Eric Radcliffe
Encyclopedia
Eric Radcliffe is a recording engineer
and producer who worked with New Wave
and synthpop
bands in the early 1980s in Basildon
, England
. He later became owner of Blackwing Studios
.
, and the duo's first album named after him (Upstairs at Eric's
). In March 1984 Radcliffe gave an interview to Electronics and Music Maker in which he mentioned how he got into the business:
And a snippet on his contribution to the Yazoo sound:
After Yazoo, Radcliffe and Yazoo-songwriter Vince Clarke
continued to work together. As The Assembly
they released the single "Never Never
" with singer Feargal Sharkey
in the autumn of 1983. Clarke and Radcliffe also founded the record company Reset Records
, and released singles with Robert Marlow
.
Eric Radcliffe now lives in Gravesend
in Kent
, with his three daughters Kai, Fay and Mae. In the documentary video accompanying Yazoo's 25th anniversary release In Your Room, Eric Radcliffe delivers the following written message:
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
and producer who worked with New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
and synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
bands in the early 1980s in Basildon
Basildon
Basildon is a town located in the Basildon District of the county of Essex, England.It lies east of Central London and south of the county town of Chelmsford...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He later became owner of Blackwing Studios
Blackwing Studios
Blackwing Studios was an English recording studio, most notable for early Depeche Mode and Yazoo recordings in the early 1980s.-Background:The Blackwing Studios complex was housed inside a deconsecrated church in South-East London. All Hallows church was partly destroyed during The Blitz in 1941...
.
Background
Eric Radcliffe is believed to have had a huge part in the success of Yazoo (Yaz in the US)Yazoo (band)
Yazoo are a British synthpop duo from Basildon, Essex. They had a number of Top 10 hits in the UK charts in the early 1980s...
, and the duo's first album named after him (Upstairs at Eric's
Upstairs at Eric's
Upstairs at Eric's is Yazoo's first album produced by the band and E.C. Radcliffe with assistance from Daniel Miller. It reached # 2 in UK and # 92 in US...
). In March 1984 Radcliffe gave an interview to Electronics and Music Maker in which he mentioned how he got into the business:
When I was about fifteen the group I was in was booked into a four-track studio to do some demos, and I got a taste for recording then. I got an AkaiAkaiAkai is a consumer electronics brand, founded by Saburo Akai as , a Japanese manufacturer in 1929. It is now headquartered in Singapore as a subsidiary of Grande Holdings, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate, which also owns the formerly Japanese brands Nakamichi and Sansui. The Akai brand is now used...
reel-to-reel at home and I built a studio in the front room, with multi-core cable running into my bedroom which acted as the control room... it snowballed... eventually I was able to afford a eight-track TeacTeacTEAC Corporation is an electronics company based in Japan. TEAC was founded in 1953 as the Tokyo Electro Acoustic Company. TEAC has four divisions:*TASCAM - consumer to professional audio products, mostly recording...
and it was with that machine that I came up to London and set-up the studio here, which I called Blackwing and it took off in earnest...
And a snippet on his contribution to the Yazoo sound:
We often combine more than one [device] to create a sound. One particular one that sticks in my memory is the snare-drum sound on Yazoo's "Don't Go", I did that using the LexiconLexicon (company)Lexicon is an American audio equipment manufacturing company founded in 1971 and owned by Harman International Industries. Lexicon's roots began in 1969 with the founding of American Data Sciences by MIT professor Dr...
224 and 224x [reverbs] ganged together. We came across that sound entirely by accident, but then again, in the final analysis I think you discover almost everything by accident, just by fiddling around.
After Yazoo, Radcliffe and Yazoo-songwriter Vince Clarke
Vince Clarke
Vince Clarke is an English synthpop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been involved with a number of successful groups, including Depeche Mode, Yazoo, The Assembly and Erasure....
continued to work together. As The Assembly
The Assembly
The Assembly were a synthpop project formed in 1983 in Basildon, England by:* Vince Clarke * Eric Radcliffe...
they released the single "Never Never
Never Never (The Assembly song)
"Never Never" is the title of the only single released by the Vince Clarke project, The Assembly, in 1983.The song features Feargal Sharkey of The Undertones on vocals; Sharkey's performance on "Never Never" was a total departure from the punk sound of The Undertones. The song peaked at number four...
" with singer Feargal Sharkey
Feargal Sharkey
Feargal Sharkey is a singer from Northern Ireland who first found fame as the lead vocalist of pop punk band The Undertones...
in the autumn of 1983. Clarke and Radcliffe also founded the record company Reset Records
Reset Records
Reset Records is a British record company founded in 1983 by Vince Clarke and Eric Radcliffe.The 4 singles from Robert Marlow were released on this label from his friend Vince Clarke. Absolute and Hardware released also some singles on the label.- External links :*...
