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| William Orbit | |
|---|---|
| Born | William Mark Wainwright (1956-12-15)15 December 1956 (age 68) |
| Origin | Palmers Green,Enfield,London, England |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | williamorbit.com |
William Mark Wainwright (born 15 December 1956),[1] known professionally asWilliam Orbit, is an English musician and record producer who has sold 200 million recordings worldwide of his own work, his production and song-writing work.[2][3] He is a recipient of multipleGrammy Awards,Ivor Novello Awards and other music industry awards.
Orbit (Wainwright) was raised inPalmers Green, a suburb ofLondon.[1] His parents were both schoolteachers; he was the elder of two sons.[1] He left school at the age of 16, and subsisted for a number of years in various low-paying jobs, while seeking an outlet for his creativity.[1] Around this time, while rooming with a friend who was trying to start a recording studio, Orbit found his musical calling.[1]
In 1980, Orbit teamed up with electronic musicianLaurie Mayer and Grant Gilbert to form the electronic/synth groupTorch Song.[4] They released their recordings in an audio cassette series, generated from their home-built studio in a squatted disused school, nicknamed theCentro Iberico, inNotting Hill, in London, next to theGrand Union Canal.[4] Richard Law, who was A&R for IRS Records, was a follower of their music and aesthetic; in 1981, Law took it toMiles Copeland, who had discovered and managedthe Police andthe Bangles. When Copeland signed them to the label, the deal enabled them to build their ideal studio. There they recorded two albums and four singles, the most successful being the dance chart hit "Prepare to Energize", which was featured in the filmBachelor Party.[5][6][7] Orbit and Mayer also composed the soundtrack to the ice hockey movieYoungblood,starringRob Lowe andPatrick Swayze and recorded "White Night", written by colleague Rico Conning of The Lines, which was used inThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.[8][9] The band reunited briefly when Orbit worked with Laurie Mayer and Rico Conning. They released their final album, Toward the Unknown Region in 1995.
This first incarnation of Guerilla Studios had a Trident 80B mixing desk and Otari MTR90 MKII 24 track (2 inch tape) multitrack housed in a back garden on the canals ofLittle Venice inPaddington, and they also ran it as a commercial enterprise.[10]
Bassomatic was another of Orbit's group projects. The band recordedhouse music in the 1990s. The band included vocalist Sharon Musgrave and rapper Steve Roberts, also known as MC Inna Onestep among others.[11] For the second album, singer Sindy Finn replaced Musgrave on vocals.[11] Both albums were released by Guerilla Studios, founded by Orbit withLaurie Mayer and Grant Gilbert. Bassomatic's first album was 1990'sSet the Controls for the Heart of the Bass, the title track derived fromPink Floyd's "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun".[11] This album was re-released in 1997. A subsequent album,Science and Melody, was released in 1991.[11] Bassomatic's biggest hit single was "Fascinating Rhythm" in 1990, which reached No. 9 on theUK Singles Chart, and performed well on theUK Dance Chart.[citation needed]
Around this time, Orbit's studio chiefly consisted of a pair ofAkai S1000 samplers and aRoland Juno-106 synthesiser.[12][13]
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Collaborations and productions includedMadonna,Prince,Belinda Carlisle,Britney Spears,Mel C,Pink,U2,Katie Melua,Ricky Martin,Beth Orton,Sarah McLachlan,Queen,The Joy Formidable,Robbie Williams,All Saints,Kraftwerk,Harry Enfield andSugababes. When working withBeck, the two of them wrote a song for Pink, "Feel Good Time," which Orbit then produced for the soundtrack for the 2003 filmCharlie's Angels: Full Throttle.
He produced the album13 by Britpop groupBlur, in London andReykjavík, Iceland.
Orbit had created remixes for Madonna previously such as those of "Justify My Love" and "Erotica" but did not meet her personally until 1997. That summer and autumn, they worked together and produced her multi-Grammy/award-winning seventh albumRay of Light. The album took four months to record and it was the longest she ever spent recording an album. It was released on 22 February 1998.
In 2000, Orbit continued working for Madonna on her albumMusic, recorded at The Hit Factory in New York.
At this time, he also co-wrote and performed with her on the song "Beautiful Stranger". In 2011, he worked with a team of writers including Jean-Baptiste Kouame, Julie Frost and Klas Ahlund and brought their compositions and his production work to contribute to the twelfth studio album by Madonna,MDNA, released on 23 March 2012, byInterscope Records. He co-produced 6 tracks on the album, including "Masterpiece" which won aGolden Globe for Best Original Song in the Miramax filmW.E., at the 69thGolden Globe Awards. After the release of the album, Orbit openly expressed in various media sources his dissatisfaction and disappointment with this Madonna project.[14]
In 2013, Orbit worked withBritney Spears andwill.i.am on the albumBritney Jean, with fellow songwritersAna Diaz and Dan Traynor with whom he wrote and produced the track "Alien". He was one of the writers and one of the producers on theChris Brown song "Don't Wake Me Up" which was recorded at Record Plant in LA and for which he received an ASCAP[15] award in 2013.
