Gregg Diamond was a pianist

Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

, drummer

Drummer

A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...

, songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

, and producer

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 who was active in the jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 and disco

Disco

Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...

 music scenes of the 1970s.

Career

Diamond wrote the song

Song

In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

 "Hot Butterfly," which was released in 1978 under one of his group's names, Bionic Boogie, with Luther Vandross

Luther Vandross

Luther Ronzoni Vandross was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times...

 providing lead vocals

Human voice

The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...

. The song was later covered

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 by David Lasley

David Lasley

David Lasley is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his contributions as a background singer for such artists as Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor and Luther Vandross....

 and Chaka Khan

Chaka Khan

Chaka Khan , frequently known as the Queen of Funk, is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career...

. His other popular songs included "Risky Changes" (released by Bionic Boogie in 1977), "Dance Little Dreamer" (released by Bionic Boogie in 1977), "Cream (Always Rises to the Top)" (released by Bionic Boogie in 1978), "Starcruisin'" (1978), "Fancy Dancer" (1978), and "Tiger, Tiger (Feel Good For a While)" (1979).

"Dance Little Dreamer

Dance Little Dreamer

Dance Little Dreamer is a 1978 disco single by Bionic Boogie, a group created by disco producer, Gregg Diamond and was included in Bionic Boogie's, self-titled, 1978 album. "Dance Little Dreamer", along with the track, "Risky Changes" made it to number on the disco charts for three weeks....

" reached #1 on the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Hot Dance Club Play

Hot Dance Club Play

The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...

 chart

Record chart

A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....

 in 1978

Number-one dance hits of 1978 (USA)

These are the Billboard magazine Hot Dance Club Play number one hits of 1978.-See also:*1978 in music*List of number-one dance hits *List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart-References:...

. The song "Cream (Always Rises to the Top)" reached #61 in the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 in January 1979.

Diamond's association with Vandross came from the success of David Bowie

David Bowie

David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

's Young Americans

Young Americans

Young Americans may refer to:* Young Americans , an album by David Bowie** "Young Americans" , the title track from the album* The Young Americans , a 1993 crime drama* Young Americans , an American television drama...

album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

, which both Vandross and Diamond's brother Godfrey (his sound engineer

Audio engineering

An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...

) contributed towards. He also wrote and produced an album for TK

TK Records

TK Records was an American record label started by record distributor, Henry Stone in Miami, Florida, one of several labels that he founded in the 1960s and 1970s...

 recording artist

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

, George McCrae

George McCrae

George McCrae is an American soul and disco singer, most famous for his 1974 hit "Rock Your Baby".-Early life and career:...

, scoring a club

Nightclub

A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...

 hit

Hit record

A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...

 with "Love in Motion." His biggest commercial success was as writer and producer of the single "More, More, More

More, More, More

"More, More, More" is a song written by Gregg Diamond and recorded by American disco artist Andrea True, who performed under the name "The Andrea True Connection"...

" recorded by The Andrea True Connection

Andrea True

Andrea True was an American adult film star and singer from the disco era. In addition to her given name, she had multiple stage names, including Inger Kissin, Singe Low, Sandra Lips, Andrea Travis, and Catherine Warren, .She is best known for the disco tune "More, More, More", released in 1976,...

 in 1975. Len

Len (band)

Len is a Canadian alternative rock group from Toronto, Ontario. They are best known as a one-hit wonder for their song "Steal My Sunshine" in 1999. The band consists of siblings Marc Costanzo and Sharon Costanzo .-Studio albums:...

's 1999 hit, "Steal My Sunshine

Steal My Sunshine

"Steal My Sunshine" is a song written by Marc Costanzo for Len's third album You Can't Stop the Bum Rush. The backdrop is based on a sample of a short instrumental portion of Andrea True Connection's 1976 disco single "More, More, More"...

", has a joint, and posthumous songwriting credit for Diamond, because of the sample

Sampling (music)

In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...

 of "More, More, More" used in the track.

Diamond was also a member of the backing band for Jobriath

Jobriath

Jobriath , was an American folk and glam rock musician and actor...

, The Creatures.

He died of gastrointestinal bleeding on March 14, 1999 at the age of 49.

Discography

Major studio albums:

• 1977: Bionic Boogie (Polydor)
• 1978: Gregg Diamond Bionic Boogie - Hot Butterfly (Polydor)
• 1978: Gregg Diamond´s Star Cruiser (TK)
• 1979: Gregg Diamond Bionic Boogie - Tiger Tiger (Polydor)
• 1979: Gregg Diamond Hardware (Mercury)

See also

• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
• List of disco artists