Donnell Spencer Jr. is a session musician, drummer and award-winning composer. He has worked with or toured with Patti Austin, Anita Baker, El De Barge, Chaka Khan, and Jody Watley. He has been associated musically with mainstream films ''Running Scared'' and ''Without You I'm Nothing''. As a composer, his work had created hits such as "

Oops, Oh No! "Oops, Oh No!" is a single by French singer Cerrone and American singer La Toya Jackson. It was released in 1986 as a 7" and 12" single. The song was remixed by British producer Simon Harris in 1986 and was the second release on his Music of Life ...

" by

Cerrone Marc Cerrone Daryl Easlea, "Supernature Boy", ''Record Collector'', #502, February 2020, pp.60-63 (, ; born 24 May 1952) is a French disco drummer, composer, record producer and creator of concert shows. Cerrone is a producer of 1970s and 1980 ...

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'', ...

, "

Say You Really Want Me "Say You Really Want Me" is a song by Kim Wilde from the film soundtrack ''Running Scared (1986 film)#Soundtrack, Running Scared'' and later included in edited form on Wilde's own album ''Another Step''. In the US and Canada, it was released as ...

" by

Kim Wilde Kim Wilde (born Kim Smith, 18 November 1960) is an English pop singer, DJ and television presenter. She first saw success in 1981 with her debut single "Kids in America", which peaked at No. 2 in the UK. In 1983, she received the Brit Award f ...

, " Take Your Time" by " Pebbles, "Temporary Lovers" by

The Controllers The Controllers are a fictional extraterrestrial race existing in the DC Universe. They first appear in '' Adventure Comics'' #357 (June 1967), and were created by Jim Shooter, Mort Weisinger, and Curt Swan. Fictional character biography Pre-C ...

, " Turned Away" by

Chuckii Booker Eugene Allen Booker, Jr. (born December 19, 1962), known professionally as Chuckii Booker, is an American producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and bandleader. Biography Booker emerged in the late 1980s as a prominent urban contem ...

, "Until the End of Time" by Freddie Jackson and more.

Background

Originally from Philadelphia, Spencer is a drummer, producer, singer, songwriter. He is also a photographer who has had his work published. Two of his compositions have won him the John Lennon Songwriter's award. His song, " Turned Away" was a no. 1 hit on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart. Spencer's status as an award-winning musician and chart-topping songwriter has been noted by ''Blues Blast Magazine''. He has composed at least nine national chart hits. In addition to Patti Austin, Anita Baker, El De Barge, Chaka Khan, and

Jody Watley Jody Vanessa Watley (born January 30, 1959) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and artist,USA Today (February 16, 1996), Best Bets: Albums Jody Watley Greatest Hits, "Few singers fired up the disco like Jody Watley who set trends ...

, he has been associated in either a performing or recording capacity with Jonathan Butler, Brian Culbertson,

Kenny G Kenneth Bruce Gorelick (born June 5, 1956), known professionally as Kenny G, is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, composer, and producer. His 1986 album ''Duotones'' brought him commercial success. Kenny G is one of the best-selling artis ...

, Boney James,

Ray Parker Jr. Ray Erskine Parker Jr. (born May 1, 1954) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. As a solo performer, he wrote and performed the theme song to the 1984 film '' Ghostbusters''. Previously, Parker achieved a US top-10 h ...

and Stevie Wonder. He has also played with

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Ever ...

and

Teddy Pendergrass Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter. He was born in Kingstree, South Carolina. Pendergrass spent most of his life in the Philadelphia area, and initially rose to musi ...

. He has recorded as a solo artist with the singles, "True Love" in 2019 and "Come On" in 2020. He played on Johnny Adams' final album, ''Man Of My Word'' which was released in 1998. Via his work as a photographer, he has made contributions to ''Style & Society'' magazine, ''The Scoop LA''. and The Press & Sun-Bulletin and pressconnects.com. etc.. Earlier in his musical career, he was in an ensemble called MYX with

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

and

Danny Sembello Daniel Sembello (January 15, 1963 – August 15, 2015) was an American songwriter, record producer and multi-instrumentalist. He produced recordings by artists including George Benson and Pebbles, and he had his compositions recorded by Chaka K ...

