Elliot Marvin Wolff (January 1956 – June 2016) was an American musician, songwriter, and

music 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 ...

. Born in Oklahoma, he was raised in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, in practice it is an edge cit ...

. His music catalog is represented by

Downtown Music Publishing Downtown Music Holdings is a global independent rights management and music services company. Based in New York City, it has been composed of five divisions: Downtown Music Services, Fuga, Songtrust, Adrev and CD Baby. All divisions live under th ...

Career

Wolff was the musical director for

Peaches & Herb Peaches & Herb is an American vocal duo. Herb Fame (born October 1, 1941) has remained a constant as "Herb" since the duo was created in 1966; seven different women have filled the role of "Peaches", most notably Francine Edna "Peaches" Hurd Ba ...

on tour from 1979 to 1982, traveling to Asia and Africa. He also toured with Chaka Khan as a

keyboard player 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 instr ...

. Moving from the

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

area to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, he became a staff writer for producer

Freddie Perren Frederick James Perren (May 15, 1943 – December 16, 2004) was an American songwriter, record producer, arranger, and orchestra conductor. He co-wrote and co-produced songs including " Boogie Fever" by the Sylvers, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Ga ...

. He wrote

Johnny Gill Johnny Gill Jr. (born May 22, 1966) is an American singer and actor. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B/pop group New Edition and was also a member of the supergroup called LSG, with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. Gill has released e ...

's top ten hit " Super Love" for Gill's self-titled 1983 album. After hearing a demo for Wolff's "

Straight Up Straight up is a bartending term referring to a chilled drink served in a stemmed glass without ice. Straight Up may also refer to: * ''Straight Up'' (book), by author, blogger, physicist and climate expert Joseph J. Romm * ''Straight Up'' (Ha ...

Paula Abdul Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreograp ...

recorded it and also Wolff's "

Cold Hearted "Cold Hearted" is a 1989 song by American singer Paula Abdul from her debut album, ''Forever Your Girl'' (1988). It was written and co-produced by Elliot Wolff, and hit number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the album's third son ...

" for her album ''

Forever Your Girl ''Forever Your Girl'' is the debut studio album by American singer Paula Abdul. It was released on June 21, 1988, through Virgin Records. The album was Abdul's breakthrough into the music industry after being a choreographer for high-profile ar ...

''. Both songs charted at number one on ''Billboard''.Bronson, Fred
''The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits''
5th ed., 2003, p.740.

Taylor Dayne Taylor Dayne (born Leslie Wunderman; March 7, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She rose to fame in 1987 after her debut single " Tell It to My Heart". Dayne achieved six additional U.S. top-10 singles, including " Love Wil ...

recorded Wolff's song " Heart of Stone" for her second album ''

Can't Fight Fate ''Can't Fight Fate'' is the second studio album by American singer and songwriter Taylor Dayne, released on October 7, 1989, by Arista Records. The album continued her chart success and was certified 2× Platinum by the Recording Industry Associ ...

''. Other artists who have recorded his songs include

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the "Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

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Gregg Tripp Gregg Tripp is an American musician and songwriter. He was especially active in the late 1980s and 1990s.Joey Lawrence Joseph Lawrence Mignogna Jr. (born April 20, 1976) is an American actor, musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, and game show host. He got his start as a child star in the early 1980s and is best known for his role as Joey Russo in ''Blo ...

Atlantic Starr Atlantic Starr is an American band based in White Plains, New York. They are best known for the hits " Always", " Secret Lovers", "Send for Me", " Circles", "Silver Shadow" and "Masterpiece". History Atlantic Starr began in Greenburgh, New Yo ...

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Color Me Badd ''Color'' Me Badd is an American contemporary R&B group that was formed in 1985 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma by lead singer Bryan Abrams (born November 16, 1969), tenor Mark Calderon (born September 27, 1970), second tenor Sam Watters (born July 23 ...

The Corrs The Corrs are an Irish family band that combine pop rock with traditional Irish themes within their music. The group consists of the Corr siblings, Andrea (lead vocals, tin whistle, mandolin, ukulele), Sharon (violin, keyboards, vocals), Caro ...

Dave Koz David Stephen Koz (born March 27, 1963) is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, composer, record producer, and radio personality based in California. Early life Dave Koz was born in Encino, California, to Jewish parents: Norman, a dermatologist ...

, A'Me Lorain,

Jennifer Holliday Jennifer Yvette Holliday (born October 19, 1960) is an American actress and singer. She started her career on Broadway theatre, Broadway in musicals such as ''Dreamgirls (musical), Dreamgirls'' (1981–83), ''Your Arms Too Short to Box with G ...

, and Stacey Piersa.

Death

He died at the age of 60 sometime between June 7 and June 25, 2016, while on a solo camping and hiking trip near

Pecos, New Mexico Pecos is a village in San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,392 at the 2010 census, shrinking slower than other parts of San Miguel County, partly because Pecos is within commuting distance of Santa Fe. The village i ...

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. New Mexico state police had reported that he was last seen on June 7, 2016; they suspended ground and helicopter searches for him on June 12. On June 25, a body was discovered in the forest; based on identification found, it was believed to be Wolff.

Selected songs

Wolff has written or co-written the following songs: *" Super Love" –

(1983) *"

" –

(1988) *"

" – Paula Abdul (1989) *" Whole Wide World" – A'Me Lorain (1990) *" Follow My Heartbeat" – A'Me Lorain (1990) *"

I Don't Want to Live Without You "I Don't Want to Live Without You" is a song written by Mick Jones that was first released by the pop rock band Foreigner on their 1987 album '' Inside Information''. Jones has rated it as one of his favorite Foreigner songs. Released as the f ...

" –

Gregg Tripp Gregg Tripp is an American musician and songwriter. He was especially active in the late 1980s and 1990s.Not One More Time" – Stacey Piersa (1994) *" I'll Remember You" –

(1994) *"

The Earth, the Sun, the Rain The following is the discography of American R&B group Color Me Badd ''Color'' Me Badd is an American contemporary R&B group that was formed in 1985 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma by lead singer Bryan Abrams (born November 16, 1969), tenor Mark Cald ...

" –

(1996) *" Love Gives Love Takes" –

(1997)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolff, Elliot 1955 births 2016 deaths American keyboardists American male songwriters Jewish American songwriters People from Silver Spring, Maryland Record producers from Maryland Record producers from Oklahoma Songwriters from Maryland Songwriters from Oklahoma 21st-century American Jews