Desmond Child
SPEAKING CLIENT
Songwriter & Producer
Program Titles:
“Idol Maker: Sound Strategy to Making Your Products Pop!”
“The Anatomy of a Hit – The Art of Applying Passion and Creativity to Your Work”
“The Man Behind the Hits: From Bon Jovi to The American Idols”
Bio:
Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Kiss, Cher, Christina Aguilera and all of the American Idols have one thing in common: songwriter & producer Desmond Child. The real man behind the music, Child has created some of pops most enduring hits, including Bon Jovi’s Living on Prayer and You Give Love Bad Name; Aerosmith’s Dude Looks Like Lady and Crazy; and Ricky Martin’s Living La Vida Loca, to name a few. Now the winner of countless Grammy awards, creator of seventy Top 40 singles, and writer/producer of the music that has sold over 300 million albums worldwide reveals his secrets. Armed with the tools of his trade -- a piano and a microphone -- Child takes audiences into the Anatomy of a Hit, filled with inside stories from the songs everybody loves, and the creativity, passion, insight and drive which have catapulted Child into the rare stratosphere of pop culture impresario.
Desmond Child was born and raised in Gainesville, FLA, where his Cuban songwriter mother taught him to play the piano at an early age. Child went on to attended Miami-Dade College. It was in Miami that he formed the group Desmond Child & Rouge in 1973. Soon after, he moved the group to New York City to pursue their musical dreams. "My band Desmond Child & Rouge recorded two albums for Capitol in 1979 and we had a dance hit, ‘Our Love Is Insane,’” recalls Child. "But ultimately, we were doing something very different and urban. We weren't really understood by our label."
Child’s experience as a recording artist would soon play a role in his songwriting future. His songs caught the ear of KISS guitarist Paul Stanley, who asked Desmond to co-write a track for the band's 1979 “Dynasty” album. The result was "I Was Made for Loving You," which is still one of the biggest hits in the KISS catalogue. Paul Stanley then passed Child's phone number to New Jersey rockers Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. Jon called Desmond and the three ended up in the basement of Sambora's parents' house, where they penned Bon Jovi's first number-one single, "You Give Love a Bad Name." The collaborations continued and they followed with two more chart-toppers: "Livin' on a Prayer" from the band's breakthrough album Slippery When Wet and "Bad Medicine" from the follow-up, New Jersey.
Child soon began duplicating the feat with other major artists. He hooked up with Aerosmith and wrote "Dude Looks Like a Lady" & "Angel" (from the their ‘87 comeback album, Permanent Vacation), "What It Takes" (Pump, 1989), and "Crazy" (Get a Grip, 1993). During the same period, he co-wrote Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself for Loving You" and all of the tracks on Alice Cooper's Trash LP (including the hit single "Poison”). At this point, Desmond began branching out from his rock base, co-penning Michael Bolton’s "How Can We Be Lovers,” as well as, co-writing and producing "Just Like Jesse James" and “We All
Sleep Alone” for Cher. In the midst of all of his success, he also found time to record the solo album "Discipline" (Elektra, 1991), which contained his own Top 40 hit, "Love on a Rooftop." In the late '90s, Child returned to his Latin heritage via collaborations with Ricky Martin. Their efforts resulted in the number-one worldwide smash "Livin' La Vida Loca." The two also scored big with the 1998 World Cup Theme "The Cup of Life,” which was #1 in 25 countries.
Despite having worked for nearly thirty years as a writer, producer, and artist, Child remains energized and enthusiastic... ready to create hits indefinitely. "I was born with a certain drive and sense of destiny that keeps me going," says Child. "Maybe it was because I was born poor; I wanted to win for the family. I still put a lot of energy in what I do. I try to really live life, so I have new experiences that I can write about." More than twenty years after the number one beginning in that New Jersey basement, Desmond Child remains as in-demand as ever. His latest projects include: The Rasmus, Joss Stone, Kelly Clarkson, The Scorpions, Hilary Duff, Meat Loaf, Ace Young, and his old pals in Bon Jovi. "The Desmond you don't know about," says Jon Bon Jovi, "is the one who not only taught me the next level of songwriting, but so many of the true aspects of friendship: truth, honor and loyalty. We've been through a lot together - the ups and the downs…and the ups again."
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