Gary Stevenson on producing Go West’s debut

Gary Stevenson produced Go West's impressive eponymous debut album. We asked him to share some memories of working on this career-changing record. 

"We worked in a tiny basement studio called Rooster in West London. This became 'our world' for three months; nothing else existed or mattered! 

One morning I was recording the bass player Pino Palladino, and he said to me, "Gaz, I have to leave at two because I'm playing at a gig called Live Aid"... The rest is history. 

This was the first time I worked with the guitarist Alan Murphy. He brought in a tiny fender amp called 'Champ.' I looked at this thing and thought, "You must be joking." But it sounded amazing when we plugged it in and drove it hard. We used it on the whole album, but the best example is the solo on Don't Look Down. This was the first time I realized that the sound was 80% in the fingers. Alan had it all, and when he died in 1989, we lost a great talent as well as a beautiful person.

One thing I would like to share with budding record producers is my experience of how important the relationship is with your artist.

I was a total unknown when I produced the demos for this album, and when the tracks hit, just about all of the record companies were interested in the band … but not in me.

But the Go West guys knew that I had played a big part in the creation of their 'sound' and, even more importantly, that we had a great working relationship. In the end, only one record company was willing to allow them to use me as the producer on the album.

They had been offered many of the very best 'current' producers, but because of this, they went with that record company. I am forever grateful to Chrysalis, their A&R man Ron Fair, and of course, Go West for that chance!"