Ever hear of him? When I was checking out Luther Vandross the other day, I looked for his recording of Always and Forever, which I always thought was “his” song. However, I learned that it was first recorded by a group named Heatwave. (Luther covered it much later and it became a hit for him too which explains why I thought it was “his” song.)
As explained at the start of the video here, the song was written by Heatwave’s organist Rod Templeton. Check out his sort of introduction here as a member of Heatwave where he is acknowledged, although not named, by lead singer Johnnie Wilder. Rod also wrote Heatwave’s other hit Boogie Nights which means that they were a two hit wonder.
Surprised as I was to learn that Rod and not Luther had written Always and Forever, it was even more of a surprise to find that Rod also wrote several of Michael Jackson’s hit songs including Rock With Me and Thriller. In fact the title Thriller was Rod’s inspiration (click here.)