This was followed by a production of the Queen track "There Must Be More to Life Than This", which featured archive vocals byFreddie Mercury andMichael Jackson. Orbit went on to produce another Queen song, "Let Me in Your Heart Again".In 2015, his composition "The Name of the Wave" was used in the Oscar winning documentaryAmy directed by Asif Kapadia.[16]
In 2018, he worked on "After All", a song by English-Canadiangirl groupAll Saints from their fifth studio album,Testament (2018). Written by group memberShaznay Lewis along with Peter Hutchings and Orbit, whilst produced by the latter, it was released as the album's second single on 26 July 2018.
Inspired and encouraged by Rob Dickins, Orbit's first commercial release in the classical sphere wasPieces in a Modern Style. It was originally released in May 1995 on Orbit's N-Gram Recordings label, and then again in 2000 by Warner Music in the UK and Europe, and on Maverick in the U.S. The album reached No 2 in the UK album charts. The first single release from the album was "Barber’sAdagio for Strings", and a trance remix of the track by Dutch DJFerry Corsten was hugely successful. The single reached number 4[17][18] in the national singles chart. In 2010 he teamed with Rico Conning and Laurie Mayer to make a follow-up album,Pieces in a Modern Style 2, which was released as a two-disc set on the Decca label. The album featured German countertenor Andreas Scholl[19] on an interpretation of Henry Purcell's "Dido’s Lament".
In 2007, he took part in Alex Poots’ Manchester International Festival, and composed a symphonic work in nine movements, "Orchestral Suite" which was performed by theBBC Philharmonic Orchestra, augmented by additional harps, pianos and percussion, and with The Manchester Chorale, conducted by Alexander Shelley atBridgewater Hall.[20]
In the early '90s, Orbit briefly developed a new label which he called N'Gram. During the N'Gram period, he co-directed a showcase of the label at Queen Elizabeth Hall[21] on London's Southbank. The acts included The Electric Chamber (which performed thePieces album), Strange Cargo, andTorch Song.
In 2001, he took part in the Stockhausen Electronic Festival[22] at the Barbican Theatre.
In 2013, he took part in the London Electronic Arts Festival.[23]
He participated in the Liberatum International Cultural Festival[24] in Russia, during which he performedDJ sets in Moscow and Novosibirsk, Siberia.
He performed in 2015 inAlmaty, Kazakhstan, and at a gala atBanqueting House in London'sWhitehall for the charityTogether for Short Lives, a group that sponsors and supports children with terminal illnesses and their families.[25] Orbit hasdeejayed at various clubs in London and Ibiza, and atBuckingham Palace forHer Majesty The Queen's annual staff and family Christmas party, in 2015.[26]
Orbit joinedHawkwind on stage on 29 September 2023 at theRoyal Albert Hall to celebrate the 50th anniversary of theirSpace Ritual album.[27][28]
| Year | Album | Chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [17][29] | AUS [30] | US [31] | ||
| 1987 | Orbit
| — | — | — |
Strange Cargo
| — | — | — | |
| 1990 | Strange Cargo II
| — | — | — |
| 1993 | Strange Cargo III
| — | — | — |
| 1995 | Strange Cargo Hinterland
| — | — | — |
| 1999 | Pieces in a Modern Style[A]
| 2 | 33 | 198 |
| 2006 | Hello Waveforms
| 136 | — | — |
| 2009 | My Oracle Lives Uptown[B]
| — | — | — |
| 2010 | Pieces in a Modern Style 2[C]
| 185 | — | — |
| 2014 | Orbit Symphonic[D]
| — | — | — |
Strange Cargo 5[D]
| — | — | — | |
| 2022 | The Painter[32]
| — | — | — |
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Certification | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [17] | AUS [30] | US DC/P [36] | ||||
| 1987 | "Feel Like Jumping" | — | — | — | Orbit | |
| "Love My Way" | — | — | — | |||
| 1993 | "Water from a Vine Leaf" (featuringBeth Orton) | 59 | — | — | Strange Cargo III | |
| 1999 | "Barber's Adagio for Strings" | 4 | 23 | 13 | Pieces in a Modern Style | |
