威廉·欧比特

William Mark Wainwright (15 December 1956 – 23 July 2026), nicknamed and known professionally as William Orbit, was an English musician and record producer. With a career spanning four decades, he sold over 200 million recordings worldwide of his own work, his production and song-writing work. Orbit was also a recipient of multiple Grammy Awards, Ivor Novello Awards and other music industry awards.

Early life

Orbit was born William Mark Wainwright on 15 December 1956 and raised in Palmers Green, London, England. His parents were both schoolteachers; he was the elder of two sons. He left school at the age of 16, and subsisted for a number of years in various low-paying jobs, while seeking an outlet for his creativity. Around this time, while rooming with a friend who was trying to start a recording studio, Orbit found his musical calling. His nickname of "Orbit" was given to him by friends because of his love of rocketry and astronomy and also his spacey manner.

Torch Song and Bassomatic

In 1980, Orbit teamed up with electronic musician Laurie Mayer and Grant Gilbert to form the electronic/synth group Torch Song. They released their recordings in an audio cassette series, generated from their home-built studio in a squatted disused school, nicknamed the Centro Iberico, in Notting Hill, in London, next to the Grand Union Canal. Richard Law, who was A&R for IRS Records, was a follower of their music and aesthetic; in 1981, Law took it to Miles Copeland, who had discovered and managed the Police and the Bangles. When Copeland signed them to the label, the deal enabled them to build their ideal studio. There they recorded two albums and four singles, the most successful being the dance chart hit "Prepare to Energize", which was featured in the film Bachelor Party. Orbit and Mayer also composed the soundtrack to the ice hockey movie Youngblood, starring Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze, and recorded "White Night", written by colleague Rico Conning of The Lines, which was used in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. The band reunited briefly when Orbit worked with Laurie Mayer and Rico Conning. They released their final album, Toward the Unknown Region, in 1995.

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 MC Inna Onestep 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.

In the late 1980s, Orbit began to release solo music under his William Orbit name, with Strange Cargo (1987) beginning a series of instrumental releases of this name. Strange Cargo's liner notes by Miles Copeland III described Orbit as "a studio genius".

Productions and remixes

Collaborations and productions included Madonna, Etienne Daho, Prince, Belinda Carlisle, Britney Spears, Mel C, Pink, U2, Katie Melua, Ricky Martin, Beth Orton, Sarah McLachlan, Queen, The Joy Formidable, Robbie Williams, All Saints, Nitzer Ebb, Kraftwerk, Harry Enfield and Sugababes. When working with Beck, the two of them wrote a song for Pink, "Feel Good Time", which Orbit then produced for the soundtrack for the 2003 film Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.

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 1998, he spent several months working with the British group Blur in London and Reykjavík, Iceland. The band's album 13, produced by Orbit and featuring the singles "Tender" and "Coffee & TV" was released the following year.

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".