Gavin Christopher

Gavin Christopher is a R&B singer and musician, born on March 5th,1956 in Chicago Illinois where he started out playing music at a very early age. Having been schooled by the likes of Oscar Brown Jr., Donny Hathaway and later on Curtis Mayfield, he honed his writing and singing skills and began his career, first in a band called Lyfe (which also included Chaka Khan). Khan then left and joined Rufus (scoring several pop and R&B hits with them). Christopher later joined another band called High Voltage with other future Rufus members Bobby Watson and Tony Maiden, as well as Lalomie Washburn, who later wrote several Rufus songs. Christopher himself would also become associated with Rufus, as he penned the song "Once You Get Started," which was later recorded by the band and hit #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1975.

Christopher relocated to Los Angeles, California where he was signed to his first recording contract with Island Records. He later moved back to Chicago to record and work with Curtis Mayfield on the Curtom/RSO record label. He worked with Herbie Hancock, writing and singing on several of his albums. Christopher also penned the Hancock song, "Stars in Your Eyes".

Following a move to New York City, Christopher signed with EMI Manhattan Records and scored his biggest single to date, "One Step Closer to You" (his only Hot 100 hit as an artist, #22 in 1986) and another minor single with "You Are Who You Love." He also produced music for artists such as Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa and The Ritchie Family. He was heavily involved in the early hip-hop scene, writing such hits as "Girls Love the Way He Spins", "Sign Of the Time", "We Gonna Rock America" and "All Night All Right".

Gavin's sister is dance music vocalist Shawn Christopher.

olo Discography

* 1976: "Gavin Christopher [1976] "
* 1979: "Gavin Christopher [1979] "
* 1986: "One Step Closer"
# "One Step Closer to You" (5:10)
# "Are We Running From Love" (4:46)
# "In the Heat of Passion" (5:07)
# "Back in Your Arms" (5:36)
# "Once You Get Started" (4:18)
# "Love is Knocking at Your Door" (5:09)
# "Sparks Turn Into Fire" (4:30)
# "Could This Be the Night" (4:29)
# "That's the Kind of Guy I Am" (4:10)

* 1987: "Gavin"

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/yeshira1 MySpace Page]