Painting by Karen Matrkosky

BIOGRAPHY- Dennis Matkosky, native Philadelphian, began playing professionally at age 16, doing sessions at Sigma Sound for Soul acts such as The Spinners, Teddy Pendergrass and The Stylistics. He graduated with a degree in Theory and Composition from Temple University. He moved to Los Angeles in 1979 and began his song writing career, writing his first song, ‘Mirror Mirror’, a top five hit for Diana Ross. He soon had another hit with the song ‘Maniac’, from the movie, ‘Flashdance’. He was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Grammys; one for Best Song of the Year and one for Best Soundtrack, which he won. .’Maniac’ has been elevated to cult status, appearing in a variety of movies, advertisements and media venues.
		Dennis & Keith Urban

Dennis		His production and writing credits are responsible for over 50 million records sold. He first wrote and co-produced ‘Maniac’ for the ‘Flashdance’ soundtrack, selling 20 million records worldwide. He wrote and produced a Gold record for the group Chicago on the ‘Days of Thunder’ soundtrack and has written and produced for artists including Boz Scaggs, Smokey Robinson, Kenny G, Sara Brightman, James Ingram, Eddie Money, Al Jarreau, George Benson, Sheena Easton, Chris LeDoux, Clark Family Experience, Diana Ross, Ty Hendron, Keith Urban, Steve Holy, Leann Rimes, Clay Aiken, Rascal Flatts, Cliff Richard, Teddy Pendergrass, George Duke, Stanley Clark, Kool & the Gang, Johnny Gill, Bobby Caldwell and Sergio Mendes. He has been in the Top 10 of the Billboard charts in the categories of Jazz, R&B, Adult Contemporary, Country, Rock, Pop, Christian and Gospel. He has seen #1 on The Adult Contemporary charts with ‘Heart of Mine’ by Boz Scaggs and ‘We’ve Saved the Best for Last’ by Kenny G and Smokey Robinson.

In Nashville, Dennis has enjoyed the top of the charts with Leann Rimes’ hit single, ‘I Need You’, which earned Dennis two ASCAP Awards in Pop and Country for ‘Most Performed Songs of the Year’. ‘I Need You’ spent an unprecedented 111 weeks in the AC chart and remains in the top 20 Recurrent charts. ‘I Need You’ has been on the top of the charts around the world as well as #1 on the Euro Dance charts. ‘I Need You’ is also on Leann’s Gold ‘Greatest Hits’ CD, on ‘CMT Most Wanted’ CD and has been a single for Christian artist, Christina Starling. RIGHT: Dennis playing with Travis Howard for a CMT tv show where Travis and he wrote a song on camers and performed it for the tv show called "Unsung Stories."

Dennis & LeAnn Rimes

ASCAP Awards

ARTISTS:   CLAY AIKEN PHILIP BAILEY GEORGE BENSON BO BICE SARA BRIGHTMAN BILL CHAMPLIN CHICAGO STANLEY CLARKE RITA COOLIDGE GEORGE DUKE SHEENA EASTON RASCAL FLATTS KENNY G. JOHNNY GILL GWEN GUTHRIE DARYL HALL AND HALL AND OATES TY HERENDON STEVE HOLY THELMA HOUSTON JAMES INGRAM AL JARREAU CHRIS LEDOUX KIMBERLY LOCKE KOOL & THE GANG TEENA MARIE LILA MCANN MICHAEL MCDONALD REBA MCENTIRE JAMES NEWTON HOWARD DONNY OSMOND TEDDY PENDERGRASS PERRI PHILIPS CRAIG & DEAN CLIFF RICHARD LEANN RIMES SMOKEY ROBINSON MICHAEL SEMBELLO J.T. TAYLOR (KOOL AND THE GANG) HELEN TERRY (CULTURE CLUB) KEITH URBAN TONY VINCENT MAURICE WHITE OF EARTH WIND & FIRE CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS CECE WINANS	TV SHOWS:   ALL MY CHILDREN AS THE WORLD TURNS BLOCKBUSTER COMMERCIAL THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL BYRON ALLEN DAVID LETTERMAN DIANA ROSS TOUR COMING TOGETHER EBONY JET SHOWCASE EL PASO COMMERCIAL EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND FALL GUY FRESH PRINCE OF BEL AIR GIMME A BREAK GLADIATOR GRAMMY LIVING LEGEND GROWING PAINS HARD COPY HOME IMPROVEMENT INSIDE REPORT JEAPORDY LIFE GOES ON LOVING MAN OF THE PEOPLE MARRIED WITH CHILDREN MOTOWN ON SHOWTIME MTV NANNY NIGHT RIDER NEW YORK LASTEP BY STEP SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE SESAME STREET SIMON & SIMON SIMPSONS SLEGEHAMMER SOLID GOLD SOUL TRAIN SHOWTIME AT THE APOLLO ST. ELSEWHERE STRIP MALL THIRD ROCK FROM THE SUN THE TONIGHT SHOW THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO VH1

