Jack Waldman (September 6, 1952 – May 17, 1986) was a jazz and rock musician, composer, producer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist born in

Perth Amboy, New Jersey Perth Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey. Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 55,436. Perth Amboy has a Hispanic majority population. In the 2010 census, th ...

. Waldman was best known for his studio work and performances with singer Robert Palmer, and also worked with artists such as

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

, Madonna, Rob Hegel, Joe Jackson, Foreigner and

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed " The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston i ...

. He was classically trained from childhood, and played keyboards, synthesizer, bassoon, saxophone and flute. He died in 1986 from HIV-related lymphoma.

Personal history

Jack Waldman was born September 6, 1952 in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and grew up in

Metuchen, New Jersey Metuchen ( ) is a suburban borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The borough is a commuter town of New York City, located in the heart of the Raritan Valley region within the New York Metropolitan area. The borough, along wit ...

. He began classical piano lessons at the age of five, and had perfect pitch. In his teenage years, Waldman switched his focus from classical to jazz piano, studying with Morris Nanton. After attending

Metuchen High School Metuchen High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Metuchen in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Metuchen Sch ...

, which created the Jack Waldman Memorial Scholarship in his honor, Waldman studied at

Rutgers College Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

Livingston College From 1969 to 2007 Livingston College was one of the residential colleges that comprised Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey's undergraduate liberal arts programs. It was located on Livingston Campus (originally Kilmer) in Piscataway, N ...

and Juilliard School of Music between 1970 and 1974. Waldman graduated in 1974 with a BA in Music from Rutgers. After college, he relocated to New York City, where he remained until his death in 1986 from HIV-related lymphoma.

Music career

After relocating to New York in 1974, Waldman met and performed with jazz guitarist

Joe Beck Joe Beck (July 29, 1945 – July 22, 2008) was an American jazz guitarist who was active for over 30 years. Biography Born in Philadelphia, Beck moved to Manhattan in his teens, playing six nights a week in a trio setting, which gave him an opp ...

. He quickly became a prolific studio musician, playing keyboards and synthesizer with well-known artists and producing remixes for single releases. Concurrently, Waldman worked on a number of independent musical projects, including ''Tornader'' with Larry Alexander, and the more noteworthy ''Air Force 1'' with Elliot Sokolov. Waldman and Sokolov co-wrote and produced "See the Light / Feel the Heat," released in 1984 on Streetwise records, in which they sampled public domain clips of then-president Ronald Reagan. The piece, also known as the "Ronald Reagan Rap," was one of the earliest records featuring entirely

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of so ...

vocals.http://www.elliotsokolov.com/links In 1984, MTV aired a video promotion for the piece. Early in his career, Waldman began recording and performing with rock artist Robert Palmer. Waldman's first release with Palmer was ''

Secrets Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controvers ...

'' in 1979, and they continued working together throughout the 1980s. Waldman also worked with more avant-garde performance artists, including

Klaus Nomi Klaus Sperber (January 24, 1944 – August 6, 1983), known professionally as Klaus Nomi, was a German countertenor noted for his wide vocal range and an unusual, otherworldly stage persona. In the 1970s Nomi immersed himself in the East Village ...

. He did arrangements for Nomi, who mixed synth-driven new wave, 1920s German cabaret music, disco and opera. Other noteworthy artists with whom Waldman worked include Gloria Gaynor, Joe Jackson,

, Rob Hegel, Foreigner, Aretha Franklin, Madonna, and

Discography

Appears on: *1977: ''Glorious'', Gloria Gaynor *1979: ''Niteflyte'', Niteflyte *1979: ''

'', Robert Palmer *1980: '' Clues'', Robert Palmer *1980: ''Hegel'',

Rob Hegel Robert Eric Hegel (born on August 5, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter best known for writing the Air Supply top twenty hit " Just as I Am" (with guitarist Dick Wagner) and the top ten disco hit "Sinner Man" for Sarah Dash (of Labelle). E ...

*1980: ''Ding Dong'',

*1982: '' Maybe It's Live'', Robert Palmer *1982: '' Night and Day'', Joe Jackson *1982: ''Simple Man'',

*1983: ''Encore!'',

*1983: ''

Pride Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) w ...

