Tom Werman (born 1945) [1] is an American record producer responsible for many hard rock and heavy metal albums.
Werman was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and grew up in Newton. [2] He earned a bachelor's degree and an MBA from Columbia University; [2] [3] [4]
In 1970, bored with his work in advertising, [5] he sent a letter to Clive Davis at CBS Records [3] and landed a job at Epic Records as an A&R man. His discoveries included Boston, Cheap Trick, REO Speedwagon, and Ted Nugent, whose first album he co-produced as his first production credit. [5] He also brought Kiss, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Rush to Epic, but the label passed on all three. [5]
After combining A&R with record producing at Epic until the end of 1982, Werman moved to Elektra Records the following year, but left after four months and continued in producing as an independent; [5] he also worked for a while as an executive at Capitol Records. [3] He retired from the music business in 2001 after producing the music and soundtrack for the film Rock Star , starring Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston. [6]
Werman has produced 23 gold and platinum albums by acts also including Blue Öyster Cult, Mother's Finest, Molly Hatchet, Ted Nugent, Mötley Crüe, Twisted Sister, Jeff Beck, Stryper, Hawks, Kix, L.A. Guns, and Poison, in addition to key recordings by Dokken, Gary Myrick & The Figures, Glass Tiger, Jason & The Scorchers, Krokus, Lita Ford, and The Producers.[ citation needed ]
Critics have sometimes described Werman's production style as too polished for the music. Werman replies that every act he produced officially approved his final mix of each album, at his request. "They love you when they're selling platinum albums. 20 years later they like to blame you for every single thing they were unable to achieve".
In 2002, Werman and his wife, Suky, opened Stonover Farm, a "luxury bed and breakfast" [6] in Lenox, Massachusetts. [2] [7] [8] In 2021, the Wermans sold the farm and retired from innkeeping. [9]
In September, 2023, Werman announced that his memoir, entitled "Turn It Up! My Time Making Hit Records In The Glory Days Of Rock Music", will be published on November 21, 2023.
Werman and his wife have three children. [5]
Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen and Petersson. Their work bridged elements of '60s guitar pop, hard rock, and punk rock, and would help set the template for subsequent power pop artists.
Boston is the debut studio album by American rock band Boston, released on August 25, 1976, by Epic Records. It was produced by Tom Scholz and John Boylan. A multi-instrumentalist and engineer who had been involved in the Boston music scene since the late 1960s, Scholz started to write and record demos in his apartment basement with singer Brad Delp, but received numerous rejections from major record labels. The demo tape fell into the hands of CBS-owned Epic, who signed the band in 1975.
Cat Scratch Fever is the third studio album by American rock musician Ted Nugent. It was released on May 13, 1977, by Epic Records. Vocalist Derek St. Holmes, who had left the band during the recording of the album Free-for-All, had come back for touring in 1976 and was again the principal lead singer on this album.
Ted Nugent is the debut studio album by American rock musician Ted Nugent. The album was released in September 1975 by Epic Records. It was Nugent's first release after the disbanding of his former group, The Amboy Dukes.
Open Up and Say... Ahh! is the second studio album by American glam metal band Poison, released on April 27, 1988, through Enigma Records. It proved to be the band's most successful release, and spawned four hit singles: "Nothin' But a Good Time", "Fallen Angel", "Your Mama Don't Dance" and their only number one single to date, "Every Rose Has Its Thorn". The album peaked at number two on the US Billboard 200.
Flirtin' with Disaster is the second studio album by American rock band Molly Hatchet, released in 1979 by Epic Records. The album was re-issued in 2001 with four bonus tracks. It is their best-selling album.
Theatre of Pain is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, released on June 24, 1985. Released in the aftermath of lead vocalist Vince Neil's arrest for manslaughter on a drunk driving charge, the album marked the beginning of the band's transition away from the traditional heavy metal sound of Too Fast for Love and Shout at the Devil, towards a more glam metal style.
