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Matthew Wilder

{{short description|American musician (born 1953)}}

{{Use American English|date=June 2022}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2021}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Matthew Wilder

| image = Matthew Wilder 2020.jpg

| caption = Wilder at the 2005 ASCAP Pop Awards

| birth_name = Matthew Weiner

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1953|1|24}}

| birth_place = New York City, U.S.

| genre = {{hlist|New wave|synth-pop}}

| occupation = {{hlist|Musician|singer|songwriter|record producer}}

| instrument = {{hlist|Vocals|keyboards|synthesizer|guitar}}

| years_active = 1972–present

| label = {{hlist|Columbia|Epic}}

| website = {{URL|matthewwildermusic.com}}

}}{{Confused|Matthew Wild}}

Matthew Wilder ({{né}} Weiner; January 24, 1953) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 1983 hit single "Break My Stride", which hit No. 2 on the Cashbox chart and No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. He also wrote the music for the Disney animated feature film Mulan and provided the singing voice for the character Ling.

Early life

{{expand section|date=April 2024}}

Matthew Wilder was born on Long Island, New York,Farance, Jeff (June 16, 2006). "Seeing Stars: Where's Wilder? With Waldo?" The Daytona Beach News-Journal. p. E14. into a Jewish family.{{cite web | url=https://www.zacharywilder.com/brooklyn | title=Brooklyn Suites }}{{cite web | url=https://www.culturesonar.com/catching-up-with-matthew-wilder-no-breaking-his-stride/ | title=Catching up with Matthew Wilder: No Breaking His Stride | date=February 23, 2020 }} His mother was an opera singer and a Juilliard graduate, and his father was a press agent on Broadway. Wilder started studying classical piano at age four. He moved to Greenwich Village at age 16, and graduated from the New Lincoln School.

Career

{{BLP sources section|date=July 2021}}

Wilder was one-half of the Greenwich Village folk rock group Matthew & Peter in the 1970s. In 1978, he moved to Los Angeles, and sang for television commercials and as a backup vocalist for Rickie Lee Jones and Bette Midler.

Wilder's debut album, I Don't Speak the Language (1983), reached No. 49 on the Billboard 200, fueled by "Break My Stride". Wilder had some continued success with the single "The Kid's American", which reached No. 33 in 1984, but the single failed to match the success of "Break My Stride". Wilder's second album, Bouncin' Off the Walls (1984), failed to gain much momentum — even with an innovative music video for the single "Bouncin' Off the Walls" — with only the title track making the charts (No. 52), and was subsequently deemed a commercial failure.

Despite the downturn in his solo career, Wilder continued his career in the music industry as a songwriter and as a record producer for such acts as No Doubt (the hit album Tragic Kingdom), 702, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Miley Cyrus on her Hannah Montana song "G.N.O. (Girls Night Out)", The Belle Brigade, King Charles, and Joanna Pacitti. He has also done production work on Australian singer-songwriter Mig Ayesa's self-titled album released in April 2007 and has helped with production on Hayden Panettiere's unreleased album.

For the Disney film Mulan, Wilder co-wrote the songs with lyricist David Zippel. Wilder also lent his singing voice to the character of Ling. He won an Annie Award nomination for Music in an Animated Feature Production, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score (along with David Zippel and Jerry Goldsmith) for his work on that film.

For theatre, Wilder once again paired with Zippel to provide the music and lyrics for Princesses, a musical comedy update of Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel A Little Princess. The production ran at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle in 2003.{{cite web |title=Princesses |url=https://namt.org/musicals/princesses/ |publisher=National Alliance for Musical Theatre |access-date=2 July 2022}}{{cite web |title=Princesses - The Musical |url=https://www.matthewwildermusic.com/princesses-the-musical |website=Matthew Wilder |access-date=2 July 2022}}

Discography

=Studio albums=

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+

! rowspan="2" |Title

! rowspan="2" |Details

! colspan="3" |Peak chart positions

scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| US
{{Cite magazine |title=Matthew Wilder Chart History (Billboard 200) |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/matthew-wilder/chart-history/tlp/ |access-date=June 27, 2024 |magazine=Billboard}}

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| AUS
{{cite book |last=Kent |first=David |author-link=David Kent (historian) |title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 |publisher=Australian Chart Book |year=1993 |isbn=0-646-11917-6 |edition=illustrated |location=St Ives, N.S.W. |page=337}}

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| NLD
{{Cite web |title=Discografie Matthew Wilder |url=https://dutchcharts.nl/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Matthew+Wilder |access-date=June 27, 2024 |website=dutchcharts.nl}}

scope="row"| I Don't Speak the Language

|

|49

|95

|55

scope="row"| Bouncin' Off the Walls

|

  • Released: 1984
  • Label: Sony
  • Format: LP, CD

|—

|—

|—

scope="row"| Especially on Birthdays

|

  • Released: March 3, 2021
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: Digital download, streaming

|—

|—

|—

With Matthew & Peter

  • Under the Arch (1972, with Matthew & Peter)

