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Michael Sembello Live

Presented by The VanDyke Cafe- Upstairs

March 28, 2010

HIT SONGWRITER NIGHT featuring artist of the month MICHAEL SEMBELLO, Joshua Stedman, Monica Gaba, & Erica-Sommer Dudley hosted by Randy Singer.

Besides writing and singing "MANIAC" from the hit movie "FLASHDANCE", Michael Sembello has gone on to write, play, produce and perform with artists such as David Sanborn, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Sergio Mendes, Diana Ross, Jeffrey Osborne, Chaka Khan, The Jackson 5, George Benson, Seals & Crofts, New Edition, Julian Lennon, Donna Summer, Minnie Riperton, Stephanie Mills, Barbara Streisand, The Temptations, Philip Bailey, Denise Williams, Melissa Manchester, Angela Bofill, Sergio Mendez, Gerardo, Art Garfunkel, Stanley Clarke, and George Duke.

Michael Sembello began playing the guitar when he was just nine years old. "My goal was to follow in the footsteps of my jazz mentors." At age 14, he was studying with guitar legends Pat Martino and Chuck Anderson. A week before graduating from High School at the young age of seventeen, Michael auditioned for, and was hired on the spot by Stevie Wonder. Michael was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 17, 1954. He left his hometown of Ardmore, Pennsylvania, and went on the road with Stevie for seven years as his lead guitarist and featured vocalist. During this time, Michael worked with Stevie on his most ambitious album "Songs in the Key of Life," co-writing the song "Saturn."
Michael's solo career began in 1983 when he released his first record "Bossa Nova Hotel." Immediately following its release, Michael scored a huge chart-thundering success writing and performing the Grammy Award winning song "Maniac" from the movie Flashdance. The soundtrack has gone platinum six times, with "Maniac" being the third-top grossing song from a movie soundtrack to date.