Stuart Bruce (engineer)

Last updated

Stuart Robert Bruce (born 20 October 1962) is an English recording engineer. He was the engineer for the recording of the Band Aid's charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" on 25 November 1984. [1] He was born in Northolt, Middlesex.

Bruce started his career at Trevor Horn's Sarm West Studios. When Horn offered Bob Geldof and Midge Ure the studio free of charge for 24 hours to record the charity single, but was unavailable to produce it, Bruce was approached to engineer and mix what became one of the biggest selling singles ever. With many of the most famous artists of the time participating, and seven film crews in attendance, he worked straight through that day and night. He was on his way to the mastering suite the next morning when he heard the song on the radio; Geldof had been given a 1/4 inch stereo tape to take to The Radio 1 Breakfast Show . [2]

The reputation Bruce gained of being able to get a track down in difficult circumstances later led to him being chosen to engineer the Guitar Trio album by Al Di Meola, Paco de Lucía and John McLaughlin.

Bruce has worked with many leading artists from the 1980s onwards, including Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Kate Bush, Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, Art Garfunkel, Yes, Van Morrison and Nik Kershaw. He played slide guitar on Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "The Ballad of 32" and his spoken voice can be heard on their cover of "Born to Run". [3]

He was nominated for Best Recording Engineer at the Juno Awards of 1997 for his work with Loreena McKennitt.

Related Research Articles

Band Aid were a charity supergroup featuring mainly British and Irish musicians and recording artists. It was founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for anti-famine efforts in Ethiopia by releasing the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" for the Christmas market that year. On 25 November 1984, the song was recorded at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, London, and was released in the UK on Monday 3 December. The single surpassed the hopes of the producers to become the Christmas number one on that release. Three subsequent re-recordings of the song to raise further money for charity also topped the charts, first the Band Aid II version in 1989 and the Band Aid 20 version in 2004 and finally the Band Aid 30 version in 2014. The original was produced by Midge Ure. The 12" version was mixed by Trevor Horn.

Live Aid 1985 benefit concert

Live Aid was a benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as an ongoing music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London, UK, attended by about 72,000 people, and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, US, attended by 89,484 people.

Bob Geldof Irish singer-songwriter, author and political activist

Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof, is an Irish singer-songwriter, author, political activist, and occasional actor. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s, who achieved popularity at the time of the punk rock movement. The band had UK number one hits with his compositions "Rat Trap" and "I Don't Like Mondays". Geldof starred as "Pink" in Pink Floyd's 1982 film Pink Floyd – The Wall. As a fundraiser, Geldof organised the charity supergroup Band Aid and the concerts Live Aid and Live 8, and co-wrote "Do They Know It's Christmas?", one of the best-selling singles of all time.

Trevor Horn British record producer and musician

Trevor Charles Horn is a British music producer, label and recording studio owner, songwriter, singer and bassist. He is best known for his production work in the 1980s, and for being one half of the new wave band the Buggles. Horn took up the bass guitar at an early age and taught himself the instrument and to sight-read music. In the 1970s, he worked as a session musician, built his own studio, and wrote and produced singles for various artists.

The Boomtown Rats Irish rock band

The Boomtown Rats are an Irish rock band originally formed in Dublin in 1975, that had a series of Irish and UK hits between 1977 and 1985. The group is led by vocalist Bob Geldof. The other members of the original line-up were Garry Roberts, Johnnie Fingers (keyboards), Pete Briquette (bass), Gerry Cott and Simon Crowe (drums). The Boomtown Rats broke up in 1986, but reformed in 2013, without Fingers or Cott.

Midge Ure Scottish musician

James Ure is a Scottish musician, singer-songwriter and producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, the diminutive form of his actual name. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s in bands including Slik, Thin Lizzy, Rich Kids and Visage, and as the frontman of Ultravox. In 1984, he co-wrote and produced the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?", which has sold 3.7 million copies in the UK. The song is the second highest-selling single in UK chart history. Ure co-organised Band Aid, Live Aid and Live 8 with Bob Geldof. He acts as a trustee for the charity and also serves as an ambassador for Save the Children.

