DonRay
Raymond Donnez (September 9, 1942 – March 7, 2019), or Don Ray, was a French disco producer, arranger and performer.
Also recorded as Raymond Donnez · Don Ray
DonRay
- Born
- 1942 · Aulnay-sous-Bois.
- Died
- 2019 · 14th arrondissement of Paris.
- Nationality
- Germany · France
- Occupation
- composer · record producer · musician · music arranger · conductor
- Fields
- disco
- Languages
- German · French
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
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wikidata · Q2011899 · wikipedia · Raymond Donnez
In this article
Early life
Early life
A cult hero among fans of Eurodisco, Don Ray played keyboards on Cerrone's records "Love in C Minor", "IV", "VI", and "VIII" and released one solo album, Garden of Love, which featured his successful single "Got to Have Loving", cowritten with Cerrone, who drummed on the track. He also produced Santa Esmeralda's hit cover of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and their second LP, "The House of the Rising Sun". His single "Got To Have Loving" had cross-over success on pop radio, and reached #44 in the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1978. Also, was conductor in the Eurovision Song Contest in three years, 1974 (for the Monegasque entry "Celui qui reste et celui qui s'en va"), 1976 (for the Monegasque entry "Toi, la musique et moi") and 1977 (the winner of this year, the French "L'oiseau et l'enfant"). Don Ray was a musician with Alec Costandinos and his name appears on many of Alec's albums and jazz-funk classic singles "Standing in the Rain" and the slower "My Desire". He also conducted and arranged music hits by Euro disco group Love & Kisses in the late 1970s including Thank God It's Friday (Love & Kisses song). The disco stomper "Midnight Madness" is only available on UK 12inch. Donnez died at the age of 76 on 7 March, 2019.
Albums
Albums
The Garden Of Love (1978)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1942
DonRay born at Aulnay-sous-Bois.
2019
DonRay died at 14th arrondissement of Paris.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Aulnay-sous-Bois.
Birth place
14th arrondissement of Paris.
Death place
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Raymond Donnez, revision 1362515006 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Aletti, Vince. The disco files 1973–78: New York's underground, week by week. DJhistory.com. 397–. April 2009. 978-0-9561896-0-8.
- 2.Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Hits 1955–1990 Compiled from Billboard
- 3.Raymond Donnez, Andtheconductoris.com
- 4.Discogs – Don Ray Discography
- 5.Don Ray : disparition d'une légende française – ChronicleFred. 8 March 2019.
- 6.Don Ray - the Garden of Love. Discogs. 1978.
References
Citations
References
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Secondary witness
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
DonRay is recorded as composer, record producer, musician, music arranger and conductor.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 24 August 2026.
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