Martin Rushent


Martin Rushent was an English record producer, best known for his work with The Human League, The Stranglers and Buzzcocks.

Early life

Rushent was born on 11 July 1948 in Enfield, Middlesex. His father was a car salesman. Rushent attended Minchenden Grammar School in Southgate, Middlesex.

Career

Early career

Rushent's first experience in a recording studio was at EMI House in London's Manchester Square, when his school band had the opportunity to record a demo. After leaving school, Rushent, who had already experimented with his father's 4-track recorder, worked at a chemical factory before working for his father while applying for studio jobs. After numerous rejections, Rushent was employed by Advision Studios as a 35mm film projectionist. After approximately three months, Rushent began working in the audio department as a tape operator alongside Tony Visconti. He worked on sessions for Fleetwood Mac, T.Rex, Yes, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Petula Clark, Jerry Lee Lewis and Osibisa. Rushent stated that while at Advision, Jerry Lee Lewis threw a tantrum as Yes had been booked into the studio when he was not ready to leave, and chased the studio staff around the complex until they locked themselves in a different studio.
Rushent progressed to senior assistant engineer, staff engineer, and eventually head engineer. He then began working freelance, where he built his reputation and was employed by United Artists. While with UA, Rushent recorded sessions alongside Martin Davies, recording artists such as Shirley Bassey and Buzzcocks, as well as convincing the company to sign The Stranglers provided that he produced the band's material. Rushent produced the group's Rattus Norvegicus, No More Heroes and Black and White albums and recorded demos for Joy Division, before tiring of his commute to London and leaving UA at the end of the 1970s.

Synth-pop

Rushent expressed a desire to move away from guitar bands, and bought a Linn LM-1 drum machine, Roland MC-8 Microcomposer and Jupiter-8 synthesiser to learn sequencing and synthesis techniques. Rushent set up his own studio, Genetic, with Synclavier and Fairlight CMI synthesisers and an MCI console. He spent £35,000 on air conditioning alone, and had a Mitsubishi Electric digital recorder costing £75,000.
Rushent used his Roland equipment to record Pete Shelley's first solo album, Homosapien. Originally demos for the planned fourth Buzzcocks album, Shelley and Rushent deemed the recordings releasable, and Shelley was signed to Island Records. They were heard by Simon Draper of Virgin Records, who asked Rushent to produce The Human League. Rushent's work on the group's 1981 album Dare earned him a BRIT Award in 1982 for Best British producer.
Rushent's production on Dare frustrated the group's guitarist Jo Callis, as the only guitar on the album was used to trigger a gate on the synthesiser. Singer Susanne Sulley was also frustrated by the lengthy process of Rushent's synth programming. In 1983, Rushent walked out of his own studio after Sulley made an off-the-cuff comment toward him.
Rushent also produced albums by XTC, Generation X, Altered Images and The Go-Go's in the 1980s.
Rushent decided to take a break from production in the 1990s, and sold his assets – including Genetic Studios. He briefly took up a consultancy position with Virgin, but retired from the industry to raise his children.

Later career

Rushent returned to the music industry in the mid-1990s when he established Gush, a dance club on Greenham Common. The club's opening night was headlined by The Prodigy with support from Mad Professor and LTJ Bukem. Rushent soon began redeveloping his interest in recording, and
decided to catch up on the technological advances he had missed.
Rushent built a home studio around a Mackie console, Alesis ADAT HD24 recorder and Cubase 5, with which he produced music by The Pipettes, Does It Offend You, Yeah? and Killa Kela. In 2005, he produced Hazel O'Connor's album Hidden Heart. The following year, he was involved with the BBC Electric Proms when he recorded Enid Blitz, winners in the Brighton area, at a 15th-century manor house in Brentford, using a BBC truck as the control room.
In 2007, Rushent produced the recording Cherry Vanilla by The Cult of John Harley. The recording was used by the American singer and actress Cherry Vanilla in the launch of her autobiography Lick Me: How I Became Cherry Vanilla.
At the time of his death, Rushent was working on a 30th anniversary version of Dare, remixed like Love and Dancing but using musical instruments instead of synthesisers.

Personal life

In 1972, Rushent married Linda Trodd, with whom he had three children – daughter Joanne and sons Tim and James. They separated in the 1980s, and Rushent later married Ceri Davis, with whom he had a daughter named Amy. Rushent lived with Ceri and Amy in the Berkshire village of Upper Basildon. Rushent's son James is the lead singer of the dance-punk band Does It Offend You, Yeah?. Rushent died on 4 June 2011.

