The Record Producers - BBC Radio Documentaries

Dusting off my MiniDisc player recently I remembered I'd recorded some BBC radio documentaries a few years back titled The Record Producers.  These were usually broadcast on Radio 2 on Bank Holidays and I managed to catch the first few live on first broadcast.

Hunting around for other episodes I found a nice collection of later episodes here: http://bigplansforeverybody.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/record-producers-ultramegasuperpost.html

However most of the early episodes I had weren't available so I set to work.  Considering these have gone through three different types of compression (DAB > Analog > MiniDisc > Analog > MP3) they turned out much better than expected:

I haven't listened to any of the later episodes yet but I can say these early ones are superb and stand up to repeat listening. UPDATE: Later episodes below!

I wish there were more in this style focusing on individual producers/mixers/engineers because later episodes are more general documentaries about artists. More info about the series can be found here: http://stevelevine.co.uk/therecordproducers.html

While I was at it I dusted off my tape deck and transferred a couple of earlier documentaries off cassette.  These needed a lot more work to remove clicks and crackles, plus some digital hiss reduction.  The Trevor Horn one is similar to the above but contains some choice quotes from Frankie Goes To Hollywood guitarist Brian Nash:


UPDATE (Feb 2015): After a few requests in the comments I've uploaded the other episodes I have.  Credit for these goes to the original uploaders

As far as I'm aware the last episode was in October 2012 (Roy Thomas Baker) so sadly the series appears to be defunct.  Episodes are sometimes repeated in the early hours of the morning on BBC 6 Music and I hope to capture more in future (using get_iplayer).

UPDATE 2 (Sept 2015): BBC 6 Music has been repeating episodes from an earlier 1982 series. I'm capturing these and hope to upload at some point.

Comments

  1. TestBlog7 June 2013 at 11:35

    Hi! I found your post via the "Big Plans For Everybody"-Blog. It's so great that you took the time to put those Record-Producers-Episode up! Thanks a ton!

    BTW, I get an error from mediafire when trying to download the Tony Visconti file. Would you mind checking it?

    Thanks again!

    Volker from Germany

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Konkordski8 June 2013 at 04:51

      Thanks, it was many hours of work but I wanted other people to hear and enjoy these.

      I was expecting issues with that file because MediaFire identified it as copyrighted (it was released on iTunes I think).

      I've renamed the file/tag and uploaded again, so you should have no problem this time.

      Delete
  2. TestBlog8 June 2013 at 10:19

    Hey Konkordski,

    the Producers Series is so awesome, isn't it? My favorites are Trevor Horn, Brian Wilson, Roy Wood, George Martin and Pink Floyd. I think I have listened to each of those 2 or 3 times.
    I only got to know about the series 2 or 3 years ago, so I never actually heard it on the radio - just mp3. Since then I'm constantly searching for new ones. I was delighted to find Hugh Padgham and Bob Clearmountain on your site.
    Actually, I know the Tony Visconti File from Itunes. It's even free, but it's a downsized version, which is only 15 minutes or so. More like an appetizer for the real thing.

    Thanks a lot for putting it up again! Sadly, it seems they locked it again, right away. I get a "permission denied" every time.
    Anyway, thanks again for taking the effort!

    Cheers,

    Volker

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Konkordski9 June 2013 at 04:10

      Hi, looks like their detection is very clever, possibly through this blog entry. Changed my tactics for this file, let me know if any problems. Cheers.

      Delete
  3. Matt McQueen9 June 2013 at 05:26

    Hi - do you have any other episodes of The Record Producers - particularly Chinn/Chapman. The ones at Big Plans For Everybody don't seem to exist any more :-(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Konkordski10 June 2013 at 00:28

      No sorry, I've only got a couple as I wasn't interested in most. Hopefully he will re-upload at some point.

      Delete
    2. Matt McQueen10 June 2013 at 12:00

      Cool - thanks anyway.

      Delete
  4. TestBlog9 June 2013 at 08:22

    Konkordski, you're the man !!! This time it worked perfectly! Now I'm looking forward to a weekend of listening to those.

    Thanks once more!

    Cheers,

    Volker

    ReplyDelete
  5. deano16 January 2014 at 08:03

    I have 10cc and Pink floyd if anyone is interested

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown9 February 2015 at 06:38

      I'd be really interested in the 10cc one! Managed to download it from the Big Plans blog years ago - but lost the file in a hard drive meltdown! I loved it.

      Also especially on the lookout for the Roy Wood, Todd Rundgren and Chinn/Chapman episodes if anyone can help?

      Thanks!

      Anna

      Delete
  6. yeroum7 December 2014 at 15:37

    Hi, do you know how could I listen to the Stock Aitken and Waterman episode, please?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Konkordski8 December 2014 at 07:57

      Hi, I think I have that one stored away along with some others. It looks like the guy with the "Big Plans For Everybody" blog has abandoned it and there's no sign of him re-uploading.

      If I have time over Christmas I'll upload and create a new blog post. I need to re-up the Tony Visconti documentary anyway as the copyright people are quick to track down content that has been released on iTunes.

      Delete
    2. yeroum11 December 2014 at 03:38

      Hi, this is truly fantastic!!

      I have been able to get some episodes and I would like to share them with you as well. How could I contact you by email? I am thinking of a better way to share not involving mediafire and I would like to tell you by email, if you like :-)

      Delete
  7. Konkordski11 February 2015 at 08:19

    Guys, seeing as some episodes posted elsewhere have gone missing and there's been a few requests I've uploaded all the others I have. See the update at the end of the original post.

    Sadly this is still a fraction of the 29 episodes I'm aware of. Please let me know if any of my links go down.

    ReplyDelete
  8. deano8 January 2017 at 06:44

    Just to re-awaken this thread, has anyone fond the rest of these anywhere online? Really after the Toni Visconti and Stephen Street ones, but ideally would like to collect the entire lot. I'd be more than happy to host these on my cloud storage if anyone can point me in the right direction? Cheers Dean

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Konkordski8 January 2017 at 08:43

      Hi, in 2015 and 2016 they broadcast a 1982 series also called "The Record Producers", it included a 2 part 2 hour Tony Visconti episode! I managed to capture them all from iPlayer but haven't gotten around to listening.

      There's quite an overlap with the more recent Richard Allinson/Steve Levine series which confuses things.

      I have the series in my iPlayer favourites (2 part Roy Wood episode is available now) but I fear many have never been repeated. Having been made by a 3rd party production company I expect it costs money to re-broadcast.

      If you can post a link to a cloud folder that I can upload to I'll be happy to give you the Visconti stuff!

      Delete
    2. deano27 July 2017 at 09:28

      Hi, sorry haven't been on here in a while! If you have those available I'd love a copy please. You can upload them to my Google Dropbox ;

      https://script.google.com/macros/s/AKfycbwAquo2y6cVRynYPNw5mFtWjGq-t7qGzeMuREHcA2TY69EGgNw/exec

      Thanks, Dean

      Delete
    3. Konkordski28 July 2017 at 05:01

      Hi, I've attempted to upload a couple of files but that page gave no feedback on whether it worked or not.

      Delete

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