Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Jango Song Of The Day-Matthew Wilder


Artist:Matthew Wilder
Song:Break My Stride
Album:Back On My Feet Again: Songs Of Hope & Inspiration





The 1983 top five hit Break My Stride is one of those songs that everyone remembers but no one remembers who sang it. Two more of Matthew Wilder's songs charted so it's not a one hit wonder but it's the only song of his that anyone remembers. He's gone on to a career as a record producer. He was born Matthew Weiner Jan. 24, 1953 in New York City. He started out in the 70s as one half of the folk duo Matthew & Peter. He moved to Los Angeles in 1978 and became a session singer backing up Rickie Lee Jones and Bette Midler among others. No doubt during his session work he encountered Peter Bunetta and Rick Chudacoff of the 70s group Crackin' and they produced Wilder's 1983 debut album I Don't Speak The Language on Private I/Columbia. Wilder and Greg Prestopino wrote Break My Stride and it reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. His follow up single The Kid's American also charted but his 1984 album Bouncin' Off The Walls didn't sell and Wilder returned to session work. By the early 90s, he started producing artists like singer Vonda Shepherd. His big break came when he produced No Doubt's 1995 breakthrough CD Tragic Kingdom. And he got an even bigger break when he worked on the music for Disney's 1998 film Mulan. He also produced songs on Christina Aguilera's 1999 debut CD. Since then he has worked mostly with Disney female pop singers like Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and he's currently working on a new CD for Heyden Panattiere. You can get Wilder's two albums on one CD from Collectables. But you probably want only Break My Stride so this various artists comp from Relativity has a vague uplifting theme with some decent songs on it. In 1996, Break My Stride was a dance hit for Unique II and Puff Daddy sampled it for his 1997 hit Can't Nobody Hold Me Down. Here's Matthew Wilder performing Break My Stride on Solid Gold 1983.

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