Music multi-tasker, JOHN E DAVIS died last Friday, 27th September. Few details are available save that Davis was 75.
In the soul/dance world Davis will be best remembered for heading up the JOHN DAVIS MONSTER ORCHESTRA who scored a huge dance hit in 1971 with ‘Up Jumped The Devil’. The Monster Orchestra was made up of top Philly session players like Bobby Eil and Don Renaldo – hardly surprising since Davis had been part of the Sigma session team and MFSB himself. His “Monster” orchestra went on to release four disco LPs.
In the early 80s Davis relocated to L.A. where he worked on TV and film scores – most famously he wrote and performed the theme to ‘Beverley Hill 90201’. He was also an in-demand session man – working with countless artists and appearing on numerous big tunes like William DeVaughn’s ‘Be Thankful’ and Diana Ross’s ‘It’s My House’.
