Andy Wright (music producer)

Andy M Wright (born 1962)[1] is a London-based music producer, songwriter and arranger who has worked with international artists such as Simply Red[2] and Mick Hucknall, Dave Stewart,[3] Toše Proeski,[4] Atomic Kitten,[5] and Andreas Vollenweider.[6]

Andy Wright
Background information
Born1962 (age 59–60)
Arnold, Nottinghamshire, England[1]
GenresPop, classical, soul, rock, dance
Occupation(s)Music producer, songwriter
Years activec. 1984–present
Websitewww.andywrightmusic.com
For the Australian supervising film sound editor, see Andy Wright (sound engineer).

Since the mid 1980's, he has worked as a programmer, musical arranger and producer on projects spanning music genres.

Early career

In the mid-1980s,[1] following an advertisement in The Melody Maker, Wright worked for a keyboard hire company in London, delivering and setting up studio equipment for recording sessions. In order to acquire a job in recording studio, he learnt to set up synthesisers and drum machines by reading manual books.

The 1990s

In the 1990s, Wright set up a recording studio. Working as a musician/producer/programmer, he worked on The KLF hit "America:What Time Is Love?" This was followed by a programming stint with Massive Attack on their seminal album Protection. 1995 also saw the beginning of Wright's long working relationship with Simply Red on the album Life.[7] The number one hit "Fairground", which featured on the record, owed to Wright's musical vision of blending Brazilian rhythms and trance house keyboards.

In 1996, Wright collaborated on pop records for Shakespear's Sister, Imogen Heap, Sinead O'Connor and Alisha's Attic. He also has a co-production credit with Tom Jones on the album The Lead and How To Swing It with Alan Moulder and U2 producer and Flood.

In 1999 Wright was involved in the production of the Eurythmics album Peace which contained the hit singles "I Saved the World Today", "17 Again" and the title track "Peace".[8] Wright stated that working with Dave Stewart led to 'the most interesting years of his working life', adding that Stewart was 'unpredictable, always coming up with ideas, projects, adventures, and often going to faraway places to create. He was so full of positive emotions around his projects that it really seemed to create an environment that brought out the best in everyone.'[9] He also co-produced the Eurythmics song "Peace Is Just A Word".

2000 onwards

In the year 2000, Wright began working with Jeff Beck.[10][11] The resulting album, You Had It Coming, produced a Grammy award-winning track "Dirty Mind" in the best rock instrumental performance category. He also provided singles "Reach" on S Club 7 and "Bring It All Back".

In 2001, Wright scored a UK number one single with [12]Atomic Kitten's "Eternal Flame", followed by production of Gianna Nannini's album Aria' in 2002.

In 2003, Wright and Jeff Beck worked together again on the eponymously titled album Jeff.[13] This produced the Grammy winning track, "Plan B", also in the best rock instrumental performance category. Wright's production in 2003 also included "Sunrise", the first track off the album Home by Simply Red. He also worked on "A Thousand Beautiful Things" for Annie Lennox, plus the song "Caruso" for the Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti on the album "Ti Adoro".

2004 / 2005 involved extensive work for Simply Red including co-production of the album Simplified.

In 2006, Wright began his collaboration with Macedonian artist Toše Proeski on songs for the album The Hardest Thing. Following Proeski's death in October 2007, The Hardest Thing was released posthumously in January 2009 and reached the top of the charts all over the Balkan region. Later that year, he worked with Soho Dolls, chart-topping Icelandic popsters, Nylon, and further projects for Simply Red.

In 2007, he contributed to Stay, the final Simply Red album.

In 2008, Wright worked on production of Mick Hucknall's first solo album post-Simply Red: Tribute to Bobby.

Highlights from recent projects

The following are some of the more notable projects that Andy Wright has either produced or co-produced in the years since 2009.

