© 2011 Matt Girling, CC-BY-SA
British record producer Martin Rushent died on June 4 at his home in Berkshire, England. His first experience in a recording studio was at London’s EMI House where his school band (he was the lead singer) recorded a demo. After graduation, while working for his father, he applied for studio jobs and was employed by Advision Studios as a 35mm film projectionist. Soon after, he transferred to the audio department as a tape operator, where he worked on sessions for Fleetwood Mac, T-Rex, Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer and many more. He moved up the ladder to senior assistant engineer, staff engineer and eventually head engineer. At that point, he went freelance and soon after was employed by United Artists, where he recorded Shirley Bassey, The Buzzcocks and The Stranglers.
His biggest success came with the Human League’s Dare (1981), with its hit single “Don’t You Want Me.” He also worked with The Go-Go’s, Joy Division, Generation X and many others. Rushent built a home studio around a Mackie console, where he would produce The Pipettes, Does It Offend You, Yeah? and others. At the time of his death, Rushent was working on a 30th-anniversary version of Dare, remixed using musical instruments instead of synthesizers.
