Robert Clivillés
| Robert Clivillés | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Robert Manuel Clivillés[1] |
| Born | July 30, 1964 |
| Origin | New York, New York, United States |
| Genres | Dance |
| Occupation(s) | Producer |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Associated acts | C+C Music Factory, Martha Wash, Deborah Cooper, David Cole, Mariah Carey, Freedom Williams, Scarlett Santana |
Robert Manuel Clivillés (born July 30, 1964[2]) is an American record producer, songwriter, arranger, music video director most noted for his work with C+C Music Factory, a group he founded with musical partner David Cole. He is of Puerto Rican ancestry.[2][2][3][4]
Clivillés and Cole also produced various hits for other artists such as Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, Deborah Cooper, Scarlett Santana and many others.
In the spring of 2015 Clivillés made his debut as a solo artist with the song "Set Me Free".[5]
Musical career
In the late 1980s Robert Clivillés and David Cole were active in 2 Puerto Ricans, a Blackman, and a Dominican and The 28th Street Crew.[6][7] At the time they were the driving force of the short lived Brat Pack.[8] The duo were also responsible for the formation of pop group Seduction, for whom they wrote and produced a string of Top-10 hits. They contributed to the career of former The Weather Girls vocalist Martha Wash who at the same time was one the lead vocalists for the dance act Black Box. And in 1990 Clivillés and Cole released a single, featuring later C+C Music Factory rapper Freedom Williams, called "Get Dumb! (Free Your Body)" as The Crew.[9] But the duo's biggest success was the group C+C Music Factory that scored worldwide in 1991.[10]
After the death of his partner David Cole in 1995,[11] Robert Clivillés continued to keep the C+C's legacy alive through his own production work. In 1995, he released a solo single under the name C+C Music Factory, called "I'll Always Be Around" (#1 Billboard Dance/Club Play), on MCA Records. This was the final #1 Dance/Club Play hit for C+C Music Factory. An album titled C+C Music Factory was released by MCA in 1995 in Europe, but it was not released in the US. This was the final studio album of new material to be released under the C+C Music Factory name. The same year, Columbia/SME Records released Ultimate, a greatest hits collection featuring a mixture of remixes and album versions of C+C Music Factory's Sony Music Entertainment singles. Two singles were released in conjunction with the album "I Found Love" (#13 Dance/Club Play) and "Robi Rob's Boriqua Anthem" (#29 Dance/Club Play), which featured Spanish-language reggae artist El General.
In October 1996, Robert Clivillés released an album of new material under the name Robi-Rob's Clubworld. The first single from the project, "Shake That Body," featured emcee Ya Kid K, formerly of Technotronic. The second single, "Reach," was a collaboration with Hex Hector and featured vocals from longtime C+C vocalist Deborah Cooper, which was the final recording to have piano tracks recorded by the late David Cole, his C+C partner.[12][13]
In the 2000s, Clivillés worked with the group MVP.[14]
In 2010 C+C Music Factory reformed with Eric Kupper stepping in to replace Cole.[15][16]
In May 2015 Clivillés made its debut at Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs chart with the song "Free", featured vocals from Kimberly Davis.[5] The music video for "Set Me Free" makes references to Clivillés father's suicide.[5]
Production and remix work
Controversy
In 1989, Clivillés and Cole wrote a song titled "Get Dumb (Free Your Body)" that was covered by The Crew and Seduction. They allegedly illegally sampled portions of "The Music Got Me" which was written by Boyd Jarvis of early-1980s music group Visual. Boyd sued them for copyright infringement in 1990 and originally demanded $15 million in royalties.[17]
Four years later, Kevin McCord filed the copyright infringement lawsuit against Mariah Carey, Cole, Clivillés and Columbia Records because, according to McCord, they took parts of his song called "I Want to Thank You" and made "Make It Happen" out of it without permission.[18] Although the allegations were confirmed false, McCord eventually accepted a settlement offer of about US$500,000.[18][19]
See also
References
- ↑ Robert Clivillés, Discogs
- 1 2 3 Robert Clivilles Interview from About.com
- ↑ Most Valuable Players from MySpace
- ↑ Robert Clivilles from Facebook
- 1 2 3 Flosstradamus Flies to No. 1 on Top Dance/Electronic Albums, Billboard (1 May 2015)
- ↑ Chep Nuñez, Discogs
- ↑ 28th Street Crew, The, Discogs
- ↑ Brat Pack, The, Discogs
- ↑ Crew, The Featuring Freedom Williams – Get Dumb! (Free Your Body), Discogs
- ↑ C+C Music Factory/Full Biography, MTV
- ↑ "C+C's David Cole dies at 32", NY Daily News (25 January 1995)
- ↑ Robi Rob's Clubworld – Robi Rob's Clubworld, Discogs
- ↑ Robi Rob's Clubworld – Robi Rob's Clubworld, Discogs
- ↑ M.V.P., Discogs
- ↑ The Brand New C&C Music Factory - Robert Clivilles & Eric Kupper, Sobel Nation Radio (August 3, 2011)
- ↑ Remixxer: Bill Coleman (Continuous Mix), iTunes (June 01, 2010)
- ↑ Jarvis v. A & M Records 827 F. Supp. 282 (D.N.J. 1993) UCLA
- 1 2 Atwood, Brett (July 23, 1994). "Carey And Sony Dispute C'right Infringement Claims". Billboard. BPI Communications. 106 (30): 12, 125. ISSN 0006-2510. OCLC 1532948.
- ↑ Friedman, Roger (2004-08-10). "Mariah Carey Accused of Plagiarism". FOXNews.com. News Corporation. Archived from the original on 2011-08-01. Retrieved 2011-08-01.