, and released singles with Robert Marlow
Robert Marlow
Robert Marlow is a synthpop musician and songwriter.-Biography:Robert Marlow grew up in Basildon with future Depeche Mode members Vince Clarke, Martin Gore, and Andy Fletcher. He is also tied to Alison Moyet, with whom he played in a band, The Vandals. He knew Andy and Vince from the Basildon...
.
Eric Radcliffe now lives in Gravesend
Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, with his three daughters Kai, Fay and Mae. In the documentary video accompanying Yazoo's 25th anniversary release In Your Room, Eric Radcliffe delivers the following written message:
I count myself fortunate and privileged to have worked with such a talented team. I remember that we had to build a studio in my house (in about ten days) to complete the recording of Upstairs at Eric's because Blackwing Studios London was fully booked. My mother provided us all with her famous "egg and chipsEgg and chipsEgg and chips is a popular working-class dish in the United Kingdom, consisting simply of chips served with fried eggs. Food writer Mary Cadogan says that "Egg and chips for me is a marriage made in heaven...
" and also appeared on the record. Wonderful days!
Best regards
Eric Radcliffe
Notable work
- See also .
- Fad GadgetFad GadgetFad Gadget is the stage name of Francis John Tovey , a British avant-garde electronic musician and vocalist. He was a proponent of both New Wave and early Industrial music....
- Fireside FavouritesFireside FavouritesFireside Favourites is an album released by Frank Tovey, better known as Fad Gadget, in September 1980. The music developed the primitive industrial sound of his first recordings, the singles "Back to Nature" and "Ricky's Hand"...
(1980) - Fad Gadget - IncontinentIncontinent (album)Incontinent is the second album by Frank Tovey, better known as Fad Gadget, released in 1981. While developing the industrial sound of his debut Fireside Favourites in 1980, the new album relied less on drum machines and found objects, introducing more traditional instruments such as accordion and...
(1981) - Depeche ModeDepeche ModeDepeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
- Speak & SpellSpeak & Spell (album)Speak & Spell is the first album from the British electronic group Depeche Mode, recorded and released in 1981. The album peaked at #10 in the UK Albums Chart.-Overview:This was the only Depeche Mode album with Vince Clarke as a member of the band...
(1981) - YazooYazoo (band)Yazoo are a British synthpop duo from Basildon, Essex. They had a number of Top 10 hits in the UK charts in the early 1980s...
- Upstairs at Eric'sUpstairs at Eric'sUpstairs at Eric's is Yazoo's first album produced by the band and E.C. Radcliffe with assistance from Daniel Miller. It reached # 2 in UK and # 92 in US...
(1982) - Depeche Mode - A Broken FrameA Broken Frame* All compositions by Martin Gore.* David Gahan sings lead vocals on all songs except "Shouldn't Have Done That" which is a duet with Gore. "Nothing to Fear" and "Further Excerpts From: My Secret Garden" are instrumental.-2006 re-release:...
(1982) - Yazoo - You and Me BothYou and Me BothYou and Me Both is the second, and final, album released by British synthpop duo Yazoo in 1983. As was their debut, the record was produced by Yazoo members Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet along with E.C. Radcliffe...
(1983) - The AssemblyThe AssemblyThe Assembly were a synthpop project formed in 1983 in Basildon, England by:* Vince Clarke * Eric Radcliffe...
- "Never NeverNever Never (The Assembly song)"Never Never" is the title of the only single released by the Vince Clarke project, The Assembly, in 1983.The song features Feargal Sharkey of The Undertones on vocals; Sharkey's performance on "Never Never" was a total departure from the punk sound of The Undertones. The song peaked at number four...
" (1983) - Duet Emmo - "Or So It Seems" (1983)
- Robert MarlowRobert MarlowRobert Marlow is a synthpop musician and songwriter.-Biography:Robert Marlow grew up in Basildon with future Depeche Mode members Vince Clarke, Martin Gore, and Andy Fletcher. He is also tied to Alison Moyet, with whom he played in a band, The Vandals. He knew Andy and Vince from the Basildon...
- The Peter Pan EffectThe Peter Pan EffectThe Peter Pan Effect is the first album released by Robert Marlow. It was released in the summer of 1999, but was recorded 15 years earlier with Vince Clarke and Eric Radcliffe, shortly between the break-up of Yazoo and the formation of the Assembly and Erasure.The album was shelved, due to the...
(1999)
External links
- Eric Radcliffe discography on DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- http://books.google.com/books?id=gcw5Mo3OFYkC&pg=PA51&dq=Eric+Radcliffe&ei=W4DCS5rACZ7-zQSh-OyxBA&cd=1#v=onepage&q=Eric%20Radcliffe&f=false Engineering the Channel Tunnel- Eric Radcliffe survey, Colin J. Kirkland, 1995, page 51
- http://books.google.com/books?id=foViXo_JV9YC&pg=PA187&dq=eric+radcliffe&ei=oZfDS4muLpHwzATSqIHsAg&cd=4#v=onepage&q=eric%20radcliffe&f=false Tape Op: The Book about Creative Music Recording, Larry Crane, 2010, Vol. 2, page 187