Elliot Marvin Wolff (January 1956 – June 2016) was an American musician, songwriter, and

music producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

. Born in Oklahoma, he was raised in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ce ...

. His music catalog is represented by Downtown Music Publishing.

Career

Wolff was the musical director for

Peaches & Herb Peaches & Herb is an American vocal duo. Herb Fame (born October 1, 1941) has remained a constant as "Herb" since the duo was created in 1966; seven different women have filled the role of "Peaches", most notably Francine Edna "Peaches" Hurd B ...

on tour from 1979 to 1982, traveling to Asia and Africa. He also toured with Chaka Khan as a

keyboard player A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical ins ...

. Moving from the

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

area to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, he became a staff writer for producer

Freddie Perren Frederick James Perren (May 15, 1943 – December 16, 2004) was an American songwriter, record producer, arranger, and orchestra conductor. He co-wrote and co-produced songs including "Boogie Fever" by the Sylvers, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gay ...

. He wrote

Johnny Gill Johnny Gill Jr. (born May 22, 1966) is an American singer and actor. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B/pop group New Edition and was also a member of the supergroup called LSG, with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. Gill has released e ...

's top ten hit " Super Love" for Gill's self-titled 1983 album. After hearing a demo for Wolff's " Straight Up", Paula Abdul recorded it and also Wolff's "

Cold Hearted "Cold Hearted" is a 1989 song by American singer Paula Abdul from her debut album, ''Forever Your Girl'' (1988). It was written and co-produced by Elliot Wolff, and hit number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the album's third son ...

" for her album ''

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''. Both songs charted at number one on ''Billboard''.Bronson, Fred
''The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits''
5th ed., 2003, p.740.

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recorded Wolff's song " Heart of Stone" for her second album '' Can't Fight Fate''. Other artists who have recorded his songs include Aretha Franklin,

Debbie Gibson Deborah Ann Gibson (born August 31, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Gibson released her debut album '' Out of the Blue'' in 1987, which spawned several international hits, later being certified triple plati ...

, Gregg Tripp, Joey Lawrence,

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A'Me Lorain A'me Lorain (born Amy Trujillo on May 11, 1967, in Simi Valley, California) is an American singer who fronted The Family Affair. A'me Lorain & The Family Affair released one album on RCA Records in 1989, titled ''Starring In...Standing in a Monke ...

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, and Stacey Piersa.

Death

He died at the age of 60 sometime between June 7 and June 25, 2016, while on a solo camping and hiking trip near

Pecos, New Mexico Pecos is a village in San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,392 at the 2010 census, shrinking slower than other parts of San Miguel County, partly because Pecos is within commuting distance of Santa Fe. The village i ...

in Santa Fe National Forest. New Mexico state police had reported that he was last seen on June 7, 2016; they suspended ground and helicopter searches for him on June 12. On June 25, a body was discovered in the forest; based on identification found, it was believed to be Wolff.

Selected songs

Wolff has written or co-written the following songs: *" Super Love" –

(1983) *" Straight Up" – Paula Abdul (1988) *"

" – Paula Abdul (1989) *" Whole Wide World" –

(1990) *" Follow My Heartbeat" – A'Me Lorain (1990) *"

I Don't Want to Live Without You "I Don't Want to Live Without You" is a song written by Mick Jones that was first released by the pop rock band Foreigner on their 1987 album ''Inside Information''. Jones has rated it as one of his favorite Foreigner songs. Released as the fo ...

" – Gregg Tripp (1992) *" Not One More Time" – Stacey Piersa (1994) *" I'll Remember You" –

(1994) *" The Earth, the Sun, the Rain" –

(1996) *" Love Gives Love Takes" –

(1997)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolff, Elliot 1955 births 2016 deaths American keyboardists American male songwriters Jewish American songwriters People from Silver Spring, Maryland Record producers from Maryland Record producers from Oklahoma Songwriters from Maryland Songwriters from Oklahoma 21st-century American Jews