MOVIES:

AMERICAN WEDDING

DAYS OF THUNDER

D.C. CAB

ELVIRA MISTRESS OF THE NIGHT

FLASHDANCE - GRAMMY “SONG OF THE YEAR” - MANIAC

FRIGHT NIGHT

MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE

NIGHT AND THE CITY

PUMP UP THE VOLUME

RAT BOY

SUMMER LOVERS(THEME)

TAP

TOMMY BOY

INTERVIEW WITH DENNIS MATKOSKY
by Malcolm Moore 1.15.08


1. Who is your favorite composer/songwriter and why?

This is a very hard question for me to answer. The first artist that comes to mind is Stieve Wonder, for his melodic inventiveness,especially in his early work. I love Ray LaMontagne-especially "Empty,' which for me is one of the best songs I have heard in a long time. Others are Linda Creed (Pure Honesty), Paul Simon, Billy Joel,Thom Yorke, Burt Bacarach and Hal David. Also, The Band and so many others...



2. What music did you write for The Simpsons and what was it like working for Matt Groaning?

I have never gotten a chance to meet Matt. I would love to someday, to be included in the show is a real honor. Also, to have "Maniac" included in the show is just awesome.



3. If you could pick one living musician to write a song for, who would it be?

Stieve Wonder.



4. What does it feel like to know that Elmo sings Maniac?

He sings, "I'm ticklish ticklish he he he he he." It's a lot of fun.



5. What song was the hardest to write out of every project you have worked on?

I wrote a christmas song with Leann Rimes and Ty Lacy for her Christmas record and because of all the key changes it was a little stressful to work out it in real time. She is such an incredible singer.



6. What was working on Solid Gold?

That was crazy I think I drank about 5 cups of coffee on that show. I was so over the top. ,i also did Bandstand and Soul Train,that was fun > >



7. What music did you write for Elvira?

She used "Maniac" and I also wrote "Given it Up" for the movie "Fright Night."



8. Name the 3 latest CDs/downloads you bought to listen just for pleasure?

-Ray LaMontagne
-James Morrison
-Radiohead.



9. Who is the most inspiring vocalist you have ever worked with?

-James Ingram
-Chaka Kahn
-Maurice White (Earth, Wind and Fire)
-Leann Rimes
-Sara Brightman
-Michael Mcdonald
-JT Taylor (Kool and the Gang)
-Teddy Pendergrass
-Smokey Robinson
-Ce Ce Wynan
-Bobby Caldwell
-Michael Sembello

They are all so inspiring-I can't narrow it down to one!



10. When did you know as a child you wanted to be a songwriter and how did that all come about?

When I was little (4 or 5), I wanted to be a cowboy until I discovered Roy Rodgers. He was a singing cowboy.
I thought that was cool. I came to writing late. I was always a musician, but I didn't discover writing until my late 20's.
My first song that I wrote was "Mirror Mirror" for Diana Ross.