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William Mark Wainwright (born 15 December 1956),"William Orbit." Contemporary Musicians. Vol. 30. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2000. Retrieved via Biography in Context database, 7 May 2017. Available online via Encyclopedia.com. known professionally as William Orbit, is an English musician and record producer who has sold 200 million recordings worldwide of his own work, his production and song-writing work. He is a recipient of multiple , Ivor Novello Awards and other music industry awards.
This first incarnation of Guerilla Studios had a Trident 80B mixing desk and Otari MTR90 MKII 24 track (2 inch tape) multitrack housed in a back garden on the canals of Little Venice in Paddington, and they also ran it as a commercial enterprise.
Bassomatic was another of Orbit's group projects. The band recorded house music in the 1990s. The band included vocalist Sharon Musgrave and rapper Steve Roberts, also known as The Southern Dandy among others. For the second album, singer Sindy Finn replaced Musgrave on vocals. Both albums were released by Guerilla Studios, founded by Orbit with Laurie Mayer and Grant Gilbert. Bassomatic's first album was 1990's Set the Controls for the Heart of the Bass, the title track derived from Pink Floyd's "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun". This album was re-released in 1997. A subsequent album, Science and Melody, was released in 1991. Bassomatic's biggest hit single was "Fascinating Rhythm" in 1990, which reached No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart, and performed well on the UK Dance Chart.
Around this time, Orbit's studio chiefly consisted of a pair of Akai S1000 samplers and a Roland Juno-106 synthesiser.
He produced the album 13 by Britpop group Blur, in London and Reykjavík, Iceland.
Orbit had created remixes for Madonna previously such as those of "Justify My Love" and "Erotica" but did not meet her personally until 1997. That summer and autumn, they worked together and produced her multi-Grammy/award-winning seventh album Ray of Light. The album took four months to record and it was the longest she ever spent recording an album. It was released on 22 February 1998.
In 2000, Orbit continued working for Madonna on her album Music, recorded at The Hit Factory in New York.
At this time, he also co-wrote and performed with her on the song "Beautiful Stranger". In 2011, he worked with a team of writers including Jean-Baptiste Kouame, Julie Frost and Klas Ahlund and brought their compositions and his production work to contribute to the twelfth studio album by Madonna, MDNA, released on 23 March 2012, by Interscope Records. He co-produced 6 tracks on the album, including "Masterpiece" which won a Golden Globe for Best Original Song in the Miramax film W.E., at the 69th Golden Globe Awards. After the release of the album, Orbit openly expressed in various media sources his dissatisfaction and disappointment with this Madonna project.
In 2013, Orbit worked with Britney Spears and will.i.am on the album Britney Jean, with fellow songwriters Ana Diaz and Dan Traynor with whom he wrote and produced the track "Alien". He was one of the writers and one of the producers on the Chris Brown song "Don't Wake Me Up" which was recorded at Record Plant in LA and for which he received an ASCAPASCAP Awards. "ASCAP Awards 2013", 'ASCAP', 2013. award in 2013.
This was followed by a production of the Queen track "There Must Be More to Life Than This", which featured archive vocals by Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson. Orbit went on to produce another Queen song, "Let Me in Your Heart Again". In 2015, his composition "The Name of the Wave" was used in the Oscar winning documentary Amy directed by Asif Kapadia.Amy (soundtrack). "Amy", 'Amy (soundtrack)', Oct 2015.
In 2018, he worked on "After All", a song by English-Canadian girl group All Saints from their fifth studio album, Testament (2018). Written by group member Shaznay Lewis along with Peter Hutchings and Orbit, whilst produced by the latter, it was released as the album's second single on 26 July 2018.
In 2007, he took part in Alex Poots’ Manchester International Festival, and composed a symphonic work in nine movements, "Orchestral Suite" which was performed by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, augmented by additional harps, pianos and percussion, and with The Manchester Chorale, conducted by Alexander Shelley at Bridgewater Hall.Aspden, Peter (June 22 June 2007). " Alluring echoes of Hoxton". . www.ft.com. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
In 2001, he took part in the Stockhausen Electronic FestivalThe sound of discord. "William Orbit, who appears alongside Stockhausen in next month's Elektronic Festival ", 'The Guardian', 29 September 2001. at the Barbican Theatre.
In 2013, he took part in the London Electronic Arts Festival.William Orbit confirmed for first London Electronic Arts Festival. "Georgio Moroder and William Orbit confirmed for first London Electronic Arts Festival", 'Indie London', Nov 2013.
He participated in the Liberatum International Cultural FestivalCarrera Presents Liberatum Hong Kong International Festival of Culture. "Carrera Presents Liberatum Hong Kong International Festival of Culture", 'Lisa Baker Associates Limited', 22 March 2012. in Russia, during which he performed in Moscow and Novosibirsk, Siberia.
He performed in 2015 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and at a gala at Banqueting House in London's Whitehall for the charity Together for Short Lives, a group that sponsors and supports children with terminal illnesses and their families.The midsummer ball. "Together for Short Lives’ Midsummer Ball", 'The Midsummer Ball', 3 June 2015. Orbit has at various clubs in London and Ibiza, and at Buckingham Palace for Elizabeth II's annual staff and family Christmas party, in 2015.
Orbit joined Hawkwind on stage on 29 September 2023 at the Royal Albert Hall to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their Space Ritual album.
| 1987 | Orbit
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Strange Cargo
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| 1990 | Strange Cargo II
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| 1993 | Strange Cargo III
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| 1995 | Strange Cargo Hinterland
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| 1999 | Pieces in a Modern Style
| 2 | 33 | 198 |
| 2006 | Hello Waveforms
| 136 | — | — |
| 2009 | My Oracle Lives Uptown
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| 2010 | Pieces in a Modern Style 2
| 185 | — | — |
| 2014 | Orbit Symphonic
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Strange Cargo 5
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| 2022 | The Painter
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| 1987 | "Feel Like Jumping" | — | — | — | Orbit | |
| "Love My Way" | — | — | — | |||
| 1993 | "Water from a Vine Leaf" (William Orbit featuring Beth Orton) | 59 | — | — | Strange Cargo III | |
| 1999 | "Barber's Adagio for Strings" | 4 | 23 | 13 | Pieces in a Modern Style | |
| 2000 | "Ravel's Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte" | 31 | — | — | ||
| 2003 | "Feel Good Time" (Pink featuring William Orbit) | 3 | 7 | 8 | |align="left" (OST) | |
| "Dice" (Finley Quaye & William Orbit) | — | — | — | Much More Than Much Love (Finley Quaye album) | ||
| 2009 | "Optical Illusions" | — | — | — | My Oracle Lives Uptown | |
| "Purdy" | — | — | — | |||
| 2010 | "Nimrod" | — | — | — | Pieces in a Modern Style 2 |
| 1990 | Set the Controls for the Heart of the Bass
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| 1991 | Science & Melody
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| 1984 | Wish Thing
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| 1986 | Ecstasy
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| 1987 | Exhibit A
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| 1995 | Toward the Unknown Region
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