Michael James | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Michael James Marchesano |
Also known as | Michael James |
Born | Long Island, New York City | February 1, 1962
Genres | rock, pop, punk rock, hard rock, jazz, singer-songwriter |
Occupation(s) | Record producer, mixing engineer |
Instrument(s) | Electric guitar, keyboard |
Years active | 1981–present |
Labels | Warner Music Discovery Alternator Records |
Website | www |
Michael James (born Michael James Marchesano; February 1, 1962) is an American record producer, mixing engineer, guitarist, and former A&R executive. James has produced and/or mixed albums for New Radicals, Too Much Joy, Hole, L7, Maia Sharp, and A.J. Croce, among others. [2]
James was born to Elizabeth (née Powers) and Roy Marchesano and raised in Spain. James' father was first tenor in the famous Doo Wop group the Chaperones, which gave James his first exposure to music. As a young child, his parents divorced and James lived for three years (along with his mother) with the Diablo Motorcycle Club. At age eleven, James' family moved to California to get away from the Diablos, but soon thereafter James' mother became addicted to drugs, and the lack of parental support left him homeless several times during his adolescence. At age nineteen, James was signed to his first record deal with Ear Movie Records, a label owned by Ethan James, but his early career stalled when Michael turned down a major label deal to attend UCLA on a full scholarship. Still, James' first single, "She Said Yes," recorded for $15 in studio time, was released in 1983 as part of the first volume of the Radio Tokyo Tapes. In 1985 James formed the band Waves of Grain with Luke Lohnes from The Last. The group released the critically acclaimed album "The West Was Fun" before dissolving. [3] [4] After college, James turned his attention back to music, working as an engineer at Radio Tokyo Studios in the 1980s and becoming the studio's chief engineer by 1990. [5]
James got his first big break producing Too Much Joy's second album "Son of Sam I Am," the first release on Irving Azoff's newly formed Giant Records. [6] The following year, James produced and engineered L7's second album, "Smell the Magic", released on the Sub Pop label. This led to a relationship with Sub Pop, for whom James would later produce and engineer Hole's second single, "Dicknail" and The Reverend Horton Heat's "Speed Demon." [7] James' successful early production work led to a brief side career as head of A&R for Warner Music Discovery. [8] When Discovery was folded into Warner Music Group, James further diversified his musical endeavors, creating the independent record label Alternator Records. [9] He also continued mixing and producing records, amassing more than 100 credits in the period between 1994 and 1997. In 1998, James engineered and mixed the RIAA platinum certified debut album by New Radicals, "Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too", on which he also played electric guitar. James' involvement in the industry continued at a fast pace, including production and writing credits on A.J. Croce's 2000 album "Transit" and Maia Sharp's eponymous 2002 album. [10]
In 2009, James founded IndieProMix with Rob Chiarelli, which offers mixing services with engineers including James as well as David Kahne (Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks, The Strokes), Matt Forger (Michael Jackson), Tony Shepperd (Madonna, Whitney Houston, Take 6) and Nick Page (B. B. King, Fuel, Pete Yorn). [11] [12] James currently mixes and/or produces more than 250 songs a year, many for independent musicians, including Edwin McCain's "Mercy Bound," and Far's final album before disbanding, "At Night We Live", among others. [13] Most recently the hit single 'Wild & Free' by Australian rock band Black Whiskey
James' most prominent hobby is bicycle racing, and in 2002, at the age of 40, he was a member of the Mercury Cycling team. [14] James has also been featured as a guest writer for Billboard magazine, writing articles warning of potential changes due to a lack of innovation in A&R and the music industry long before digital downloads and file sharing caused a sharp decline in record sales in the 21st century. [15] In 1991, he married Irina Irvine, a former actress turned microbial ecologist. [16] [17] He is an adherent of the Baháʼí Faith. [18]
Cold Spring Harbor is the debut studio album by American recording artist Billy Joel, released on November 1, 1971, by Family Productions. The album sold poorly, receiving attention mainly after 1973's Piano Man and later albums became popular. Due to a mastering error, the original LP release ran at a faster speed than originally recorded. In 1983, producer Artie Ripp oversaw a remixed, edited and speed-corrected version of the album. This revised edition was issued by Columbia Records.
