Keith Wilder of Heatwave
passed away of natural causes on October 29, 2017, at the approximate age
of 65. Keith and his brother Johnnie (of Dayton, OH), along with Rod Temperton
(England), Mario Mantese (Switzerland), Ernest Berger (Czechoslovakia), Eric
Johns (Jamaica) and Roy Carter (Britain), formed Heatwave in 1975. The group
was hugely successful until 1983, when they disbanded. They were known for
several club hits such as “The Groove Line” (1978), “Boogie Nights” (1977) and the
monstrous “Always and Forever” (1976).
Keith was singing in a band in his
native Dayton when his brother called upon him to join the Chicago Heatwave in
London. The rest, as they say, is history.
The band reconstituted in 1988 and
again in the mid-1990s, with only Keith Wilder as an original member. I guess
one could say he was drawn to the music. Keith was predeceased in death by his
brother Johnnie in 2006 and by Rod Temperton in 2016.
As much as I love music I cannot
really say I have a very favorite group, but Heatwave was certainly one of my
favorite groups in the latter half of the 1970s, definitely my favorite decade.
I and millions of other fans will love
Heatwave’s “Always and Forever” always!
© 10/31/2017
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