Session musician, composer, producer

With Nick Mundy and

, he co-wrote the song, "

" which was a hit for

and

in 1986.

Work with the Sembello brothers

With Danny Sembello and Dick Rudolph, he wrote the song, "

" which was a 1987 hit for

. It got to no. 46 in the ''Billboard'' pop chart and no. 44 in the R&B chart. It also got to no. 29 in the UK. Spencer and Danny Sembello wrote the song, "Take Your Time" for singer Pebbles. It was released on CA 53362 and a hit prediction in the July 2, 1988 issue of ''Billboard''. It got to no. 3 on the US R&B chart. He would work with Both Michael and Danny on the Controllers' 1989 album.

Work with Sam Sims

Working with Sam Sims, Spencer co-composed three songs which were all hits on the R&B chart from 1989 to 2006. ;The Controllers Also in 1989, another composition of his, "Temporary Lovers" by

was a hit. It made it to no. 43 on the US R&B chart. With Sam Sims, he co-wrote "Just in Time" for The Controllers. He also produced the single which was released on Capitol l B-44414. Reviewed by ''Billboard'', it was said to be a seductive R&B ballad ripe for quiet storm programming. They also wrote "We’re Back". He co-produced their album with Sims for D.S. Coda Productions. He also sang backing vocals, playing drums and keyboards. The Sembello's also played on the album. ;Gerald Albright Spencer and Sims both played on the song "Growing With Each Other" which was on

Gerald Albright Gerald Albright is an American jazz saxophonist. He earned Grammys for 24/7 in 2012 and Slam Dunk in 2014 and has been nominated for New Beginnings in 2008 and for Sax for Stax in 2009. Biography Born in Los Angeles, Albright grew up in its ...

's ''Dream Come True'' album that was released in 1990. ;Freddie Jackson Spencer and Sims composed " Second Time for Love" (1991) and "Until the End of Time" (2006) for

Freddie Jackson Frederick Anthony Jackson (born October 2, 1956) is an American singer. Originally from New York, Jackson began his professional music career in the late 1970s with the California funk band Mystic Merlin. Among his well–known R&B/soul hits are ...

. Both were hits on the R&B chart making no. 81 and no. 44 respectively. ;Other work with Sims He mastered Sims' 2022 album, ''All of Me'' and played on the song from the album, "Q Reficio" which was recorded earlier.

Other artists

He co-wrote the song, " Turned Away" for

which was a hit in 1989. He worked on Rick Braun's 1998 album, ''Full Stride''. He co-wrote the song "Nightfall" and played drums and keyboard on that track.

Backing

On February 3, 2016, Spencer and bassist Sam Sims were part of Jody Watley's backing band and played at

The Roxy Roxy, Roxey, and Roxie may refer to: People * Roxy (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name Places in the United States * Roxie, Mississippi, a town * Roxie, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Music * Roxy ...

in February. Spencer played drums on Brigitte Purdy song "Blues Angel" which is the single from her ''Still I Rise'' album that was released in 2018. In late 2019, he was the drummer in

Judith Hill Judith Glory Hill is an American singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California. She has provided backing vocals for such artists as Michael Jackson, Prince, and Josh Groban. In 2009, Hill was chosen as Jackson's duet partner for the song " I Just ...

's band. As of 2023, Spencer has been part of Ayline Artin's backing band.

Solo career

In 1997, Spencer appeared in an episode of ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, Wi ...

''. In 2022, Spencer released the single, "Over U".Jazz 91.9 WCLK, May 13, 2022
Donnell Spencer: Over U By David C. Linton
/ref>

References

{{reflist

External links

* Imdb
Donnell Spencer Jr.
* AllMusic
Donnell Spencer Credits
* Discogs
Donnell Spencer
* RadioPublic, The Void 333 With Christina, November 12th, 2020
093 - Donnell Spencer Jr.
* RSS.com. Jun 12 2022
Unsung Musicians Behind The Headline Legends by Toni Redd, S01 E08 - Donnell Spencer Jr. (Interview)
African-American drummers American session musicians African-American songwriters American male singer-songwriters 20th-century American male musicians American male drummers American keyboardists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people