Died On This Date (June 4, 2011) Martin Rushent / Prominent English Record Producer
themusicsover Martin Rushent
January 3, 1948 – June 4, 2011
Martin Rushent was a successful record producer who could count records by Shirley Bassey, the Buzzcocks, Pete Shelley, the Human League, XTC, Joy Division, Generation X, and the Stranglers among his best work. Picking up the production bug while still in high school, Rushent found work soon after graduation, working as a tape operator alongside Tony Visconti on records by T-Rex, Jerry Lee Lewis, Yes, and Petula Clark. Eventually advancing to the ranks of recording engineer, Rushent went to work for United Artists where he was instrumental in getting the Stranglers signed and subsequently recording their UA releases. By the early ’80s, Rushent grew tired of producing guitar bands, so he opened his own studio and began working with synth-driven groups, helping launch the synth-pop movement of the ’80s. By the late ’80s, he was all but retired from the music business to raise his family, but resurfaced to run his own dance club, Gush in the mid ’90s. He went back to producing during the mid 2000s, working with the likes of Hazel O’Connor, the Pipettes, and Does It Offend You, Yeah? which is fronted by his son, James Rushent. Martin Rushent was 63 when he passed away on June 4, 2011. Cause of death was not immediately released.
Thanks to Craig Rosen at number1albums for the assist.
A man of many hats, Tony Wilson is best remembered as co-owner of Factory Records, home the one-time home of Joy Division, New Order and OMD. He also owned The Hacienda, which became the epicenter of the Manchester music scene of the late ’80s and early ’90s. Before his foray into music, Wilson was a journalist and BBC television peronaility, most notably hosting So It Goes and After Dark. Suffering from advance stages of renal cancer, Wilson, age 57, died of a heart attack in a Manchester hospital.
Ian Curtis was the troubled singer and main songwriter for the Manchester rock band, Joy Division. Even as a young boy, Curtis showed signs of being a gifted writer, and by his late teens, he was turning his focus on becoming a rock performer. By 1978 he was fronting Joy Division. His lyrics were dark, sad and intensely hopeless. On stage, Curtis, who was epileptic, would mimic those fits while dancing. Unless of course he was having an actual seizure on stage. Fans sometimes didn’t know the difference. On May 18, 1980, two weeks after what would be Joy Division’s final show, Ian Curtis hanged himself in his kitchen. Some have speculated that the drugs he took for epilepsy and the exhaustive touring may have contributed to his desire to take his life. Others claim it was his disappointment over his failed marriage. Following the death of Curtis, the other members of Joy Division went on to form New Order.
Larry Cassidy was the front man of influential post punk band, Section 25. Formed with his brother in 1978, Section 25 quickly signed with legendary Manchester, England label, Factory Records. Along with such label mates as Joy Division and New Order, the group provided the blue print for future generations of techno and electronic acts. Section 25’s first single, “Girls Don’t Count” was produced by 