The Record Producers by John Tobler; Stuart Grundy; Les professionnels du disque: une
sociologie des variétés by Antoine Hennion
Review by: Philip Tagg
Popular Music, Vol. 3, Producers and Markets (1983), pp. 308-313
Published by: Cambridge University Press
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308 Reviews
ethnomusicologists, and aspiringrockmusi-
popularmusictheorists
cians. It is to be hoped thatthe book will facilitate
more subtle
explorations ofthephenomenon ofpopularmusicand popularculture
in general.
Van Cagle
University of Illinois
Champaign
The Record Producers. By John Tobler & Stuart Grundy. London:
BBC, 1982. 248 pp.
du disque:unesociologiedes [Link] Antoine
Les professionnels
Hennion. Paris: Editions A. M. Metailie, 1981. 257 pp.
Thereareplentyofbooksabouttheofficial figureheadsofmusic,from
soul-searching of
'lives greatcomposers' to anecdotalbiographiesof
pop stars. Conversely, notmuch has been writtenabout theartistsof
theclassicalera noraboutthecomposersoftherockperiodin music
history. Taking'composition' tomeantheputting togetherofmusical
materials intocontemporary forms ofmusicalstorageanddistribution,
it is surprisingthat the real composersof our time - not only
songwriters butalso arrangers, soundengineers and recordproducers
- are stillcomparatively neglected as creators ofthatvastquantityof
musicreachingour earsand brains,surprising thatthe'artist'is still
treatedas the record-buying public's focal point of identification
betweenthecommodity and itsperceived'meaning'.Justas themusic
itselfand the sociallyaffective forcesit expressesare veryrarely
spoken of or written about, those magiciansof the mixingdesk
(recording and
engineers) stage directors ofthestudio(theproducers)
step seldom into thelimelight.
Thisneglecthas beenpointedouton a numberofoccasionsand has
also to someextentbeen rectified in a (toosmall)numberofbookson
musicalproductionin therecording industry.(Of theseone should
note in particular Rock'N' RollIs HereTo Pay,by SteveChapple &
Reebee Garofolo (Chicago, 1977), InsidetheRecordBusiness,by Clive
Davis (New York, 1974), Solid Gold, by R. Serge Denisoff (New
Brunswick,1975), MakingTracks,by Charlie Gillett(New York, 1974),
Schlagerin Deutschland,by SiegfriedHelms (Wiesbaden, 1972), The
by Paul Hirsch(Ann Arbor,
ofthePopularMusicIndustry,
Structure
1969), The Music Machine,by Roger Karshner (Los Angeles, 1971),
by David Morse(London,1971)and In TheirOwnWords,
Motown, by
Bruce Pollock (New York & London, 1975).) The two books under
on thissubject;bothare
revieware recentadditionsto theliterature
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Reviews 309
useful to anyone interestedin understandingcreative processes in
commercial record production and both are quite differentin their
approach.
Tobler's and Grundy's TheRecordProducersis based on a BBC radio
series of the same name and simplyconsistsofinterviewswithLeiber
and Stoller, Tom Dowd, Richard Perry, Bill Szymczyck, Todd
Rundgren, George Martin,Mickie Most, Glyn Johns,Tony Visconti,
Chinn and Chapman, R. T. Baker and Chris Thomas. (There is also a
shortchapteron Phil Spector- predictablyunavailable foran interview
- which could have been omittedsince itadds littleor nothingto Out of
his Head by Richard Williams (London, 1974) and otherliteratureon
Spector). A lot ofworkhas gone intotranscribing these interviewsand
the book is valuable as source material. Had it been given as much
editorialcare as has obviously gone into transcription,it mightalso
have been quite readable. As it stands, thebook's qualityis marredby
a number of faults.
