Exito, 11/97, By Sergio Giral
"My mission is to continue making music that helps others to get in touch with their feelings".
Behind every record, every song, there is a musical creator and a producer. Sometimes, those two are one and the same. That is the case with Desmond Child, 44, one of the most popular composers and record producers on the world hit parade. Born in Gainsville, Child is heir to the artistic heritage of his grandmother, Cuban poet Elena Casals, and his aunt Olga Guillot, the queen of the bolero. Child grew up in Miami Beach, but studied music in New York, where he graduated from New York University with a degree in classical music. In the 70's, Child formed his first group, Desmond Child Rouge, which played rock and popular Latin music in New York.
Since then, Child has gone on to write or produce for such groups as Aerosmith, Kiss, Alice Cooper, Cher, and Bon Jovi. ''I wrote I Was Made for Loving You for Kiss and had a great success,'' said Child. ''That's what started my career writing for bands like Bon Jovi, for which I wrote You Give Love A Bad Name, and Livin' On a Prayer.'' For Aerosmith, Child wrote Dude Looks Like a Lady. Child is currently working on a single by Hanson Wierd, an English language single by Ricky Martin, and a theme song for the Soccer World Cup written by former Menudo Robi Draco Rosa. Ricky Martin is the guest artist for the Soccer World Cup this year and will be singing for a world-wide audience and a crowd of 100,000 in Paris December 4.
To commemorate his aunt Olga Guillot's 60 years in show business, Child is planning to record a special album. ''I grew up listening to the boleros my mother wrote and my aunt sang. She's had a lot to do with my musical education,'' said Child. As a Cubanamerican whose family had to leave their country to escape opression, Child thinks music can have a political dimension. ''It's important for us who live in a free country to help those who live in dictatorships and don't have the strength or spirit to achieve their freedom. I think music is a message of liberation and humanity that reaches all corners of the world.''
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