Year Description
2021 Production of new material by Betty Boo.[14]
2020 Co-production of 'Blue Eyed Soul' Simply Red's 12th Studio Album - which debuted at no 6 on the UK album chart [15]
2019 Simple Minds album (mixing) 'Live in the City of Angels'. The album was a UK top 10 hit [16]
2018 produced the hit 80s Symphonic album for BMG[17][18] recorded at Abbey Road Studios. This[19] album features new arrangements and original performances of some of the biggest international hits of the 1980s.
2018 Co-produced the Echo and the Bunnymen album The Stars The Oceans and The Moon - a top 20 hit in the UK charts (peaking at #11).
2018 Co-produced Simple Minds album Walk Between Worlds - a top 5 five hit in the UK, the band's first in over twenty years (peaking at #4)[20] The record was also a Radio 2 Album of the Week.
2017 Simple Minds' lead singer Jim Kerr posted about dining with Wright in London. Kerr referred to Wright and Gavin Goldberg - the masterminds behind 2014's well-received Big Music album - as the band's producers. This indicates the team produced Simple Minds' untitled new studio album, due late 2017 or in 2018.[21]
2017 Co-produced the Nell Bryden album Bloom. The record was selected as a Radio 2 Album of the Week[22]
2016 Co-produced Simple Minds album Acoustic. Record achieved top twenty status (peaked at 16 in UK)[23]
2016 Co-produced the Keith Harkin album On Mercy Street - the record reached number one on the 'World Music' Billboard charts.[24]
2015 Co-produced Simply Red's warmly received 30 year anniversary album Big Love which entered [25] the UK album charts at number [26] four.
2014 Co-produced the critically acclaimed album Big Music with Simple Minds[27][28]
2014 Produced and co-wrote album 'Magnetic' for international solo artist Miel - due for release in 2015.
2014 Produced and co-wrote debut album for Purdy, retro-style songstress with a modern approach.
2013 Saw the release of 20th Century Man, an album produced for Croatian rock musician Gibonni.
2012 Produced and co-wrote vocalist Peter Grant's album Too Close
2011 Worked on a second solo album project for Mick Hucknall,[29] American Soul, making that their 8th studio collaboration. The record achieved double gold status in the UK and garnered both 'Single of the week' and 'Album of the week' accolades on BBC Radio 2
2010 Worked on two charity records. One in aid of the Haiti earthquake, a cover of "I Put a Spell on You", the Screamin' Jay Hawkins track. The line-up included Nick Cave, Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream, Paloma Faith, Chrissie Hynde, Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols, Mick Jones of The Clash and actor Johnny Depp on guitar. The other track for charity was put together for Oxfam to use in conjunction with film at the G8 Summit. Jim Kerr from Simple Minds and Martha Wainwright recorded "Promised You A Miracle", a classic Simple Minds track.
2010 Worked with the rising rockabilly star Imelda May on her breakthrough album Mayhem - widely critically acclaimed[30][31] and a UK Top 10 hit.[32]
2009 Produced classical musician Diana Yukawa's album The Butterfly Effect. The album was a pop classical hybrid recorded at Wright's regular haunt for live music recordings, Abbey Road Studios.

Musical credits

An extensive list of Wright's work is catalogued on AllMusic[33] and Discogs.[34]

References
  1. McNair, James (2009). Wright, Andy M (ed.). "Bio". Andywrightmusic.com. London: Rita Coburn Whack Media Productions. Archived from the original on 5 February 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  2. "Andy Wright Interview". Roland Corporation. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  3. Live in The Mix. "Andy Wright interview". Live In The Mix Music. Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  4. "Simple Minds Behind The Scenes". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  5. Taylor, Chuck (21 March 1998). "Radio Programming". Billboard.
  6. "The Andreas Vollenweider Story". Andreas Vollenweider. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  7. BBC interview. "Interview with Simply Red". Youtube.com/watch?v=7kOVi966BHA. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  8. Sound on Sound. "Recording Eurythmics 'I Saved The World Today'". Soundonsound.com. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  9. Wright, Andy M (2019). "Biography". Andywrightmusic.com. London. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  10. James, McNair. "Jeff Beck interview" (PDF). Andy Wright Music. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  11. "Biography". Jeff Beck Official. Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  12. Ink 19. "Atomic Kitten Review". Ink19.com.
  13. Tarquin, Brian (2012). "Chapter 1". Recording Techniques of the Guitar Masters. Cengage Learning 2012. pp. 11–13. ISBN 9781435460171.
  14. "Re-doin' The Do: The resurrection of Betty Boo". BBC News. 28 January 2022. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  15. https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/20191115/7502/
  16. https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/20191011/7502/
  17. "Various - 80s Symphonic". Rough Trade. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  18. "80s Symphonic - Various Artists Song - BBC Music". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  19. "Subscribe to read". Financial Times. Retrieved 18 December 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  20. "Simple Minds Talk New Album 'Walk Between Worlds,' Share Promo Video". Billboard. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  21. "Simple Minds Official". Facebook.com. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  22. "Nell Bryden - New Songs, Playlists & Latest News - BBC Music". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  23. "Acoustic - 2016 - SIMPLEMINDS.COM". SIMPLEMINDS.COM. 28 September 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  24. "Keith Harkin - Official Website - Bio". Keithharkin.com. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  25. "Florence Welch tops UK album chart". Bbc.com. 7 June 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  26. "The Official UK Top 40 Albums Chart". Radio 1. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  27. Record Collector Mag. "Simple Minds Big Music Review". Recordcollectormag.com. Diamond Publishing Ltd. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  28. Mettler, Mike. "Did Simple Minds Fast Forward Or New Bands Rewind? Big Music Sounds Fresh Either Way". Digitaltrends.com. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  29. "Mick Hucknall on American Soul Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  30. Gendre, Kevin Le. "BBC - Music - Review of Imelda May - Mayhem". Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  31. McCormick, Neil (5 October 2010). "Imelda May: Mayhem, CD review". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  32. "Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  33. "producer". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  34. Discogs. "Artist page". Discogs.com. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
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