Producers, Recording Engineers and Studio Wizards: POLL RESULTS

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

36. John Leckie (110 points, 6 votes)
http://www.sjpdodgy.co.uk/John%20Leckie%20Abbey%20Road.jpg
Credits: The Fall, XTC & Dukes of Stratosphear, the Stone Roses, the Verve, Radiohead, Syd Barrett, Paul McCartney, The Adverts, Simple Minds, others

One of Mael bros. said they knew whenever Rundgren was enjoying himself in the studio because that's when he went around with drumsticks in his nostrils.

last for the day

35. Prince (115 points, 5 votes)
http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Entertainment/images-7/prince-purple-rain.jpg
Credits: Solo, the Time, the Family, Sheila E, Vanity, Apolonia 6, others

50. Mutt Lange (82 points, 3 votes)
49. DJ Quik (83 points, 3 votes, 1 #1 vote)
48. Carl Craig (85 points, 3 votes, 1 #1 vote)
47. Prince Paul (86 points, 4 votes)
46. Glyn Johns (87 points, 3 votes, 1 #1 vote)
45. The Dust Brothers (88 points, 5 votes)
44. Swizz Beats (89 points, 5 votes)
43. David Briggs (91 points, 4 votes, 1 #1 vote)
42. TIE Xenomania (94 points, 4 votes) AND Gary Katz (94 points, 4 votes)
41. TIE Jimmy Miller (95 points, 4 votes, 1 #1 vote) AND Norman Whitfield (95 points, 5 votes)
40. Marley Marl (96 points, 5 votes)
39. Joe Boyd (98 points, 4 votes)
38. Todd Rundgren (101 points, 5 votes)
37. Geoff Emerick (109 points, 4 votes, 1 #1 vote)
36. John Leckie (110 points, 6 votes)
35. Prince (115 points, 5 votes)

prince too low imo

So far, only 5 i voted for (Glyn Johns, David Briggs, Joe Boyd, Todd Rundgren, and Geoff Emerick. I strongly considered Jimmy Miller and Prince, the latter obviously deserved a vote, but I knew they'd get plenty of love from others here.

Joe Boyd also produced REM's Fables of the Reconstruction and Pink Floyd's "Arnold Layne" which was recorded before they got a record contract - Syd Barrett wanted to keep him on to produce their upcoming albums and singles, and likely would have had they been signed to a label other than EMI which insisted on using their own staff producers, just as they had with the Beatles a few years earlier.

And speaking of Nick Drake's producer, I must give a nod to his arranger Robert Kirby, a college student who had no arranging experience whatsoever and had never stepped foot in a recording studio before providing the astonishing string, woodwind, and brass scores for Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter. He went on to arrange for Elton John and other big names, but is still remembered best for his work on the first two ND albums. I didn't vote for him since I don't think that arrangers were eligible - if so, I'd have to include Nelson Riddle, Don Costas, and a bunch of others from the 1950s onward.

Oops, 6 i voted for - the five I listed above plus Norman Whitfield

>> Jimmy Miller also did Traffic.

> yeah but nobody likes Traffic

... do they?

Didn't vote for Jimmy Miller but probably should have, in part because of Traffic's first three albums as well as Blind Faith and Spencer Davis Group. I bought my first keyboard in part because Steve Winwood endorsed it. I was really into his stuff when I was in high school & university

Really wish I'd voted for Prince.

i shoulda voted. leckie way too low

shit shit shit went out of my way to nominate Erik Jacobsen and even posted a sample clip and then forgot to vote for him. Doubt he'd have made the cut even with my vote though. Shame....

I voted for Marley Marl, CC, Swizz Beatz, Prince. Should have voted for Whitfield, but I forgot about him! I've never even heard of these guys:

46. Glyn Johns (87 points, 3 votes, 1 #1 vote)
43. David Briggs (91 points, 4 votes, 1 #1 vote)
41. TIE Jimmy Miller (95 points, 4 votes, 1 #1 vote)
39. Joe Boyd (98 points, 4 votes)
37. Geoff Emerick (109 points, 4 votes, 1 #1 vote)
36. John Leckie (110 points, 6 votes)

...I guess because they're all "rock" producers.

Unfortunately, all too many "rock" fans don't know these rock producers either....

Floyd did go back to Boyd for "See Emily Play", so I guess they would have kept with him had Syd (and Jenner etc) continued to be part of Floyd.

"See Emily Play", and the whole of their first LP, were produced by EMI staff producer Norman Smith.

Marley Marl was number 7 on my ballot

34. Chris Thomas (117 points, 7 votes)
http://s.dsimg.com/image/A-150-31213-1105374800.jpg
Credits: Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, Badfinger, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Pulp, The Pretenders, Sex Pistols, INXS

Slightly to my embarrassment, Razorlight's 'In The Morning' was where I first noticed Chris Thomas's craft. Aw hell, I'd like it anyway, but there's a beautiful clarity to it that really shines among the other indie stuff of my acquaintance.

Thomas was one of a handful of entries I was previously unaware of. He also did Cale's Paris 1919 (which I mistakenly omitted above), big points for that one imho

First of mine to place, his work on NMTB alone is enough to justify his placing.

The first time I noticed his name was on INXS's Kick, but then he surfaced on a lot of older albums as my tastes deepened. He didn't make my 20, but the man does good work.

33. Pete Rock (118 points, 5 votes)
http://i.fanpix.net/images/orig/n/w/nwj9ts41mpj44j1.jpg
Credits: Solo and w/CL Smooth, every rapper and rap group ever

First of my votes to place, a little surprised he's not higher.

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.