Colin Thurston (13 July 1947 – 15 January 2007) was an English recording engineer and record producer. Born in Brentford,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

, Thurston played in bands in London before he "bluffed his way" into audio engineering.Pierre Perrone (24 January 2007)
Colin Thurston obituary, ''The Independent'' Online
After meeting

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

, he co-engineered

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

's '' "Heroes"'' and Iggy Pop's '' Lust for Life'' (both 1977); he is also credited with co-producing the latter album with Bowie and Pop, under the collective pseudonym "Bewlay Bros". Thurston's debut as a solo producer was Magazine's second album '' Secondhand Daylight'' (1979). He later recalled, "I think they were a bit nervous and so I didn't tell them it was my first production". The same year, he produced

the Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album ''Dare' ...

's first album, '' Reproduction'' and their single "

I Don't Depend on You "I Don't Depend on You" is a disco-influenced song by the British synth-pop group the Human League released under the pseudonym ''The Men''. It was released as a single in the UK in July 1979, but failed to chart. It was written by Philip Oakey, ...

" released under the name of The Men. His lesser-known productions around this time included the single "Move in Rhythm" by Airkraft (1980) on the Square record label, now a collector's piece, and the EP ''Digital Cowboy'' with the hit-single "Target for Life" by Our Daughter's Wedding, from 1981. He achieved widespread recognition with Duran Duran's debut album (1981) and the follow-up '' Rio'' (1982); bassist John Taylor later described Thurston as "a major catalyst for the Eighties sound". After working with Duran Duran he produced

Talk Talk Talk Talk were an English band formed in 1981, led by Mark Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano), Lee Harris (drums), and Paul Webb (bass). The group achieved early chart success with the synth-pop singles " Talk Talk" (1982), " It's My Life", and " ...

's '' The Party's Over'' (1982), and

Kajagoogoo Kajagoogoo were a British new wave band, best known for their 1983 hit single "Too Shy", which reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart, and the Top 10 in numerous other countries. History Beginnings (1978–1982) Formed in Leighton Buzzar ...

's '' White Feathers'' (1983), the latter with Duran Duran's

Nick Rhodes Nick Rhodes (born Nicholas James Bates, 8 June 1962) is an English keyboardist and producer, best known as a founding member, keyboardist, and only continuous member of the band Duran Duran. He is also informally monikered as "The Controller ...

. He also worked with Gary Numan on his 1985 album '' The Fury''. Thurston became an in-house producer for the Canadian independent record label Brouhaha in the late 1980s, working with acts such as Westwon, before the company dissolved. In 1999, he was again associated with Duran Duran for the '' Strange Behaviour'' remix compilation. Thurston had been suffering from a long illness and doing occasional production work before he died on 15 January 2007.

References

1947 births 2007 deaths English audio engineers English record producers English new wave musicians People from Brentford Duran Duran 20th-century British businesspeople {{UK-record-producer-stub