The record biz is a harsh mistress. There are a million stories of great bands being chewed up and spit out by the very machinery that now seems to do nothing but make stars out of complete also-ran's, but the fact that The Producers' second album, "You Make The Heat", was such a commercial no-show has always disheartened me.
I'll admit to thinking their debut was a completely lightweight pop affair and I have no idea what led me to give them a second chance, but the moment I heard songs like "She Sheila", "Merry-Go-Round" and the riveting "Dear John", I was a Producers fan for life.
It wouldn't have taken a perfect world for these songs to be all over the radio, just a radio promotions staff at CBS Records capable of doing their job. Instead, the Producers joined a long list of bands on the roster toiling in abject obscurity...among them the Hawks, the Elvis Brothers, 20/20, Holly & The Italians, Garland Jeffreys, Gary Myrick & The Figures, the Sorrows, and others.
By 1985, the Producers had parted ways with Portrait/Epic/CBS and bassist/singer Kyle Henderson had parted ways with the band to pursue a solo career that amounted to little more than singing backing vocals on albums by Kansas and Laura Branigan in addition to a Christian-themed solo album that was released with little notice at all.
With new bassist Tim Smith (who would go on to join Jellyfish and has long been a member of Sheryl Crow's band), the band reconvened at the very same studio where they had recorded "You Make The Heat" (Axis Studios in Atlanta, GA) to record the tracks that would become the album known...or unknown, as the case may be...as "Run For Your Life".
While the album was widely available at the time of release, it has since faded into obscurity and, while the rest of the band's catalog has been re-issued on CD (even the long-shelved 1988 MCA CD, "Coelecanth", which was eventually issued in 2001 on One Way Records), remains unavailable in any digital format.
So, I've ripped the tracks straight from scratchy vinyl for your listening pleasure.
Run For Your Life
Slow Dancing
Depending On You
Tightrope
Can't Cry Anymore
Boat Song
Table For One
Friendly Fire
Big Mistake
Waiting On A Train
3 comments:
The Producers, it seems so long ago. I can remember they had a couple of videos on MTV, I guess. At the end of one of the vids they showed their names, the bald keyboardist was named Wayne Famous. Sadly that sticks in my head 25 years later. She Sheila, What's He Got? were good tracks. Thanks for taking me back a ways.
Oh how I love the Producers! I use to have all of their records but I had a fire March 10, 2007 and lost everything. Thanks for this record I forgot how much I missed it. You wouldn't have "You Make the Heat" lp would you? Back to Basics, She Sheila, Dear John. They could truly rock. Thanks again for this posting and for your wonderful Blog.
Sincerely,
Robert Lewis
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