records. It was launched in 1988 in music, 1988, but it was shut down in 1990 in music, 1990, shortly after its parent was purchased by PolyGram Records. Artists *Brat Pac ...

(sublabel of

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

). "Get Dumb", written by Cole and Clivilles, incorporated elements of "The Music Got Me", most noticeably a distinctive keyboard riff and the bridge section composed of ''free your body'' sounds. Jarvis claimed that he has been damaged by $15 million, however he failed to demonstrate the amount of actual damages, which are measured by " heextent to which the market value of the copyrighted work at the time of infringement has been injured or destroyed by such infringement."Nimmer, supra, Sec. 14.02, at 14–8 to −9 Total damage was estimated at $95,872, using the data from "Get Dumb" profits.

Discography

Productions

Other selected credits

References

External links

Discogs entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jarvis, Boyd 1958 births 2018 deaths Record producers from New York (state) Record producers from New Jersey American male singers American boogie musicians American garage house musicians American house musicians American funk keyboardists African-American rock musicians Singers from New York (state) Songwriters from New York (state) Singers from New Jersey Songwriters from New Jersey Prelude Records artists Remixers African-American songwriters 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people American male songwriters