Rodney Franklin

Rodney Franklin (born September 16, 1958) is an American jazz pianist and composer.

Rodney Franklin
Birth nameRodney Franklin
Born (1958-09-16) 16 September 1958
Berkeley, California
GenresJazz
Jazz Fusion
Occupation(s)Musician
InstrumentsPiano
Years active1972-Present

Biography

Franklin was born in Berkeley, California in September, 1958. In 1964, aged six, he took jazz piano lessons at the Washington Elementary School and was taught by Dr Herb Wong who was a jazz journalist, disc jockey and music teacher. In 1972 at the young age of 14 he led the funk-jazz band In One Piece (alt. In One Peace) performing his first 3 recordings at a studio in Ray Dobar's House of Music in Berkeley, California. Produced by George Semper, only one of the songs has been released on the 2003 Inner City Sounds 2X LP Compilation released on Luv N'Haight Ubiquity Recordings.[1]

Prior to signing up with CBS Records in 1978, Franklin worked with John Handy in San Francisco, as well as Bill Summers, Freddie Hubbard and Marlena Shaw.

His debut CBS album was In the Center (1978), a jazz fusion album featuring "On the Path" and "I Like the Music Make It Hot". Although aged 20 when he recorded the album, he had already developed his own sound which was influenced by McCoy Tyner and George Duke, Chick Corea, Lonnie Liston Smith and George Semper.[2]

In 1980 the album You'll Never Know he had major chart success with "The Groove" (it reached number 7 in the UK Singles Chart).[3] The track was released on both 7" and 12" format. It created a UK dance craze called 'The Freeze' which was started up by DJ Chris Hill.

Additional albums which were also recorded on the CBS label have included Rodney Franklin (1980), Endless Flight (1981), Learning to Love (1982), Marathon (1984) (probably his most famous in the UK, produced by bass player Stanley Clarke and the LP which released a single called Stay on in the Groove), Skydance (1985) and It Takes Two (1986).

In 1988 he moved over to the BMG record label and recorded Diamond Inside of You which introduced vocals by Jennifer Holliday on the single, "Gotta Give It Up". In addition, Franklin has also produced and released an album on Nova Records called Love Dancin' in 1992.

Discography

Albums
Year Title Peak chart positions
UK[4] US US Jazz US Contemporary Jazz US R&B
1978 In the Center - - - x -
1980 You'll Never Know 64 104[5] 10[6] x 25[7]
Rodney Franklin - 207[8] 12[9] x 62[10]
1981 Endless Flight - - 15[11] x 47[12]
1982 Learn to Love - 190[13] 9[14] x 45[15]
1984 Marathon - 187[16] 15[17] x 54[18]
1985 Skydance - - 31[19] x -
1986 It Takes Two - - 34[20] x -
1988 Diamond Inside of You - - - 20[21] -
1992 Love Dancin' - - - - -
1995 Rhythms of Africa (with Bernie Krause) - - - - -
Rain Forest Dreams (with Bernie Krause) - - - - -
1998 Ocean Odyssey (with Bernie Krause) - - - - -
"—" denotes releases that did not chart. "x" denotes that chart did not exist at the time.

Singles
Year Single Peak chart positions
BE (FLA)[22] CAN AC[23] NL[24] UK[4] US Dance[25] US R&B[25]
1978 "I Like the Music Make It Hot" - - - - - -
1980 "The Groove" 30 - 31 7 27 41
"In the Center" - - - - - 91
1981 "Windy City" - - - - - 89
"The Theme From Hill Street Blues" - 29 - - - -
1982 "Enuff is Enuff" - - - - - 68
1983 "That's the Way I Feel 'Bout Your Love" - - - - - 64
1984 "Stay On in the Groove" - - - - - 72
1985 "Fiesta" (Promo) - - - - - -
1986 "Look What's Showing Through" - - - - - 59
"The Eagle and the Condor" - - - - - -
1987 "Bustin' Out" - - - - - -
1988 "Gotta Give It Up" - - - - - -
"Stop to Love" - - - - - -
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

References
  1. Rodney Franklin Biography www.oldies.com
  2. Rodney Franklin Biography www.allmusic.com
  3. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 213. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  4. "RODNEY FRANKLIN | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  5. "Billboard, June 14, 1980" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 92 no. 24. 14 June 1980. p. 75. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  6. "Billboard, July 5, 1980" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 92 no. 27. 5 July 1980. p. 30. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  7. "Billboard, May 24, 1980" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 92 no. 21. 24 May 1980. p. 33. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  8. "Billboard, November 29, 1980" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 92 no. 48. 29 November 1980. p. 29. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  9. "Billboard, January 10, 1981" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 93 no. 1. 10 January 1981. p. 84. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  10. "Billboard, December 6, 1980" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 92 no. 49. 6 December 1980. p. 27. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  11. "Billboard, November 28, 1981" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 93 no. 47. 28 November 1981. p. 53. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  12. "Billboard, December 19, 1981" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 93 no. 50. 19 December 1981. p. 67. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  13. "Billboard, February 5, 1983" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 95 no. 5. 5 February 1983. p. 67. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  14. "Billboard, April 2, 1983" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 95 no. 14. 2 April 1983. p. 42. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  15. "Billboard, January 15, 1983" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 95 no. 2. 15 January 1983. p. 40. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  16. "Billboard, March 10, 1984" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 96 no. 10. 10 March 1984. p. 73. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  17. "Billboard, April 7, 1984" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 96 no. 14. 7 April 1984. p. 49. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  18. "Billboard, April 14, 1984" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 96 no. 15. 14 April 1984. p. 50. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  19. "Billboard, August 3, 1985" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 97 no. 31. 3 August 1985. p. 58. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  20. "Billboard, August 16, 1986" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 98 no. 33. 16 August 1986. p. 37. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  21. "Billboard, December 24, 1988" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 100 no. 52. 24 December 1988. p. 60. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  22. "ultratop.be - ULTRATOP BELGIAN CHARTS". ultratop.be. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  23. Library and Archives Canada. "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  24. "Dutch Charts - dutchcharts.nl". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  25. "Rodney Franklin Songs ••• Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts". www.musicvf.com. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.