Artists Who Produced Their Idols: Get A Leg Up, Part 2!

Stinky writes: Many of the producers featured on this volume of GET A LEG UP produced so many albums that it’s sometimes difficult to glean which band was produced for the paycheck, and which ones were more of a labour of love (to quote Nick Lowe).

Mott The Hoople’s All The Young Dudes was written especially for and produced by David Bowie, who was a fan of the group. Bowie also produced his girlfriend Dana Gillespie singing another song Bowie penned, Andy Warhol. 

Iggy Pop was having a hard time morphing from a member of The Stooges to a solo artist when he & David Bowie became close. Bowie toured as Iggy’s keyboardist and produced The Igg-ster’s album TV Eye 1977 Live, which included I Wanna Be Your Dog.

While not her idols, Joan Jett was one of the old guard that was embraced by the punks. She cut some sides with Paul Cook & Steve Jones, and was fond of Darby Crash & The Germs. She produced their first album, from which Lexicon Devil was selected.

Run-DMC were unaware of Aerosmith when muso Rick Rubin suggested that instead of sampling the group —like many did at the time— they should ask Steven Tyler & Joe Perry to join them for Walk This Way, simultaneously giving rap music a leg up.

As the offspring of Suzi Quatro and her guitarist Len Tuckey, it’s safe to say that young Richard Tuckey idolized his famous mother—so he’s a perfect fit for our theme. He twiddled the knobs for Suzi Quatro & KT Tunstall’s Scar.

David Bowie wasn’t the only one who idolized Mott The Hoople. The Clash’s Mick Jones produced Ian Hunter’s I Need Your Love, which should have been a major hit.

Reigning Sound frontman Greg Cartwright produced Stop & Think It Over for one of his heroes, Mary Weiss of the Shangri-La's.

John Mellencamp masterminded Mitch Ryder’s comeback album Never Kick A Sleeping Dog, and When You Were Mine is a stand-out Prince composition that was given the Mitch Ryder treatment under the direction of “The Little Bastard” with Kenny Aronoff on drums!

One might wonder how Mike McGear managed to get Paul McCartney & Wings to back him on Leave It, much less to get Paul to produce it? Well, that’s because they’re brothers. Michael McCartney took the stage name McGear from a common expression of admiration. To be GEAR, something had to be outstanding—which is the case with this fun track.

Dave Edmunds produced many amazing acts, but the two included here are major influences on his music. He produced And The Night Stood Still for Dion, and Amanda Ruth for The Everly Brothers. A former A&R guy who frequents this blog shared with us that Dave deserved “combat pay” for trying to corral Don & Phil for not ONE but TWO albums! Amanda Ruth should have been a hit in this version AND the original version by Rank & File.

This live version of Sweet Little Sixteen by Chuck Berry was part of a live concert film supervised/produced by Berry super-fan Keith Richards, who selected the band, and even got Chuck to reunite with his original piano player Johnnie Johnson. (Chuck originally joined JOHNNIE’S group.) Another live concert (by another guy every musician seems to admire) yielded Roy Orbison’s spirited version of Mean Woman Blues. In this case, the concert and attendant album were produced by T-Bone Burnett, who has knobs in his hands more often than a hooker running a two-for-one special.

Tom Petty produced Sea Of Love for one of his heroes, Del Shannon. When original Heartbreakers bassist Ron Blair left his band, Petty swiped his replacement from Del’s. Jonder found some little-known info about Del Shannon: he paid for Bob Seger’s first demos & took them around to record labels. Which raises the question; “Why didn’t BOB SEGER produce Del’s comeback album, instead of Tom Petty?” Del Shannon was briefly considered to replace the recently deceased Roy Orbison in The Traveling Wilburys. Prior to forming that group, Petty & his Heartbreakers toured as Bob Dylan’s opening act/backing group. Band Of The Hand is Bob Dylan with The Heartbreakers, produced by Tom.

Lieber & Stoller were songwriters/producers who were among the first to become free agents, and they went on to own their own label Spark Records. They were eager to sign and produce The Coasters, who had recorded two of the duo’s

compositions in their previous incarnation as The Robins. They hit paydirt on their second attempt with the group, Riot In Cell Block #9.

Elton John always loved Kiki Dee’s voice. He signed her to his label Rocket Records, and produced the comeback album that Standing Room Only is taken from. 

As with Roy Orbison, every musician seems to love Dusty Springfield. So it’s no surprise that Pet Shop Boys gave Dusty “a leg up” with a song they wrote especially for her, What Have I Done To Deserve This.

Two of the toughest rock chicks in history teamed up for Wanda Jackson’s Treat Me Like A Lady. Wanda was encouraged by Elvis Presley himself to forgo her country career and to record rockabilly.  She not only did that, but also managed to top Elvis’ version of Let’s Have A Party. But I digress... here Wanda is produced by Joan Jett, who also sings & plays guitar.

Edgar & Johnny Winter were understandably fond of each other’s music, and they co-produced their high-octane version of Sam & Dave’s Soul Man. Bringing it all home is idontwannabeyouanymore by Billie Eilish, whose producer is her brother Finneas Baird O’Connell. Lock me in a studio with MY sister, and the only thing that’s likely to be produced is a slap fight or nasty rope burn.