Bobby Caldwell (born August 15, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who, despite a prolific musical output over his more than 25-year career, is still best known for his 1978 hit single "What You Won't Do for Love." While he has always maintained a devoted fan base in the United States, a more legendary status has been bestowed upon him in Japan. Image File history File linksMetadata Bobbycaldwellalbum. ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... LeAnn Rimes singing in concert A singer is a type of musician who uses his or her voice to produce music. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... Look up Career in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A career is traditionally seen as a course of successive situations that make up a persons worklife. ... See also: 1977 in music, other events of 1978, 1979 in music, 1970s in music and the list of years in music // Events January 14 - The Sex Pistols played their final show (until a 1996 reunion) at San Franciscos Winterland Ballroom. ...

Early life

Bobby Caldwell was born in Manhattan, New York City to Bob and Carolyn Caldwell, the hosts of Suppertime, an early television variety show. Living in Memphis and, chiefly, Miami (which he has called an influential "dumping ground" for all kinds of music), he took up piano and guitar as a preteen. Forming his own band at 17, he took the group on the road, later recording an album entitled Kathmandu. The Borough of Manhattan, highlighted in yellow, lies between the East River and the Hudson River. ... Nickname: The Big Apple Official website: City of New York Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Geographical characteristics Area Total 468. ... Nickname: The River City, The Bluff City Official website: http://www. ... The Magic City, The American Riviera, The Sixth Borough Location of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. ... A grand piano A piano is a musical instrument which is classified as a keyboard, percussion or string instrument, depending on the system of classification used. ... A guitar is a musical instrument characterized by its visually dominant body and neck. ... In music, a band is a group of musicians, or musical ensemble, usually popular or folk, playing parts of or improvising off of a musical arrangement. ... An album is a collection of related audio tracks, released together commercially in an audio format to the public. ...

Caldwell's first performances were more rock-oriented than the bulk of his career would indicate; early dates had him playing Jimi Hendrix and Cream covers in small clubs. James Marshall Jimi Hendrix (November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and cultural icon. ... Cream (also The Cream) was a seminal 1960s British rock band which featured guitarist Eric Clapton, bassist Jack Bruce, and drummer Ginger Baker. ...

Recording career

Bobby Caldwell/What You Won't Do for Love

Ten years later, Bobby Caldwell recorded his double platinum-attaining self-titled solo album, scoring hits with the singles "What You Won't Do for Love", "My Flame" and, in Britain, "Down for the Third Time". In order to ensure significant airplay on the African American-dominated R&B radio format of the time, Caldwell's management took certain steps—such as portraying the artist only in silhouette on the cover and in advertisements—to hide the fact that he was white. The secret was, for obvious reasons, shattered by his first live appearances. The description Gold Album is applied to recorded music albums that have sold a minimum number of copies (in the US, currently 500,000 sales). ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black), is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Rhythm and blues (or R & B) is a musical marketing term introduced in the United States in the late 1940s by Billboard magazine. ... A silhouette is a view of an object or scene consisting of the outline and a featureless interior. ... White (collection: White people, White race or Whites) is a term used as a group lumping form of ethnic or racial classification of people. ...

After the tracks were first recorded and the record was considered "complete," the head of the label said that he enjoyed the album but couldn't hear a hit. Attempting to address this issue, Caldwell and his band re-entered the studio, laying down the song's now-familiar rhythm tracks. After he quickly penned a set of lyrics, "What You Won't Do for Love" was born. The hit parade is the list of songs most popular at any given time. ...

"What You Won't Do for Love" in its novelty vinyl incarnation

Reaching the top ten on both the pop and R&B charts, the song proved to be a success, though a bit of a surprise one due both to the haste with which it was written and the fact that Caldwell assumed "My Flame", the LP's second track ("What You Won't Do for Love" is the sixth), would wind up as the standout single. The album which contained it was later re-released under the song's title. The single was also marketed in the form of a distinctive red heart-shaped 45-RPM vinyl record (advertised as "the single that gets to the heart of the matter"), now a collector's item frequently seen on eBay. (The What You Won't Do for Love album also received a novelty release on yellow vinyl.) Image File history File links Wwdylheartvinyl. ... The heart and lungs, from an older edition of Grays Anatomy. ... eBay Inc. ...

