Gavin Christopher (May 1, 1949 – March 3, 2016) was an American R&B singer, songwriter, musician, and producer.

Early life and career

Born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, he started out playing music at a very early age. Having been schooled by the likes of

Oscar Brown Jr Oscar Brown Jr. (October 10, 1926May 29, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, playwright, poet, civil rights activist, and actor. Aside from his career, Brown ran unsuccessfully for office in both the Illinois State legislature (United Sta ...

Donny Hathaway Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and arranger whom ''Rolling Stone'' described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include " The Ghetto", "This Christmas ...

Baby Huey Baby Huey is a gigantic and naïve duckling cartoon character. He was created by Martin Taras for Paramount Pictures' Famous Studios, and became a Paramount cartoon star during the 1950s. Huey first appeared in ''Quack-a-Doodle-Doo'', a ''Novel ...

and later on

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

, he honed his writing and singing skills and began his career, first in a band called Lyfe (which also included

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Qu ...

). Khan then left and joined

Rufus Rufus is a masculine given name, a surname, an Ancient Roman cognomen and a nickname (from Latin ''rufus'', "red"). Notable people with the name include: Given name Politicians * Rufus Ada George (born 1940), Nigerian politician * Rufus Al ...

(scoring several pop and R&B hits with them). Christopher later joined another band called High Voltage with future Rufus members Bobby Watson (bassist) and Tony Maiden, as well as Lalomie Washburn, who later wrote several Rufus songs. Christopher himself would also become associated with Rufus, as he penned the song " Once You Get Started", which was later recorded by the band and hit #10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1975. He also wrote three songs on Rufus' next album, '' Rufus featuring Chaka Khan'': "Dance Wit Me" (another big hit), "Fool's Paradise," and "Have A Good Time." Christopher relocated to Los Angeles, California, where he was signed to his first

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

with

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

. He later moved back to Chicago to record and work with

on the Curtom/RSO record label. He worked with

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 ...

, writing and singing on several of his albums. Christopher also penned the Hancock song, "Stars in Your Eyes". Following a move to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, Christopher signed with EMI Manhattan Records and scored his biggest single, "

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" (his only Hot 100 hit as an artist, #22 in 1986) and another major R&B hit two years later with "You Are Who You Love." He also produced music for artists such as

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and

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, as well as mentored and worked with a young

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prior to her getting her big break. He was heavily involved in the early hip-hop scene, writing such hits as "Girls Love the Way He Spins", "Sign of the Time", "We Gonna Rock America" and "All Night All Right". Gavin's sister is

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

vocalist

Shawn Christopher Shawn Christopher is a female African-American house-music singer from Chicago, Illinois. Career She was a touring backing vocalist for R&B singer Chaka Khan, from 1982 to 1985. She was also a member of the industrial dance band known as My L ...

. Gavin Christopher died on March 3, 2016, in Chicago of congestive heart failure at the age of 66. He is survived by his daughter Chloe Zae Jackson.

Solo discography

Albums

* 1976: ''Gavin Christopher

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' * 1979: ''Gavin Christopher

979 Year 979 ( CMLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * March 24 – Second Battle of Pankaleia: An Ibero-Byzantine expeditionary ...

' * 1986: '' One Step Closer'' * 1987: ''

Gavin Gavin is a male given name originating from Scotland. It is a variation on the medieval name Gawain, meaning "God send" or "white hawk" (or falcon). Sir Gawain was a knight of King Arthur's Round Table. '' Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' is an e ...

Singles

* 1976: "Good Stuff" * 1976: "Love Has a Face of Its Own" * 1979: "Feelin' the Love" (U.S. R&B #77) * 1985: "Best Part of the Night" (

Jeff Lorber Jeffrey H. Lorber (born November 4, 1952) is an American keyboardist, composer, and record producer. After six previous nominations, Lorber won his first Grammy Award on January 28, 2018 for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for '' Prototype' ...

feat. Gavin Christopher) * 1986: "

" (U.S. #22, U.S. R&B #25, U.S. Dance #9, U.K. #99) * 1986: "Back in Your Arms" * 1988: "You Are Who You Love" (U.S. R&B #10)Gavin Christopher- Charting R&B singles @Billboard.com
Retrieved October 21, 2012. * 1988: "Can't Put Out the Fire"

