Clair Marlo

Clair Marlo is a Croatian-American record producer, singer-songwriter, composer, educator, and performer. Her music falls under the categories of Pop, West Coast Sound, Yacht Rock, Adult Contemporary and Contemporary Jazz. She also has a large catalogue of over 4,500 pieces of music used in film and television shows worldwide.

She is known for her multiplatinum hit singles " 'Til They Take My Heart Away" and "Without Me", both from her debut album, ''Let It Go''. Her songs became a staple in radio stations during the early 1990s and her albums (both as recording artist and as producer) for Sheffield Lab Records have become audiophile staples and collectors items around the world. Marlo is also known for co-writing and singing "Sviraj" and "Lullaby" on Paul Schwartz's album, ''Aria 2 – New Horizon'', which reached number 5 on ''Billboard''s Top Classical Crossover Chart in 1999.

Career

Clair Marlo was born in New York City and grew up in Queens. She began her musical studies at the age of five with accordion, then started piano and voice at the age of nine. She had her first song published by Leeds Levy (MCA Music) at the age of 16, when she started college for composition at the Aaron Copeland School of Music at Queens College. She studied privately under opera singer Camilla Williams in New York, noted big band arranger Spud Murphy in Los Angeles, and choir conductor John Motley in New York. Marlo holds a bachelor's degree from Berklee College of Music (1980) in Composition with additional courses in Audio Production and Engineering. Marlo also holds a master's degree in music technology with a specialty in studio technology (2023), from Southern Utah University, Summa Cum Laude.

She owns the music production company Invisible Hand Productions, founded in 1995, and production companies Building 11 Music Group and Tarzana Jane Music Publishing.

Marlo has worked with many notable artists, composers, musicians, engineers and producers including Neil Young, Jeff Porcaro, Steve Porcaro, George Massenburg, Doug Sax, Bill Schnee Joe Porcaro, David Paich, Leland Sklar, Grant Geissman, Craig Fuller, Abraham Laboriel Sr., Dean Parks, Luis Conte, and Steve Katz. Pop rock drummer Jeff Porcaro played on her song " 'Til They Take My Heart Away" and other songs on her debut album, ''Let It Go''. This album became a hit in Europe, the Philippines, and Japan and was especially embraced by the audiophile community because it was recorded by Sheffield Lab Records as a Direct-to-2-track recording, with the entire group in the studio at the same time. Clair's hit song " 'Til They Take My Heart Away" reached double platinum status and has been covered by many other artists such as Kyla, M.Y.M.P., and Regine Velasquez. In 2004 Kyla released Clair's song (written with Steve Porcaro of Toto), " 'Til They Take My Heart Away" as a single on her platinum album Not Your Ordinary Girl which received #1 status

Marlo has produced such artists as Harry Chapin (posthumously), Pat Coil, Michael Ruff, Kilauea (Daniel Ho), and Grant Geissman. Her production of Michael Ruff's "Speaking in Melodies" for Sheffield Lab Records is an audiophile collector's item and was on Stereophile's list of "1994 Records to Die For".

Discography

Solo albums/as featured artist
*''Let It Go'' (1989)
*'' 'Til They Take My Heart Away (Finyl Edits)''
*'' 'Til They Take My Heart Away (1994 Power Tools Edit)''
*''Behaviour Self'' (1995)
*''Rediscovered'' (2007)
*''Trinity'' (2019)

Group albums
*''Liquid Amber'' (1994)
*Liquid Amber – ''Adrift'' (1995)
*Tairona – ''Andean Christmas'' (1996)
*Vox Mundi – ''Christmas Spirit'' (1998)

As producer
*Pat Coil – ''Steps'' (1990)
*Kilauea -'' Antigua Blue'' (1992)
*Pat Coil – ''Just Ahead'' (1992)
*Michael Ruff – ''Speaking in Melodies'' (1993)
*Kilauea -'' Diamond Collection'' (1995)
*Grant Geissman – ''In with the Out Crowd'' (1998)
*Lori Barth – ''Sensuel'' (2002)

As composer/songwriter
*Glenn Eric – ''Glenn Eric'' (1987)
*Spies – ''Music of Espionage'' (1988)
*''Let it Go'' (1989)
*Kilauea -'' Antigua Blue'' (1992)
*''Liquid Amber'' (1994)
*''Behaviour Self'' (1995)
*Liquid Amber – ''Adrift'' (1995)
*Tairona – ''Andean Christmas'' (1996)
*Grant Geissman – ''In with the Out Crowd'' (1998)
*Vox Mundi – ''Christmas Spirit'' (1998)
*Mark Winkler – ''City Lights'' (1998)
*Aria – ''3 CD collection'' (2004)
*Red Rose – ''Good Friends'' (2004)
*Neil Young – ''Living with War'' (2006)
*Julia Duncan – ''The Love Lounge'' (2007)
*''3 Hours of Creepy Sounds for Halloween''(2009)
*Celtic Journey – ''Celtic Journey'' (2011)
*Up Close Volume 8 – ''Sheffield Lab Sampler Featuring Pat Coil''

Personal life

Marlo is based out of Los Angeles, and Istria, Croatia. She has a daughter and a son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marlo, Clair
Living people
American people of Croatian descent
American women pop singers
American jazz composers
American women jazz composers
American women composers
Berklee College of Music alumni
American women singer-songwriters
Musicians from Queens, New York
Record producers from New York (state)
Singers from New York City
American women record producers
American keyboardists
Women keyboardists
American session musicians
21st-century American women
Croatian composers
Croatian jazz composers
Croatian pop musicians
Year of birth missing (living people)