While the original song still receives frequent airplay today, it has been covered, re-made (once, in 1998, by Caldwell himself) and sampled many times since 1978. Go West's version rose high in the adult contemporary charts, and Tupac Shakur's "Do for Love," which samples the lyric, also attained a good deal of popularity. In addition, "My Flame" was also sampled by Bad-Boy recording artist The Notorious B.I.G. and integrated into the song Sky's the Limit; which was also another major Rap/Hip-Hop hit. Go West are a British pop group. ... Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971–September 13, 1996) was an American hip hop artist, poet and actor. ... Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), also known as Biggie Smalls (after a stylish gangster in 1975s Lets Do it Again) and Frank White (from the film King of New York), but best known as The Notorious B.I.G. (Business Instead of Game... Look up rap in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Hip hop music (also referred to as rap or rap music) is a style of popular music. ...

The Cat in the Hat through August Moon

Caldwell's sophomore period involved the considerable task of following up such a staggering success as What You Won't Do for Love; during this time, his Japanese audience steadily eclipsed his American one. The Cat in the Hat (1980) and Carry On (1982), were artistic improvements upon the first album, but did not match its commercial success. They were, however, bestsellers in Japan -- The Cat went platinum and Carry On gold -- and sealed Bobby's reputation as a superstar in that country. See also: 1979 in music, other events of 1980, 1981 in music, 1980s in music and the list of years in music // Events January January 1 - Cliff Richard is appointed an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II. The only other pop music acts to be created MBEs are the Beatles and... See also: 1981 in music, other events of 1982, 1983 in music, 1980s in music and the list of years in music // Events January 15 - K.C. and the Sunshine Bands Harry Wayne Casey is seriously injured in an automobile accident in Miami, Florida. ... Commerce is the trading of something of value between two entities. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with RIAA certification. ...

1983 saw Bobby Caldwell put out August Moon, a project bearing a much more rock- than soul-oriented sound, in Japan only; it was released in the United States in the 1990s. See also: 1982 in music, other events of 1983, 1984 in music, 1980s in music and the list of years in music // Events The most long-term influential release of 1983 is probably Head over Heels by the Cocteau Twins, which sold poorly upon its initial release. ... The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive. ...

Heart of Mine through Where is Love

Though August Moon went gold, Caldwell subsequently took a hiatus from recording, instead directing his efforts toward composing songs for other performers, most notably "Heart of Mine" for Boz Scaggs, "Next Time I Fall" for Amy Grant and Peter Cetera, "Janet" for the Commodores and "All or Nothing at All" for Al Jarreau. Ironically, these songs became bigger hits when Caldwell himself later recorded them on his 1989 comeback album Heart of Mine. Look up hiatus in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Boz Scaggs album cover Boz Scaggs (born William Royce Scaggs, June 8, 1944) is an Ohio-born Texan singer, songwriter and guitarist. ... Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960 in Augusta, Georgia) is an American singer-songwriter whose music has strong Christian themes. ... Peter Paul Cetera (born September 13, 1944 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American singer, songwriter, and bass player best known for his tenure in the band Chicago. ... The Commodores were a highly successful soul/funk band in the 1970s. ... Alwyn Lopez Jarreau (born March 12, 1940 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin), known popularly as Al Jarreau, is an American, Grammy Award–winning jazz singer. ... See also: 1988 in music, other events of 1989, 1990 in music, 1980s in music and the list of years in music // Events January 7 - Genesis 88 and Sunrise/Back to the Future stage large-scale illegal Acid House party in London January 14 - Paul McCartney releases Back in the... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Insult. ...

Caldwell sold albums at a steady pace throughout the 1990s, producing 1991's Stuck on You, recorded with a sixty-piece orchestra, and 1993's Where is Love, the latter having been recorded with musicians who had previously played with Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett along with a twenty-four piece orchestra. See also: 1990 in music, other events of 1991, 1992 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // Events 1991 was the year that grunge music made its popular breakthrough. ... See also: 1992 in music, other events of 1993, 1994 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // Events January 8 - The U.S. Postal service issues an Elvis Presley stamp. ...

