Wally Badarou

French musician (born 1955)

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Wally Badarou

Badarou in 2016

Background information
Birth name| Waliou Jacques Daniel Isheola Badarou
Born|  (1955-03-22) 22 March 1955 (age 70)
Paris, France
Genres|

* Synth-pop
* pop
* jazz
* jazz fusion
* progressive rock
* African music
* neoclassical
* minimalist

Occupations|

* Composer
* songwriter
* musician
* record producer

Instruments|

* Keyboards
* guitar
* programming

Years active| 1978–present
Labels| Barclay Records (1978–1982)
Island Records (1982–1995)
Blue Mountain Music (1995–2002)
Ishe Music (2002–present)
Website| wallybadarou.com

Musical artist

Waliou Jacques Daniel Isheola "Wally" Badarou (born 22 March 1955) is a French musician. Born in France with ancestry from Benin, West Africa, Badarou is known for his close association with the English group Level 42, and for his prolific work as a session musician with a wide variety of performers from around the world.

## Biography

[edit]

Badarou was the long-time associate of the British band Level 42, contributing on keyboards, synthesizers and programming. He has co-written and performed on a number of the band's tracks since their recording début in 1980, later co-producing them.

Though never an official member of Level 42, he could be considered a de facto "fifth member" of the band's classic line-up from 1980 through 1994, as he played keyboards and synths on all their studio albums, and co-wrote and/or co-produced much of their material. However, Badarou did not play with Level 42 on concert dates, and he has not been involved with the revived version of the group, which reunited in the early 2000s.

Badarou was close to Island Records's founder Chris Blackwell,[1] and was one of the Compass Point All Stars (with Sly and Robbie, Barry Reynolds, Mikey Chung and Uziah "Sticky" Thompson), the in-house recording team of Compass Point Studios responsible for a long series of albums of the 1980s recorded by Grace Jones, Tom Tom Club, Joe Cocker, Mick Jagger, Black Uhuru, Gwen Guthrie, Jimmy Cliff and Gregory Isaacs.[2]

Badarou's keyboard playing could also be heard on albums by Robert Palmer, Marianne Faithfull,[3] Herbie Hancock, M (Pop Muzik), Talking Heads,[4] Tom Tom Club, Foreigner, Power Station, Melissa Etheridge, Manu Dibango, Miriam Makeba, and Lizzy Mercier Descloux.

He produced albums by Fela Kuti,[5] Salif Keita, Wasis Diop, Trilok Gurtu, Carlinhos Brown; wrote for the films Countryman, and Kiss of the Spider Woman; plus directed and wrote for Jean-Paul Goude's French Bicentennial parade, Bastille Day 1989.[6][7] So integral was his involvement on Lizzy Mercier Descloux's classic second album, Mambo Nassau, that he is tantamount to uncredited co-producer and unacknowledged co-songwriter.

His solo instrumental work includes two albums: Echoes (1984) and Words of a Mountain (1989). The former included "Chief Inspector", "Mambo" (sampled for Massive Attack's "Daydreaming" (Blue Lines album)), and "Hi-Life". "Chief Inspector" peaked at #46 in the UK Singles Chart in October 1985.[8]

The Words of a Mountain album is believed to be one of the first fully tapeless recordings in contemporary/new-age history: co-pioneering the computerised home studio concept with other electronic musicians of his generation, Badarou established a reputation on the field with his extensive use of Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, New England Digital Synclavier, and custom voice-controlled Yamaha digital mixers.[9][citation needed]

Badarou also helped organise the Kora All Africa Music Awards in 1997, while co-writing and producing So Why, a charity album for the ICRC, conceived as a call against ethnic cleansing in Africa, featuring Youssou N'Dour and Papa Wemba.

He has embraced stage acting since the early 2000s, showing interest in aviation, movies, science-fiction and philosophy.[citation needed]

By the end of 2009, starting with Fisherman, a 15-minute long "marathon in afro-beat territory",[10] Badarou releases his albums—including his latest, The Unnamed Trilogy—exclusively online, one single at a time via the JukeSticker, a direct and sharable transaction tool: "At very long last, my fans are to receive the music that never stopped haunting me all these years. The whole of it will be available as a physical collector set, once the three albums are fully revealed".[10]

In 2012, he was elected to the board of SACEM, the french collective management organisation for authors rights in music.

