Matthew Wilder | |
|---|---|
 Wilder at the 2005ASCAP Pop Awards | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Matthew Weiner (1953-01-24)January 24, 1953 (age 72) New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | 1972–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | matthewwildermusic |
Matthew Wilder (néWeiner; January 24, 1953)[1] is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 1983 hit single "Break My Stride", which hit No. 2 on theCashbox chart and No. 5 on theBillboard Hot 100. He also wrote the music for theDisney animated feature filmMulan and provided the singing voice for the character Ling.
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(April 2024) |
Matthew Wilder was born onLong Island,New York,[1] into a Jewish family.[2][3] His mother was an opera singer and aJuilliard graduate, and his father was a press agent onBroadway. Wilder started studying classical piano at age four. He moved toGreenwich Village at age 16, and graduated from theNew Lincoln School.
Wilder grew up watching a variety of musicals, which later influenced his musical style.[4]
 | This section of abiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Matthew Wilder" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(July 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Wilder was one-half of theGreenwich Villagefolk rock group Matthew & Peter in the 1970s. In 1978, he moved toLos Angeles, and sang for television commercials and as a backup vocalist forRickie Lee Jones andBette Midler.
Wilder's debut album,I Don't Speak the Language (1983), reached No. 49 on theBillboard 200, fueled by "Break My Stride". Wilder had some continued success with the single "The Kid's American", which reached No. 33 in 1984, but the single failed to match the success of "Break My Stride". Wilder's second album,Bouncin' Off the Walls (1984), failed to gain much momentum — even with an innovative music video for the single "Bouncin' Off the Walls" — with only the title track making the charts (No. 52), and was subsequently deemed a commercial failure.
Despite the downturn in his solo career, Wilder continued his career in the music industry as a songwriter and as arecord producer for such acts asNo Doubt (the hit albumTragic Kingdom),702,Christina Aguilera,Kelly Clarkson,Miley Cyrus on herHannah Montana song "G.N.O. (Girls Night Out)",The Belle Brigade,King Charles, andJoanna Pacitti. He has also done production work on Australian singer-songwriterMig Ayesa'sself-titled album released in April 2007 and has helped with production onHayden Panettiere's unreleased album.
For theDisney filmMulan, Wilder co-wrote the songs with lyricist David Zippel. Wilder also lent his singing voice to the character of Ling. He won anAnnie Award nomination forMusic in an Animated Feature Production, and was nominated for anAcademy Award forBest Original Musical or Comedy Score (along withDavid Zippel andJerry Goldsmith) for his work on that film.[1]
For theatre, Wilder once again paired with Zippel to provide the music and lyrics forPrincesses, a musical comedy update ofFrances Hodgson Burnett's novelA Little Princess. The production ran at the 5th Avenue Theatre inSeattle in 2003.[5][6]
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [7] | AUS [8] | NLD [9] | ||
| I Don't Speak the Language | 49 | 95 | 55 | |
| Bouncin' Off the Walls |
| — | — | — |
| Especially on Birthdays |
| — | — | — |
With Matthew & Peter
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| US | |||
| Mulan (withDavid Zippel andJerry Goldsmith) |
| 24 |
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [12] | US CB [13] | US AC [14] | US Dance [15] | US R&B/HH [16] | AUS [17] | BEL [18] | GER [19] | NLD [20] | UK [21] | ||||
| "Work So Hard" | 1982 | — | — | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Break My Stride" | 1983 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 76 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 4 | I Don't Speak the Language | |
| "The Kid's American" | 1984 | 33 | 40 | — | — | — | — | 28 | 35 | 24 | 93 | ||
| "I Don't Speak the Language" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Bouncin' Off the Walls" | 52 | 46 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Bouncin' Off the Walls | ||
| "Mad for You" | 1985 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Break My Stride | Music video | |
| 1984 | Top of the Pops | ||
| 1984 | Solid Gold | ||
| 1984 | American Bandstand | Two episodes | |
| 1984 | The Kid's American | Music video | |
| 1985 | Bouncin' Off the Walls | Music video | |
| 1998 | Mulan | Ling (singing voice) | Animated feature film |
| 1999 | VH-1 Where Are They Now? | Television series documentary |
