Steve Lillywhite

Steve Lillywhite
Background information
Born	1955 (age 55–56)
Origin	Egham, England
Genres	Rock New wave
Occupations	Record producer
Years active	1977–present
Associated acts	Kirsty MacColl (former wife)

Steve Lillywhite (born 1955) is an English Grammy Award winning record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited for working on over 500 records and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including XTC, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Dave Matthews Band, U2, Peter Gabriel, Morrissey, The Psychedelic Furs, The Pogues and Phish.

Early career

Lillywhite entered the music industry in 1972, when he worked as a tape operator for Polygram. He produced a demo recording for Ultravox, which led to them being offered a recording contract with Island Records. Lillywhite soon joined Island as a staff producer, where he worked with many of the leading new wave musicians. His first commercial success was with Siouxsie and the Banshees in August 1978, after producing their first single, "Hong Kong Garden". He also produced "Ku Klux Klan" - the first single that Steel Pulse released under Island Records in 1978.

1980s

In 1980, Lillywhite produced Peter Gabriel (also known as III or Melt). The same year, he produced The Psychedelic Furs debut album, as well as Boy, the debut album of the then practically unknown U2. Lillywhite went on to produce U2's October and War. He moved on to produce work by Simple Minds, Big Country, XTC, The Chameleons, Toyah, Talking Heads, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Morrissey, The Rolling Stones and the Shine album by the former ABBA vocalist Anni-Frid Lyngstad.

In 1987 Lillywhite worked with The Pogues, producing "Fairytale of New York". It was due to him that his then wife, Kirsty MacColl, provided the lead female vocal for their biggest hit. The single narrowly missed being the UK Christmas number one single, but was still one of the biggest selling records that year.

1990s

During the 1990s, Lillywhite continued to produce Morrissey, but began to make his mark with albums by Travis, Phish and on multi platinum albums, including Under the Table and Dreaming, Crash, and Before These Crowded Streets by the Dave Matthews Band. In 1990, he co-produced U2's Achtung Baby, along with Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois and Flood. In 1991 he returned to Dublin to produce the debut album, A Sonic Holiday, with the Kilkenny based band, Engine Alley. He was also brought in to produce the debut (and only album) by The La's. In 1996, he produced Phish's Billy Breathes, and he returned to produce Joy in 2009.

Lilywhite was featured as the subject for a BBC Radio 1 documentary series on record producers. In 1999, he produced Boston band Guster's Lost and Gone Forever.

2000s

In 2000, Lillywhite was fired from his fourth album by the Dave Matthews Band after band members cited creative differences. In 2001, a number of their recordings emerged on a bootleg album, known now as The Lillywhite Sessions; many of the songs from those recordings followed later, on the Dave Matthews Band's album Busted Stuff. The unfinished tracks appeared online, and all of the tracks were re-recorded, without Lillywhite, with Stephen Harris as the preferred choice by the band.

In 2002, Universal Music Group head Lucian Grainge invited him to become managing director. Lillywhite signed singer-songwriter Darius Danesh and executively produced his debut album Dive In, which spawned three Top 10 hits, and Mercury Records' first number one in eighteen years. He also signed Razorlight, and also produced Jason Mraz's Mr. A-Z.

In September 2005 Lillywhite joined Columbia Records as a Senior Vice President of A&R. During his tenure he signed MGMT. He left the label at the end of 2006. Lillywhite collected consecutive Grammy Awards for Record of the Year with U2's "Beautiful Day" and "Walk On." In 2006, Lillywhite won three more Grammys: Producer of the Year (Non-Classical), Best Rock Album also with U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb; and a partial win for Album of the Year, also for How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.