| 2000 | "Ravel's Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte" | 31 | — | — | ||
| 2003 | "Feel Good Time" (Pink featuring William Orbit) | 3 | 7 | 8 | Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (OST) | |
| "Dice"(withFinley Quaye) | — | — | — | Much More Than Much Love (Finley Quaye album) | ||
| 2009 | "Optical Illusions" | — | — | — | My Oracle Lives Uptown | |
| "Purdy" | — | — | — | |||
| 2010 | "Nimrod" | — | — | — | Pieces in a Modern Style 2 | |
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 1990 | Set the Controls for the Heart of the Bass
|
| 1991 | Science & Melody
|
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 1984 | Wish Thing
|
| 1986 | Ecstasy
|
| 1987 | Exhibit A
|
| 1995 | Toward the Unknown Region
|
DNV 2012
| Title | Year | Artist(s) | Album | Credit(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "24 Hours" | 1990 | Betty Boo | Boomania | |
| "Don't Wanna Know 'Bout Evil" | 1993 | Beth Orton | Superpinkymandy | |
| "Faith Will Carry" | ||||
| "Yesterday's Gone" | ||||
| "She Cries Your Name" | ||||
| "When You Wake" | ||||
| "Roll the Dice" | ||||
| "City Blue" | ||||
| "The Prisoner" | ||||
| "Where Do You Go" | ||||
| "Release Me" | ||||
| "Turning Ground" | 1995 | Caroline Lavelle | Spirit | |
| "Moorlough Shore" | ||||
| "Dream of Picasso" | ||||
| "Forget the Few" | ||||
| "Lagan Love" | ||||
| "A Case of You" | ||||
| "Waiting For Rain" | ||||
| "Desire" | ||||
| "The Island" | ||||
| "Drowned World/Substitute for Love" | 1998 | Madonna | Ray of Light | |
| "Swim" | ||||
| "Ray of Light" | ||||
| "Candy Perfume Girl" | ||||
| "Skin" | ||||
| "Nothing Really Matters" | ||||
| "Sky Fits Heaven" | ||||
| "Shanti/Ashtangi" | ||||
| "Frozen" | ||||
| "The Power of Good-Bye" | ||||
| "To Have and Not to Hold" | ||||
| "Mer Girl" | ||||
| "Has to Be" | ||||
| "Tender" | 1999 | Blur | 13 | |
| "Bugman" | ||||
| "Coffee & TV" | ||||
| "Swamp Song" | ||||
| "1992" | ||||
| "B.L.U.R.E.M.I." | ||||
| "Battle" | ||||
| "Mellow Song" | ||||
| "Caramel" | ||||
| "Trimm Trabb" | ||||
| "No Distance Left to Run" | ||||
| "Optigan 1" | ||||
| "Be Careful (Cuidado Con Mi Corazón)" | Ricky Martin and Madonna | Ricky Martin | ||
| "Beautiful Stranger" | Madonna | Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me | ||
| "Go!" | Melanie C | Northern Star | ||
| "American Pie" | 2000 | Madonna | The Next Best Thing | |
| "Time Stood Still" | ||||
| "Runaway Lover" | Music | |||
| "Amazing" | ||||
| "Gone" | ||||
| "Pure Shores" | All Saints | Saints & Sinners | ||
| "Dreams" | ||||
| "Black Coffee" | ||||
| "Surrender" | ||||
| "Making Out" | 2001 | No Doubt | Rock Steady | |
| "Thinking About Tomorrow" | 2002 | Beth Orton | Daybreaker | |
| "Electrical Storm" | U2 | The Best of 1990–2000 | ||
| "The Hands That Built America"(Theme fromGangs of New York) | ||||
| "Sweet Song" | 2003 | Blur | Think Tank | |
| "Feel Good Time" | Pink | Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle | ||
| "Dice" | 2004 | Finley Quaye | Much More Than Much Love | |
| "Louise" | 2006 | Robbie Williams | Rudebox | |
| "Summertime" | ||||
| "I'd Love to Kill You" | 2010 | Katie Melua | The House | |
| "The Flood" | ||||
| "A Happy Place" | ||||
| "A Moment of Madness" | ||||
| "Red Balloons" | ||||
| "Tiny Alien" | ||||
| "No Fear of Heights" | ||||
| "The One I Love Is Gone" | ||||
| "Plague of Love" | ||||
| "God on the Drums, Devil on the Bass" | ||||
| "Twisted" | ||||
| "The House" | ||||
| "Unbroken" | Nadine Coyle | Insatiable | ||
| "Gang Bang" | 2012 | Madonna | MDNA | |
| "Some Girls" | ||||
| "I'm a Sinner" | ||||
| "Love Spent" | ||||
| "Masterpiece" | ||||
| "Falling Free" | ||||
| "Don't Wake Me Up" | Chris Brown | Fortune | ||
| "Alien" | 2013 | Britney Spears | Britney Jean | |
| "There Must Be More to Life Than This" | 2014 | Queen andMichael Jackson | Queen Forever | |
| "Let Me in Your Heart Again" (remix) | 2014 | Queen | Queen Forever | |
| "After All" | 2018 | All Saints | Testament | |
| "Testament in Motion" |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
