Producers, Recording Engineers and Studio Wizards: POLL RESULTS

Nice, my Quik #1 vote got him on the list.

yeah definitely put him over the top. you were not alone tho - I was glad that we got enough ballots to ensure that no one got on the list just because of a single voter.

Yeah 38 ballots aint bad, I was worried for a while there.

46. Glyn Johns (87 points, 3 votes, 1 #1 vote)
http://www.analogtapesupply.com/img/upload/stones1967_13.jpg
Credits: Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Band, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Eagles, Eric Clapton, The Clash, The Steve Miller Band, Small Faces/Faces/Rod Stewart, Blue Öyster Cult, Midnight Oil, New Model Army, Fairport Convention, Humble Pie

^^^that's Glyn on the right, impossible dude to find good pictures of tbh

I voted Glyn #1. Glad to see he made it onto the poll.

such a babyface!

Glyn far right, white hat, with dead "Eagles" (back cover of Desperado best pic of it I could find)

http://scenicnewengland.net/guitar/band/captured.jpg

45. The Dust Brothers (88 points, 5 votes)
http://s11.allstarpics.net/images/orig/n/d/ndv3obxax8s3ax83.jpg
Credits: Tone Loc, Young MC, Beastie Boys, Beck, uh Hanson, others

Johns was one of my last cuts to get down to 20, based mostly on Who's Next.

imho Johns' specialty was capturing that magic peculiar to drunken englishmen

44. Swizz Beats (89 points, 5 votes)
http://1hiphopucit.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/swizz_beats_young_starz.jpg
Credits: the LOX, DMX, Jay-Z, N.O.R.E., Busta Rhymes, Flipmode Squad, Jadakiss, Memphis Bleek, solo, others

no love for Swizzy eh

43. David Briggs (91 points, 4 votes, 1 #1 vote)
http://1in8motorsports.org/wp-content/gallery/friends/David%20Briggs%20-%20Composer%20-%20Singer%20-%20Producer.jpg
Credits: Neil Young, Royal Trux

Also: Spirit.

lol i have 3 votes come up already :DDDDDD The guy who did Ruff Ryders Anthem! The guy who did Heartz of Men! The guy who did Buddy*!

Ironically didn't produce most of Stetsasonic's best work though - who woulda thunk it?

xp Nick Cave too, according to Wikipedia.

oooh right forgot that one. The only Nick Cave album I own and enjoy listening to - sounds amazing

Ironically didn't produce most of Stetsasonic's best work though - who woulda thunk it?

Stetsasonic is really an odd beast - so many dudes! Certainly the biggest, most diverse crew up until Wu-Tang, and unlike Wu-Tang they had a bunch of members producing beats. Paul seems kind of underused/underrepresented in their catalog but he was really young/just coming up.

xp The Royal Trux album, "Thank You" which he produced sounds fuckin' A, great production work on that record.

I have kind of a love-hate relationship with it - there's some great tune on Thank You but often I find the "lead bass"-style of playing used throughout to be kind of distracting

42. TIE
Xenomania (94 points, 4 votes)
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sa9SPINujks/SOSDlmt7QkI/AAAAAAAAASc/R7SfnSZscmk/s400/higgins.jpg
Credits: Girls Aloud, Cher, Kylie Minogue, Dannii Minogue, Pet Shop Boys, Sugababes, others

AND
Gary Katz (94 points, 4 votes)
http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/50510_48230230484_7309048_n.jpg
Credits: STEELY DAN, Diana Ross, 10cc, Joe Cocker, Thomas Jefferson Kaye

I had never heard of Xenomania before this poll fwiw

love how varied this list is already! voted for Quik and Katz

41. TIE
Jimmy Miller (95 points, 4 votes, 1 #1 vote)
http://www.studiowner.com/images/jimmymiller569w_465.jpg
Credits: the Rolling Stones, Primal Scream, the Plasmatics, Motorhead

AND
Norman Whitfield (95 points, 5 votes)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a4/Normanwhitfield.jpg
Credits: Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, Rose Royce, Gladys Knight & The Pips

glad my #1 c2 vote got him on the list at least.

