People & Music Business
Producer: Todd Rundgren • Engineer: Jack Douglas ![]() Producers: REM, Mitch Easter, Don Dixon REMs first single wasnt just an embryonic form of the style and sound that would later make them so successful, it was also a gem of the American new wave. But it took a long time coming... Producers: Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte • Engineer: Juergen Koppers ![]() Producer & Engineer: Shel Talmy ![]() Producer: Tony Clarke • Engineer: Derek Varnals ![]() Producer: John Lennon • Engineers: Roy Cicala, Shelly Yakus ![]() Producer: Van Morrison • Engineers: Shelly Yakus, Elliot Scheiner ![]() Producer: Heavy Zebra • Engineer: Kevin Byrne ![]() Producers: George Goldner, Terry Johnson • Engineer: Allen Weintraub ![]() Producers: Stock, Aitken and Waterman ![]() Classic Tracks ![]() The Pogues 'Fairytale Of New York' ![]() Classic Tracks For mixing Kraftwerk's synthetic beats and simple melodies with New York rap, 'Planet Rock' can be credited with creating an entirely new genre: hip-hop. This is how it happened... Producer: Paul Simon • Engineer: Roy Halee ![]() Producers: Devo, Robert Margouleff • Engineers: Robert Margouleff, Howard Siegel ![]() Producer: Mike Chapman • Engineer: Peter Coleman ![]() Producers: Ray Minshull, Michael Woolcock • Engineers: James Lock, Kenneth Wilkinson ![]() Producer: Trevor Horn • Engineers: Steve Lipson, Julian Mendelsohn ![]() Producer: Jean Beauvoir • Engineer: Fernando Kral ![]() Producers: Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Eddie Holland One of the most famous record labels of all time, Motown fostered a group of uniquely talented writers, engineers and musicians who often had to invent the equipment and techniques they used to keep their music at the cutting edge. Lamont Dozier explains how it was done... Producer: Al Kooper • Engineers: Al Kooper, Rodney Mills In 1973, a band from Florida and California went to a studio in Georgia to record a song, provoked by a Canadian, about Alabama - and managed to define the sound of Southern rock while they were at it. Producers: Chip Young, Billy Swan; Engineer: Chip Young In 1974 Billy Swan walked into Chip Young's Young'un Sound studio and, in two takes, recorded a million-selling single that had taken him 20 minutes to write. This is how it was done... Track: 'Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick' The story of how a characteristically chaotic and unorthodox 1978 recording session took Ian Dury & The Blockheads to the top of the UK charts. Producers: Nile Rodgers, Madonna, Stephen Bray • Engineer: Jason Corsaro In mid-1984 Madonna arrived at New York City's Power Station studios with Nile Rodgers to record the album that would make her an international superstar - using cutting-edge 12-bit technology. Producers: Richard Dashut, Ken Caillat, Fleetwood Mac In 1976, in the face of deteriorating personal relationships and massive record company pressure, Fleetwood Mac managed to create a record that would go on to sell 30 million copies. Producer: Alan Mair • Engineers: John Burns, Robert Ash Although never a commercial success, the Only One's 'Another Girl, Another Planet' has proved to be massively influential; and nearly 30 years after its original release, it's finally getting the recognition it deserves. Producers: Tricky • Mark Saunders ![]() Producer: Billy Sherrill • Engineer: Lou Bradley 1973's 'The Most Beautiful Girl In The World' was one of the defining moments of the Nashville sound, and was the product of a finely-honed studio recording process. Producer: Phil Spector • Engineer: Larry Levine Phil Spector was one of the first producers to realise that a recording studio could be an instrument in itself - and the sound he created over 40 years ago has influenced popular music ever since. Producers: The Jam, Vic Coppersmith-Heaven • Engineers: Alan Douglas, Vic Coppersmith-Heaven 'The Eton Rifles' captured both Paul Weller's growing talent as a songwriter and the raw power of his band the Jam, and gave the group their first top 10 hit. Producers: Depeche Mode, Daniel Miller, Gareth Jones • Engineer: Gareth Jones Released in 1984, 'People Are People' perfectly combined Depeche Mode's love of pop music and experimentalism, and gave them their first US hit single. Producer & Engineer: Les Paul Les Paul made some of the most innovative records of the 20th Century, but he had to invent multitrack tape recording first... Producers: Paul & Phil Hartnoll • Engineers: Tim Hunt, Orbital Orbital were renowned for their amazing live shows, and the story of 'Chime', the track that launched their career, shows how they brought their 'live' approach to electronic music to the studio and into the charts. Producers: Garry Cobain, Brian Dougans • Engineers: Yage In 1991 The Future Sound of London brought their unique brand of experimentalism to the dancefloor with the seminal track, 'Papua New Guinea' — and launched their career in the process. Producers: The Band, John Simon • Engineers: John Simon, Robbie Robertson, Tony May The origins of The Band as Bob Dylan's backing group are well known, but with songs like 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down' they forged their own unique American sound. Producers: Tom Dowd • Derek & The Dominos Inspired by a Persian classical poet and a certain Mrs Harrison, 'Layla' went on to become Eric Clapton's most enduring hit. Producer: Mike Chapman • Engineers: David Tickle, Pete Coleman In 1979, at the end of a 13-way bidding war, The Knack went into the studio to record their debut single — a debut single that would go gold in seven days and sell six million copies worldwide. This is the story of how it came to be... Producers: Bryan Adams • Bob Clearmountain The Reckless album was a huge success for Bryan Adams, giving rise to six hit singles - but the first one, 'Run To You', was almost never even recorded. Producers: Clive Langer, Alan Winstanley Producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley helped to make Madness one of the most successful British bands of the '80s. Find out how they worked their magic on this 1982 classic pop track... Since its inception in 1985, SOUND ON SOUND magazine has always included insightful interviews with the artists and technicians involved in the recording process of many top albums, across all manner of musical genres. We don't ask them the colour of their underwear or who they're dating — SOS concentrates on "tech talk". And we regularly feature interviews with our very own readers, in Studio SOS and Readerzone, to discover how the gear we test is being creatively used and abused in the real world. Below is aconstantly-changing list of articles from various sections to whet your appetite! To find more, please use the SEARCH page and select options from the dropdown menus.
| Friday 20th November 2009 |