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

music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

. Born in

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, he was raised in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...

. His music catalog is represented by

Downtown Music Publishing Downtown Music Holdings is an independent rights management and music services company based in the US State of New York. It comprises 10 businesses. All divisions live under the Downtown Music Holdings umbrella and are split between two vertic ...

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 B ...

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

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...

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 instru ...

. Moving from the

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

area to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, 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 Gay ...

. He wrote

Johnny Gill Johnny Gill Jr. (born May 22, 1966) is an American singer and songwriter. 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 rel ...

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

Straight Up Various unique terms are used in bartending. Definitions and usage Straight, up, and straight up In bartending, the terms "straight up" and "up" ordinarily refer to an alcoholic drink that is shaken or stirred with ice and then strained and ...

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 choreographe ...

recorded it and also Wolff's " Cold Hearted" for her album ''

Forever Your Girl ''Forever Your Girl'' is the debut studio album by American singer Paula Abdul. It was released on June 13, 1988, through Virgin Records. The album was Abdul's breakthrough into the music industry after being a choreographer for high-profile cli ...

''. 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 who rose to fame after her first two albums ('' Tell It to My Heart'' and '' Can't Fight Fate'') were both certified 2× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of ...

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 31, 1989, by Arista Records. The album continued her chart success and was certified 2× Platinum by the Recording Industry Asso ...

''. 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. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

Debbie Gibson Deborah Ann Gibson (born August 31, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She released her debut album ''Out of the Blue (Debbie Gibson album), Out of the Blue'' (1987) at age 16, writing and largely producing the material. The a ...

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 III (born April 20, 1976) is an American actor, musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, podcaster, and game show host. He was a child actor in the early 1980s and portrayed Joey Russo in '' Blossom'' and Joe Longo ...

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

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Color Me Badd Color Me Badd is an American 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, 1970) and b ...

The Corrs The Corrs are an Irish family band consisting of siblings Andrea (lead vocals, tin whistle, mandolin, ukulele), Sharon (violin, keyboards, vocals), Caroline (drums, percussion, piano, bodhrán, vocals) and Jim (guitar, piano, keyboards, v ...

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

, A'Me Lorain,

Jennifer Holliday Jennifer Yvette Holliday (born October 19, 1960) is an American singer and actress. She started her career on Broadway in musicals such as ''Dreamgirls'' (1981–83), '' Your Arms Too Short to Box with God'' (1980–1981) and later became a ...

, 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, San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,392 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, shrinking slower than other parts of San Miguel County, partly because Pecos ...

Santa Fe National Forest The Santa Fe National Forest is a protected national forest in northern New Mexico in the Southwestern United States. It was established in 1915 and covers . Elevations range from 5,300 feet (1600 m) to 13,103 feet (4000 m) at the su ...

. 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) *" Cold Hearted" – 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 fo ...

" –

Gregg Tripp Gregg Tripp is an American musician and songwriter. He was especially active in the late 1980s and 1990s.Atlantic Starr Atlantic Starr is an American R&B band based in White Plains, New York. They are best known for the hits " Always", " Secret Lovers", "Circles", " Silver Shadow", and "Masterpiece". History Atlantic Starr began in Greenburgh, New York, with tr ...

(1994) *"The Earth, the Sun, the Rain" –

(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