R.I.P. Martin Rushent

One of the essential producers of Post-Punk & New Wave. Not as revered as Martin Hannett, who everyone confused him with, but probably sold a ton more records.

[www.pitchfork.com]

Only 63? That's a shame. May he rest in peace.

Oddly enough, I was just listening to both Altered Images and The Pipettes last night...I mentioned to my wife how interesting it was to me that the same guy who produced those Buzzcocks and Stranglers albums went on to work on shimmery, lightweight confections like "I Could Be Happy."

Seems like he was a pretty nice guy to boot. The fact he took time off from his career to help raise his kids speaks volumes.

The Human League's Dare holds up very well, too, IMO. And an overlooked item in his catalog is the Go-Go's album Talk Show. That one falls short on songs, but the production is pretty tight.