Produce Like A Pro YT: "Masters of Production: The Smiths and Blur Producer Stephen Street" (March 8, 2021)

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"Best known for his work with The Smiths, The Cranberries, and Blur, today we are talking with English music producer, Stephen Street!

Street began his musical career in the late 1970s playing in various bands in London. He then started at Island Records as an in-house assistant and then as an in-house engineer.

The Smiths and Morrissey

One of Street’s first jobs as in-house engineer was for a session for The Smiths’s “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”. He then worked on their album Meat Is Murder, with Morrissey and Marr producing for the first time.

Street continued to work with The Smiths, working as an engineer on their album The Queen Is Dead before assuming a producer role for Strangeways, Here We Come, their final album.

After The Smiths broke up, Street worked with Morrissey as a producer and co-songwriter on his album Viva Hate. This album reached No. 1, spawning two top 10 hits in the UK. Street went on to co-write and produce two further singles for Morrissey which appeared on Bona Drag.

Blur

After hearing “She’s So High”, Blur’s first single, Street contacted their manager. Soon after he produced their second single “There’s No Other Way”, although he did not produce the album as a whole. Street produced Blur’s next four albums: Modern Life Is Rubbish, Parklife, The Great Escape and Blur.

Street produced Blur’s 2015 album The Magic Whip, their first since the band’s reformation with Coxon.

The Cranberries

In 1992, Street started working with Irish band The Cranberries on their debut album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?. The album turned out to be a huge success in the U.S. In 1994, Street worked with the band again on their second album No Need to Argue.

Street worked with the band on their fifth album Wake Up and Smell the Coffee and the two extra tracks that were recorded for their 2002 best of album Stars: “Stars” and “New New York”.

Street also produced their sixth studio album Roses, released in 2012. He also produced their final album In the End, released in 2019.

In February 2020, it was announced Street will receive the Outstanding Achievement Award at the upcoming Music Producer’s Guild Awards."







The interview in full:



Regards,
FWD.
 
wonder if he ever gets sick of saying the same things over and over.dont mind him,just feel you can only say the same thing a few times and thats it.
wonder what street stephen street stayed in and was he a fan of the streets or coronation street.
 
wonder if he ever gets sick of saying the same things over and over.dont mind him,just feel you can only say the same thing a few times and thats it.
wonder what street stephen street stayed in and was he a fan of the streets or coronation street.

Probably here

StephenStreet.jpg
 
thanks FWD :thumb:

Great interview, probably because the interviewer is a musician/producer and knows his subject, unlike music journalists that just observe and think they know.

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"Best known for his work with The Smiths, The Cranberries, and Blur, today we are talking with English music producer, Stephen Street!

Street began his musical career in the late 1970s playing in various bands in London. He then started at Island Records as an in-house assistant and then as an in-house engineer.

The Smiths and Morrissey

One of Street’s first jobs as in-house engineer was for a session for The Smiths’s “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”. He then worked on their album Meat Is Murder, with Morrissey and Marr producing for the first time.

Street continued to work with The Smiths, working as an engineer on their album The Queen Is Dead before assuming a producer role for Strangeways, Here We Come, their final album.

After The Smiths broke up, Street worked with Morrissey as a producer and co-songwriter on his album Viva Hate. This album reached No. 1, spawning two top 10 hits in the UK. Street went on to co-write and produce two further singles for Morrissey which appeared on Bona Drag.

Blur

After hearing “She’s So High”, Blur’s first single, Street contacted their manager. Soon after he produced their second single “There’s No Other Way”, although he did not produce the album as a whole. Street produced Blur’s next four albums: Modern Life Is Rubbish, Parklife, The Great Escape and Blur.

Street produced Blur’s 2015 album The Magic Whip, their first since the band’s reformation with Coxon.

The Cranberries

In 1992, Street started working with Irish band The Cranberries on their debut album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?. The album turned out to be a huge success in the U.S. In 1994, Street worked with the band again on their second album No Need to Argue.

Street worked with the band on their fifth album Wake Up and Smell the Coffee and the two extra tracks that were recorded for their 2002 best of album Stars: “Stars” and “New New York”.

Street also produced their sixth studio album Roses, released in 2012. He also produced their final album In the End, released in 2019.

In February 2020, it was announced Street will receive the Outstanding Achievement Award at the upcoming Music Producer’s Guild Awards."







The interview in full:



Regards,
FWD.
 
So we have Stephen-I-worked-with-Morrissey-decades-ago, Alain-I-worked-with-Morrissey-decades-ago and Johnny-I-worked-with-Morrissey-decades-ago.

They should get together and talk about it once a week in some sort of group therapy!
 
So we have Stephen-I-worked-with-Morrissey-decades-ago, Alain-I-worked-with-Morrissey-decades-ago and Johnny-I-worked-with-Morrissey-decades-ago.

They should get together and talk about it once a week in some sort of group therapy!

You're right! They probably need therapy from working with him!
 
So we have Stephen-I-worked-with-Morrissey-decades-ago, Alain-I-worked-with-Morrissey-decades-ago and Johnny-I-worked-with-Morrissey-decades-ago.

They should get together and talk about it once a week in some sort of group therapy!
Do you dislike all of Morrissey’s past collaborators?
 