Dance Passion is a remix album by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released on 27 March 1987 by EMI. It consists of remixed versions of tracks from their debut album, Pearls of Passion (1986). The album was only released on vinyl in select European territories, namely Sweden, Germany and Italy. It failed to chart in the latter countries, and sold just 27,000 copies in Sweden, peaking at number 19 and spending four weeks on the Swedish Albums Chart. It has never been reissued or pressed onto cassette or CD.
The Remixes is the first and only remix album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, released on 21 October 1997, by Sony Music Colombia. It is composed of remixed versions of tracks from her debut studio album Pies Descalzos, with which she attained Latin American success two years prior. While primarily a Spanish-language project, the album additionally contains re-recorded versions of songs in Portuguese.
Wild Orchid is the self-titled debut album by American band Wild Orchid, released in March 1997. It is their most successful album. The album was nominated for two Lady of Soul Awards.
Community Service is a continuous mix album released by American electronic dance music duo The Crystal Method. It features remixes of Crystal Method songs, remixes created by The Crystal Method, and songs from other artists. Remixed songs from popular bands Garbage, P.O.D., and Rage Against the Machine make appearances and the final track contains voice samples from The Matrix. A follow-up album, Community Service II, was released with a subsequent tour in 2005.
Nu-Mixx Klazzics is a remix album by American rapper 2Pac, released in 2003 under Death Row Records and Koch Records. The album includes several songs from All Eyez on Me and The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, with remixed instrumentals and new guest vocals from artists such as Crooked I, Aaron Hall, K-Ci & JoJo, and Danny Boy. Nu-Mixx Klazzics was generally disliked by critics upon its release. The remixes were criticized for being another Death Row 'cash in' featuring low quality versions of the original tracks.
Collaborations is a compilation album released by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor in 2005. The album contains songs recorded throughout O'Connor's career on which she collaborated with a variety of artists, spanning several different genres of music. Many of these tracks appeared on the albums of the artists with whom O'Connor performs. The tracks "Empire" and "Heroine" also appear on So Far... The Best of Sinéad O'Connor, released in 1997. One track - "Monkey in Winter" - had never been never released on CD before, and was previously released as B-side on a 12" only.
Dreams: The Ultimate Corrs Collection is the second greatest hits album by Irish band The Corrs, released on 20 November 2006, comprising hits, traditional ballads and previously unreleased songs.
Pioneers Who Got Scalped: The Anthology is a compilation album by the American new wave band Devo, released in 2000 by Rhino Records. 17 of the 50 tracks were previously unreleased on CD, including single B-sides, outtakes, remixes, soundtrack songs and spoken word material. The band recorded the long-time concert favorite "The Words Get Stuck in My Throat" in the studio for the first time, specifically for inclusion on this compilation.
A Rose for the Dead is an EP released by the Norwegian gothic metal band Theatre of Tragedy in 1997. It was the band's last release using the doom metal-influenced sound that Theatre of Tragedy had originally adopted. "A Rose for the Dead" and "Der Spiegel" are leftovers from the Velvet Darkness They Fear recording sessions, which were completed after the release of that album. "As the Shadows Dance" is the English-sung version of the single "Der Tanz der Schatten", while the remixes involved the electro-industrial musician Bruno Kramm of the German duo Das Ich. Finally, "Decades" is a cover version of a Joy Division song, which Theatre of Tragedy had recorded for a Norwegian tribute album.
Dressed Up & In Line is a B-sides and rarities album by the band Copeland. It was released on November 20, 2007. The album consists of B-sides, rarities, acoustic recordings, and remixes. Aaron Marsh, lead vocalist and lyricist of the band, said, "Nearly all of [the songs] have been spruced up and re-mixed."