Firstly,the eloquence ofthe [Link]
and Stoller,Dowd, Perry,Szymczyckand Rundgrenmaybe important
figuresin popular music, but wading throughthe verbal mud of their
monologues in search of gold nuggets on the changing processes of
studio recordingis unrewarding:the strikerate is extremelylow. For
some reason (my Britishorigins,perhaps), the Britishproducersseem
farmore eloquent than [Link]
Most, Glyn Johnsand Tony Visconti have totallydifferentideals as
producers, they are all quite clear about why and how theywork, as
well as being able to explain how conditionshave changed. Even R. T.
Baker's sometimes infantilemacho discourse offersinsightsinto the
producer's work. Most rewardingare the interviewwith Chinn and
Chapman (whose carpet-baggingflairled themto the music business-
man's dreamland of California, where their own 'Dreamland'
enterprisefinallywent bankrupt)and the chapterdevoted to George
[Link] lattermay add verylittleto what Martinwritesin his own
All You Need Is Ears (New York, 1979), but it includes interestingand
valuable accounts of musical aestheticprocedure in the studio.
Secondly, the editors' own comments are neither frequent nor
helpful. They are either superfluous (probably transcriptsof verbal
padding at cuts in the recorded interviews) or journalistically
speculative (see, forexample, p. 221 on Queen). Moreover,it is often
difficultto know whose commentsone is reading- the editors'or the
interviewee's. Here clearer typographicaldistinctionsshould have
been made.
Thirdly,the presentationlacks [Link] only order
of events presented is the vaguely chronologicalone in which each
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310 Reviews
producer describes his own career. Apart froman extremelyshort
introduction,thereis no collectedcommentaryor explanationof any
aspect of record production,no presentationof general trendswith
examples, no theoretical level whatsoever. Trying to extrapolate
importantgeneralitiesfromthe book thus becomes like searchingfor
isolated coral reefsin Micronesia withouta map.
This is obviouslynot a book to read fromcoverto cover. It may have
considerable value as source material and, thanks to an extensive
index, can probablybe used quite efficiently as a referencebook.
AntoineHennion's LesProfessionnels du disquealso containsvaluable
source materials,not least in the formof numerous tables based on
extensiveresearchcarriedout by the author(and documentedby him
and J.-P. Vignolle in L'Economiedu disqueen France(Paris, 1978) and
Artisanset industrielsdu disque(Paris, 1978)). The book is almost worth
reading forthisinformationalone, forthe cleargraphicalpresentation
of the many factorsdeterminingsuch phenomena as changes in the
share of domestic (French) and foreign (mostly Anglo-American)
companies in the French record [Link], it contains much
more.
Hennion, a sociologistwitha musical past, convincinglyrefutesthe
'conspiracy theory'of musical manipulationpure and simple as the
main mechanism for gaining success in the commercial record
[Link], he uses industrystatisticsin combinationwith a
number of interestingargumentsand narrativetechniques to show
how the music of the Frenchhit parade expresses various 'categories
socio-sentimentales'on non-official,non-verbaland ostensiblyirra-
tional affectivelevels of [Link], in the words on the back
jacket of the book: 'Lyc"ens, banlieusards, minettesou revoltes,les
"jeunes" s'emparent du hit-parade pour construireleurs identites
[Link] s'organisentpar la musique et produisentleur culture:a
travers les varietes se redessine ... une veritable geographie du
social.'
This theoryis demonstrated,notby an analysisofthe music itselfor
of the reactions of record buyers, but by a study of the roles and
functionsof those producing the music (hence the titleof the book).
This study is in its turnlargelybased on transcriptsof (a) recording
company auditions, (b) interviewswithvarious 'directeursartistiques'
(= A & R men/producers),composers, lyricwriters,arrangersand
recordingengineers and (c) a recordingsession. These chapters are
detailed and intelligentlyedited so that the attitudes, aims, func-
tions, backgrounds and social-aestheticbehaviour of professionals
involved in record productionall come across with enviable clarity,
providing the reader with valuable insights into how the 'socio-
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Reviews 311
sentimental' identityofhighschoolkids,'minettes', and
oppositionals
othergroupsofyoungpeople outsidethepowerstructures ofbour-
geois cultureand official(mostlyverbal)formsof expressionare
reconnoitred, 'intoned'and re-created in a processthe authorcalls
'discomorphosis'.
