David Gamson

David Gamson is an American keyboardist/musician (also a producer, songwriter, arranger, engineer). Originally hailing from New York, he has worked with, among others, Kesha, Kelly Clarkson, Jessie J, Adam Lambert, Chaka Khan, Charli XCX, Meshell Ndegeocello, Green Gartside of Scritti Politti, Sheila E., George Benson, Luther Vandross, Donny Osmond, Miles Davis, Al Jarreau, Tony LeMans, Roger Troutman, Eden xo, Quinn XCII and Hannah Diamond.

He is perhaps best known for his distinctive synthesizer work and arrangements as a member of the popular 1980s pop band Scritti Politti for three of their studio albums. Gamson co-produced, co-wrote and arranged most of the songs on three of the band's albums: Cupid & Psyche 85 (1985), Provision (1988), and Anomie & Bonhomie (1999).

Early life David Gamson was born in 1961, the son of Arnold Gamson, a conductor, composer and founder of the American Opera Society, and Annabelle Gamson (née Gold), a noted dancer and choreographer. Gamson's sister, Rosanna, is also a dancer/choreographer. He spent his infant years in Italy, where his father ran an opera company, and in the mid-1960s the family returned to the US and settled in Westchester County, New York. Growing up in a musical household, Gamson started on violin at the age of five, played in youth symphonies and attended the Manhattan School of Music’s prep program. At 13-years-old he turned to piano and began studying classical composition.

At 15, Gamson was experimenting with his first synthesizer, an ARP 2600 his father Arnold had purchased. Gamson recalled his father had "hit a wall at early thirties, which many musicians do. He took a job at the county of Westchester doing administrative work for parks and recreation, because he needed a job and had a family. But he always was, strangely, really interested in electronic music. So he enrolled in Queen's college continuing education, they had a computer music course...then he bought an ARP 2600 and a 4 track recorder. So we had that at home, and I did everything on that".

Despite his classical training, Gamson had always listened primarily to pop music - as a child to the Beatles, and in his high school years he moved on to progressive rock and the Canterbury scene (an appreciation shared by his future bandmate Green Gartside). "Well, here I was, a freshman in college...I got a job as an assistant engineer with a terrible little studio that did industrial presentations - you know, slideshows. I did a demo for ‘Sugar Sugar’ on their 16-track". Gamson assisted Gartside with arrangements for "Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)" and other songs, while Gartside wrote lyrics for Gamson's "Small Talk" and "L Is for Lover".

In addition to his work in Scritti Politti, Gamson wrote and produced for different artists, often in collaboration with Gartside or Maher. In 1985, he co-wrote and co- produced (with Maher) "When it’s Over" for Adele Bertei, with a guest vocal by Gartside. In 1986, he and Gartside co-wrote "Love of a Lifetime" for Chaka Khan, and their unreleased "L Is For Lover" became the title track for Al Jarreau’s album. All three songs had a distinctive "Scritti sound", similar to that of Cupid & Psyche 85. "It’s a double-edged sword," Gamson noted. "There were a few years when people were like ‘oh yeah give us that Scritti thing’, and then you do that, and people are like ‘that’s all he does!’ It took years to prove I could actually do some other stuff too".

After a long promotional tour for Cupid & Psyche 85, Gamson and Gartside immediately started working the band's next album, Provision, co-writing and co-producing all tracks. Recording took place in 1987–88 in London and New York. During that time Gamson wrote two songs for Luther Vandross - "Come Back" and "I Know You Want To", featured on Vandross’ album Any Love.

Scritti Politti's Provision was released in June 1988. according to Keyboard Magazine, "much of the album bears Gamson’s stamp. In fact, his handiwork shows up in virtually every aspect of the record, from programming to sequencing. His crisp, jabbing patches have a poke-in-the-ribs feel that hustles Scritti songs along, and his intricate sequences have established him as one of the most inventive architects on the current dance-pop scene". Green's voice can be heard during the chorus of the song Itchin' To Be. Gamson and LeMans went on to write and produce songs for Donny Osmond’s 1990 comeback album Eyes Don't Lie.

In 1990 Gamson became a staff producer and A&R at Warner Bros Records. While at Warner Gamson produced Roger Troutman’s 1991 album Bridging the Gap. This was their second collaboration, as Troutman previously contributed to two tracks on Provision. Gamson described Troutman’s trademark use of the talk box as "magic". Their joint work was interrupted by Maverick management, who wanted Ndegeocello to take on a more commercial direction.

In 1996 Gamson left Warner and became an independent producer. The following year, Green Gartside resurfaced from his exile in Wales with new material, and reached out to Gamson in an attempt to mend their professional and personal relationship. The two met in London where Gamson agreed to produce Scritti Politti's new album. On Anomie & Bonhomie, Scritti Politti's fourth album (and third with Gamson on board), Gartside felt that the two needed to be "on opposite sides of the glass", leaving Gamson with all producing duties and himself as the sole songwriter. Gamson brought in musicians he had previously collaborated with, including Meshell Ndegeocello, Wendy Melvoin and Paul Riser, and recording took place in LA and New York. "There was no big drama"’ said Gamson on producing the album. "There was no pressure to follow anything... it could be anything it wanted to be". At that time Kesha had no contract with a major record label and was estranged from Dr Luke who had signed her to his label.

In the following years, Gamson wrote and produced for various artists, among them Adam Lambert and Le Concorde. In 2011, a Scritti Politti greatest hits compilation titled Absolute was released, featuring two new songs - "Day Late and a Dollar Short" and "A Place We Both Belong" - co-written by Gamson and Gartside in their first songwriting collaboration in over 20 years.

Gamson found further success as a songwriter in 2012, with the release of Kelly Clarkson’s "Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)". The song was originally written in 2010 by Gamson, Jörgen Elofsson, Ali Tamposi, and offered to Leona Lewis who turned it down. After some additional writing and a new arrangement by Greg Kurstin, "Stronger" was recorded by Clarkson and went on to top 23 international charts. Gamson was nominated for a Grammy in the Song of the Year category.

The success of "Stronger" brought on a resurgence in Gamson's career, and in the years following he wrote and produced for Jessie J, LP and Charli XCX. A.G Cook, Charli XCX's creative director who was not yet born when Cupid & Psyche 85 and Provision came out, collaborated with Gamson in writing and producing the track "Femmebot", and singled out Scritti Politti as an example for "extreme pop music".

Style and influence Gamson's most influential work is his production, synth programming and arrangements on the Scritti Politti albums of the 1980s. Inspired by their contemporaries The System, D Train and Kashif,

Gamson is credited for using over 10 different synthesizers on Cupid & Psyche 85, and has noted that Scritti Politti's motto was "machines groove better than humans", causing the band to discard most live instrument recordings on both Cupid & Psyche 85 and Provision.

Artists who cite Scritti Politti as an influence include Kurt Feldman of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Kylie Minogue, Max Tundra, A.G Cook Elton John said that he purchases a copy of Cupid & Psyche 85 whenever he sees it in order to share it with other people. David Bowie described the song "Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)" as a "glistening beauty... The upside of the 80s". Perhaps the most well-known Scritti Politti enthusiast was Miles Davis, who covered "Perfect Way" on his 1986 Album Tutu and played a solo on Provision's "Oh Patti (Don’t Feel Sorry for Loverboy)".

In the 1990s, Gamson played a role in the rise of the neo soul genre, mainly through his work with Meshell Ndegeocello. He has contributed to other notable neo soul albums of that era, playing on Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite and composing and playing on Angie Stone’s Black Diamond.