Discography

YearArtistRecordTypeRoleReference
1970Andrew Lloyd WebberJesus Christ SuperstarStudio albumEngineer
1971T-RexElectric WarriorStudio albumEngineer
1971Gentle GiantAcquiring the TasteStudio albumEngineer
1971CompostCompostStudio albumEngineer, producer
1971Stone the CrowsTeenage LicksStudio albumEngineer
1971Fleetwood MacFuture GamesStudio albumEngineer
1972GroundhogsHogwashStudio albumEngineer
1972Gentle GiantThree FriendsStudio albumEngineer
1972Gentle GiantOctopusStudio albumEngineer
1972Stone the CrowsOntinuous PerformanceStudio albumEngineer
1972Shirley BasseyI CapricornStudio albumEngineer
1973Curved AirAir CutStudio albumProducer
1973ChaosDown At The Club/You Could Be My GirlStudio singleComposer, producer
1973Johnny HarrisAll to Bring You MorningStudio albumEngineer, remixing
1973BadgerOne Live BadgerLive albumEngineer
1974Riff RaffOriginal ManStudio albumEngineer
1974The Sensational Alex Harvey BandThe Impossible DreamStudio albumEngineer
1974SnafuSituation NormalStudio albumEngineer
1974Premiata Forneria MarconiThe World Became the WorldStudio albumEngineer
1975Danny KirwanSecond ChapterStudio albumProducer
1975Banco del Mutuo SoccorsoBancoStudio albumEngineer
1975Shirley BasseyGood, Bad but BeautifulStudio albumEngineer
1975ZzebraPanicStudio albumEngineer
1976Roderick FalconerNew NationStudio albumEngineer
1976McKendree SpringToo Young to Feel This OldStudio albumEngineer
1977The StranglersRattus NorvegicusStudio albumProducer
1977Shirley BasseyYou Take My Heart AwayStudio albumEngineer
1977The StranglersNo More HeroesStudio albumProducer
1977TéléphoneTéléphoneStudio albumProducer
1978The StranglersBlack and WhiteStudio albumProducer
1978BuzzcocksAnother Music in a Different KitchenStudio albumProducer
1978Generation XGeneration XStudio albumProducer
1978BuzzcocksLove BitesStudio albumProducer
1978999SeparatesStudio albumProducer
1978Ian GommGomm with the WindStudio albumProducer
1978Dr FeelgoodPrivate PracticeStudio albumProducer
1978Ian GommSummer HolidayStudio albumProducer
1979The StranglersLive Live albumProducer
1979TéléphoneCrache Ton VeninStudio albumProducer
1979BuzzcocksA Different Kind of TensionStudio albumProducer
1979Jean-Jacques BurnelEuroman ComethStudio albumProducer
1980TéléphoneAu Cœur De La NuitStudio albumProducer
1980Rachel SweetProtect the InnocentStudio albumProducer
1981The Human LeagueDareStudio albumProducer
1981Pete ShelleyHomosapienStudio albumProducer
1981The RaybeatsGuitar BeatStudio albumProducer
1981Altered ImagesHappy BirthdayStudio albumEngineer, producer
1981Deke LeonardBefore Your Very EyesStudio albumEngineer, producer
1981The dB'sStands for DecibelsStudio albumMixing
1982The Human LeagueLove and DancingRemix albumProducer
1982Altered ImagesPinky BlueStudio albumProducer
1982The MembersUprhythm, DownbeatStudio albumProducer
1983The Human LeagueFascination!E.P.Producer
1983Pete ShelleyXL1Studio albumProducer
1983IntaferonGet Out Of LondonSingle/12"Producer
1984The Human LeagueHysteriaStudio albumProgramming
1984Hazel O'ConnorSmileStudio albumProducer
1984The Go-Go'sTalk ShowStudio albumEngineer, producer
1985AssociatesPerhapsStudio albumProducer
1988Do-Re-MiThe Happiest Place in TownStudio albumProducer
1988AssociatesHeart of GlassSingleProducer
1990The Human LeagueHeart Like a WheelSingleProducer
1993FlopWhenever You're ReadyStudio albumProducer
1993The Beautiful BabiesSerenadeStudio albumProducer
1997Ian GommCome OnSingleProducer
2005Hazel O'ConnorHidden HeartStudio albumProducer
2005Carl BaratUnder the InfluenceStudio albumProducer
2009Killa KelaAmplifiedStudio AlbumProducer
2010The PipettesEarth vs. The PipettesStudio albumProducer
2011Does It Offend You, Yeah?Don't Say We Didn't Warn YouStudio albumProducer
2011The PipettesBoo ShuffleSingleProducer