Bill Price (3 September 1944 – 22 December 2016) was an English record producer and audio engineer who worked with

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...

The Sex Pistols ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

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, Sparks,

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and

Simon Townshend Simon Townshend (; born 10 October 1960) is a British guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is the younger brother of the Who's guitarist Pete Townshend, and is most associated with The Who and the various side projects of its original members ...

(

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's younger brother). He was chief engineer on the first three solo albums by

, including ''

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'' and '' White City: A Novel''. He contributed to documentaries about The Clash such as ''

Westway To The World ''The Clash: Westway to the World'' is a 2000 documentary film about the British punk rock band The Clash. In 2003 it won the Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video. Directed by Don Letts, the film combines old footage from the band's perso ...

''. Price started his engineering career in the mid-1960s when he was an engineer at

Decca Studios Decca Studios was a recording facility at 165 Broadhurst Gardens, West Hampstead, North London, England, controlled by Decca Records from 1937 to 1980. The building was once West Hampstead Town Hall, and had been converted to a recording studio b ...

West Hampstead West Hampstead is an area in the London Borough of Camden in north-west London. Mainly defined by the railway stations of the same name, it is situated between Childs Hill to the north, Frognal and Hampstead to the north-east, Swiss Cottage to ...

, recording artists such as Tom Jones. One of the final recordings he helped engineer at Decca before departing to

AIR Studios Associated Independent Recording (AIR) is an independent recording company founded in London in 1965 by record producer Sir George Martin and his business partner John Burgess, after their departure from Parlophone. The studio complex was founded ...

in November 1969 was the multi-million-selling "

Reflections of My Life "Reflections of My Life" was a 1969/1970 hit single for the Scottish band, Marmalade (band), Marmalade. It was written by their lead guitarist Junior Campbell, and singer Dean Ford (born Thomas McAleese). Released in late 1969, it was the band's ...

" by

The Marmalade Marmalade are a Scottish pop rock band originating from the east end of Glasgow, originally formed in 1961 as The Gaylords, and then later billed as Dean Ford and The Gaylords, recording four singles for Columbia (EMI). In 1966 they changed th ...

. Price helped build AIR Studios in Oxford Street, where he spent many years. During that time he engineered some of the major albums of the 1970s and 1980s

Sex Pistols

In 1976, he was asked by

Malcolm McLaren Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren (22 January 1946 – 8 April 2010) was an English impresario, visual artist, singer, songwriter, musician, clothes designer and boutique owner, notable for combining these activities in an inventive and provoc ...

to produce the

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' sessions that became the ''

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'' album. His work with the band led to one of his most curious album credits, alongside Chris Thomas. Price explained: During the media furore over the Sex Pistol's single ''

God Save the Queen "God Save the King" is the national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant, bu ...

'', Price, Thomas, and Pistols' vocalist

Johnny Rotten John Joseph Lydon (; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the late-1970s punk band the Sex Pistols, which lasted from 1975 until 1978, and agai ...

were subject to a razor attack outside a pub in Highbury, London.

Other work

Price also mixed Nilsson's " Without You". He was the chief engineer/manager at

Wessex Studios Wessex Sound Studios was a recording studio located at 106a Highbury New Park, London, England. Many renowned popular music artists recorded there, including Sex Pistols, King Crimson, the Clash, Theatre of Hate, XTC, the Sinceros, Queen, Talk Tal ...

, the London studio where the Clash and the Sex Pistols recorded much of their work. More recently he worked again with Mick Jones in his band Carbon/Silicon, and mixed

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' albums '' Nux Vomica'' and '' Time Stays, We Go''.

References

1944 births 2016 deaths English audio engineers English record producers 20th-century British businesspeople {{UK-record-producer-stub