Columbia had dropped them after underwhelming sales and they had recently signed with Warner Bros. The producer arrived at a time when the band was in flux. There are so many genres hidden in their music: from rock to jazz R&B to country." Chicago - "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" (1982)ĭuring the early-to mid-1980s, Foster collaborated with jazz-rock band Chicago on three albums: Chicago 16, Chicago 17 and Chicago 18. Every R&B band and artist all the way up to Drake owes a debt to Maurice White and his band. He was another mentor."įoster's admiration for the band remains to this day. This led to me co-writing with Maurice most of the songs on I Am. He loved the song and wanted to record it. "I took the song to another friend, Carole Childs, who introduced me to Earth, Wind & Fire's leader Maurice White. "I wrote 'After the Love Has Gone' with my friends Bill Champlin and Jay Graydon," Foster recalls. The beautiful ballad became the winning formula and sound Foster became known for throughout the 1980s. The song was nominated for three GRAMMY Awards: Record Of The Year, Song Of TheYear and Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo Or Group - winning the GRAMMY in this category Foster also won his first GRAMMY (Best R&B Song) for this co-write. 2 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B charts. "After the Love Has Gone," the top track off Earth, Wind & Fire 's 1979 album I Am, peaked at No. Earth, Wind & Fire - "After The Love Has Gone" (1979) Some music Foster is currently digging includes Big Thief and Miles Davis.Īs the decade came to a close, the first major milestone for the songwriter-turned producer - and first GRAMMY - came after co-writing the song, "After the Love Has Gone." Four decades later, the 16-time GRAMMY winner was inducted into Canadian Songwriter's Hall of Fame (CSHF) along with Bryan Adams, Jim Vallance, Alanis Morissette and Daniel Lavoie, became the five newest inductees into the Canadian Songwriter's Hall of Fame (CSHF).īefore being feted by his peers, the legendary musician, composer/arranger and producer, took time to chat about career-defining moments - the hits and the misses - along with the joys of touring the The Kat & Dave Show. These days, he has rediscovered the joy of listening for pleasure. "Even though rock is not what I'm known for producing, I listen to all kinds of music."įoster admits during his prime production years he rarely listened to music for fear he might unintentionally copy something he heard on the radio. "Most people, who know me, know that when I lay my hands on the keys what comes back is not rock 'n roll," he adds. The same goes for the Tubes, who I co-wrote 'She's a Beauty,' with. I believe I took him a little too far to my side," he recalls. Not because of Alice, but more due to my ineptness at producing that kind of music. Reflecting back, Foster says this project was not one of his best. The 1978 concept album chronicled Cooper's time inside a New York sanatorium during a rehab stint for alcoholism. One of his early production credits was Alice Cooper 's fourth studio record From the Inside. He played on a pair of George Harrison records ( Extra Texture and Thirty Three & 1/3 ) and also lent overdubbed piano to Lynyrd Skynyrd's third studio album Nuthin' Fancy (1975). In his CSHF acceptance speech, Foster shared some simple advice another mentor, Quincy Jones, once gave: "The three ingredients to a hit record are: the song, the song and the song."Īs a keyboardist during this early chapter of his career, Foster kept searching for those key ingredients. Thanks to Banks' tutelage on the art of arranging - and the hard work of gigging in bands throughout the early-to mid 1970s - Foster's songs kept getting better. "In my early 20s I wrote some songs and some got recorded, but looking back they were just awful." "As a songwriter, I bloomed late," Foster says. The impresario took Foster under his wing and encouraged the teenager to write. "When I go to the doctor's office, still to this day, when they ask me my occupation, I always reply musician."Īfter studying music at the University of Washington at 13, the prodigy moved to Edmonton, Alberta where he led a nightclub band in a joint owned by jazz piano player and arranger Tommy Banks. "It sounds cliché, but it's true," says the 72-year-old, reflecting on a life spent searching for the right notes. One morning his mom was dusting the family piano when she hit a key by accident and David said, "That's an E!" naming the correct note. The son of a blue-collar worker and homemaker, Foster started playing - and studying - piano at age four. David Foster was born in Victoria, British Columbia.
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