During this period, the airplay of his music shifted from the declining R&B radio format to the then-nascent smooth jazz stations. Caldwell is frequently cited as a staple of the genre, with "What You Won't Do for Love" as well as lesser-known singles such as "Real Thing", "All or Nothing at All" (both from Heart of Mine) still featuring prominently on programmers' playlists. Smooth jazz is generally described as a genre of music that utilizes instruments (and, at times, improvisation) traditionally associated with jazz and stylistic influences drawn from, among other sources, funk, popular and R&B. Since the late 1980s, it has become highly successful as a radio format; one can tune...

Soul Survivor through Come Rain or Come Shine

1995 saw the release of Soul Survivor, marking a turn toward coverage of others' songs. Though a handful of originals were present, the album was for the most part focused on, appropriately, soul standards such as "Walk on By" and "Your Precious Love". See also: 1994 in music, other events of 1995, 1996 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // Events January 18 - Jerry Garcia wrecks his rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California. ...

He later turned to singing nothing but big band standards and original, yet big band standard-like songs (such as the much-promoted "Tomorrow") on 1996's Blue Condition and 1999's Come Rain or Come Shine. Blue Condition was recorded in real-time, live with a sixty-piece string section and twenty-piece jazz band in the same Capitol Records studios used by such icons as Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Bobby Darin. A big band is a large musical ensemble that plays jazz music. ... See also: 1995 in music, other events of 1996, 1997 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // Events January 8 - Madonnas stalker, Robert Hoskins is found guilty and convicted on 5 charges of assault, stalking, and threatening to kill her. ... See also: 1998 in music, 1999 in British music, other events of 1999, 2000 in music, 1990s in music and the list of years in music // Events January 7 After eight years of marriage, Rod Stewart and supermodel wife Rachel Hunter announce their separation. ...

Perfect Island Nights

In 2005, Caldwell released Perfect Island Nights, his first album of mostly original studio material since 1993. The record features a new version "Rain", a track which made its debut on his second anthology release, Time and Again, as well as versions of Phil Perry's "Perfect Island Night", "Where is the Love" (rendered as a duet with Deniece Williams) and "Our Day Will Come". Guest players include saxophonist George Shelby and percussionist Russ Miller. Deniece Williams Deniece Williams (born June Deniece Chandler on June 3, 1950 in Gary, Indiana) is an American singer and songwriter who achieved success in the 1970s and 1980s. ...

Film soundtracks

Caldwell has contributed music to a number of movies. He has both written and performed original songs for 1986's Back to School ("Educated Girl"), 1988's Mac & Me ("Take Me, I'll Follow You"), 1988's Salsa ("Puerto Rico") and its sequel ("Every Teardrop"). Back to School is a 1986 movie starring Rodney Dangerfield, Keith Gordon, Sally Kellerman, and Robert Downey, Jr. ...

Songs penned by Caldwell but performed by others have appeared in films such as 1989's Ghostbusters 2 ("The Promised Land", performed by James "J.T." Taylor, the lead singer of Kool & the Gang) and 1987's Princess from the Moon ("Stay With Me", performed by Peter Cetera). Ghostbusters II is the 1989 sequel of Ghostbusters (1984); the sci-fi comedy films are about three parapsychologists. ... Kool & the Gang was a highly successful R&B/soul/funk/disco group. ... Peter Paul Cetera (born September 13, 1944 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American singer, songwriter, and bass player best known for his tenure in the band Chicago. ...

Due to what Caldwell has cited in interviews a lower cost of use than the original recordings, his versions of big band standards have appeared in several films. Examples include 2002's LakeBoat and 2001's Simone. A big band is a large musical ensemble that plays jazz music. ... S1m0ne, also seen as Simone, is a 2002 science fiction drama film written, produced and directed by New Zealander Andrew Niccol, starring Al Pacino. ...