For the musicologist,the chapter'Ethnographiedu travailde
production'is of particularvalue. Here numerousexamplesof the
aestheticverbalvocabularyoftherecording studio(supersedingthe
jargon of the symphonic or chamber musicrehearsal)aresetin textin
front ofoureyes:a 'dry'acousticguitartrackis mixed'up front' while
thedrummer asks fora 'wet,muffled' soundand theproducerwants
theFenderpianotobe 'hairier'('pluspoilu')and more'explosive',not
so 'ricketytincan'. Then the singerwonderswhetherthe end of a
particular phraseshouldbe leftmusically 'intheair',theguitaristasks
iftheotherswanthimtoplay'jazz' or'whambam'('paf-paf') and ifthe
engineercan 'boost/inflate/thicken' his soundbyaddingan
('gonfler')
extraoctaveor fifth through the harmoniser. The producerthinksa
certainsynthesiser timbreshouldhave less 'bzz', be less 'mechanical'
but stillsound 'synthetic'.The keyboardplayerapplies 'breathing'
('respiration'- crescendo+ diminuendo)to each notebutthesinger
findsthattoo 'gurgly-gobbly', not'majestic'or 'symphonic'enough,
though she admits that itshould stillsound'crazy'and 'neurotic'tofit
thelyrics'quand le mecdevientfou'.Soundsarefurther describedby
musicians,singer,producerand soundengineeras 'American','hard
and heavy', 'tense and speedy' (a rocknumber),'sensitive','cool',
'ironic','throbbingwithpain', 'violentbut discrete','crackly','sea
green','beyond the tomb','vampirish','droolingorgan','majestic
witha hangover','policesiren',etc.,[Link] facttheentirechapteris a
veritablegoldmineoftransmodal expressions forthesemiotically and
culturally-sociologically orientatedmusic analyst, offeringgreat
potentialforexpandingtraditional musicology tolinkthesoundevent
withitssocialmeaning(whichshouldbe themainaimofmusicology
anyhow).
Unfortunately, the author misses this link in his theoretical
commentary; Hennion has a tendencyto throw the semiotic-
hermeneuticbaby out with the admittedlymurkybathwaterof
traditional musicology.'I1 fautrenoncera faireune musicologiedes
varietes', writes(p. 221), because hit songs as 'objective'(i.e.
he
isolated)sound eventsare meaninglessabstractions and can onlybe
understoodin their social [Link], traditionalformalist
musicalanalysismaywellbe impotent whenitcomestoexplaining the
social-aesthetic meaningof both 'art' and popular music (see my
article,'Analysingpopular music' in PopularMusic2, pp. 37-67), but it
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312 Reviews
is also unproductive and defeatistto regardmusicologyas a static
of
disciplineincapable expansion,adaptationand applicationto new
musical realities,just as it is misleadingto regardsuch socially
castrated approachestocultural studyas inherent inmusicology itself.
On the contrary, whatHennion'sotherwiseso valuablestudylacks
mostis the important linkbetweenthe actualsounds of the music
beingproduced(requiring musicological description)and otherlevels
at which the 'socio-sentimental' meaning of these sounds can be
[Link],thaton 'thesong',runs
intodifficulties at thisverypoint:Hennionfindsveryfewopenings
fromthe musicalmaterialintothe socio-sentimental 'sense', simply
because the musicologicalmethodshe uses are traditionaland
inadequate.
