THE ENGINE ROOM

The unsung heroes who helped forge modern music

- This month: Wally Badarou

You might have never heard the name Wally Badarou before, but the Franco-Beninese synth prodigy has undoubtedly played on some of your favourite records. His credits stretch back as far as the late 70s, so you may be surprised to learn that he's a relatively spritely 70 years young.

"I was a child," he tells RC, talking from his home in Paris as he reminisces about those early days, keenly arriving at recording studios with a Korg under his arm. Badarou's big break came when he was invited by the bass player, Julian Scott, to work with his brother Robin, who was working at Barclay Records at the time and had some ideas for a profitable sideline. The resulting track Badarou played on - M's Pop Muzik - became one of Europe's most ubiquitous hits throughout 1979 and beyond, putting Badarou firmly on the map.

While still in his teens, he became an in-demand session man, playing for artists as acclaimed as Miriam Makeba on 1979's Comme Une Symphonie d'Amour. Alain Chamfort recruited him to co-write and arrange the music on what would become one of the French pop star's best loved albums, Amour Année Zéro, though the lyricist - a certain Serge Gainsbourg - proved to be more obstructive than anything.

"Gainsbourg himself didn't think much of the songs," laments Badarou. "He was definitely not into what we were doing. It's one of Alain's finest albums, I believe, but we didn't get much help from Mr Gainsbourg."