In 2014, along with a cast of music luminaries, he founded the African Music Academy (AMA).[11]

## Discography

[edit]

### Solo

[edit]

* 1979: Back to Scales Tonight
* 1984: Echoes
* 1985: Chief Inspector (EP)
* 1989: Words of a Mountain
* 1997: So Why
* 2001: Colors of Silence : Musical poetry for Yoga
* 2009: The Unnamed Trilogy

### Movie scores

[edit]

* 1981: Dickie Jobson: Countryman
* 1982: Nathalie Delon & Yves Deschamps: They Call It an Accident
* 1985: Hector Babenco: Kiss of the SpiderWoman (additional music)
* 1991: Lol Creme: The Lunatic
* 1997: Idrissa Ouedraogo: Kini & Adams
* 1997: Don Letts & Rick Elgood: DanceHall Queen
* 1999: Chris Browne: Third World Cop
* 2000: John Berry: Boesman & Lena
* 2024: Mati Diop: Dahomey

### Producer (and co-producer)

[edit]

* 1979: Janic Prévost – J'veux d'la Tendresse
* 1981: Alain Chamfort – Amour Année Zéro
* 1983: Marianne Faithfull – A Child's Adventure (& co-writer)
* 1985: Level 42 – World Machine (& co-writer)
* 1986: Alain Chamfort – Tendres Fièvres (& co-writer)
* 1986: Fela Anikulapo Kuti – Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense
* 1987: Level 42 – Running in the Family (& co-writer)
* 1988: Level 42 – Staring at the Sun (& co-writer)
* 1990: Level 42 – Guaranteed (& co-writer)
* 1993: Level 42 – Forever Now (& co-writer)
* 1995: Salif Keita – Folon
* 1996: Carlinhos Brown – AlfaGamaBetizado
* 1998: Yannick Noah & Zam Zam – Zam Zam
* 1998: Wasis Diop – Toxu
* 2000: Trilok Gurtu -The Beat of Love (& co-writer)
* 2001: i Muvrini – Umani

### Session player

[edit]

* 1977: Fireball - Drive Me To Hell
* 1979: M – New-York, London, Paris, Munich ("Pop Muzik")
* 1979: Miriam Makeba – Comme une symphonie d'amour
* 1980: Bernie Lyon – Bernie Lyon
* 1980: Grace Jones – Warm Leatherette
* 1980: M – The Official Secrets Act
* 1980: Lizzy Mercier Descloux – Mambo Nassau
* 1980: Level 42 – The Early Tapes (& co-writer)
* 1981: Grace Jones – Nightclubbing
* 1981: Level 42 – Level 42 (& co-writer)
* 1981: Bernie Lyon – I'm Living in the Sunshine
* 1981: Gibson Brothers – Quartier Latin
* 1981: Barry Reynolds – I Scare Myself
* 1981: Will Tura – Tura 81
* 1981: Jimmy Cliff – Give The People What They Want
* 1982: Charlélie Couture – Pochette Surprise
* 1982: Joe Cocker – Sheffield Steel
* 1982: Black Uhuru – Chill Out
* 1982: Gregory Isaacs – Night Nurse
* 1982: Grace Jones – Living My Life
* 1982: Gwen Guthrie – Gwen Guthrie
* 1982: Robin Scott & Shikisha – Jive Shikisha !
* 1982: Level 42 – The Pursuit of Accidents (& co-writer)
* 1983: Level 42 – Standing in the Light (& co-writer)
* 1983: Talking Heads – Speaking in Tongues
* 1983: Tom-Tom Club – Close to the Bone
* 1984: Level 42 – True Colours (& co-writer)
* 1984: Foreigner – Agent Provocateur
* 1985: Mick Jagger – She's The Boss
* 1985: Power Station – Some Like It Hot
* 1985: Level 42 – World Machine (& co-writer)
* 1985: Gwen Guthrie – Just For You
* 1985: Sly & Robbie – Language Barrier
* 1985: Robert Palmer – Riptide
* 1987: Level 42 – Running in the Family (& co-writer)
* 1988: Manu Dibango – Electric Africa
* 1988: Melissa Etheridge – Melissa Etheridge
* 1988: Talking Heads – Naked
* 1988: Julio Iglesias – Libra
* 1994: Power Station – Living in Fear
* 2008: Grace Jones – Hurricane
* 2009: Phil Gould – Watertight

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Melissa Chemam, "Massive Attack: Out of the Comfort Zone", Tangent Books, ISBN 1910089729, ISBN 978-1910089729 (2019).

