With Daft Punk's Nile Rodgers and Pharrell collaboration,
Get Lucky, on course to top music charts all over the world, I've been further exploring Rodger's musical back-catalogue. To my shock, the Chic performer and producer's musical output has become somewhat less prominent in recent years, despite producing some of the industry's most iconic tracks and working with some of its biggest names. This has got me thinking about several big name producers, who have sadly faded from prominence and are long overdue for a comeback. This is not really a critique on the current state of the music industry, as of course young producers keep things fresh and exciting - this is simply more of an exercise in nostalgia, looking at some of the iconic sounds and production styles that it would be wonderful to have back. These producer's unparalleled style would work wonders with several of the current music industry's biggest names, as will be discussed. So without further delay, here the are iconic producers, that deserve a respectable comeback...
6. Pete Waterman
Love him or loathe him, Pete Waterman is the man who defined pop music in the late 1980s and 1990s - firstly with co-producers Matt Aitken and Mike Stock as part of the Stock-Aitken-Waterman production team, then later on his own with Pete Waterman Limited. Waterma launched the pop careers of such juggernauts as Kylie Minogue, Rick Astley, Jason Donovan, Dead Or Alive, and Steps - bringing his ironic brand of Hi-NRG dance-pop to mainstream audiences. Even established names queued to work with the producer, including acts such as Donna Summer, Cliff Richard, La Toya Jackson and Debbie Harry - resulting in countless hits at home and abroad. Unfortunately, Waterman's recent output has fared slightly worse - from producing a
Sheila's Wheels novelty single to the UK's disastrous Eurovision single,
That Sounds Good To Me (it didn't). It's tragic to see one of the former biggest names in British production facing such an undignified fate. However, that is not to say that the traditional PWL/SAW sound does not have a place in 2013's music industry - as seen through the success of Waterman's regular collaborator Pete Hammond collaborator's nostalgic sounding remixes of contemporary tracks. His remixes of Kylie's Put Your Hands Up and Parralox's
Sharper Than a Knife, prove that the SAW sound is still relevant. Waterman fans will be delighted to hear that the producer has been back in the studio with Dead Or Alive frontman, Pete Burns. Let's hope this gives the two Pete's a respectable comeback.