Dino Fekaris

Dino Fekaris
Born
Dino George Fekaris

(1945-01-24) January 24, 1945 (age 79)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma materWayne State University
Known for"I Will Survive"

Dino George Fekaris (born January 24, 1945) is an American music producer and songwriter.[1][2][self-published source][3]

Fekaris was the producer and co-writer, with Freddie Perren, of the 1978 song "I Will Survive", and other songs recorded by Gloria Gaynor.[4] Nominated five times for the Grammy Award, he won once in 1979 for "I Will Survive".[5]

Biography

[edit]

Dino attended Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, and was a member of Delta Chi Fraternity.

He joined Motown at the tail end of the 1960s as a producer and writer, initially linking with Nick Zesses and working with the likes of The Naturals.[6] Their first major success came with Rare Earth, for whom they penned "I Just Want to Celebrate" and "Hey Big Brother", with Zesses and Fekaris also linking up with fellow writer and producer Tom Baird in the band Matrix. The trio also wrote together, penning "Love Me" for Diana Ross, a No. 38 UK hit in 1974.[7][8]

Fekaris was fired by Motown in the mid-70s, and he teamed up with Perren to write "I Will Survive", later recorded by Gloria Gaynor.[9] Fekaris and Perren also wrote a number of songs together, including "Shake Your Groove Thing", "I Pledge My Love" and "Reunited" by Peaches & Herb, "She Don't Let Nobody (But Me)" by Curtis Mayfield, and "Makin' It" by David Naughton.

References

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  1. ^ Mike Morsch (15 May 2014). The Vinyl Dialogues: Stories Behind Memorable Albums of the 1970s as Told by the Artists. The Educational Publisher / Biblio Publishing. pp. 168–9. ISBN 978-1-62249-207-7.
  2. ^ Robert “Boogie” Bowles with Kathleen G (1 August 2011). Behind the Boogie: How I Became Guitarist for a Motown Legend. Xlibris Corporation. pp. 79, 100, 146. ISBN 978-1-4653-3605-7.
  3. ^ Gilbert, Sophie (16 May 2012). "The Library of Congress Celebrates Ten Legendary Songwriters". Washingtonian. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  4. ^ Jon Kutner (26 May 2010). 1000 UK Number One Hits. Omnibus Press. pp. 579–580. ISBN 978-0-85712-360-2.
  5. ^ "Dino Fekaris". Grammy.com. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  6. ^ "The Naturals [Motown]: Fekaris and Zesses production". 45cat.com. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  7. ^ Graham Betts (2 June 2014). Motown Encyclopedia. AC Publishing. pp. 157–158. ISBN 978-1-311-44154-6.
  8. ^ Steve Sullivan (4 October 2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings. Scarecrow Press. pp. 712–3. ISBN 978-0-8108-8296-6.
  9. ^ Sullivan, Steve (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings: Volume 1. p. 713. ISBN 9780810882966 – via Google Books.


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