'', Robert Palmer *1983: ''

Rebel Yell The rebel yell was a battle cry used by Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War. Confederate soldiers used the yell when charging to intimidate the enemy and boost their own morale, although the yell had many other uses. No audio ...

'',

*1983: '' Rhythm of Life'',

Paul Haig Paul Haig (born 4 September 1960)Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 386-7 is a Scottish indie musician, singer and songwriter. He was originally a member of post-punk band Josef K, active between 1979 ...

*1983: ''Secret'',

Classix Nouveaux Classix Nouveaux are an English new wave band, who are generally considered part of the New Romantic scene. Though experiencing only minor success in their native UK, most notably with their 1982 Top 20 hit "Is It a Dream", the band had number ...

*1984: ''

Agent Provocateur An agent provocateur () is a person who commits, or who acts to entice another person to commit, an illegal or rash act or falsely implicate them in partaking in an illegal act, so as to ruin the reputation of, or entice legal action against, th ...

'', Foreigner *1984: ''Feeling Cavalier'', Ēbn-Ōzn *1984: ''

Sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sa ...

'',

John Martyn Iain David McGeachy (11 September 1948 – 29 January 2009), known professionally as John Martyn, was a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a 40-year career, he released 23 studio albums, and received frequent critical acclaim. ...

*1984: ''See The Light'', Air Force 1 *1984: ''Snap'', Peter Brown *1984: '' Some People'',

Belouis Some Belouis Some (born Neville Keighley; 12 December 1959) is a British singer, songwriter and musician. He had UK and Worldwide hits in the 1980s with " Some People", "Imagination" and " Round, Round" from the John Hughes film ''Pretty in Pink''. ...

*1984: ''The Mexican'', Jellybean John "Jellybean" Benitez *1984: ''Wotupski!?!'', Jellybean John "Jellybean" Benitez *1984: ''Visitors'',

Motoharu Sano , is a Japanese singer-songwriter and musician. A graduate of Rikkyo University, Sano is a frontman with a history of performing in several bands which feature music both in Japanese and occasionally, English, playing songs that often have a rock ...

*1985: ''Cierta Gente'',

*1985: ''Love's Gonna Get You'', Jocelyn Brown *1985: ''

Riptide A rip tide, or riptide, is a strong offshore current that is caused by the tide pulling water through an inlet along a barrier beach, at a lagoon or inland marina where tide water flows steadily out to sea during ebb tide. It is a strong tidal fl ...

'', Robert Palmer *1985: ''Some People'',

*1985: ''Surprise, Surprise'', Various artists *1985: ''The Sun Always Shines on T.V.'', a-ha *1985: ''What The Papers Say'', Bad Manners *1985: ''When Midnight Comes'', Surgin' *1985: ''Who's Zoomin' Who'', Aretha Franklin *1986: ''

Frantic Romantic ''Frantic Romantic'' is the second album by American R&B singer Jermaine Stewart, released in 1986. The album includes Stewart's biggest pop hit, "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off", as well as the minor follow-up hit, "Jody", for whom Ste ...

, Jermaine Stewart *1986: ''Shakey's Got The Blues'', Seven Windows *1987: ''Holiday / Over And Over'', Madonna *1987: ''One From The Heart'', Jocelyn Brown *1987: ''

Whitney Whitney may refer to: Film and television * ''Whitney'' (2015 film), a Whitney Houston biopic starring Yaya DaCosta * ''Whitney'' (2018 film), a documentary about Whitney Houston * ''Whitney'' (TV series), an American sitcom that premiered i ...

'',

*1987: ''You Can Dance'', Madonna *1988: ''

Love Will Save The Day "Love Will Save the Day" is a song recorded by American singer Whitney Houston from her second multi-platinum studio album ''Whitney'' (1987). The song was released on July 5, 1988 by Arista Records as the album's fifth single. The song did not ...

'',

*1989: ''45 R.P.M. Club'', a-ha *1989: ''Addictions Volume 1'', Robert Palmer *2002: ''The Definitive'', Foreigner *2007: ''Electro Funk Sessions'', Various Artists *2008: ''Body Language Six'', Various Artists

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Waldman, Jack 1952 births 1986 deaths Metuchen High School alumni Rutgers University alumni Juilliard School alumni People from Metuchen, New Jersey People from Perth Amboy, New Jersey American music arrangers AIDS-related deaths in New York (state) 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American male musicians