Steve Levine is 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 ...

, best known for his work on

Culture Club Culture Club are an English new wave music, new wave band formed in London in 1981. The band comprises Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (musician), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), and Mikey Craig (bass guitar), and formerly included Jon Moss ( ...

's studio albums. He won a Brit Award for Producer of the Year in 1984. He has also composed film and TV scores.

History

Levine's career began as a trainee tape-op at CBS studios in 1975, soon progressed to in house engineer, working with many new wave and punk acts including

the Clash The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...

, the Jags,

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

and many of CBS Records' pop acts, including

Sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

. It was at CBS that Levine met Beach Boy

Bruce Johnston Bruce Johnston (born Benjamin Baldwin; June 27, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter and musician who is a member of the Beach Boys. He also collaborated on many records with Terry Melcher (his bandmate in Bruce & Terry, the Rip Chords, and ...

, who would play an important role in the consolidation of his production career, culminating with Levine producing the 1985 album ''The Beach Boys''. From the early 1980s, with the worldwide success of Culture Club, Levine's reputation grew and, apart from the Beach Boys, he produced work for the Honeyz,

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

, China Crisis,

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Kilmister was the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band a ...

Ziggy Marley David Nesta "Ziggy" Marley (born 17 October 1968) is a Jamaican reggae musician. He is the son of Bob Marley and Rita Marley. He led the family band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers until 2002, with whom he released eight studio albums. After ...

Westworld ''Westworld'' is an American science fiction dystopia media franchise that began with the Westworld (film), 1973 film ''Westworld'', written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild West, Wild-West-th ...

and

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career, he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, Heavy metal music, heavy ...

. In 2013, Levine was chairman of the Music Producer's Guild. Levine created and co-presents the

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

and

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...

programme ''The Record Producers'', with regular BBC Radio 2 host Richard Allinson. This series of documentaries analyse, from the record producer's perspective, how iconic recordings are created. Levine has collected several prestigious awards including a Brit Award for Producer of the Year in 1984. Levine is also a LIPA companion and holds an Honorary Doctorate at Bucks University. He is the author of ''The Hit Kit'' and ''The Art of Downloading Music''. Levine is the owner of label Hubris Records Limited and has produced artists for the label including Daytona Lights, Natalie McCool and Hushtones.

Personal life

Levine and his wife, radio producer and talent manager Karen, have two daughters. They live in Liverpool. His daughter also works in the music industry and resides in London.

Production discography

Charlotte Cooper. Lucky Guy (backing vocals by Jeffrey Foskett)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Levine, Steve English record producers English male composers Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)