^^two I missed. Jimmy Miller also did Traffic.

Xpost

yeah but nobody likes Traffic

... do they?

Alex in nyc loves Low Spark, but Miller didn't do that one.

was glad to see Whitfield get a nod, I love that psych-Motown stuff

imho Johns' specialty was capturing that magic peculiar to drunken englishmen

He captured the magic of the drunkest Englishman, Keith Moon. No one but Johns had the slightest clue how to mic/record Moon's kit.

tbf England seemed rife with rich, drunk purveyors of the blooze in the 70s. "Drunk Englishmen" is one of my iTunes playlists.

i like traffic

40. Marley Marl (96 points, 5 votes)
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/pic200/drp000/p019/p01923wq87l.jpg
Credits: House Producer for the Juice Crew (Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Roxanne Shanté, Kool G Rap & DJ Polo, MC Shan, and Masta Ace), Eric B & Rakim, LL Cool J, King Tee, Lords of the Underground, others

awesome!

Marley Marl is legendary. Some strong showings so far. I had Katz at #3, those Dan records are the epitome of perfect production/sound imo.

shit i think i forgot marley

me and Spottie voted for him, I forget who else

39. Joe Boyd (98 points, 4 votes)
http://images.publicradio.org/content/2007/04/13/20070413_joe_boyd_2.jpg
Credits: Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, Incredible String Band

^^^no decent pictures of this guy anywhere afaict

I missed seeing the Boyd/Hitchcock show the other week due a scheduling screwup. Still kicking myself.

his White Bicycles book is very entertaining

38. Todd Rundgren (101 points, 5 votes)
http://www.sweetslyrics.com/images/img_gal/14100_Todd+Rundgren.jpg
Credits: Solo, Sparks, New York Dolls, Badfinger, Grand Funk Railroad, Hall & Oates, Meatloaf, Patti Smith, XTC, the Tubes, Cheap Trick, 12 Rods, Psychedelic Furs, others

think I'll get up to 35 and then call it a day

Rundgren was on my semi-short list.

37. Geoff Emerick (109 points, 4 votes, 1 #1 vote)
http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/252/9736789.jpg
Credits: The Beatles, Paul McCartney & Wings, Elvis Costello, Badfinger, Ultravox, others

no good pictures of this guy either

Rundgren seems like a huge asshole from the few firsthand accounts I've heard

i love that like every single entry on this list is someone it'd be worth listening to a whole box set of stuff they've done

http://www.yoursdaily.com/var/yoursdaily/storage/images/media/images/culture_media/music/beatles/george_martin_geoff_emerick/64716-1-eng-GB/george_martin_geoff_emerick.jpg

Georgie 'n' Jeffy

Neptunes *and* The Neptunes?

man I went through this list multiple times (pretty much after every ballot came in) to check for duplicates/vote splitting and I STILL fucked this up arggh

I guess the Neptunes would have placed a bit higher then... Lindsey Buckingham still wouldn't have made the cut tho

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/sites/tampabay.com.blogs.the-buzz-florida-politics/files/images/typepad-legacy-files/88533.recount.jpg

female producers i would have considered voting for: anjali dutt, jessica corcoran

Damn, knew I shoulda checked ILM's status on Wednesday rather than risk missing the live results rollout! Oh well, here's my pedestrian ballot:

1.George Martin
2.Rudy Van Gelder
3.Jimmy Page
4.Norman Whitfield
5.Jimmy Miller
6.Giorgio Moroder
7.George Clinton
8.Todd Rundgren
9.Tom Dowd
10.Nesuhi Ertegun
11.The Bomb Squad
12.Brian Eno
13.Holland/Dozier/Holland
14.Jack Endino
15.Tom Wilson
16.Frank Zappa
17.Steve Albini
18.Rick Rubin
19.Martin Rushent
20.Eddie Kramer

I probably wouldn't have voted at all had Shakey Mo not lamented the mere trickle of ballots as deadline approached. My main criteria for inclusion was simply that I loved these guys' sound; that's the rationale behind maybe 15 of these choices; George Martin, Eno, Ertegun and the two Toms have extramusical reasons for inclusion. And a final thanks to Shakey Mo for his time & effort (more than he could've expected obv)

Has anybody lobbied for Mike Chapman?

