W yne Bailey w nled to
ifit true that Michael
emb rra ed by M gic
Jo n' bein mv i live
and wore urgical mas while
booting his "Re�mbO' The
Time" video, which embar­
rassed Magic.
Well, Wayne, thi . one
rumor we (RadioScope Feed­
c Line) can honestly say
isn't true. One 0 our reporters
w there.
Michael was never rude.
Ho hugged Magic and invited
him to hi trailer. Michael did
wear a urgical mask, did
many others, but that w due
to the sand and fire used in the
video to give the authentic
Egyptian feel. That, along
with the Ugh made it very hot.
Fans were used to cool it down,
and dust p rticles were blown
everywhere. People wore
masks to keep from breathing
the sand and d t.
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Line at (213) 257-2354 24-
hours a day, 7 days a week.
"A labor of love" is how veteran
producer-arranger Andre Fi cher
describes the current hit LP Unfor­
gmabk, his wife Natalie's tribute to
her father, Nat King Cole, a record
Fischer produced with David Foster
and Tommy UPuma.
The album, which spent a good
portion of the summer at Number
One, is another example of Fischer's
magic touch. An integral member of
renowned funlc/RclB outfit Rufus,
Andre Fischer played drums, ar­
ranged and co-produced the band'
, string of uccesses, including "Tell
Me Something Good," "Once You
Get Started" and "Sweet Thing. " In
addition to his key, behind-the­
scene work with Rufus, Fischer has
lent his production and arranging
talents to a formidable array of
talented ingers-Brenda Russell,
Anita Baker, Lalah Hathaway and
Diane Schuur.
I've worked with many strong
vocalists during my career," muses
Fischer, the son of singer Frances
Fischer and Stewart Fischer, a hom
player/arranger who toured with the
likes of Stan Kenton, Woody Her­
man and Harry James,"and I think
ithas alot todo with my mother being
a Singer. My dad would teach me
rhythm and the technical aspects of and plannum records and Grammys,
music, and my mother would sing he's got a wall full of them. The next
with me ana make me accompany phase is film scoring and the con­
her with brushes on a magazine. My tinuation with his unique tyle of
uncle, Claire Fischer; also exposed work. '
me to many new forms of music, as •
wetlas his own compo itions."
Fischer literally grew up in the
music busines , touring with hi
father a band boy at the age of
four. Visits by Count Basie and
Harry James were commonpl ce in
the Fischer household. Later, while
in his teens, he cut hi professional
teeth playing drums behind diverse
veterans-from Curti Mayfield and
Ahmed Jamel to Jerry Butler.
I LEARNED DISCIPLINE,
patience and the art of pontaneity
while playing with those men­
being ready fo r the unknown," offers
Fischer. "You can get bogged down
. in the technical aspec oi playing
your instrument. You need to almost
forget everything you've learned."
At the behest of producer/mentor
Richard Evans, Fi her auditioned
for a top local Chicago band named
Ask Rufus. "1 at in that night, and
they hired me on the spot. It's usually
been that way," explains Fischer.
Not only did Fischer playa large
role in fashioning the Rufus sound,
he wa re ponsible for bringing
singer Chaka Khan into the band. On
the strength of Khan' vocal pipes
and the band' well-crafted arrange­
men ,the group amassed eight gold
singles, six gold LPs, 4 platinum LPs
and 2 Grammys during the Seven­
ties.
guides his career. If the goal is gold
Fischer established himself as a
talented craftsman during the
Eighties, producing Brenda
Russell's firs t AclM LP (with the hit
ongs "So Good, So Right"aoo "Only
ForOneNight,aoo her 1987 al bum
(including the Grammy-nominated
"Piano in the Dark',) and Michael
Franks' One Bad Habit, which he
co-produced with Tommy LiPuma.
Fi cher also served as a touri ng
musical director for Anita Baker and,
for three years, was Vice-President
of Music Production with 20th Cen­
tury Fox Records. The roster of ar­
tists that Fischer helped develop
Jonez, earning a French Grammy for
Live Performance, and a gold album.