Miscellaneous appearances

The following is a partial listing of recordings Christopher appears on and produced * 1979: Gavin Christopher Gavin Christopher - Percussion, Piano, Conga, Vocals, Clavinet, Producer * 1979: Gonna Getcha Love Charles Jackson - producer' Keyboards, Vocals * 1980: Monster Herbie Hancock - Vocals * 1981: Magic Windows Herbie Hancock - Vocals, Bass Arrangement * 1982: Paradise Leroy Hutson - Background Vocals * 1985: They Said It Couldn't Be Done Grandmaster Flash - producer, Synthesizer, Bass, Percussion, Keyboards, Programming, producer, Horn Arrangements, String Arrangements, Drum Programming, Mixing, Synthesizer Bass, Simmons Drums, System Programming * 1986: Beware (The Funk Is Everywhere) Afrika Bambaataa - Producer * 1987: Gavin Gavin Christopher Mic MurphyDavid Frank - Keyboards, Vocals producers * 1990: Brilliant! Kym Mazelle - Vocal Arrangement * 1992: "

Don't Lose the Magic "Don't Lose the Magic" is a 1992 dance/house song recorded by American singer Shawn Christopher, which was co-written by Mike "Hitman" Wilson, Shawn's brother Gavin Christopher and Bill Dickens, and co-produced by Wilson with Neal Howard, Chris Co ...

" (

) - producer, songwriter * 1993: Club Classics 1982–1984, Vol. 1 Various Artists - producer, Arranger, producer, Mixing * 1993: Soul Mission Soul Mission - Vocals * 1995: Best Disco in Town: The Best of the Ritchie Family The Ritchie Family - Producer * 1996: Adventures of Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel & the Furi Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five/Mel - Producer * 1997: Too Much Woman Brigette McWilliams - Background Vocals * 1997: Whatever Happened to the Blues Phil Upchurch - Vocals * 2000: Best of Herbie Hancock: The Hits Herbie Hancock - Arranger, Vocals * 2001: Breakin' Arthur Baker - Piano, Vocals * 2001: Mr. Funk Herbie Hancock - Chant * 2002 Bullet Proof Bruce Conte - Vocals * 2002: Evolution Will Not Be Televised Aquabox - Vocals, Background Vocals, Produce * 2002: Herbie Hancock Box Herbie Hancock - Vocals * 2004: D'Soca Zone 5th Spin Various Artists - Producer * 2006: Chicago LP Chicago's Finest - Background Vocals producer * 2006: Definitive Groove Collection Grandmaster Flash Producer, Original Recording - Producer * 2006: Everyday People Project Steve Harvey - Background Vocals * 2006: Fresh and Furious: Hip Hop's Beginning Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - Synthesizer, Bass, Percussion, Keyboards, Programming, Tom-Toms, Gavin Christopher Producer, Horn Arrangements, String Arrangements, Mixing] * 2007: Daily News ircuit City ExclusiveDonnie - Background Vocals * 2007: Daily News Donnie - Background Vocals avin_Christopher_[IslandGavin_Christopher_.html" ;"title="sland.html" ;"title="avin Christopher [Island">avin Christopher [IslandGavin Christopher ">sland.html" ;"title="avin Christopher [Island">avin Christopher [IslandGavin Christopher Guitar, Piano, Conga, Keyboards, Vocals, Background Vocals, Clavinet, producer * Heat for the Feets Lee Garrett - Background Vocals * One Step Closer Gavin Christopher - Synthesizer, Keyboards, Background Vocals, producer * Way Ian Martin - Vocals A partial list of albums Gavin Christopher's songs appear on: * Aquabox – Evolution Will Not Be Televised * Loletta Holloway – "Crash Goes Love" (1987) * Beatstreet – "Breakdance"/vocals (1987) * Average White Band – Feel No Fret * Candy Dulfer – For the Love of You * Kenny Dope – Strange Games and Funky Things, Vol. 3 * Grandmaster Flash – They said it couldn't be done * Adventures of Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel Shango funk theology * Africa Bambatta * Herbie Hancock – Best of Herbie Hancock: The Hits Herbie Hancock Monster * Chaka Khan – Life Is a Dance (The Remix Project) * Manila Thriller – Please * Brigette McWilliams - Too Much Woman * Rufus – Rufusized * Rufus & Chaka Khan – Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan * Rufus & Chaka Khan – Stompin' at the Savoy (Live) * Original Soundtrack Prefontaine

References

External links

MySpace Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christopher, Gavin 1949 births 2016 deaths American keyboardists Record producers from Illinois 20th-century African-American male singers Singers from Chicago Island Records artists RSO Records artists African-American male singer-songwriters 21st-century African-American male singers Singer-songwriters from Illinois