In late 2006 he began working with Chris Cornell on Carry On, his second solo album, which was released in June 2007. He also produced two songs on Switchfoot's album, Oh! Gravity., which was released on 26 December 2006. In February 2007 Lillywhite began work with Crowded House on tracks for their first studio album in fourteen years, Time On Earth. The majority of the album was produced by Ethan Johns, but Lillywhite produced four songs with the full touring line-up, including new drummer Matt Sherrod as well as studio guest guitarist Johnny Marr. Lillywhite's next project was working with Matchbox Twenty on an EP, that comprised a portion of Exile on Mainstream. The two disc album entered the US charts at #3 and Australian charts at #1, and included "How Far We've Come". In 2008, Lillywhite was in the recording studio with U2 working alongside Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois on tracks for 2009's No Line on the Horizon. He was also at work in Austin, Texas with Blue October on that group's follow-up to Foiled, called Approaching Normal. He joined his fellow music producer Flood in 2008 to work with 30 Seconds to Mars, on This Is War which was released on December 4, 2009.

In 2008 Lillywhite produced a number of recordings for the World Cafe radio show on NPR. This included sessions at Avatar Studios in New York with Fleet Foxes, She & Him, Bell X1, Dr. Dog, and Mercury Rev.

In November 2009, he began presenting a weekly radio show on East Village Radio called "The Lillywhite Sessions".

2010s

On 25 May 2010, the official Oasis website announced that Lillywhite was working with Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer, Andy Bell and Chris Sharrock on material for their new band Beady Eye. Also, On 3 February 2010, Amy Lee of Evanescence announced on her Twitter that Lillywhite will be producing their upcoming third album, which was expected to be released in late 2010. However, in June 2010, Lee announced that due to conflicts with their record label, the band's album would be delayed and in February, 2011, drummer Will Hunt announced that the band would be working with Foo Fighters and Alice in Chains producer Nick Raskulinecz. Later, during an interview with Spin.com, Lee said that "Steve [Lillywhite] wasn't the right fit".

Selected works

• 30 Seconds to Mars – This Is War
• Annifrid Lyngstad – Shine
• Beady Eye – Different Gear, Still Speeding
• Big Country – The Crossing, Wonderland, Steeltown
• Blue October – Approaching Normal
• Chris Cornell – Carry On
• Climie Fisher – some songs from Everything
• Counting Crows – Hard Candy
• Crowded House – Time on Earth
• Darius Danesh – Dive In
• Dark Star – Twenty Twenty Sound
• Dave Matthews Band – Under the Table and Dreaming, Crash, Before These Crowded Streets, The Lillywhite Sessions (unreleased)
• Elwood – The Parlance of Our Time
• Guster – Lost and Gone Forever
• Jason Mraz – Mr. A-Z
• Joan Armatrading – Walk Under Ladders
• Johnny Thunders – So Alone
• Kirsty MacColl – Kite, Electric Landlady, Galore
• Marshall Crenshaw – Field Day
• Matchbox Twenty – Exile on Mainstream
• Morrissey – Vauxhall and I, Southpaw Grammar, Maladjusted
• Ours – Distorted Lullabies
• Penetration – Coming Up for Air
• Peter Gabriel – Peter Gabriel (aka Peter Gabriel III or Melt)
• Phish – Billy Breathes, Joy
• Rearview Mirror – All Lights Off
• Simple Minds – Sparkle in the Rain
• Siouxsie and the Banshees – The Scream
• Switchfoot – Oh! Gravity.
• Talking Heads – Naked
• The Adventure Babies – Laugh
• The La's – The La's
• The Members – At the Chelsea Nightclub
• The Pogues – If I Should Fall From Grace with God, Peace and Love
• The Psychedelic Furs – The Psychedelic Furs, Talk Talk Talk
• The Rolling Stones – Dirty Work
• The Smiths – mixed the "Ask" single (The World Won't Listen)
• Thompson Twins – Set
• Tom Robinson – Sector 27
• Toyah – The Changeling
• Travis – Good Feeling
• U2 – Boy, October, War, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, some songs on The Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, All That You Can't Leave Behind, No Line on the Horizon
• Ultravox – Ultravox!, Ha!-Ha!-Ha!
• Urban Verbs – Early Damage
• World Party – Bang!
• XTC – Drums and Wires, Black Sea

External links

• Allmusic article on Steve Lillywhite