Do you dislike all of Morrissey’s past collaborators?

I am simply surprised by what they became.
Try to imagine it yourself for a second... Imagine that I am a journalist who wants to talk about your life and I constantly ask you about what you did in the late 80's and early 90's.... because we both know that nothing much happened since then. It's hell.

I.e, the typical interview to Johnny sounds like:

Q: You played in The Smiths.
A: Yes
Q: And then you played with other bands.
A; Yes, of course.
Q: Though we both know that nobody cares about it, right?
A: Well... yes, but we can talk about The Smiths
Q: Yes, maybe I should ask again why you decided to leave The Smiths...
A: Exactly, I only answered to that question 5847474 times... let's make it 5847475!
Q: What do you think about Morrissey? I thought about that question because asking about you is pointless.
A:Well... but maybe we can expand the questions about The Smiths.
Q: Yes, play a song by The Smiths as to please the listeners.
A: OK... here's a song by The Smiths! Should I play something I composed after I left The Smiths?
Q; Errr... you can do it after the interview finishes... once you are alone somewhere.
A: I may do it once I am alone at home.
Q: Yeah.. congratulations for having played in The Smiths.
A: Thank you.

It's really like that. They became a parody of themselves.
 
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I am simply surprised by what they became.
Try to imagine it yourself for a second... Imagine that I am a journalist who wants to talk about your life and I constantly ask you about what you did in the late 80's and early 90's.... because we both know that nothing much happened since then. It's hell.

I.e, the typical interview to Johnny sounds like:

Q: You played in The Smiths.
A: Yes
Q: And then you played with other bands.
A; Yes, of course.
Q: Though we both know that nobody cares about it, right?
A: Well... yes, but we can talk about The Smiths
Q: Yes, maybe I should ask again why you decided to leave The Smiths...
A: Exactly, I only answered to that question 5847474 times... let's make it 5847475!
Q: What do you think about Morrissey? I thought about that question because asking about you is pointless.
A:Well... but maybe we can expand the questions about The Smiths.
Q: Yes, play a song by The Smiths as to please the listeners.
A: OK... here's a song by The Smiths! Should I play something I composed after I left The Smiths?
Q; Errr... you can do it after the interview finishes... once you are alone somewhere.
A: I may do it once I am alone at home.
Q: Yeah.. congratulations for having played in The Smiths.
A: Thank you.

It's really like that. They became a parody of themselves.
Johnny and Stephen have done plenty since their time with Moz. But none of their other collaborators have been as controversial, (in)famous or recognizable as Morrissey. Alain’s had plenty of work, but he’s obviously not been as successful as Johnny and Stephen.
That journalists are too f***ing lazy to ask more about their other endeavors are hardly no one’s fault except the journalists. And the average Joe would of course be more interested to read about that dangerous, controversial Morrissey rather than Hans Zimmer/ Hollywood film scores or Blur.
 
Johnny and Stephen have done plenty since their time with Moz. But none of their other collaborators have been as controversial, (in)famous or recognizable as Morrissey. Alain’s had plenty of work, but he’s obviously not been as successful as Johnny and Stephen.
That journalists are too f***ing lazy to ask more about their other endeavors are hardly no one’s fault except the journalists. And the average Joe would of course be more interested to read about that dangerous, controversial Morrissey rather than Hans Zimmer/ Hollywood film scores or Blur.

I agree Gregor, some of his other collaborations have been far more commercially successful than his work with Morrissey.
 
I agree Gregor, some of his other collaborations have been far more commercially successful than his work with Morrissey.
Yes, surely Blur (and perhaps even Cranberries) sold more records in the 90’s than Moz did in the late 80’s.
 
Yes, surely Blur (and perhaps even Cranberries) sold more records in the 90’s than Moz did in the late 80’s.

Cranberries definitely, their first album went 5x Platinum in the US and 2x Platinum in the UK and their 2nd album went 7x Platinum in the US and 3xPlatinum in the UK. He also produced the Kaiser Chiefs 1st album which again outsold anything Morrissey has ever released by millions. I'm not saying any of these artists are better than Morrissey from an artistry perspective, it's more about Stephen Street being the producer of some very big selling artists.
 
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Cranberries definitely, their first album went 5x Platinum in the US and 2x Platinum in the UK and their 2nd album went 7x Platinum in the US and 3xPlatinum in the UK. He also produced the Kaiser Chiefs 1st album which again outsold anything Morrissey has ever released by millions. I'm not saying any if these artists are ant better than Morrissey from artistry perspective, it's more about Stephen Street being the producer of some very big selling artists.
Yes, these are mere facts.
 
Wonder what a Johnny and street album would sound like
I’m guessing quite wonderful. Probably like the type of guitar pop album I want Moz to make.
 
I’m guessing quite wonderful. Probably like the type of guitar pop album I want Moz to make.

I know he worked with both In the smiths so I guess I just wondered what a Johnny album produced by street would sound like and wondered if that’s ever been pursued. I get that street offered morrissey something he didn’t have readily available in terms of new music but with Johnny now making his own records it seemed like an interesting thought. I honestly envisioned something like the church but who knows.
 

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