Great Producer/Crap Act (Or Vice Versa)

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A spin-off, of sorts, from Hanle y's ENO U2 thread. Where an indisputably great producer (Brian Eno) tweaks the knobs for a group many herein think are total crap (U2).

Then there's the reverse image of that. Two obvious ones: Nick Lowe (good musician, awful producer) and Elvis Costello; Shel Talmy (an excrescence in every possible way) and the Kinks and the Who. There are also no small # of Beefheart fans hereabouts, whose Trout Mask Replica was produced by a certain deceased American musician certain ILMers about who have stridently expressed their extreme dislike (with my always humble demurrers therefrom).

I'll let others duke out the details regarding Neptune, Timbaland, and P. Doody.

― Tadeusz Suchodolski, Sunday, 9 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I don't really see the problem but there is an amazing amount of loathing for Todd Rundgren and how he supposedly massacred the NY Dolls.

― dave q, Sunday, 9 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The hidden talents of many formerly undistinguished country singers were certainly brought to light by the golden touch of Bill Sherrill, the man was a true alchemist.

― dave q, Sunday, 9 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Lee Perry (great producer): Congo's (crap band).

The equation for Trout Mask Replica is: crap producer + crap band = crap album. Kinda obvious really. :)

― Omar, Sunday, 9 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The coupling of Ocasek with Guided By Voices was wrong-oh. I like both... just not together on one record.

― nathalie, Sunday, 9 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

CRAP PRODUCER/GREAT BAND: Ric Ocassek/Bad Brains or Ric Ocassek/ Suicide

GREAT PRODUCER/CRAP BAND: Barkmarket's Dave Sardy/Marilyn Manson, Steve Albini/Bush

ODDEST PAIRINGS: Phil Spector/The Ramones, Dave Stewart/the Ramones ("Howling at the Moon Sha-La-La"), Todd Rundgren/XTC (SKYLARKING), Andy Partridge of XTC/The Mission UK ("Hands Across the Ocean")

― alex in nyc, Sunday, 9 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Alex, how is The Ramones and Phil Spector an odd pairing? I always thought it was a match made in heaven, but unfortunately, the album proved to be strangely disappointing. Both are absolute pioneers of the two minute bubblegum classic. They were born to work together. Yet the album proved strangely uninspiring. Too... slick. If Spector had used the same production values he was using in 1963, it would have been genius. The only match I could have thought would be better would be Phil Spector and the Jesus and Mary Chain, but alas that never happened.

― exile on krumkill rd, Sunday, 9 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I, like yourself, was referring more to the end-results rather to the intial idea, not least because Spector had purportedly gone well `round the bend by the time he and the Ramones entered the studio together (I'm sure you've heard the tales of psycho threats and gunplay). But yes....the Ramones' oft-cited love for classic pop and Spector's classic wall-of-sound made him a dream producer for the band. Sorry to create the misrepresentation.

― alex in nyc, Monday, 10 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

You must give Rundgren credit for Skylarking. It's undeniably the band's best record of the period, and it really seems like Rundgren is the reason why.

― Nitsuh, Monday, 10 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

surely the obvious answer is dj premier and group home. all the lucky bastards in the gangstarr 'foundation', really, except jeru.

― ethan, Monday, 10 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Nitsuh, I heartily agree -- SKYLARKING is fantastic, but the pairing of Rundgren with XTC was a allegedly a fracturous coupling. If the purported disharmony was as bad as Partridge has described it to be, it's somewhat of a miracle that the end result was so palatable.

― alex in nyc, Monday, 10 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Someone mentioned Elvis Costello. An argument for him as a producer is Rum, Sodomy & the Lash. However, I read in Shane MacGowan's new book that they would play all sorts of tricks to get Elvis (who they nicknamed Brian the Snail) out of the control room so they could switch all the levels and record as they liked.

― hans, Monday, 10 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Daniel Lanois (say what you will but I think Time Out of Mind and the majority of his stuff with U2 is incredible) makes terrible records on his own. Just awful. In the present Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan really lays into him and it's hilarious.

― hans, Monday, 10 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I'm tempted to start a thread about him, but anyone heard the Lanois- produced "Teatro" by Willie Nelson? It's terrific, but I realize Willie's somewhat of an acquired taste.

― Sean, Monday, 10 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Elvis Costello/Specials first (CRAP/good band, of course)

Daniel Melero/Canal magadelena (viceversa)

― MZ, Monday, 10 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Both Todd Rundgren and Frank Zappa did stints as producers for Grand Funk Railroad. File under: raw meat for Omar and Mark S. :-)

Dunno which way Rundgren's work with the Psychedelic Furs cuts, 'cept that Talk Talk was the beginning of the end for them.

― Tadeusz Suchodolski, Tuesday, 11 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

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