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English composer/keyboardist Rod Temperton passed away last week at the age of 66 after a short battle with cancer. Temperton was best known for writing of some of Michael Jackson's biggest hits, including "Off the Wall,""Rock with You", and "Thriller", which helped the former Jackson 5 star break through to a much wider audience on MTV. He also wrote several hits with the international funk/soul group Heatwave, including "The Groove Line", "Boogie Nights", and "Always and Forever", and penned songs for an array of pop and jazz artists, including Rufus, Bob James, Aretha Franklin, Karen Carpenter, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, and George Benson.
Temperton had an uncanny knack for indelible, infectious hooks and a facility for streamlined, funky rhythms, lush keyboard tones, and sinuous bass lines. He excelled at both uptempo dance numbers and heart-melting ballads, tailored for some of the greatest singers of the 20th century. Temperton shaped a substantial slice of popular dance music and MOR radio throughout the '70s and '80s; his golden touch only occasionally descended into sappiness. Most of the time, though, Temperton was a proficient manufacturer of euphoric, carefree tunes that have endured, even as they've entered the realm of the overplayed. That's a kind of genius.
#RodTemperton#RIP Your genius gave us a funkier world! Here's @RodTemperton@QuincyDJones@nilerodgers sharing rock 'n roll war stories. pic.twitter.com/nBnGhqYStf
— Nile Rodgers (@nilerodgers) October 5, 2016