I didn't vote but would probably have thrown Chapman a vote for Parallel Lines and Eat to the Beat alone

(and I don't really listen to much glam rock and appreciate that Chinnichap became a byword for canned and formulaic but that is a pretty amazingly SHINY sound right there)

anyway I am glad to see Plank do well and have a few new names to check out as a result of this poll and people's ballots

so yeah, thanks Shakey!

maurizio and Basic Channel the same thing, yes?

still wouldn't make it into the top 50 though

So, hold on, absolutely nobody voted for Holger Czukay?

and I don't really listen to much glam rock and appreciate that Chinnichap became a byword for canned and formulaic but that is a pretty amazingly SHINY sound right there

Mike Leander!!!!!!!

alan moulder-0. my 19 year old me weeps. dave fridmann gets 51 points. not that i voted but that guy is the worst.

Fucking hate Fridmann's sound these days.

yeah fridmann would've gotten a lot of 'anti' votes if that had been part of the poll

I actually considered Mike Leander!

Also....

Neptunes *and* The Neptunes?

― V79, Friday, October 21, 2011 2:32 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

man I went through this list multiple times (pretty much after every ballot came in) to check for duplicates/vote splitting and I STILL fucked this up arggh

I guess the Neptunes would have placed a bit higher then... Lindsey Buckingham still wouldn't have made the cut tho

― unorthodox economic revenge (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, October 21, 2011 2:48 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark

Wait a min, whuzziss?

Lindsey Buckingham 59
lyndsey buckingham 11

RECOUNT!

(aah he still wouldn't have placed, but now I feel guilty because his presence on my ballot would have catapulted him into the top 50)

jeez, gary usher didn't even get a mention

I strongly considered him. Byrds, Dick Dale, some Beach Boys-related

> yeah fridmann would've gotten a lot of 'anti' votes if that had been part of the poll

― some dude, Sunday, October 23, 2011 6:17 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

My off-the-dome 'anti' top 3:

3. Jeff Lynne
2. Joe Thomas
1. Walter Afanasieff, who repeatedly employs every cliched production frill imagineable in failed attempts to build emotion as a song progresses (thundering snare hits! weepy bowed orchestral strings! raising the key and slowing down just before the last verse!) for the likes of Celion Dion, Michael Bolton, and Mariah Carey.

3. Jeff Lynne

waaaaaht dude those ELO records sound amazing

True, but I hate the ELO sheen he put on other peoples records -- Edmunds, Harrison, Wilburys.

yeah not gonna argue about that

I like how lush Lynne's production can be, but can we lose that synthetic sheen that drapes everything, all the buzzy synths, etc.? It's like the finished product was processed through a volume compressor before being pressed to disc. Agreed that aesthetic worked for ELO (although even there it was needlessly gimmicky - did "I Can't Get It Out Of My Head" really need the vocals processed through a wah-wah pedal?), but it's all wrong for his '80s-and-beyond production for others.

Yeah, Lynne's the only guy whose "overproduction" I've ever complained about

Pretty good Glyn Johns interview on Michael Shelley's show on WFMU this past Saturday: http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/58051

Killer Lynne productions playlist here:

http://open.spotify.com/user/kfxmannen/playlist/7hRT2CIT29A3HcwmMkDkNO

Thanks for the link to the Glyn interview, WilliamC! I've been meaning to pick up his autobio.