Caldwell also composed and performed "Don't Quit", the theme song for Body by Jake's workout video of the same name. He also appears in the associated music video, musically urging an actor portraying a weak young man to engage in weight training in order to defeat the bully of a local beach. A complete weight training workout can be performed with a pair of adjustable dumbbells and a set of weight disks (plates). ... A bully is an individual, thought to be emotionally dysfunctional, who torments others through verbal harassment, physical assault, or other more subtle methods of coercion. ... 90 mile beach Australia A beach or strand is a geological formation consisting of loose rock particles such as sand, shingle, cobble, or even shell along the shoreline of a body of water. ...

Sampling

Caldwell's music has been popular source material for other artists, sometimes of differing genres, to sample. Of the many releases that make use of pieces of Caldwell's work, the following are some of the most prominent: In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion of one sound recording, the sample, and reusing it as an instrument or element of a new recording. ...

• Aaliyah's "Age Ain't Nothin' But a Number" (samples "What You Won't Do for Love")
• 2Pac's "Can I Get Your Number", "Do for Love" and "Heaven Ain't Hard to Find" (samples "What You Won't Do for Love")
• Tatyana Ali's "Boy You Knock Out" (samples "What You Won't Do for Love")
• Common's "The Light" (samples "Open Your Eyes")
• Notorious B.I.G.'s "Sky the Limit" (samples "My Flame")

Aaliyah Dana Haughton (January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001), better known simply as her stage name Aaliyah, was an American R&B singer, dancer, fashion model and actress. ... Years after his death, Tupac Shakur is still considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of all time. ... Tatyana Marisol Ali (born January 24, 1979 in North Bellmore, New York) is an American actress and R&B singer. ... Common Common (formerly Common Sense, born Lonnie Rashid Lynn on March 13, 1972 in Chicago, Illinois) is a Chicago-based hip hop artist known for lyrics that focus on love and spirituality. ... Christopher Wallace (May 21, 1972 - March 9, 1997), also known as Biggie Smalls (after a stylish gangster in the 1975 comedy, Lets Do it Again), but best known as The Notorious B.I.G. (Business Instead of Game). ...

Acting

Aside from a minor role in 1988's Salsa, Caldwell portrayed Frank Sinatra from October 1999 to January 2000 in the Las Vegas stage musical The Rat Pack is Back, garnering positive reviews. Francis Albert Sinatra (December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer who is one of the highest acclaimed male popular song vocalists of all time. ... Look up October in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... This article is about the year 2000. ...

Personal life

Caldwell's twin daughters, Lauren (an answering machine message from whom briefly appears in the opening seconds of "Call Me Up", a track from Perfect Island Nights) and Tessa (who aspires to be a film director), were born in 1993. Though the marriage -- his second -- to their mother, Rina, later dissolved, a musical love letter still exists in the form of a song named for her that appears on "Where is Love". (In a 2005 interview on Art Good's Jazztrax radio program, Caldwell expressed regret about having recorded it.) A love letter is a popular way to express feelings of love in written form. ... Art Good is the host of the Jazztrax Showcase of the Absolute Newest, a weekly syndicated five-hour radio show that counts down Americas Top 20 Smooth Jazz singles. ... Jazztrax, formally known as the Jazztrax Showcase of the Absolute Newest, is a weekly countdown of Americas Top 20 Smooth Jazz singles by Art Good. ...

In 2005, he and his third wife, Mary, relocated from Las Vegas (a city that Caldwell has been quoted as saying "can be compared to Baghdad") to New Jersey. Location of Baghdad within Iraq Baghdad (Arabic: ‎ translit: , Kurdish: Bexda, from Persian Baagh-daad meaning given by God) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ... Official language(s) None defined, English de facto Capital Trenton Largest city Newark Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 47th 22,608 km² 110 km 240 km 14. ...

Current activity

In 1999, Bobby Caldwell received the "Lifetime Achievement Award in Music" at the 10th annual Heroes and Legends Awards. He continues to record and tour extensively in the 2000s, promoting Perfect Island Nights and, with The Groove Boutique's Rafe Gomez, a 3-CD set entitled The Ultimate Bobby Caldwell. The Compact Disc logo was inspired by that of the previous Compact Cassette. ...

Bobby Caldwell on the cover of the October 1996 issue of Ad Lib, a popular Japanese adult contemporary music magazine

Image File history File linksMetadata Bobbycaldwelladlib. ...

