"Produced by Tom Werman": The Producers

First off, before I go any further, let me tell you some great news. The Producers are reuniting for a few shows in September. You can go HERE for the dates. If you're going to be in Virginia, Alabama, Floria, or Louisiana, you need to get yourself to one of those shows...

Now, if you're anything like I was as a young and crazed kid heavy into his rock & roll, you didn't just come to rely upon certain bands because of their consistency in delivering the goods, you also came to rely upon certain producers. Thus, if an album by a band you'd never heard of carried the immortal words PRODUCED BY TOM WERMAN, then you knew you were looking at a slice of vinyl that might very well knock you on your ass.

Werman, of course, was a newly-appointed A&R guy with Epic Records when he signed REO Speedwagon (who were then managed by an up-and-coming manager by the name of Irving Azoff). His other duties entailed editing singles, which inevitably led to his first production work, on Ted Nugent's debut album for Epic Records.

He later went on to sign Cheap Trick and, after being promoted to staff producer for the label, produced the albums In Color, Heaven Tonight, and Dream Police.

For many, myself included, that is considered the Holy Trifecta of Cheap Trick albums.

Additionally, he also produced the sorely underrated debut by my second favorite band of all time, Off Broadway. That album, On, was out-of-print for ages, then suddenly re-issued by Atlantic not long after the band reformed in the mid-90's.

Thus, as far as this young rock fan was concerned, Werman could do no wrong.

Based on his name being prominently displayed on the back cover, I discovered and came to love albums by the likes of the Gary Myrick, Hawks, Molly Hatchet, and an Atlanta, Georgia band by the name of the Producers.

While I can't remember the last time I pulled out a Molly Hatchet record, no more than a few days go by without cranking up You Make The Heat, the Producers' amazing second record.

The moment that my needle met vinyl, I realized that this album was gonna be a great one. I liked the fact that the drummer had chops similar to The Police's Stewart Copeland and that the band had foregone the cuteness of songs like the dreadful "I Love Lucy" for the harder-edged and emotionally-charged "Dear John". Other songs, such as "Domino" and "Chinatown" were musically sophisticated, yet still rocked with abandon. The band was at their creative zenith and firing on all cylinders.

Of course, "She Sheila" was a monster hit single just waiting to happen. It, of course, never happened and that was that. The band's fate had been sealed and they were soon dropped by Portrait Records.

Singer Kyle Henderson found God, left the band, sang backing vocals on Kansas' Drastic Measures and was never heard from again.

The band, meanwhile, recruited Tim Smith (now bassist in Sheryl Crow's band) and released one more album, Run For Your Life, independently.

A few years ago, You Make The Heat and the band's debut were re-issued on a 2-fer CD (both albums on one disc), but it went quickly out-of-print and now goes for top-dollar on Amazon and eBay.



Back To Basics
She Sheila
Operation
Dear John
Breakaway
You Make The Heat
Merry-Go-Round
Chinatown
Domino

As for Tom Werman, He's been dropping some knowledge over at my blog-away-from-blog Popdose. If you're at all interested in hearing the man take you on a highly readable journey of his industry trials and tribulations, I urge you to get on over there.