Dick Cuthell is a British musician and record producer. He plays

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though som ...

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a so ...

, and

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

, amongst a range of other

brass instrument A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. Brass instruments are also called labrosones or labrophones, from Latin a ...

s, including tenor horn and valve trombone. Cuthell is best known for his work with

The Specials The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, Lynv ...

Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Rock Discography'', Canongate, , p. 351, 978–9 and Rico Rodriguez. He also collaborated with bands such as

Madness Madness or The Madness may refer to: Emotion and mental health * Anger, an intense emotional response to a perceived provocation, hurt or threat * Insanity, a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns * ...

Eurythmics Eurythmics were a British Pop music, pop duo consisting of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart (musician and producer), Dave Stewart. They were both previously in The Tourists, a band which broke up in 1980. The duo released their first studio alb ...

,Sutherland, Bryony & Ellis, Lucy (2002) ''Annie Lennox: The Biography'', Omnibus Press, , p. 143

Fun Boy Three Fun Boy Three were an English new wave pop Fun Boy Three Allmusic bio/ref> band, active from 1981 to 1983 and formed by singers Terry Hall, Neville Staple and Lynval Golding after they left the Specials. They released two albums and had sev ...

,Buckley, Peter (2003) ''The Rough Guide to Rock'', Rough Guides, , p. 401

XTC XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (guitars, vocals) and Colin Moulding (bass, vocals), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing i ...

, and

The Pogues The Pogues were an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in Kings Cross, London in 1982, as "Pogue Mahone" – the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic ''póg mo thóin'', meaning "kiss my arse" ...

. In addition to a range of horns, Cuthell also plays bass, keyboards and percussion and is a composer and arranger.

Biography

Dick Cuthell was born in Liverpool in 1949.

Island records

After playing in several bands including the Washington Soul Band and Trifle in the 1960s, Cuthell worked for

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anothe ...

in the 1970s as an engineer and later in-house producer. His work at

Island Studios An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

in both

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

and London brought him into contact with reggae and ska musicians, and these became a constant theme in the music he played and produced, working with

Delroy Washington Delroy Washington (5 November 1952 – 27 March 2020) was a Jamaican-British reggae singer best known for his releases for Virgin Records in the late 1970s. Biography Born in Westmoreland, Jamaica, Washington moved with his family to London in ...

amongst many others. He acted as assistant engineer on

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements ...

's ''

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * E ...

'' album,Goldman, Vivien (2007)
Keep on Moving
, ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'', 28 May 2007, retrieved 27 January 2010 on which he also played horns,McCann, Ian & Hawke, Harry (2004) ''Complete Guide to the Music of Bob Marley'', Omnibus Press, , p. 78 and also met Rico Rodriguez, with whom he would later work in The Specials. He was also one of several engineers that worked on the dub album of

Burning Spear Winston Rodney OD (born 1 March 1945), better known by the stage name Burning Spear, is a Jamaican roots reggae singer-songwriter, vocalist and musician. Burning Spear is a Rastafarian and one of the most influential and long-standing roots ...

's ''

Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African ...

'' album, '' Garvey's Ghost''.

The Specials

Cuthell became, along with Rico Rodriguez, the horn section for The Specials, playing

on their debut album, and staying with the band into their later incarnation as the Special A.K.A., playing on the hit single "

Free Nelson Mandela "Nelson Mandela" (known in some versions as "Free Nelson Mandela") is a song written by British musician Jerry Dammers, and performed by band The Special A.K.A. – with lead vocal by Stan Campbell – released on the single "Nelson Mandela"/" ...

", and the album '' In the Studio''.Walters, Barry (2005)
The Specials ''The Specials''
, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'', 6 October 2005, retrieved 27 January 2010Schurmacher, Thomas (1984)
Record Roundup
, ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of t ...

'', 19 July 1984, retrieved 27 January 2010 He co-wrote two of the band's songs, "Bright Lights" and "Racist Friend", released together as a single in 1983, reaching No. 60 in the UK. When the Specials split up, Cuthell went on to record with the spin-off group

.Green, Jim & Robbins, Ira
Fun Boy Three
, ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'', retrieved 27 January 2010

Later production and session work

Throughout the 1980s, Cuthell continued both production and session work. He contributed trumpet, flugelhorn and cornet to the

' 1983 No. 1 album ''

Touch In physiology, the somatosensory system is the network of neural structures in the brain and body that produce the perception of touch ( haptic perception), as well as temperature ( thermoception), body position (proprioception), and pain. It ...

'', and also toured as part of the band.Speelman, Paul (1984)
Guitars – and no pretences
, ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'', 2 February 1984, retrieved 27 January 2010 He played horns on

' 1985 album ''

Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash ''Rum Sodomy & the Lash'' is the second studio album by the London-based folk punk band The Pogues, released on 5 August 1985. The album reached number 13 on the UK charts. The track "A Pair of Brown Eyes", based on an older Irish tune, reache ...

''.Merrick, Joe (2001) ''London Irish Punk Life & Music...Shane MacGowan'', Omnibus Press, , p. 70 His productions include the Boothill Foot Tappers 1985 album ''Ain't That Far from Boothill''.Robbins, Ira
Boothill Foot-Tappers
, ''

'', retrieved 27 January 2010 He also recorded with Madness, and Linton Kwesi Johnson.Linton Kwesi Johnson discography
, LKJ Records

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuthell Dick Living people British rock trumpeters Male trumpeters British ska musicians The Specials members Year of birth missing (living people) Musicians from Liverpool