Hilly Michaels

Hilly Michaels
Born	New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Genres	Rock
Occupation(s)	Producer
Instruments	guitar, drums
Years active	1970s-present
Labels	Label
Associated acts	Sparks

Hilly Michaels, also known as Hilly Boy Michaels is an American drummer and musician, best known for playing drums with Sparks in the 1970s.

Biography

Hilly Michaels, also known as Hilly Boy Michaels (born Michael Hillman in New Haven, Connecticut) is an American drummer and musician, best known for playing drums with Sparks in the 1970s and his two solo albums from the early 1980s, Calling All Girls (1980) and Lumia (1981). Hilly Michaels was a New York based session drummer, who performed on Sparks' 1976 album Big Beat, which was produced by Rupert Holmes. Michaels was the only session musician to go on the North American tour with Ron Mael and Russell Mael of the Sparks.

History

His first music experience came with playing in a band called Joy, featuring a young Michael Bolton. Later, Michaels played with artists such as The Cherry Vanilla Band, Peach & Lee, Sparks, Ellen Foley, The Hunter/Ronson Band, Dan Hartman, John Mellencamp, Marianne Faithfull, and Ronnie Wood.

In 1979, Jake Hooker worked with Hilly Michaels to capture a million dollar deal with Warner Bros. Records and a music video to promote Calling All Girls in 1980 with Roy Thomas Baker as the producer. He was in a relationship with Marianne Faithfull during the mid-1980s when they lived together in New York City, from where in 1985 Faithfull entered the Hazelden Foundation to end her heroin addiction.

Michaels' songs can be heard in the movies Caddyshack and Die Laughing. In the movie Rollercoaster, he appeared with Sparks performing the songs Big Boy and Fill'er Up.

He has since worked as producer and manager of marketing and development. He currently resides in Connecticut and continues to record.

Discography

• Calling All Girls (1980)
• Lumia (1981)