Do They Know Its Christmas? 1984 song performed by Band Aid

"Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a song written in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in reaction to television reports of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. It was first recorded in a single day on 25 November 1984 by Band Aid, a supergroup put together by Geldof and Ure and consisting mainly of the biggest British and Irish musical acts at the time. The single was released in the United Kingdom on 3 December 1984 and aided by considerable publicity it entered the UK Singles Chart at number one and stayed there for five weeks, becoming the Christmas number one of 1984. The record became the fastest selling single in UK chart history, selling a million copies in the first week alone and passing three million sales on the last day of 1984, on the way to displacing Wings's "Mull of Kintyre" as the biggest-selling single of all time in the UK. It held this title until 1997 when it was overtaken by Elton John's "Candle in the Wind 1997", released in tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales following her death. The original version of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" has sold 3.8 million copies in the UK to date. In a UK-wide poll in December 2012, it was voted sixth on the ITV television special The Nation's Favourite Christmas Song.

Band Aid 20 was the 2004 incarnation of the charity supergroup Band Aid. The group, which included Daniel Bedingfield, Dido, Justin Hawkins of The Darkness, Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Bono of U2, and Paul McCartney, re-recorded the 1984 song "Do They Know It's Christmas?", written by Band Aid organisers Bob Geldof and Midge Ure.

Tears Are Not Enough 1985 single by Northern Lights

"Tears Are Not Enough" is a 1985 charity single recorded by a supergroup of Canadian artists, under the name Northern Lights, to raise funds for relief of the 1983–85 famine in Ethiopia. It was one of a number of such supergroup singles recorded between December 1984 and April 1985, along with Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in the United Kingdom, USA for Africa's "We Are the World" in the United States, "Cantaré, cantarás" by a supergroup of Latin American and Spanish singers, Chanteurs sans Frontières's "Éthiopie" in France, and Fondation Québec-Afrique's "Les Yeux de la faim" in Quebec.

Alex Sadkin was an American record producer, engineer, mixer and mastering engineer.

This is a summary of 1985 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.

This is a summary of 1984 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.

The Incredible Penguins were an Australian supergroup formed in 1985, which reached the top ten on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart with their cover of "Happy Xmas " in December. Contributors included Angry Anderson, Bob Geldof, Brian Mannix, Scott Carne, Colleen Hewett, and John Farnham. The charity project, for research on little penguins, was organized and produced by Countdown host, Ian Meldrum.

Do You Believe in Miracles 1985 single by Slade

"Do You Believe in Miracles" is a song by the British rock band Slade, released in 1985 as a single which was included on the band's studio/compilation album Crackers: The Christmas Party Album. It was written by lead vocalist Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea, and produced by John Punter. It reached No. 54 in the UK, remaining in the charts for six weeks.

The Justice Collective was a collective of musicians and celebrities. The project is spearheaded by Peter Hooton of The Farm. It was originally established in 2012 as a fund-raising record raising money for the various charities associated with the Hillsborough disaster. It is best known for its charity single "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" in 2012. A closely related The Peace Collective released the charity single "All Together Now" in 2014.

Chester Kamen is an English session guitarist, whose work has included performing with Paul McCartney, Bryan Ferry, Bob Geldof, Madonna, Duran Duran, Robbie Williams, Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Seal, Massive Attack, Kirsty McColl, Belouis Some and Gabrielle.

When Harvey Met Bob is a 2010 television film, written by Joe Dunlop, dramatising the relationship between musician Bob Geldof and concert promoter Harvey Goldsmith as they organize the massive fundraising concert Live Aid in 1985. Directed by Nicholas Renton, the film stars Domhnall Gleeson as Geldof and Ian Hart as Goldsmith.

Band Aid 30 is the 2014 incarnation of the charity supergroup Band Aid. The group was announced on 10 November 2014 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, with Geldof stating that he took the step after the United Nations had contacted him, saying help was urgently needed to prevent the 2014 Ebola crisis in Western Africa spreading throughout the world. As in previous incarnations, the group covered the track "Do They Know It's Christmas?", written in 1984 by Geldof and Ure, this time to raise money towards the Ebola crisis in Western Africa. The track re-tweaked lyrics to reflect the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa, and all proceeds went towards battling what Geldof described as a "particularly pernicious illness because it renders humans untouchable and that is sickening".

References

  1. "BBC Radio 4 Saturday Live 12/12/2009" . Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  2. "Musicradar: the Making of Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas?" . Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  3. "Official website" . Retrieved 20 October 2012.