Davitt Sigerson (born 1957) is an American retired songwriter, record producer, record executive, and journalist.

Early life and education

Davitt Sigerson was born in New York City and attended school at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

in England.

Career

Sigerson remained in England, writing about music for ''

Black Music Music of the African diaspora is a sound created, produced, or inspired by Black people, including Music of Africa, African music traditions and African popular music as well as the music genres of the African diaspora, including some Caribbean mus ...

'', '' Sounds'', ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'', and '' Time Out'', before returning to the U.S. in 1979, from where he wrote for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'', ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. In 1976, he arranged a version of the Gamble and Huff song " For the Love of Money", released by the ''Disco Dub Band'' on the Movers label. In the early 1980s, Sigerson released two solo albums for ZE as a singer-songwriter, ''Davitt Sigerson'' (1980) and '' Falling in Love Again'' (1984). Also, that year, he wrote and produced "No Time to Stop Believing" under the band name Daisy Chain. In 1990, he recorded a further album, ''Experiments in Terror'', with keyboardist Bob Thiele Jr., as The Royal Macadamians. Sigerson wrote songs for or with artists including Philip Bailey,

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...

Loverboy Loverboy is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in Calgary, Alberta in 1979. Loverboy's hit singles, particularly "Turn Me Loose (Loverboy song), Turn Me Loose" and "Working for the Weekend", have become arena rock staples and are still hear ...

, Prism, John Entwistle of

the Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

, and

Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; ; born August 25, 1949) also known by his stage persona "The Demon", is an Israeli-born American musician. He was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss, which he co-founded wit ...

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

. He also produced records for

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British and Australian singer and actress. With over 100 million records sold, Newton-John was one of the List of best-selling music artists#100 million to 119 million record ...

, the Bangles,

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

, David & David, and others. Sigerson became president of

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

in 1991, president of EMI and Chrysalis Records in 1994, and chairman of

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

from 1998 to 1999. ''Faithful'', Sigerson's only novel, was published in 2004 by Doubleday in the US. Sigerson lives in New York City with his wife; they have two daughters.

Discography

* ''Davitt Sigerson'' (ZE, 1980) * '' Falling in Love Again'' (ZE, 1984) * ''Experiments in Terror'' (Island, 1990) (as member of The Royal Macadamians)

References

External links

* 1957 births Living people Record producers from New York (state) American rock singers American male singer-songwriters American rock songwriters 20th-century American singer-songwriters 20th-century American composers American music industry executives American music journalists A&M Records artists ZE Records artists Businesspeople from New York City Singers from New York City Journalists from New York City The Village Voice people Rolling Stone people The New York Times people 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American male singers Singer-songwriters from New York (state) {{US-music-bio-stub