Meet the Producers

Steve Sutherland | Apr 16, 2019

Veteran of the late '70s British pub rock scene, this UK-born guitarist began to hone his studio skills when appointed in-house producer for the fledgling Stiff Records label. Steve Sutherland traces the career of the self-effacing pop crafstman they call 'Basher'

What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done? Snog the wrong person at the office Christmas party? Leave the house with your flies undone? Send an email meant for your partner to your boss by mistake?

Meet the Producers

Norman Smith

Steve Sutherland | Jul 31, 2019

Not only was this British-born producer an RAF pilot in WWII but he would go on to become The Beatles' first sound engineer before discovering and producing Pink Floyd. So why did John Lennon christen him 'Normal'? Steve Sutherland has the answer...

The group, it's fair to say, were getting a right rollicking. Their hair was too long, their clothes too shabby, their manners a mite lairy, and as for their equipment... it was a shambles, falling apart.

Meet the Producers

Pharrell Williams

Steve Sutherland | Dec 27, 2019

In 2003, this US-born producer had a hand in almost a fifth of the songs played on British radio. Then he really got started, applying his prodigious talent to pop in a way that would change it forever. Steve Sutherland on the phenomenal Pharrell Williams

It's June 2019 and Pharrell Williams is standing in front of 114 students about to graduate from the Harlem Children's Zone Promise Academies I and II. It's an inner-city school for underprivileged kids, and he's guaranteeing each and every one of them an internship at one of his many enterprises to give them work experience and get their careers up and running.

Meet the Producers

Phil Ramone

Steve Sutherland | Sep 03, 2020

From Monroe to McCartney, and the soundtracks to more than a few iconic movies, this US-born producer was never afraid to use the latest cutting-edge studio technology while also never forgetting his people skills. Steve Sutherland on the 'Pope Of Pop'...

Afew months ago I claimed in these very pages that Jeff Lynne of ELO assembling his new best buddies Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr to tart up the deceased John Lennon's 'Free As A Bird' home demo and release it as a Beatles single was the worst musical idea ever. Well today, dear reader, I humbly recant that claim for what follows is surely far more dreadful.

Meet the Producers

Robin Guthrie

Steve Sutherland | Aug 27, 2019

His shimmering guitar soundscapes not only brought the Cocteau Twins fame back in the '80s but would earn him numerous production credits with other bands seeking his trademark touch. Steve Sutherland on the Scottish-born producer Robin Guthrie

One of the '80s most over-the-top critical statements…' That's what the Guardian said.

'That was very naughty of you Steve, very, very naughty…' was what the singer said before she bit me on the arm in the pouring rain outside the Embassy Club in London and drew blood through my jacket, a small rosary of teeth marks tattooed there for a week or two, testament to her displeasure.

Meet the Producers

Shel Talmy

Steve Sutherland | Sep 26, 2019

Whether capturing The Kinks' proto-fuzz guitar on tape or the howl of The Who's feedback on record, this US-born producer's catalogue of firsts were to make him one of the most influential forces in '60s rock. Steve Sutherland celebrates Shel Talmy

Our tale begins in Cuba, or probably on a boat on its way from Havana to Miami. Let's imagine it's a choppy crossing and the rhythm we're here to follow has had a nip or two of rum, its footing unsteady on deck, rocking to and fro in a kind of exuberant stumbling macho strut.

Meet the Producers

Sylvia Robinson

Steve Sutherland | Nov 27, 2019

From early fame in the '50s as part of an R&B duo, this New York-born producer was to change pop music culture forever by creating the world's first ever rap smash hit. Steve Sutherland on the life and work of the woman they call the 'Mother of hip-hop'

A-a-a-a-a-nd… Action! There's this young guy minding his own business outside the McDonald's on the corner of Palisade Avenue in Englewood, New Jersey, when an Oldsmobile 98 pulls up to the kerb. A teenaged boy jumps out, races over to the guy and shouts: 'Casper! Where you been? You were due in the studio on Monday!'.

Meet the Producers

T Bone Burnett

Steve Sutherland | May 11, 2020

After running his own studio while a teenager in Texas and playing guitar in Bob Dylan's backing band, this US-born producer went on to become the go-to guy for stars seeking to re-discover the very roots of rock 'n' roll. Steve Sutherland celebrates T Bone Burnett

Is nostalgia stopping our culture's ability to surge forward, or are we nostalgic precisely because our culture has stopped moving forward so we inevitably look back to more momentous and dynamic times?'

Meet the Producers

Terry Melcher

Steve Sutherland | May 28, 2019

From LA scene-maker to success in shaping the early California surf and folk rock sounds, this US-born producer's legacy became overshadowed by the shocking incident that would bring '60s counterculture to its end. Steve Sutherland has the story...

Pop quiz! What was the title of The Golden Penetrators' debut LP? Was it a) 'Posting A Cheque Through A Dead Person's Mail Box?', b) 'All Hail The Thunder!' or c) 'Try Me On For Size?'.

Ha! Gotcha! It was none of the above because The Golden Penetrators weren't a band – though with a name like that they should have been.

Meet the Producers

The Bomb Squad

Steve Sutherland | Jan 05, 2021

In the last of our series celebrating the work of those masters behind the mixing desk, Steve Sutherland tells the story of not one producer but a hip-hop production team whose looping and layering of samples revolutionised the way records were made

On this particular point, Chuck D is unequivocal. 'Our sole intention was to destroy music'. The record he's talking about, released in June 1988, is hip-hop giants Public Enemy's second LP, It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back.

Meet the Producers

Tom Dowd

Steve Sutherland | Jan 20, 2020

From The Allman Brothers to Aretha Franklin, this US-born producer helped create much of the greatest music being made as the '50s segued into the '60s. And he happens to be a dab hand with a soldering iron too. Steve Sutherland celebrates Tom Dowd

'I had no finished songs, no real concept or idea of where I was going, nothing but an abstract burning passion for live, spontaneous music. On top of everything else, I refused to make the record under my own name, and was developing a powerful drink and drug problem – not a great position for any record producer to be placed in, but [he] pulled it off.

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Meet the Producers

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