Tooth and Nail is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Dokken, released on September 14, 1984 through Elektra Records. After the unsuccessful US release of the band's 1983 debut album, Breaking the Chains, the record label was reluctant to give credit to Dokken for a follow-up. Dokken's management struggled to convince the label's executives to give the band another chance and this fight for recognition is reflected in the album's title. This album was the group's first with bassist Jeff Pilson following Juan Croucier's departure to join Ratt.
Girls, Girls, Girls is the fourth studio album by American rock band Mötley Crüe, released on May 15, 1987. The album contains the hit singles "Girls, Girls, Girls", "You're All I Need", and the MTV favorite "Wild Side". It was the band's final collaboration with producer Tom Werman, who had produced the band's two previous albums, Shout at the Devil and Theatre of Pain. Like those albums, Girls, Girls, Girls would achieve quadruple platinum status, selling over 4 million copies and reaching number two on the Billboard 200. The album marked a change to a blues-rock influenced sound, which was met with positive reception.
Mirrors is the sixth studio album by American rock band Blue Öyster Cult, released on June 19, 1979. It was the first BÖC album not produced by long-time producer and manager Sandy Pearlman, instead being produced by Tom Werman.
Cocked & Loaded is the second studio album by American glam metal band L.A. Guns. Recorded at Hollywood studios One on One, Music Grinder and Conway Recording, it was produced by Duane Baron, John Purdell and Tom Werman, and released on August 22, 1989 by Vertigo Records. The album is the first to feature drummer Steve Riley. "Rip and Tear", "Never Enough", "The Ballad of Jayne", "I Wanna Be Your Man" and "Malaria" were released as the album's singles.
Weekend Warriors is the fourth studio album by American hard rock musician Ted Nugent. It was released in November 1978 by Epic Records.
Live at Hammersmith '79 is a live album by American rock musician Ted Nugent, consisting of a performance originally broadcast on the King Biscuit Flower Hour, recorded during the second set of a sold-out night at London's Hammersmith Odeon in 1979 and not released until 1997.
Scream Dream is the sixth studio album by American hard rock musician Ted Nugent. The album was released in June 1980 by Epic Records, and reached number 13 on the Billboard 200. It was his last studio album to feature drummer Cliff Davies.
Free-for-All is the second studio album by American rock musician Ted Nugent. It was released in September 1976 by Epic Records, and was his first album to go platinum.
Double Live Gonzo! is a live album by the American hard rock guitarist Ted Nugent, released as a double LP in 1978. In addition to live versions of songs from previous albums, this double album also contains original material played live, including: "Yank Me, Crank Me" and "Gonzo". The album has reached 3× Platinum status in the United States.
If You Can't Lick 'Em... Lick 'Em is the tenth studio album by American hard rock guitarist Ted Nugent. The album was released in February 1988, by Atlantic Records and reached No. 112 in the Billboard 200 US chart. It also marks the first album to feature Nugent as the sole lead vocalist after only providing secondary lead vocals on previous albums.
"Stranglehold" is a song by American rock musician Ted Nugent, the first track from his self-titled debut 1975 album. The vocals are by Derek St. Holmes. However, the "Sometimes you wanna get higher" verse is sung by Nugent. Nugent admits that the song was co-written by Rob Grange, who received no share.
Sam Hollander is an American songwriter. He has collaborated with Panic! at the Disco, One Direction, Fitz and the Tantrums, Weezer, blink-182, Train, Ringo Starr, Carole King, Katy Perry, Boys Like Girls, Metro Station, Billy Idol, Def Leppard, Daughtry, Gym Class Heroes, Tom Morello, among others.
Tom Brooks is an American music producer, arranger, engineer, and conductor. He is keyboardist/Music Director for Alan Parsons and the Alan Parsons Live Project, and is the founding producer of Integrity Music and the Hosanna Music series distributed by Sony. For his production work Brooks has been awarded 6 Platinum Albums, 12 Gold Albums, a Latin Grammy Award, and a GMA Dove Award. He is Director of the Center for Commercial Music at California Baptist University and Music Professor at Hope International University. His "Language of Music" book is published by Hal Leonard Publishing.