Michael Wycoff (January 1, 1956 – March 13, 2019)
was an American
R&B singer. He scored several hits on the
US R&B chart during the 1980s.
Biography
Wycoff attended Wilmington Junior High School and
Phineas Banning High School
Phineas Banning High School is located in the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, and is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
History
Banning High School was renamed in honor of General Phineas Banning when a ne ...
in
Wilmington, Los Angeles
Wilmington is a neighborhood in the Harbor region of Los Angeles, California, covering .
Featuring a heavy concentration of industry and the third-largest oil field in the continental United States, this neighborhood has a high percentage of L ...
, California.
Wycoff played keyboards and sang in the school's talent shows.
Wycoff sang backup on
Stevie Wonder's album ''
Songs in the Key of Life
''Songs in the Key of Life'' is the eighteenth studio album by American singer, songwriter and musician Stevie Wonder. A double album, it was released on September 28, 1976, by Tamla Records, a division of Motown. It was recorded primarily at Crys ...
''.
He signed a solo contract with
RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
and released three albums between 1981 and 1983, scoring a few
hit singles on the U.S. R&B charts. His second album, ''Love Conquers All'', included the song, "Looking Up to You," that was sampled by the 1990s R&B group
Zhané
Zhané ( ) was an American R&B duo, best known for their 1993 hit " Hey Mr. D.J.", which reached No. 6 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Other popular hits include " Groove Thang" (U.S. No. 17) and minor hit " Sending My Love", both released i ...
on their hit song, "
Hey Mr. D.J." in 1993.
Although both of his first two albums were acclaimed by music critics, sales remained low.
Wycoff succumbed to an addiction to drugs and alcohol.
His addiction ultimately caused him the loss of his career, his home and his family, and Wycoff ended up homeless.
At the bottom, he found his way back through his faith,
beating his habit and ultimately becoming Minister of Music at several Los Angeles area churches.
His oldest son is a DJ, who, in May 2013, released his own album titled ''A Boy and His Toys'' under the name DJ Michael Wycoff.
Discography
Albums
Singles
References
External links
Michael Wycoffat
Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...
MySpace page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wycoff, Michael
1956 births
2019 deaths
Musicians from Torrance, California
American male singers
American rhythm and blues musicians