Peter Wolf (producer)
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- For the former lead singer (born Peter Blankfeld) of The J. Geils Band, see Peter Wolf.
| Peter Wolf | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Peter F. Wolf |
| Born | August 25, 1952 Vienna, Austria |
| Occupation(s) | Keyboardist Producer Composer |
| Website | http://www.peterwolfmusic.com/ |
Peter Wolf (born August 25, 1952, Vienna, Austria) is a multiple Grammy nominated composer, producer, songwriter and arranger. He was knighted and awarded with the highest honor from his birth country of Austria, "Das Grosse Ehrenkreuz der Republik Österreich für Kunst und Kultur" (the Great Honor Cross of the Republic of Austria for Art and Culture).
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[edit] Early years
Wolf studied classical piano at Vienna’s Conservatory of Music. At the age of 16, he won the European Jazz Festival as a solo pianist. Wolf was awarded twice with the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis, a German award, for his work on Andre Heller and Erika Pluhar. Coming to America in his early twenties, he worked with local musicians such as Neal Starkey (bassist) and Bill Hatcher (guitarist) in Atlanta, Georgia and with Steve Sample Jr (drummer) and Ray Reach (keyboardist, guitarist, vocalist) in Birmingham, Alabama. After his time in the southeastern United States, he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he played keyboards for Frank Zappa in the late 1970s.
[edit] Recordings made with Frank Zappa
- Sheik Yerbouti (March 1979), #21 US (Single "Bobby Brown", Peter Wolf on Keyboards, Butter)
- Joe's Garage 1 (1979), #27 US
- Joe's Gagage 2 & 3 (April-June 1979)
- Tinsel Town Rebellion (May 11, 1981), #66 US
- Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar (May 1981)
[edit] Studio keyboard and arranging work
Wolf was one of America's top ranking studio keyboardists and arrangers from 1980 to 1985 and became very successful as a music producer and songwriter.[citation needed]
Peter Wolf produced eight #1 songs and has produced, arranged and/or written for a wide range of musical talents. A list of his pop hit productions includes:
- Jefferson Starship ("No Way Out" #23 US, 1984)
- The Commodores ("Nightshift" #3 US, #3 UK, 1985)
- Starship ("We Built This City" #1 US, #12 UK, 16 and 23 Nov. 1985)
- Starship ("Sara" #1 US, March 15, 1986)
- Wang Chung ("Everybody Have Fun Tonight" #2 US, #76 UK, 1986)
- Wang Chung ("Let's Go" #9 US, #81 UK, 1987)
- El Debarge ("Who's Johnny" #1 US, 1986, main theme of the film, Short Circuit)
- Nik Kershaw ("The Works", 1989)
- Go West ("King of Wishful Thinking" from the movie Pretty Woman #8 US, #18 UK, 1990)
- Go West ("Faithful" #14 US, #13 UK, 1992)
- Heart ("These Dreams" #1 US, 1986),
- Heart ("What About Love" #10 US, 1985) (Synth, Piano & Creative Input)
- Patti Labelle ("On My Own" #1 US, 1986)
- Kenny Loggins ("Playing with the Boys" from the movies Top Gun and Avalon)
- The Escape Club ("I'll Be There" #8 US, 1991)
- Starship ("Good Heart" #81 US, 1991)
- Indecent Obsession ("Kiss Me" #1 South Africa for an amazing 27 weeks, 1992)
Others Wolf has worked with include such popular but disparate artists as Pablo Cruise, Grace Slick, Santana, Survivor, The Pointer Sisters, Chicago, Cliff Richard, Natalie Cole, The Scorpions, 'N Sync, Oleta Adams, Big Country, Sergio Mendes, Boz Scaggs, Joe Sample, Thomas Anders, Laura Branigan, BB King, Zucchero and The Who.
[edit] Film scores
In addition to his career in the world of rock and popular music, Wolf has scored a number of motion pictures including the 1993 hit Neverending Story III, and Weekend at Bernie's II. Wolf has also composed many scores in Europe including the new animated picture for the Oscar-awarded “Best Foreign Film” producer, Sven Ebeling, entitled “Nutcracker and Mouse King” featuring a star-studded cast which was nominated for the Deutscher Filmpreis. He scored Leon DeWinter’s movie “The Hollywood Sign”, starring Rod Steiger, Burt Reynolds and Tom Berenger.
Wolf’s impressive compositional credits also include the score for the number one German picture in 1997 Irren Ist Maennlich (To Err is a Male Thing), as well as films such as Die Cellistin (The Cellist), Widows, St. Pauli Nacht (St. Pauli Night) and The Fearless Four. Peter Wolf is currently composing songs and score for the American picture Band on the Run to be released in 2008. In 1995 Wolf received the "Billy Wilder Award" of the Austrian Film Academy and University of Vienna.[citation needed]
[edit] Recordings as a leader
[edit] Solo
[edit] Albums
- 1968 - A Change in My Life
- 2000 - Progression - A Symphony by Peter Wolf
- 2003 - The Other Side
- 2004 - Sense-ation - A Symphony by Peter Wolf
[edit] Singles
- 1969 - "Kraft durch Freude"
- 1980 - "Tutti" (dedicated to his friend Janus)
[edit] Gipsy Love
[edit] Albums
- 1970 - Gipsy Love (The White Album)
- 1972 - Here We Come
[edit] Wolf & Wolf
[edit] Albums
- 1982 - Culture Shocked
- 1984 - Wolf & Wolf
[edit] Singles
- 1982 - "Think Pink"
- 1984 - "Don't Take the Candy"
[edit] Vienna
- 1987 - Guess What?
With 75 million records sold, Peter Wolf was voted the second most successful musician of the last century by "Der Wiener" (The Viennese) Austrian magazine, trailing only Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- Joel Whitburn, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits.
