Randy Muller

Producer/songwriter/arranger/keyboardist Randy Muller was the leader of '70s disco/funk/pop band Brass Construction, whose "Movin'," which was produced by Jeff Lane, became a number one R&B single in 1976. Muller also produced hits on Salsoul Records acts Skyy and Cameron. He arranged B.T. Express' million-selling 1975 number one R&B/number four pop hit "Express" and Shirley Caesar's gospel classic "No Charge." Though they are most known for the driving "Movin'," the band could get melodic and mellow (ex. "The Message (Inspiration)"). Brass Construction, Earth, Wind & Fire, and other '70s-era funk/soul/pop bands were the inspiration for the acid jazz genre of the '90s. Guyana-born Muller began writing songs at age seven. In 1963, his family sent him to live with his grandmother in Brooklyn, NY. While a student at George Gershwin Junior High School, he became friends with bassist Wade Williamson and drummer Larry Payton. Adding sax player Jesse Ward, guitarist Joseph Arthur Wong, trumpet players Morris Price and Wayne Price, saxman Mickey Grudge, and percussionist Sandy Billups, they became the Dynamic Souls. The band met producer Jeff Lane after winning a battle of the bands contest. Lane's Dock Records released a single on the band now called Brass Construction, "Two Timin' Woman." They also released a mid-'70s single as Wood Block and Steel that later became popular with house music fans in the '80s. After the band became Brass Construction, they got a deal with United Artists Records. Their first LP, Brass Construction, was produced by Lane and issued in February 1976. One driving track called "Movin'," which was initially created from an impromptu jam session, began to become popular in disco clubs and started gaining airplay on R&B and disco-oriented radio...