Michael Zager

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Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Let's all chant
  US 120 04/22/1978 (13 weeks)
Singles
Do It with Feeling (Michael Zager's Moon Band ft. Peabo Bryson )
  US 94 03/20/1976 (3 weeks)
Let's All Chant (Michael Zager Band)
  DE 14th 06/26/1978 (21 weeks)
  CH 4th 08/05/1978 (10 weeks)
  UK 8th 04/01/1978 (12 weeks)
  US 36 03/04/1978 (14 weeks)
Let's All Chant ( DJ Valium feat. Michael Zager)
  DE 73 09/16/2002 (3 weeks)
  AT 44 09/22/2002 (7 weeks)

Michael James Zager (born January 3, 1943 in Passaic , New Jersey ) is an American producer , composer and musician . With the disco project “The Michael Zager Band” he achieved a worldwide hit in 1978: Let's All Chant . Before that he was a member of the jazz rock band Ten Wheel Drive .

Career

In 1968 Michael founded the band Ten Wheel Drive together with Genya Ravan and Aram Schefrin. This group existed until 1974 and released four albums. Zager was involved in all works as an arranger, composer and multi-instrumentalist. After the band left, he began writing music for around 400 television and radio commercials . He also composed scores for movies and various television formats.

With the single Do It with Feeling Zager began his career in the disco genre in 1975. At first he called the studio project "Michael Zager's Moon Band", later he shortened the name to "The Michael Zager Band". Do It with Feeling was an instant hit in the American disco charts (number 3), with the still little-known Peabo Bryson as lead singer . The Michael Zager Band's biggest hit appeared in late 1977. Let's All Chant sold five million copies worldwide and in 1978 was high in the British (8th place), German (14th place) and Swiss charts (4th place). The distinctive exclamation “Ouh, Ouh” during the chorus was later to be adapted from many other music projects. One of the most successful cover versions is My Party by the German dance artist DJane Housekat and the British rapper Rameez, which reached number 1 on the iTunes download charts in 2012 .

Zager himself could not repeat the success of Let's All Chant , which is why he is often rated as a one-hit wonder . However, he later placed himself in the disco charts. The 1978 LP Life's a Party contains one of the first vocal recordings of the later world star Whitney Houston . The Zager Band's last album, Zager (1980), includes a cover of Boney-M. -Hits Rasputin . Deniece Williams and Luther Vandross also sang on this work.

Zager produced several other disco artists during this time, and he was also doing well as a composer and arranger. He worked with the two porn stars Andrea True Connection and Marilyn Chambers , but also with soul greats such as Cissy Houston and The Spinners . He was also responsible for the studio project “Love Childs Afro Cuban Blues Band” (SpanDisco) , later shortened to “Afro Cuban Band” (Rhythm of Life) .

After the disco wave ended, Zager continued to work as a producer, including for Johnny Guitar Watson . Together with the composer Harry Manfredini , he also released the single Theme from Friday the 13th, Part 3 for the horror film And again Friday the 13th, under the project name "Hot Ice" .

Zager has been teaching music production and composing film and commercial music as a professor at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton , Florida for a few years . He is also active from time to time as a musician and producer. In 2000 he recorded a remake of the old Cissy Houston disco number Think It Over with soul singer Jennifer Holliday , which Zager had once composed and produced. The piece made it to first place on the Billboard dance charts. In addition, his band Moving Images released the smooth jazz album South Beach Wind in 2004 .

Discography

Albums

  • 1973: Production Music (with Tom Manoff, Joanne Valentino and Jeffrey Kaufman)
  • 1978: Let's All Chant (The Michael Zager Band)
  • 1978: Life's a Party (The Michael Zager Band; Private Stock / EMI)
  • 1980: Zager (The Michael Zager Band)
  • 1983: Friday the 13th (Soundtrack) (with Harry Manfredini )

Compilations

  • 1997: Let's All Chant: The Michael Zager Dance Collection
  • 2000: The Definitive Collection (The Michael Zager BandI)
  • 2004: Let's All Chant - Dance Collection

swell

  1. ^ The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
  2. ↑ Chart sources: Singles UK
  3. ↑ a b c d Interview with Michael Zager about his career , disco-disco.com
  4. ↑ Single info at Discogs.com
  5. ↑ List of UK One-Hit-Wonders on philbrodieband.com
  6. ↑ List of US One-Hit-Wonders on rateyourmusic.com
  7. ↑ LP info and scan at Discogs.com
  8. ↑ Single info , hitparade.ch
  9. ^ Page of the university with a portrait of Zager ( Memento of the original from July 29, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on fau.edu @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.fau.edu

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Zager, Michael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zager, Michael James (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American record producer, composer, and musician
DATE OF BIRTH January 3, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Passaic , New Jersey , United States