Stephen Short (died 2015) was a British

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

who also operated Ping Pong Music, an artist management company. Songs he worked on went on to become chart-topping singles that had won

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

, and

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...

1976–1991: Early years

Stephen Short started his career in the music industry in 1976 at

Trident Studios Trident Studios was a British recording facility, located at 17 St Anne's Court in London's Soho district between 1968 and 1981. It was constructed in 1967 by Norman Sheffield, drummer of the 1960s group the Hunters, and his brother Barry ...

in London, UK. Working with musicians such as Kirk Allen and his band Elixir,

Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer-songwriter and poet. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex (band), T. Rex. Bolan strongly i ...

Echo & the Bunnymen Echo & the Bunnymen are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch (singer), Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bassist Les Pattinson. By 1980, Pete de Freita ...

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

and

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces both lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the bene ...

, Short went from being a teaboy to becoming senior engineer within two years. One of his earliest production credits is the 1978

Donna Summer Donna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Queen of Disco", while her music ...

song " Last Dance", which he had mixed and had contributed his own back-up vocals. The song went on to win an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

and a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...

for Best Original Song. In 1980, at the age of 24, Short created an investment group with three other investors and purchased

. Employing a staff of thirty people, Short and his team became some of the most sought-after producers and engineers in the music industry.

1992–2000: Shift to US production

In early 1992, Short was invited to the United States to discuss the possibility of opening a US branch of

. Following several meetings, Short decided to rather focus on production and to move on from the studio ownership business. After spending a brief amount of time in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, Short traveled across the United States answering requests to become involved in many different musical projects. During this phase of his career, Short worked with popular musicians such as

Remy Zero Remy Zero was an American alternative rock band from Birmingham, Alabama, formed in 1989. It was composed of August Cinjun Tate (vocals, guitar), Shelby Tate (guitar, vocals, keyboards), Cedric LeMoyne (bass), Jeffrey Cain (guitar, vocals), and ...

as well as

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

. Short was awarded a Grammy for his work with the Christian band dc Talk and another Grammy for his work with

Chaka Kahn Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...

. Over the years, Stephen continued producing for major labels such as

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

, and many others. In 1997, the band

Ben Folds Five Ben Folds Five was an American alternative rock trio formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The group comprised Ben Folds (lead vocals, piano), Robert Sledge (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Darren Jessee (drums, backing vocals). Th ...

released the song "Steven's Last Night in Town", which is based on Stephen Short's friendship with

Ben Folds Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. After playing in several small independent bands throughout the late 80s and into the early 90s, Folds came to prominence as the f ...

2001–2015: Artist management

Identifying a need to develop and nurture young artists, Short formed a production & management company. In 2001, Short signed a band he discovered and managed called Limousine to

Jimmy Iovine James Iovine ( ; born March 11, 1953) is an American entrepreneur, former Music executive, record executive, and media proprietor. He is the co-founder of Interscope Records and became chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscop ...

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

. Eighteen months later, Short discovered a group called Augustana, and signed them a two million dollar deal with

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

and

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

publishing. In the mid to late 2000s, Short had developed more emerging artists including

This World Fair This World Fair was an American rock act based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The line-up included the singer-songwriter Chris Kalgren (vocals, piano, guitar), along with a touring band consisting of Alexander Young (drums) and Matt Lennander ( ...

and

Camera Can't Lie Camera Can't Lie was an American rock music, rock band based in Minneapolis, United States. They were discovered and were managed by the Grammy, Grammy Award-winning record producer, Stephen Short (record producer), Stephen Short. The band is mo ...

Death

In the summer of 2015, Short announced he had been battling colon cancer for two years.
He died on 9 July 2015.

References

External links

Ping Pong Music

Ping Pong's official MySpace profile

Rethink Records

This World Fair's official site

Augustana's official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Short, Stephen Year of birth missing 2015 deaths Deaths from colorectal cancer in the United Kingdom British record producers Talent managers