DESCRIBING HIS production
technique, Fischer explains: "Basi­
cally what I try to do i take the
music, whatever style it· ,and rna e
it elegant. I make it sound rich and
full. As far as singers are concerned,
Fischer, who has a knack for getting
fine performances from vocali ts,
says it's a matter of giving the singer
a comfortable environment: "I al­
ways let them know that I'm not
there to judge them, but only to
protect and enhance the gift they
have to offer." '
In addition to his work on Diane
Schuur's Number One jazz LP, Pure
Schuur, Lalah Hathaway' debut
album and Natalie' I t album,
Good to Be Back, well her­
single, "Wild Women Do," from the
Pretty Woman soundtrack, one of
Andre's mo t,satisfying uccesses is
undoubtedly his work on Unlor�­
table. Dividing the production
chores with David Foster and
Tommy LiPuma, Fischer produced
half of the album's 22 songs. The
record, which is as much of a
homage to cl ic American pop
music as it i to Nat King Cole, i
connecting with a cro -sectlon of
American music buyers in a way that
no record ha done in recent
memory.
While recording the album, Fis­
cher had to wal the fine line be­
tw n making the songs sound fresh,
hlle retaining what made the
original work. "It's basically a feel,"
explains F' her. "If I hear' a poig­
OMt lyric, what I do Is color the
music the same way. I keep the es­
sence, while thinking: • how does it
make me feel when I hear tN:
original?"
Guiding Natalie through her
vocal �ce w unexpectedly easy.
"When we'd get to the tudio, he's
run through the song a couple of
times and then all of a udden, it was
right there. It w like something w
gufdfDl ber. Now, I'm not cosmic or
my tical, but that happens some-
t.lmea. :aec.UIe don't own what
we do, it jUit through \.8." •
What is clear from liste¢ng to
thi talented producer, musician and
arranger is that he is an artisan who,
from day one, w surrounded by the
best of musical worlds. It's some­
thing that informs his work, and it'
groomed him for hi many musical
succe . "My parents raised me to
realize that any succe i main­
tenance of new information. Being
uccessful in what he doe i some­
thing that Andre Fischer has excelled
at during his unique and interesting
career.
hot,
not
Could there be wedding
bells in Oprah Winfrey' fu­
ture? Her beau Stedman
Graham eerns to think so.
When asked about nuptials
during a recent interview on
"Inside Edition", Stedman
shocked his talk show com­
panion with the response,
"we're moving in that direc­
tion." But Oprah contends that
she's not ready for marrtage.
Oprah will begin produc­
tion on the ABC special "The
Denise Marth Story", April
13th. It's also been reported
that Oprah and Aaron Neville
may be singing beautiful music
together on his next solo
project. The two, hared the
mike on her Valentine's Day
Show. '
Stedman, on the other hand,
is hoping to host a new syndi­
cated show called "Sports Life­
styles". The program,
described as "Lifestyles of the
Rich & Famous" for athletes, is
set to debut in 1993.
Jack onslend
input to ABC
mini-serie
All the members of the
Jackson family will lend their
input to the ABC mini-series­
"The Jackson: An American
Dream. " All except for La­
Toya, that is. Producer Stan
Margulies says the program
will delve into the family's
troubles of adjusting to suc­
cess. But LaToya's tales of
sexual and physical abuse
won't show up on the screen.
Marlon Jac on will woOc
on Choreography, recreating
orne of tbe old Jackson
moves.
Marsali n w
mu Ic dlr ctor
, Starting May 25, Branford
M.lrsalis takes over as music
director on the Tonight Show.
He'll bring with him a new
funky theme song for the how.
- compiled by K Bart<
- epeclal contributor:
RadloScope ... The Column
With the dawn ofa new decade.
Fischer left Rufus for fresh challen­
ges-a philosophy that, to this day,
while at 20th included Bruce
Hornsby and James Ingram. Fischer
later moved to Paris, where he be­
came the musical director and
producer for French artist Michel