Tony Mansfield
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Tony Mansfield (born 19 January 1955 in London) is an English songwriter, musician and record producer.
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[edit] Early work
Mansfield is best known as the main songwriter/producer for New Musik, a synthpop band that performed from 1979 to 1982. Following their debut hit single "Straight Lines" in 1979, the band had three UK Top 40 hits in 1980 (and a #1 hit in France), releasing three albums: From A To B (1980), Anywhere (1981) and Warp (1982). The group also released a compilation album for the United States in 1981 known as Sanctuary which consisted of tracks from the first two albums. After the demise of GTO Records, New Musik quietly disbanded (although never officially). Their early works helped define the archetypal sound of the 80s, their influence continues to inspire.
[edit] Productions & collaborations
Mansfield's career as a freelance producer had begun pre-New Musik in the late 1970s, and after the demise of his band he turned exclusively to production, working on a number of successful albums and singles for various popular artists in the 1980s, most notably: Naked Eyes, Captain Sensible, a-ha, Mari Wilson, The B-52's, Vicious Pink, Miguel Bosé, Jean Paul Gaultier and After The Fire.
In the 1990s he produced the #1 debut album Puntos Cardinales for Spanish female artist Ana Torroja and in 2001, the #1 album Online for Latvian band Brainstorm among other production works.
Other productions & collaborations include: Aztec Camera, Yukihiro Takahashi, MC Aurra, Bernard Lavilliers, Reflex, Apache Indian/Chage & Aska, Aleisha, The 2, Silvergold, Mimori Yusa, Takafumi Sotoma, Nice Music, Yip Yip Coyote, Jean Pierre Mader, Lio, Philip Jap, Pepi Lemarr, Mike Oldfield, Adele Bertei with Robert Fripp, Duke, Rob Davis/Stan Alexander, The Rescue, Holy Jade, Ilene Barnes, The Damned, Planet Ha Ha, Claude Sabbah, PulseXPulse, Thunderclap 2, Cleaners From Venus, Martin Ansell, Najma, RPM, Search Party.
His productions are distinguished by a balancing of rich textures and atmospheric soundscapes. He is known for his inventiveness in the studio and utilisation of the latest musical technology (e.g. the Fairlight CMI in the early-mid 1980s). Mansfield's work has featured in various TV productions, Ads and movies: Earth Girls Are Easy 1988 (Geena Davis, Jim Carrey, Jeff Goldblum), Romy and Michele's High School Reunion 1997 (Mira Sorvino, Lisa Kudrow), Hysterical Blindness 2002 (Uma Thurman, Juliette Lewis). Dizzee Rascal's 2004 chart hit "Dream" uses to good effect Mansfield's production of Captain Sensible's hit "Happy Talk" (the fastest ever rising UK #1).
[edit] Present
Mansfield is presently writing & recording new material for a number of projects, contrary to various rumours, an 'all new' New Musik album is in the pipeline.
