Michael Andrew Sembello (born April 17, 1954) is an American singer, guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, composer and producer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Sembello was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

and a

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for his 1983 song " Maniac", which he sang and co-wrote. The song reached number one in the United States and featured in the ''Flashdance'' film soundtrack.

Early life

Sembello was born and raised in

Ardmore, Pennsylvania Ardmore is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) spanning the border between Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Montgomery counties in the U.S. ...

, a western suburb of Philadelphia.

Career

Sembello began his career in music as a session musician, working as a guitarist. By age 17, he was working professionally with

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

on electric and acoustic guitar as a studio player on Wonder's '' Fulfillingness' First Finale''. He continued the same year, chosen as one of the core artists who worked on '' Songs in the Key of Life'', an ambitious double album that took two years to create. He was credited as lead and rhythm guitarist on most of the tracks—including the intricate

jazz rock Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music Music genre, genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, a ...

lead guitar part of the instrumental "Contusion"—and shares songwriting credit with Wonder on the song "Saturn", according to the album's liner notes. Sembello wrote the song "Mirror Mirror", a sizable hit for

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

in 1981 (No. 2 on the soul singles chart and peaking at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100) and the song "Carousel", which

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 Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

recorded for his 1982 album '' Thriller'', but it was replaced on the track list by "

Human Nature Human nature comprises the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of Thought, thinking, feeling, and agency (philosophy), acting—that humans are said to have nature (philosophy), naturally. The term is often used to denote ...

". The song was included as a bonus track on '' Thriller 25'', the 25th-anniversary edition reissue of the album; the full version was released on iTunes in 2013 as part of The Ultimate Fan Extras Collection. Sembello released his first solo album '' Bossa Nova Hotel'' in 1983. The song " Maniac" from that album, which he co-wrote with his keyboardist Dennis Matkosky, was selected for inclusion in the film '' Flashdance''. "Maniac" was the second-best-charting song from the soundtrack (after the

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...

) and the ninth-biggest single of 1983. That soundtrack won a Grammy Award in 1984 for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special. Sembello and Matkosky have claimed that the song was supposed to be about a vicious pet murderer after having seen a slasher flick, possibly '' Maniac'' or ''

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' is a 1974 American independent horror film produced, co-composed, and directed by Tobe Hooper, who co-wrote it with Kim Henkel. The film stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, ...

''. In 2020, Sembello, along with Matkosky, appeared in ''Maniac Men'', an interview included on the 4K UHD Blu-ray reissue of ''Maniac''. Sembello produced guitarist Jennifer Batten's first solo album '' Above Below and Beyond'' in 1992. In 1994, he produced Argentine singer Valeria Lynch's album ''Caravana de Sueños'' (1994), and co-wrote the title song with lyricist César Isella and composer Armando Tejada Gómez. Sembello's songs are featured in the films '' Cocoon'', ''

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

'', ''

Gremlins ''Gremlins'' is a 1984 American black comedy horror film directed by Joe Dante, written by Chris Columbus and starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly Holliday and Frances Lee McCain, with Howie Mandel providing the voic ...

'', ''

The Monster Squad ''The Monster Squad'' is a 1987 American horror comedy film directed by Fred Dekker, and written by Dekker and Shane Black. Peter Hyams and Rob Cohen served as executive producers. It was released by Tri-Star Pictures on August 14, 1987. T ...

'' and ''

Summer Lovers ''Summer Lovers'' is a 1982 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Randal Kleiser and starring Peter Gallagher, Daryl Hannah, and Valerie Quennessen. It was filmed on location on the island of Santorini, Greece. The or ...

''. His song "Gravity" from ''Cocoon'' was accompanied by a music video directed by the film's director

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American filmmaker and actor. Howard started his career as a child actor before transitioning to directing films. Over his six-decade career, Howard has received List of awards and nominations r ...

and included an appearance by Howard in a scripted fictional foreword to the video. In 2008, Sembello worked with saxophonist Michael Lington on his album ''Heat'', nominated as Jazztrax Album of the Year for 2008. Michael and his brother Danny Sembello penned three songs with Lington for the project. May 2009, Sembello assembled Bruce Gaitsch (bass, guitar) and Janey Clewer (keyboards, vocals) to form the trio The Bossa Nova Hotel, named after his 1983

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

debut. They recorded the album ''Moon Island'', released on

EMI Japan , formerly , was one of Japan's leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI, EMI Group Ltd. on June 30, 2007, after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake. Its Chief executive officer, CEO and presi ...

. The album consists of American pop songs given arrangements with a strong Brazilian influence. Shortly after The Bossa Nova Hotel's rendition of the jazz standard ''

Manhã de Carnaval "Manhã de Carnaval" ("Carnival Morning"), often referred to as "Black Orpheus", is a song by Brazilian composer Luiz Bonfá and lyricist Antônio Maria. "Manhã de Carnaval" appeared as a principal theme in the 1959 Portuguese-language film ' ...

'' enjoyed success as the theme to the Japanese television series, ''LIFE!'', the trio regrouped in 2016 to record a cover of Sting's '' Fragile''. Sembello has recorded his vocals in six languages.

Personal life

Sembello is the brother of the late songwriters Danny (1963–2015) and John Sembello (1945–2013).

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

* ''The Lost Years'' (2003)

Collaboration albums

* ''Moon Island'' (2009) with the Bossa Nova Hotel

Singles

References

External links

Michael & Danny Sembello Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sembello, Michael 1954 births Living people American people of Italian descent 20th-century American singer-songwriters 20th-century American writers 20th-century American composers 21st-century American singer-songwriters 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists American acoustic guitarists American male guitarists American film score composers American hi-NRG musicians American male singer-songwriters American pop guitarists American pop rock singers Record producers from Pennsylvania American multi-instrumentalists American session musicians American synth-pop musicians EMI Records artists Grammy Award winners American male film score composers A&M Records artists Warner Records artists Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania Guitarists from Philadelphia 20th-century American male singers 21st-century American male singers Frontiers Records artists