Heatwave

Genres:	Disco • Funk • Pop / Rock • R&B / Soul
Descriptive "tags":	funk • disco • soul • rnb • heatwave • 70s
Decades Active:	1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s

Biography

Although based in Britain, Heatwave was formed by the Wilder brothers, Johnnie (3 July 1949, Dayton, Ohio, USA, d. 13 May 2006, Clayton, Ohio, USA) and Keith, on their discharge from the US Army. An advertisement in a music paper yielded Hull, England-born songwriter and keyboardist Rod Temperton, while further members recruited were the American guitarists Eric Johns (b. Eric Johns Rasmussen) and Jessie Whitten (b. Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 1976, Chicago, Illinois, USA), a Czech, Ernest Berger (drums), and a Spaniard, Mario Mantese (bass). Their sound, created in tandem with producer Barry Blue, fused elements of contemporary disco with funk and R&B. Between 1977 and 1981 the group enjoyed a series of hit singles in both the UK and USA, including ‘Boogie Nights’ (number 2 in both countries), ‘Too Hot To Handle’/‘Slip Your Disc To This’, ‘The Groove Line’, ‘Mind Blowing Decisions’, ‘Always And...

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