Japanese audience

Like several other singers (such as Lou Pardini, Peter Cetera and Daryl Hall) whose work can be roughly categorized in the "adult contemporary" genre, Caldwell has attained a great deal of popularity in Japan. In 1992, he received the nation's equivalent of a Grammy as the "best international artist." Peter Paul Cetera (born September 13, 1944 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American singer, songwriter, and bass player best known for his tenure in the band Chicago. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Hall & Oates. ... Grammy Award statuette The Grammy Awards, presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music Awards, the American Music...

His current career reflects his fame in that country. His albums tend to be released in that country before his own, his tours typically include many, prestigious well-attended dates at such venues as the Nagoya Blue Note and, in the early 1990s, he married (and fathered twin daughters with) a woman from Japan. Nagoya Castle in June of 2004. ...

The Japanese soul/jazz group Skoop on Somebody covered What You Won't Do for Love in their album, 「undressed～club SOS～」.

Discography

• What You Won't Do for Love (1978) Initially released as Bobby Caldwell. Reached double platinum status in the United States and gold status in Japan.
• The Cat in the Hat (1980) Reached gold status in the United States and platinum in Japan.
• Carry On (1982) Reached gold status in Japan.
• August Moon (1984) Initially a Japan-only release, where it reached gold status.
• Heart of Mine (1988) Reached double platinum status in Japan and received Ad Lib magazine's Best Record of the Year 1989 award.
• Stuck on You (1991) Released in Japan as Solid Ground
• Where is Love (1993)
• Soul Survivor (1995)
• Blue Condition (1996)
• Timeline: The Anthology (1998)
• Come Rain or Come Shine (1999)
• Time and Again: The Anthology Part 2 (2001)
• Perfect Island Nights (2005)

The description Gold Album is applied to recorded music albums that have sold a minimum number of copies (in the US, currently 500,000 sales). ... The Cat in the Hat is a fictional cat created by Dr. Seuss. ... The Mid-Autumn Moonfestival is also celebrated in overseas Chinese communities like the San Francisco Chinatown The Mid-Autumn Festival (Chinese: 中秋節; Simplified Chinese: 中秋节; pinyin: Zhōngqiūjié; Vietnamese Tết Trung Thu 節中秋; Korean: Chusǒk or Chuseok 추석/秋夕; also known as the Moon Festival, Mooncake Festival, or the August Moon... See AdLib for the computer sound card manufacturer. ... Stuck on You is a 2003 Farrelly Brothers comedy film starring Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear. ... Soul Survivor (frequently shortened to SS) is a worldwide Christian charity based in Watford, London. ...

Other media

Bobby Caldwell Live in Tokyo, a recording of a 1991 performance in Japan was released on both Laserdisc and VHS. Featured members of his band at that time included Marilyn Scott, Boney James (billed as "Jim Oppenheim") and Machun. Several songs include music video clips mixed with the live footage, one of which shows Caldwell driving a Nissan 300ZX. Pioneers LaserDisc Logo Laserdisc certification mark The laserdisc (LD) was the first commercial optical disc storage medium, and was used primarily for the presentation of movies. ... Top view VHS cassette with U.S. 25c coin for scale Bottom view of VHS cassette with magnetic tape exposed The Video Home System, first released in September 1976, better known by its abbreviation VHS, is a recording and playing standard for video cassette recorders (VCRs), developed by JVC (with... James Oppenheim, better known as Boney James, is a smooth jazz saxophonist who popularized urban jazz (an updated version of smooth jazz that contains elements of hip-hop). ... A music video (also promo) is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a song. ... The Nissan 300ZX, also known as the Nissan Fairlady Z is a sports car produced by Nissan Motor Company. ...

Quotes

• "It got to where I could just send the hat to the show and stay home!" - on why he no longer wears his former trademark fedora during live performances
• "The record label went to great lengths to hide the fact that I was white, and I just deferred to what I didn't understand." - on his career immediately post-"What You Won't Do for Love"

External links

• Bobby Caldwell's official site
• Bobby Caldwell Homepage in Japan, an extensive Japanese fan site
• Gunnar Homdrum's fan site
• An interview from Smooth Jazz News
• An interview from NPR's News & Notes with Ed Gordon