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Chris Blackwell with Paul Morley "The Islander: My Life in Music and Beyond", Nine Eight Books (9 June 2022), p. 241-246 - ASIN B0CYNQG5RC.
2. ^ Chris Salewicz's "Keep on running: The story of Island Records", Universe, p. 120 & 135.
3. ^ David Dalton's "Faithfull: An Autobiography", Little Brown & Co, p. 242 & 245.
4. ^ Chris Frantz "Remain in love", White Rabbit (921 July 2020), p. 5, 275, 312, 334, 336, 343, 349, 370, 371, 375 & 378 - ASIN B07Y5GKQMF.
5. ^ Rikki Stein "Moving Music: The Memoirs of Rikki Stein", Worldville (19 Nov 2024), p. 178 & 179 - ASIN B0DP7SJPZM.
6. ^ Jacques Attali "Verbatim: Chroniques des années 1988-1991", Fayard (1 April 2014), Empl. 6702 - ASIN B005OKPDPS.
7. ^ Alain Gardinier "365 jours de l'histoire du rock" Ed. de la Martinière, p.154.
8. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 39\. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
9. ^ Keyboard Magazine, May 1986, p. 69.
10. ^ a b Official Wally Badarou web site http://www.wallybadarou.com
11. ^ https://africanmusicacademy.org

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* Wally Badarou discography
* www.cosmicdisco.co.uk 'The Prophet Speaks' Exclusive Wally Badarou Interview
* Wally Badarou RBMA video lecture session

* v
* t
* e

Level 42

* Mark King
* Mike Lindup
* Nathan King
* Pete Ray Biggin
* Sean Freeman

* Phil Gould
* Boon Gould
* Gary Husband
* Alan Murphy

Studio albums|

* Level 42
* The Early Tapes
* The Pursuit of Accidents
* Standing in the Light
* True Colours
* World Machine
* Running in the Family
* Staring at the Sun
* Guaranteed
* Forever Now
* Retroglide

Live albums|

* A Physical Presence

Compilations|

* Level Best
* The Very Best of Level 42
* The Definitive Collection
* Past Lives – The Best of the RCA Years

Singles|

* "Love Meeting Love"
* "Love Games"
* "Turn It On"
* "Starchild"
* "Are You Hearing (What I Hear)?"
* "Weave Your Spell"
* "The Chinese Way"
* "Out of Sight, Out of Mind"
* "The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up)"
* "Micro-Kid"
* "Hot Water"
* "The Chant Has Begun"
* "Something About You"
* "Leaving Me Now"
* "Lessons in Love"
* "World Machine"
* "Running in the Family"
* "To Be with You Again"
* "It's Over"
* "Children Say"
* "Heaven in My Hands"
* "Take a Look"
* "Tracie"
* "Take Care of Yourself"
* "Guaranteed"
* "Overtime"
* "My Father's Shoes"
* "Forever Now"
* "Love in a Peaceful World"

Related articles|

* Discography
* Band members
* Influences
* One Man
* Beautiful Wounds
* M
* Wally Badarou
* Jakko Jakszyk

* v
* t
* e

Tom Tom Club

* Chris Frantz
* Tina Weymouth
* Bruce Martin
* Victoria Clamp
* Pablo Martin

* Adrian Belew
* Monte Browne
* Tyrone Downie
* Mark Roule
* Gary Pozner
* Steve Scales
* Steven Stanley
* Alex Weir
* Mystic Bowie
* Laura Weymouth
* Charles Pettigrew
* Wally Badarou

Albums|

* Tom Tom Club (1981)
* Close to the Bone (1983)
* Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom (1988)
* Dark Sneak Love Action (1992)
* The Good, the Bad, and the Funky (2000)
* Downtown Rockers (2012)

Singles|

* "Wordy Rappinghood" (1981)
* "Genius of Love" (1981)
* "Under the Boardwalk" (1982)
* "You Sexy Thing" (1992)
* "Love to Love You Baby" (2000)

Related articles|

* Talking Heads
* James Rizzi

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Israel
* Finland

Artists|

* MusicBrainz

Other|

* IdRef

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