Rod Temperton

Biography

Rodney Lynn Temperton (9 October 1949, Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England – 25 September 2016, London) was an English songwriter, record producer, and musician.

Temperton said that he was a musician from an early age: "My father wasn't the kind of person who'd read you a story before you went off to sleep – he used to put a transistor radio in the crib, right on the pillow, and I'd go to sleep listening to Radio Luxembourg and I think that had an influence." Temperton attended De Aston Grammar School, Market Rasen and he formed a group for the school's music competitions. He was a drummer at this time. On leaving school he started working for Ross Frozen Foods in Grimsby, Lincolnshire.

He soon became a full-time musician as a keyboard player, and played in several dance bands. This took him to Worms in Germany. In 1974 he answered an advert in Melody Maker placed by Johnnie Wilder Jr. and as a result became a member of the funk and disco band Heatwave. Temperton initially made his mark as the keyboardist and main songwriter for Heatwave, whose hit songs included Boogie Nights, Always and Forever, and The Groove Line.

After being recruited by producer Quincy Jones, he wrote several internationally known songs performed by Michael Jackson, including Thriller, Off the Wall, and Rock with You. He also wrote George Benson's hits Give Me the Night and Love X Love, and Patti Austin's and James Ingram's U.S. #1 hit Baby, Come to Me, among many others.

Temperton wrote the soundtrack for the 1986 film Running Scared. He won a Grammy Award in 1991 for his work on Birdland, from Quincy Jones's album Back on the Block.

Works for Winds

Adaptable Music

Thriller (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Vinson) (1982/2009)

All Wind Works

Thriller (arr. Bocook) (1982/2009)
Thriller! (arr. Norred) (1982/1983)
Thriller (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Vinson) (1982/2009)

Resources

Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music. "Rod Temperton." Accessed 8 August 2020
Rod Temperton, Wikipedia Accessed 8 August 2020