David James "Hawk" Wolinski (born May 13, 1948) is an American

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical inst ...

, songwriter and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

, best known for his work with the funk band Rufus and their lead singer

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 " Q ...

Biography

Wolinski grew up in Chicago,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

, and in the late 1960s was the keyboard player and lead singer of the band the Males, and a member of the bands

Shadows of Knight The Shadows of Knight were an American rock band from Chicago, Illinois, that played a version of British blues influenced by their native city. When they began recording in 1965, the band's self-description was "the Stones, Animals and the Y ...

and

Bangor Flying Circus Bangor Flying Circus was an American progressive rock trio from Chicago, Illinois, formed in mid-1967 and breaking up in 1969. It is notable for being formed by members of the Shadows of Knight and H.P. Lovecraft and for being a predecessor band ...

. When the latter band broke up he helped form the band Madura, which was produced by fellow Chicagoan James William Guercio. Guercio used Madura in his 1973 film ''

Electra Glide in Blue ''Electra Glide in Blue'' is a 1973 American action film, starring Robert Blake as a motorcycle cop in Arizona and Billy "Green" Bush as his partner. The film was produced and directed by James William Guercio, and is named after the Harley-Da ...

''. In the 1960s Wolinski formed a short-lived band in Chicago called the Electric Band. They played regularly at a club called The Cellar. In the late 1970s Wolinski joined Rufus as a keyboardist and songwriter. He co-wrote or solely wrote their songs "Hollywood", "Street Player" (later recorded by co-writer

Danny Seraphine Daniel Peter Seraphine (born August 28, 1948) is an American drummer, record producer, theatrical producer and film producer. He is best known as the original drummer and a founding member of the rock band Chicago, a tenure which lasted from ...

's band

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

), "Everlasting Love" (not to be confused with the Robert Knight hit of the same title), "Do You Love What You Feel", and the 1983 hit single " Ain't Nobody", which reached No. 1 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' R&B chart. He started a production company, named Street Sense Productions, in partnership with Danny Seraphine. They used Seraphine's home studio to record the demos. A deal was signed with

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical m ...

. Wolinski has worked with numerous other artists as musician, songwriter or producer, including the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...

, Glenn Frey,

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

, Danny Seraphine,

Beverley Knight Beverley Knight (born Beverley Anne Smith, 22 March 1973) is an English recording artist and musical theatre actress. She released her first album, '' The B-Funk'', in 1995. Heavily influenced by American soul music icons such as Sam Cooke and ...

, Jeffrey Osborne,

Millions Like Us ''Millions Like Us'' is a 1943 British propaganda film, showing life in a wartime aircraft factory in documentary detail. It starred Patricia Roc, Gordon Jackson, Anne Crawford, Eric Portman and Megs Jenkins. It was co-written and co-directed ...

Stephanie Mills Stephanie Dorthea Mills (born March 22, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to stardom as " Dorothy" in the original seven-time Tony Award winning Broadway run of the musical '' The Wiz'' from 1974 to 1979. The song "Home" from ...

and

Minnie Riperton Minnie Julia Riperton Rudolph (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979) was an American singer-songwriter best known for her 1975 single " Lovin' You" and her four octave D3 to F7 coloratura soprano range. She is also widely known for her use ...

. He is known for composing individual songs for film soundtracks, including '' Cobra'', '' Wildcats'' and ''

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America ''Beavis and Butt-Head Do America'' is a 1996 American adult animated comedy film based on the MTV animated television series ''Beavis and Butt-Head''. The film was co-written and directed by series creator Mike Judge, who reprises his roles fro ...

''. He has also had small acting roles in the films ''Electra Glide in Blue'' and ''

Men at Work Men at Work are an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1978 and best known for breakthrough hits such as " Down Under", "Who Can It Be Now?", " Be Good Johnny", " Overkill", and " It's a Mistake". Its founding member and frontman is C ...

'', the 1990 comedy film with

Emilio Estevez Emilio Estevez (; born May 12, 1962) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the son of actor Martin Sheen and the older brother of Charlie Sheen. Emilio Estevez started his career as an actor and is known for being a member of the acting Br ...

and

Charlie Sheen Carlos Irwin Estévez (born September 3, 1965), known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. He has appeared in films such as ''Platoon'' (1986), ''Wall Street'' (1987), '' Young Guns'' (1988), '' The Rookie'' (1990), ''The Thr ...

References

External links

* "Hawk" Wolinskiat

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

* American funk keyboardists Living people 1948 births Rufus (band) members Musicians from Chicago Songwriters from Illinois The Shadows of Knight members {{US-songwriter-stub