The Invisible Man - The Rod Temperton Story

Another chance to hear Paul Gambaccini's 2006 profile the British-born songwriter Rod Temperton, who passed away in October.

The British-born keyboard player and songwriter enjoyed big disco-era success as part of Heatwave before writing hits for American R&B/pop stars including Donna Summer, George Benson, Aretha Franklin, James Ingram, Patti Austin, Herbie Hancock and, most lucratively, Michael Jackson.

Rod Temperton was a gentle-mannered man from Cleethorpes. Outside the music industry, few had heard of him, but everyone knows his songs. Without him the careers of Michael Jackson career, among many others, would have been very different. Rod single-handedly wrote and arranged some of the biggest songs in popular music history including Thriller, Give Me the Night, Boogie Nights, Always and Forever and Off the Wall, and became one of the most successful British songwriters of all time.

This programme charts his remarkable journey from Cleethorpes to Los Angeles, with contributions from Quincy Jones, George Benson and Patti Austin and many more. It was first broadcast on Radio 2 in 2006.

Another chance to hear a profile of songwriter Rod Temperton, who died in October 2016.