Classic Tracks: Donna Summer ‘I Feel Love’ : October 2009
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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... | Classic Tracks: Donna Summer ‘I Feel Love’Article Preview :: Producers: Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte • Engineer: Juergen KoppersPublished in SOS October 2009 Technique : Classic Tracks The pioneering electronica of ‘I Feel Love’ didn’t just revolutionise disco, it changed dance music forever. This is the story of how it was made...
“This is it, look no further. This single is going to change the sound of club music for the next 15 years.” So said Brian Eno in 1977, and he wasn’t at all far off the mark. Indeed, Eno was quick to recognise the ingenuity and potential of ‘I Feel Love’, with its clinical, pulsating bass line, hypnotically sensual lead vocal, and entirely synthesized rhythm that dispensed with the lush orchestral backing which, until then, had been an integral part of the disco sound. Performed by Donna Summer, who co-wrote the song with producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, the slick, sequencer-driven recording followed closely in the footsteps of Kraftwerk’s Trans-Europe Express as a pioneer of electronic music, while also paving the way for both house and techno. Background Check “It didn’t feel at all revolutionary at the time,” admits Pete Bellotte, whose production and songwriting credits also include Elton John, Janet Jackson and Cliff Richard. “We just thought it was a decent track.” Having played guitar in a number of school bands, Bellotte joined an outfit named Linda Laine & The Sinners at age 18 in 1965, and acquired his first studio experience recording at the EMI facility on Abbey Road under the auspices of producer Norrie Paramor. This subsequently came into play at the end of the decade when, after having toured the UK and Germany with his fellow Sinners, Bellotte decided that “the guy behind the glass had the best job... If a particular act didn’t work, he would have something else, whereas in a band, if you didn’t work out, then that was it.” Fluent in German, Bellotte initially visited both Hamburg and Munich to try to find some gigs as a producer, and it was in the latter city that he landed a job as assistant to one Giorgio Moroder. “The first day I met Giorgio, he gave me his briefcase to carry, whereupon I told him I would perform all the other duties, but there was no way I could do that,” Bellotte recalls. “Fortunately, Giorgio accepted this, and I worked as his assistant for a year, year-and-a-half, before Ariola Records offered me a job as a house producer.” It was while at Ariola that, in 1972, Bellotte co-wrote ‘Son Of My Father’ with Moroder. However, although also recorded by Moroder, the song became a chart-topper in Britain as covered by Chicory Tip. “I never really liked that song,” remarks Bellotte, who wrote the lyrics. “It was so lightweight.” Nevertheless, Giorgio Moroder’s recording of the song was also his first to feature a synthesizer; the instrument whose sound he would later become irrevocably associated with. ...
Published in SOS October 2009 
| Saturday 21st November 2009 Producers: Robert Smith, Mike Hedges Mike Hedges made his 1980 debut as a producer with one of The Cure's most enduring singles. 'A Forest' and the accompanying Seventeen Seconds album used his and the band's creativity in the studio to the full. Producers: Robin Millar, Sade Adu, Mike Pela, Ben Rogan Sade's ice-cool vocals and sophisticated, jazz-tinged instrumentation defined a new kind of soul music for the '80s. Engineer and producer Mike Pela describes the organic recording process that produced one of the singer's most memorable hits from 1985. Artist: David Bowie; Producers: David Bowie, Tony Visconti; Studio: Hansa Ton, Berlin With 'Heroes', David Bowie pulled off the rare feat of having a major hit with a highly experimental piece of art-rock, which featured among other highlights live synth treatments from Brian Eno, pitched feedback from guitarist Robert Fripp, and a lead vocal with level-triggered ambience. Artist: The Sex Pistols; Producer: Chris Thomas; Engineer: Bill Price When punk rock broke in 1976, the Sex Pistols caused panic in establishment Britain — and more than a few raised eyebrows in Wessex Studios, where Chris Thomas and Bill Price recorded the band's milestone EMI debut album. Producers: Michael Jackson, Bill Bottrell; Engineer: Bill Bottrell The 18-month gestation period behind Michael Jackson's Dangerous album and its lead single 'Black Or White' saw '80s studio perfectionism taken to extremes — and despite their success, the experience helped to convince co-writer, engineer and co-producer Bill Bottrell that there had to be another way to make records! Producers: Duran Duran, Alex Sadkin, Ian Little; Engineers: Phil Thornalley, Pete Schwier When Duran Duran began work on their third album in 1983, they were already one of the biggest bands in the world — and with eight months of studio time and half a million pounds spent, huge expectations surrounded Seven And The Ragged Tiger... Artist: Kate Bush; Producer: Andrew Powell; Engineer: Jon Kelly Kate Bush's 1978 smash hit debut single was also the first major project Jon Kelly had recorded. It proved to be a dream start for both artist and engineer, and a perfect illustration of the benefits of working with talented session musicians. Artist: Tina Turner; Producer: Terry Britten; Engineer: John Hudson In 1984, a dose of British soul resurrected Tina Turner's flagging career in spectacular style. For engineer John Hudson, the recording of 'What's Love Got To Do With It?' also provided a memorable example of the 'less is more' principle in action... Artist: The Rolling Stones; Engineer: Chris Kimsey In 1981, 'Start Me Up' became one of the Rolling Stones' biggest hit singles. Yet it was actually a reject from a previous session, and only saw the light of day because its infamous co-writers had fallen out... Producers: The Police, Hugh Padgham • Engineer: Hugh Padgham. Label: A&M. Released: 1983. StudiosL AIR Montserrat, Morin Heights (Canada). The Police's final studio album was both a technical and artistic tour de force, and yielded one of their most memorable hit singles. Yet the three members were unable to play in the same room without a fight breaking out, so the recording sessions proved tough going for engineer and co-producer Hugh Padgham... Artists: Natalie Cole & Nat 'King' Cole; Producer: David Foster; Engineer: Al Schmitt Half a century in the business has seen recording engineer Al Schmitt reach the very top of his profession, but even a man of his experience can find himself faced with new challenges. So it was in 1991, when he was called upon to turn a classic Nat 'King' Cole recording into a duet with Cole's daughter Natalie... December 2009
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