Anotherdifficulty withthe book is thatideologicaland cultural-
politicalaspectsofthematerial sometimes seemtogetsweptunderthe
[Link] example,one wondershow 'independent'the'indepen-
dent'producersofhits('coups','tubes')reallyareinFrance- and just
whattheyare 'independent'[Link] also wonderswhatcriteria other
than ownershipdeterminehow 'French'a Frenchrecordcompany
actuallyis - whether'nationality' in theFrenchrecordindustry is not
sometimes the result ofa sortof musical vietnamisation policyon the
partofthemulti-nationals. Finally,one has to questionwhetherthe
listener'spurse, on whose expressionin sales figuresand chart
positionsHennionbases mostofhis assumptionsaboutpopularity,
reallydoes accurately successas regardsmassacceptanceofthe
reflect
musicalexpressionofsocialrealities.(On thissubject,see also Charles
Hamm'spaper,'Somethoughts on themeasurement ofpopularity in
music',Popular Music ed.
Perspectives, D. Horn & P. Tagg(Gothenburg
& Exeter,1982), pp. 3-15.)
Despitethesepoints,Lesprofessionnels du disqueis veryworthwhile
reading and is fullofideas foranyone interested inunderstanding the
mass production ofmusical'sense'. Extrabenefits fromthebookare
thatone learnsa lotofidiomatic expressions fromtheworldofFrench
popular music and that one starts to questiontheethnocentricity of
Anglo-American pop devotees. As one of the author's 'directeurs
artistiques'pointsout: therewere onlyone thousandfewerrecord
productionsin Francethan in the USA in 1976. Consideringthe
difference betweenthe size of populationin thetwo countries,this
means the authoris dealingwitha significant amountof musical
production of which Anglo-American orientated popularmusic is
blissfullyunaware. This insight is on itsown enough to recommend
the book. Howeverit containsmuch more:Hennion'sinteresting
du
theories, explanations and descriptions make Les professionnels
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Reviews 313
disque a stimulatingand importantcontributionto popular music
studies.
Philip Tagg
Gothenburg
Popular Music Perspectives: Papers From the First International
Conferenceon Popular Music Research,Amsterdam,June1981. Edited
by David Horn & Philip Tagg. Gothenburg(S6dra Vagen 61, S-41254
Gothenburg) & Exeter: InternationalAssociation for the Study of
Popular Music, 1982. 250 pp.
Most people imagine thattheyunderstandwhat is meant by popular
music but, in reality,the difficultiesof studyingpopular music are
compounded by the uncertaintythat shrouds both the nature and
range of the genre. To say thatpopular music springsfromthe people
is meaningless and has become even less satisfactoryas societyhas
become more media dominated. To some scholarsworkingin the area
the most legitimatedefinitionof popular music is one thatis based on
American musical manifestationsof popular [Link] American
music can be seen as the singlemostdominantforcevitalisingpopular
music since the media revolutionof the 1920s. Others genuinely do
consider thatany music emanatingfromthe people and produced to
caterforthe tastesofthe people, so long as itis not obviouslyclassical,
can justifiablybe considered as popular music. It is likelythatthereare
no easy answers to [Link]
Perspectivesprovides none, and onlyCharles Hamm in 'Some thoughts
on the measurementofpopularityin music' even addresses himselfto
the problem. In thisundoubtedlystimulatingbut somewhat disparate
and disconnected collection of conferencepapers, which were all
delivered at Amsterdam in June 1981 for the First International
Conferenceon Popular Music Research,Charles Hamm's contribution
stands out as one of fundamental importance. He alone has the
temerityto recognise that 'we're not sure what we're talkingabout'
and 'thereis no generalagreementon just what is encompassed by the
term"popular music"'. He focuses attentionon specificstylesand on
generic formssuch as composed songs and folkand improvisational
music. Are all these equally valid and importantformsof popular
music? Charles Hamm has more sense than to make dogmatic
statementsabout such sensitivetopics and goes on to suggest thatfar
more intensive research should be carried out into testing the
popularity of music commonly assumed to fall into the categoryof
popular. Charts of rock, soul and countrymusic have a profound
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