= Soundtrack albums =

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+

! rowspan="2" |Title

! rowspan="2" |Details

!Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2" |Certifications

scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| US
scope="row"| Mulan
{{Small|(with David Zippel and Jerry Goldsmith)}}

|

  • Released: June 2, 1998
  • Label: Walt Disney
  • Format: LP, CD

|24

|

  • RIAA: Gold{{Cite web |title=American album certifications – Soundtrack – Mulan |url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&ar=Soundtrack&ti=Mulan&format=Album&type=#search_section |access-date=June 27, 2024 |website=RIAA}}

=Singles=

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
rowspan="2" style="width:18em;" | Title

! rowspan="2" | Year

! colspan="10"| Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2" style="width:8em;"| Certifications
(sales threshold)

! rowspan="2"| Album

style="font-size:smaller;"

! width="35"| US
{{cite magazine |url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=matthew wilder|chart=all}} |title=Matthew Wilder Album & Song Chart History – Hot 100 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=May 14, 2011}}

! width="35"| US CB
{{cite journal |author=Price, Randy |url=http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/80s_files/80s.html |title=Cashbox Top 100: the 80's Charts |journal=Cashbox |date= |accessdate=April 15, 2021}}

! width="35"| US AC
{{cite magazine |url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=matthew wilder|chart=Adult Contemporary}} |title=Matthew Wilder Album & Song Chart History – Adult Contemporary |magazine=Billboard |access-date=May 14, 2011}}

! width="35"| US Dance
{{cite magazine |url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=matthew wilder|chart=Dance/Club Play Songs}} |title=Matthew Wilder Album & Song Chart History – Dance/Club Play Songs |magazine=Billboard |access-date=May 14, 2011}}

! width="35"| US
R&B/HH
{{cite magazine |url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=matthew wilder|chart=R&B/Hip-Hop Songs}} |title=Matthew Wilder Album & Song Chart History – R&B/Hip-Hop Songs |magazine=Billboard |access-date=May 14, 2011}}

! width="35"| AUS
{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 |edition=illustrated |publisher=Australian Chart Book |location=St Ives, N.S.W. |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-6461-1917-5 |page=337}}

! width="35"| BEL
{{cite web|url=https://www.ultratop.be/nl/search.asp?cat=s&search=matthew+wilder|title=Ultratop|website=Ultratop }}

! width="35"| GER
{{cite web|url=https://www.offiziellecharts.de/|title=offiziele charts}}

! width="35"| NLD
{{cite web|url=https://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Matthew+Wilder&titel=The+Kid%27s+American&cat=s|title=Dutch Top 100}}

! width="35"| UK
{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artists/ |title=The Official Charts Company – Matthew Wilder |publisher=Official Charts Company |access-date=May 14, 2011 }}

scope="row" | "Work So Hard"

| | 1982

| —

| —

| 32

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

| {{n/a}}

scope="row" | "Break My Stride"

| rowspan="1" | 1983

| 5

| 2

| 4

| 17

| 76

| 6

| 3

| 7

| 5

| 4

| align="left"|

  • ARIA: Gold{{cite web|url=http://www.aria.com.au/pages/httpwww.aria.com.aupagesSinglesAccreds2020.htm|title=ARIA Accreditations 2020|publisher=ARIA|date= January 2020|access-date=February 18, 2020}}
  • UK: Platinum{{cite web|url=https://www.bpi.co.uk/brit-certified/|title=Certified Awards Search|publisher=British Phonographic Industry|format=To access, enter the keywords "Matthew Wilder"|access-date=June 15, 2024}}

| align="left" rowspan="3"| I Don't Speak the Language

scope="row" | "The Kid's American"

| rowspan="3" | 1984

| 33

| 40

| —

| —

| —

| —

| 28

| 35

| 24

| 93

|

scope="row"| "I Don't Speak the Language"

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

scope="row"| "Bouncin' Off the Walls"

| 52

| 46

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

| align="left" rowspan="2"| Bouncin' Off the Walls

scope="row" | "Mad for You"

| rowspan="1" | 1985

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

colspan="11" |"—" denotes releases that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Filmography

class="wikitable"

! scope="col" style="width:3em;"|Year

! scope="col" style="width:14em;"|Title

! scope="col" style="width:10em;"|Role

! scope="col" style="width:14em;"|Notes

1983

| Break My Stride

|

| Music video

1984

| Top of the Pops

|

|

1984

| Solid Gold

|

|

1984

| American Bandstand

|

| Two episodes

1984

| The Kid's American

|

| Music video

1985

| Bouncin' Off the Walls

|

| Music video

1998

| Mulan

| Ling (singing voice)

| Animated feature film

1999

| VH-1 Where Are They Now?

|

| Television series documentary

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • {{Official website|http://www.matthewwildermusic.com/}}
  • {{IMDb name|id=0928607}}

{{Annie Award for Music in a Feature Production}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilder, Matthew}}

Category:Living people

Category:American male pop singers

Category:American male singer-songwriters

Category:American new wave musicians

Category:Annie Award winners

Category:Columbia Records artists

Category:Epic Records artists

Category:American male new wave singers

Category:Jewish American musicians

Category:Musicians from Manhattan

Category:Record producers from New York (state)

Category:Singer-songwriters from New York (state)

Category:Singers from New York City

Category:Synth-pop new wave musicians

Category:1953 births