Who is Mutt Lange and why is he famous

�

A.� Robert John 'Mutt' Lange is a song-writer and musician, but he is famous for two things.�He is married to country superstar Shania Twain, and he is one of the most prolific album composers ever, having had a hand in some of the biggest albums by some of the biggest artists over the last twenty plus years.� The nickname dates back to childhood�- everyone in the family had a nickname, Robert's youngest brother was called 'Slug' because he was podgy, and Robert was initially 'Puppy' which evolved into 'Mutt' and has stuck ever since. Nicknames obviously appeal�- Mutt's wife, country star Shania Twain is known as 'Woody' at home!

�

Q.� Producers don't normally become famous do they < xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

A.� Not usually.�Record production is normally a bit of a 'back room' occupation, but Mutt has been so successful for so long, his reputation is secure.

�

Q.� What sort of albums has Mutt Lange been involved in

A.� Mutt's career goes back to 1978, a radio-friendly sounding band called City Boy employed Mutt's production abilities on their Young Men Gone West album. Later the same year, Mutt fulfilled the same function for archetypal Brit art-rockers XTC, and a year later he was moving from one end of the musical spectrum to the other, working his magic on AC/DC's seminal Highway To Hell, and their revered resurgence from the tragic loss of vocalist Bon Scott, Back In Black. Mutt continued to work with groundbreaking album releases, his work on Foreigner's 4 album helped to re-draw the map for bands aiming to reach a wider audience via radio.

�

Q.� How did that work

A.� Mutt Lange was one of the first people to appreciate that breaking an act in a territory as massive as America required radio play, and lots of it. The way to ensure radio play, was to create a sound that fitted in with radio programmers' requirements�- smooth but punchy songs with bright and clear acoustics, just right for beaming into the majority of America's homes and cars. The 4 album exploited that aspect perfectly, and superstardom followed for Foreigner. Mutt Lange continued to work his magic using the same formula on an obscure 'New Wave Of British Heavy Metal' band called Def Leppard. Struggling around the club circuit, the Sheffield band were thrown a lifeline by Mutt Lange's production of their Pyromania album, which gained massive American radio exposure for the band and saw their career take off, and their success continues today.

�

Q.� So did Mutt Lange concentrate on rock acts

A.� No, part of Lange's success is rooted in the diversity of material he has produced.�As well as the hard rock acts whose albums he has supervised, Lange has worked with artists as diverse as Billy Ocean, The Cars, Savoy Brown, Bryan Adams, Tina Turner, and Backstreet Boys, as well as working with Shania Twain. His latest chart conquest is a co-writing credit on The Corrs' Breathless.

Q.� What about Mutt Lange the songwriter

A.� If it were possible, his talents as a songwriter eclipse Lange's career as a top-flight producer. Lange has written or co-written dozens of songs with a diversity of style similar to that which he brings to his production duties. Lange had creative input into Billy Ocean's massive When The Going Gets Tough, Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know by Britney Spears, co-written with Shania Twain and Keith Scott, and even I Finally Found Someone which he co-wrote with Barbra Streisand and songwriting legend Marvin Hamlish. Lange has also worked with disco superstars Nile Rogers and Bernard Edwards, co-writing with Michael Bolton for some of his hits. Probably Lange's most famous co-writing credit goes with Bryan Adams for Everything I do I Do For You. Although this is by far the biggest hit in Adams' career, he was unable to enjoy chart success in his native Canada. Because of a rule insisting that all Canadian chart music must be composed by native Canadians to qualify, Everything I Do was excluded because Lange was born in Rhodesia, and therefore his song writing is excluded from the Canadian charts.

�

Q.� What's next

A.� The Langes have just added a baby boy to their family, this August, so both parents are taking a well-earned break from their respective superstar careers, but no doubt both will resume contributions to popular music next year.

�

Do you have a musical question For an answer, click here

Andy Hughes