So Natural is the third solo studio album by British singer Lisa Stansfield, released by Arista Records on 8 November 1993. Stansfield wrote songs for the album with her husband Ian Devaney, who also produced the tracks. Three songs were co-written by Andy Morris, who worked with Stansfield on Affection (1989) and Real Love (1991). So Natural garnered positive reviews from music critics and performed moderately on the charts, reaching number six in the United Kingdom and receiving Platinum certification. The album was not released in North America. On November 10, 2014, in the United Kingdom, and on November 21, 2014, in Europe, So Natural was reissued as a deluxe 2CD + DVD collection.
Be Yourself is the ninth solo album by American singer-songwriter Patti LaBelle. It was released by MCA Records on June 26, 1989 in the United States. Her second album with the company following her 1986 platinum album Winner in You, it features the single, "If You Asked Me To" which was also featured on the soundtrack to the James Bond movie, Licence to Kill (1989), and the R&B top ten Prince-written hit "Yo Mister." The album marked LaBelle's foray into new jack swing music with the tracks "I Got It Like That", produced by Full Force, and "Love 89", another Prince contribution.
Rob Chiarelli is an American record producer, mix engineer, musician, published author and multiple Grammy Award winner. Widely recognized as a music producer for Will Smith and Men in Black II (2002), Chiarelli's work appears on numerous gold and platinum albums and motion picture soundtracks, including fourteen Grammy winners.
Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection is a reissue of American singer-songwriter Katy Perry's third studio album, Teenage Dream (2010). It was released on March 23, 2012, by Capitol Records, nearly two years after the original album. Perry collaborated with producers including Tricky Stewart to refine leftover material from the recording sessions at Playback Recording Studio for Teenage Dream. The final product features three newly recorded songs, which incorporate pop styles previously seen in the original album, an acoustic version of "The One That Got Away" and three additional official remixes.
Rated R: Remixed is the second remix album by Barbadian singer Rihanna. It was released on May 8, 2010, in Brazil and Europe and on May 24, 2010, in the United States by Def Jam Recordings. It contains remixes from her fourth studio album, Rated R (2009). The songs were solely remixed by Chew Fu. The majority of the remixes were remastered to incorporate influences from the genre of house music, and incorporate heavy usage of synthesizers as part of their instrumentation.
The Spirit Indestructible is the fifth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado. The album was released on 14 September 2012. Furtado served as the executive producer for the album as well as a principal writer. Further production on The Spirit Indestructible comes from the likes of Darkchild, Salaam Remi, Mike Angelakos, Bob Rock, Fraser T Smith, Di Genius, The Demolition Crew, John Shanks and Tiësto.
Moving On is the second studio album by English boy band 911. Released in the United Kingdom through Virgin Records on 6 July 1998, it peaked at number 10 on the UK Albums Chart. All three singles from the album were top 10 hits in the UK.
"Love Is Lost" is a song by English rock musician David Bowie from his album The Next Day. James Murphy's "Hello Steve Reich Mix for the DFA" was released as the fifth single from Bowie's 24th studio album The Next Day as a promotion for The Next Day Extra, a special edition of bonus tracks, remixes, and music videos. The remix version of the song contains cut and looped samples from a new recording of Steve Reich's 1972 piece Clapping Music performed by Murphy and three other musicians, plus a sample from Bowie's 1980 hit "Ashes to Ashes."
"Fallin' (Adrenaline)", originally titled "Fallin'", is a song by American boy band Why Don't We. It was released on September 29, 2020, as the lead single from their second studio album The Good Times and the Bad Ones. It was the first song that the band released after their eight-month hiatus that began in early 2020. The song debuted and peaked at number 37 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the band's first and highest entry. The song samples "Black Skinhead" by Kanye West, from his 2013 album, Yeezus.