The weirdest pairings of band/artist and producer

Cafe Society
21

I guess Mutt Lange producing Shania Twain for the first time would have been considered very odd. I think they ended up getting married.

Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind and Fire said he got a lot of flak for selecting Phil Collins of Genesis to produce his second solo album. The result was excellent and a great pairing of two from different backgrounds. EWF would often feature rock elements in some of their songs and Phil Collins was a huge EWF fan who eventually used their horn section both with Genesis and his solo work.

By the way, Collins was a great producer. He also produced an album by Frida of ABBA. I Know There’s Something Going On is a GREAT song that is rocking and sounds nothing like ABBA. Listen to the drums PC plays on She’s Waiting, a song he produced for Clapton. Excellent!

I imagine people were surprised that David Bowie collaborated with the amazing Nile Rodgers on his album Let’s Dance. It only resulted in the best selling album of his career. Another great matchup.

22

I always thought Ric Ocasek producing Bad Brains’ Rock for Light was an odd pairing but dammit, that record sounds great.

(Original mix)

23

Not sure how you beat Ben Folds, William Shatner and Joe Jackson covering “Common People”…but there ya go.

24

A little bump for this thread to add another of John Cale’s improbable producing credits.

I discovered Black Grape long after their heyday, and by way of making up for this I was researching their origins: The Happy Mondays. And, stone me, Cale produced their debut album Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out).

It’s…alright.

j