Mike Hedges

Mike Hedges (* 1953 in Nottingham , England) is a British sound engineer and music producer . He became known for productions for the early gothic / wave bands The Cure , the Associates , Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Creatures . His productions for these bands shaped the sound of Gothic Rock. He left a clear mark on the British music scene with his productions for Marc Almond , Everything but the Girl and The Beautiful South in the 1980s and for the Welsh Manic Street Preachers and the Scottish Texas and Travis in the 1990s.

Life

Born in England and raised in Zambia , Africa , Hedges returned to the UK to make music at the age of 16. In the mid-1970s he moved to Morgan Studios in London as a temporary worker, where he rose from teaboy to tape operator within three months. His first jobs as an assistant engineer include the album Central Heating by the band Heatwave and The Mafia Stole my Guitar by Alex Harvey and the first singles by The Cure (including Killing an Arab , Jumping Someone Else's Train ).

Subsequently, their bands The Cure and The Associates produced for the label Fiction Records . For The Cure he was still in charge of the debut album Three Imaginary Boys as a sound engineer and the two albums Seventeen Seconds and Faith as producer . For The Associates, he was responsible for the Affectionate Punch , Fourth Drawer Down and Sulk albums .

In 1981 he gave up his work at Morgan Studios, went into business for himself and opened his own Playground Studio. His clients included Siouxsie and the Banshees and the side project The Creatures , Southern Death Cult and Pete Wylie. For Siouxsie and the Banshees he produced Kiss in the Dreamhouse , Nocturne , Hyaena , Through the Looking Glass and Peepshow as well as Feast and Boomerang by The Creatures. Other bands that recorded in the Playground were The Undertones around Feargal Sharkey , Everything but the Girl and The Beautiful South .

In 1985 Hedges began a long-term collaboration with Marc Almond , who had become known with Soft Cell . Hedges produced the albums Vermin in Ermine , Stories of Johnny , Mother Fist and Her Five Daughters for Some Bizzarre with Almond . During this time he produced the albums Welcome to the Beautiful South and Choke for The Beautiful South .

In 1992 he wanted to retire from the music business and settled in France, only to set up the Chateau de la Rouge Motte studio in Normandy a few months later . In this studio, under Hedges direction, several albums by Manic Street Preachers and the bands Travis , Lush and Texas were created in the second half of the 1990s . During this time Hedges was nominated four times in the category Producer of the Year for the Grammy, but lost three times to Babyface and once each to Rob Cabvallo and Walter Afanasieff.

He worked with Irish sound engineer Ger McDonnell on many of the albums he produced .

Discography (selection)

• 1979: Three Imaginary Boys , The Cure (Fiction)
• 1980: Affectionate Punch , The Associates (Fiction)
• 1980: Seventeen Seconds , The Cure (Fiction)
• 1981: Faith , The Cure (Fiction)
• 1981: Fourth Drawer Down , The Associates (Situation Two)
• 1982: Sulk , The Associates (Beggars Banquet)
• 1982: Kiss in the Dreamhouse , Siouxsie and the Banshees (Polydor)
• 1983: Nocturne , Siouxsie and the Banshees (Polydor)
• 1983: Feast , The Creatures (Wonderland)
• 1983: Sin of Pride , The Undertones (Sire)
• 1984: Vermin in Ermine , Marc Almond (Some Bizzarre)
• 1984: Hyaena , Siouxsie and the Banshees (Polydor)
• 1984: A Word to the Wise Guy , Wah! (Beggars Banquet)
• 1984: Arrive Without Traveling , Three O'Clock (IRS)
• 1985: Stories of Johnny , Marc Almond (Some Bizzarre)
• 1986: Baby the Stars Shine , Everything but the Girl (Sire)
• 1987: Through the Looking Glass , Siouxsie and the Banshees (Polydor)
• 1987: Drop , The Shamen (Communion)
• 1987: Mother Fist and Her Five Daughters , Marc Almond (Some Bizzarre)
• 1988: Peepshow , Siouxsie and the Banshees (Polydor)
• 1989: Boomerang , The Creatures (Polydor)
• 1989: Welcome to the Beautiful South , The Beautiful South (Go)
• 1990: Choke , The Beautiful South (Go)
• 1990: I Want Too Much , A House (Reprise)
• 1994: Burger Habit , Sensation (550 Music)
• 1994: Split , Lush (4AD)
• 1995: Mute , The Catchers (Discovery)
• 1995: Fantastic Star , Marc Almond (Some Bizzarre)
• 1996: No More Apologies , A House (Setanta)
• 1996: Everything Must Go , Manic Street Preachers (Sony)
• 1997: White on Blonde , Texas (Mercury)
• 1997: Further , Geneva (Work)
• 1998: This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours , Manic Street Preachers (Virgin)
• 1999: The Man Who , Travis (Independiente)
• 2000: All That You Can't Leave Behind , U2 (Iceland)
• 2001: Know Your Enemy , Manic Street Preachers (Epic)
• 2002: A1 , A1 (Columbia)
• 2003: Life For Rent , Dido (Arista)
• 2003: Another Day , Lene Marlin (Virgin)
• 2005: Robert Post , Robert Post (Mercury)
• 2007: Selfish Jean , Travis (Independiente)
• 2008: The Priests , The Priests (Epic)
• 2009: Harmony , The Priests (Epic)

literature

Some bibliographical information, but especially a selection of the works up to 2000, can be found in English at:

• Dave Thompson: Alternative Rock . Miller Freeman, San Francisco 2000, ISBN 0-87930-607-6 . , P. 777

Web links

• Mike Hedges at Allmusic (English)
• Mike Hedges at musikzimmer.ch
• Interview from November 1999 at soundonsound.com
• Interview from December 2004 at soundonsound.com