Christopher Andrew Tsangarides (17 August 1956 – 6 January 2018) was a British

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

-nominated

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

, and mixer of

Greek Cypriot Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνοκύπριοι, Ellinokýprioi, tr, Kıbrıs Rumları) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2011 census, 659,115 ...

origin. He was best known for his work with many heavy metal artists, including

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, heavy metal, and jazz ...

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or s ...

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

Helloween Helloween is a German power metal band founded in 1984 in Hamburg by members of bands Iron Fist, Gentry, Second Hell and Powerfool. Its first lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Kai Hansen, bassist Markus Grosskopf, guitarist Michael W ...

Anvil An anvil is a metalworking tool consisting of a large block of metal (usually forged or cast steel), with a flattened top surface, upon which another object is struck (or "worked"). Anvils are as massive as practical, because the highe ...

, Angra,

Anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...

Yngwie Malmsteen Yngwie Johan Malmsteen ( ; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist. He first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical playing style in heavy metal, and has released 22 studio albums in a career spanning ov ...

, and

Tygers of Pan Tang Tygers of Pan Tang are an English heavy metal band who are part of the new wave of British heavy metal movement. They formed in 1978 in Whitley Bay, England, and were active until 1987. The band reformed in 1999 and continue to record and pe ...

. Tsangarides worked with many pop and alternative artists as well, including

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depech ...

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer * Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in ...

Concrete Blonde Concrete Blonde was an American alternative rock band from Hollywood, California. They were initially active from 1982 to 1995, and reunited twice: first from 2001 to 2004, and again from 2010 to 2012. They were best known for their album ''Bloo ...

, and

The Tragically Hip The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as the Hip, were a Canadian rock band formed in Kingston, Ontario in 1984, consisting of vocalist Gord Downie, guitarist Paul Langlois, guitarist Rob Baker (known as Bobby Baker until 1994), bassi ...

Career

Chris Tsangarides learned to play piano as a child and studied trumpet at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke ...

, before studying economics at college. He started his career in the music business in 1974, as an apprentice at

Morgan Studios Morgan Studios (founded as Morgan Sound Studios) was an independent recording studio in Willesden in northwest London. Founded in 1967, the studio was the location for recordings by such notable artists as Jethro Tull, the Kinks, Paul McCartney, ...

in London, one of the major independent recording studios in the UK at the time. Initially, he worked there as a tape operator and his first job as sound engineer was on

's second album '' Sad Wings of Destiny'' in 1976. He engineered the British hit single "Naughty Naughty Naughty" in 1977, a pop song by Joy Sarney, whose success gave him much more work as engineer at the studio. In that period he engineered and mixed albums of new wave acts, such as Japan's '' Obscure Alternatives'' (1978), and

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and key ...

releases of Colosseum II and Brand X. Tsangarides befriended Colosseum II guitarist

, who asked him to produce his solo album '' Back on the Streets'' (1978), which was Tsangarides's first job as producer. The song "

Parisienne Walkways "Parisienne Walkways" is a song by guitarist Gary Moore that reached number 8 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1979. The song is featured on Moore's album '' Back on the Streets'' and features a vocal from Thin Lizzy frontman, Phil Lynott, who c ...

", sung on the album by Thin Lizzy's

Phil Lynott Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish singer, bassist, and songwriter. His most commercially successful group was Thin Lizzy, of which he was a founding member, the principal songwriter, lead vocalist and ba ...

, was a hit in the UK. Tsangarides continued working with Moore on live albums and produced '' Back to the Blues'' in 2001. When Morgan Studios 3 and 4 were acquired by Zomba Management in 1980 and rechristened Battery Studios, Tsangarides was hired by the new owners as part of a team of "in-house producers" which included Robert John "Mutt" Lange,

Martin Birch Martin Birch (27 December 19489 August 2020) was a British music producer and sound engineer. He became renowned for engineering and producing albums recorded predominantly by British rock bands, including Deep Purple, Rainbow, Fleetwood Mac ...

Tony Platt Tony Platt is an English sound engineer and record producer, best known for his work with a diverse mix of artists, including, AC/DC, Cheap Trick, Bob Marley, Iron Maiden, Shy, Buddy Guy, Foreigner, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Sparks, Jaz ...

and Nigel Green. During the 1980s and up to the 1990s, Tsangarides became notable on the hard rock and heavy metal scene for the quality of his job and for having produced signature albums, such as

's '' Metal on Metal'' in 1982,

's acclaimed final studio release '' Thunder and Lightning'' in 1983 and the Grammy nominated '' Painkiller'' by Judas Priest in 1990. He worked in those years with

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped de ...

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

, Y&T,

, Sinner,

King Diamond Kim Bendix Petersen (born 14 June 1956), better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Danish rock musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his powerful and wide-ranging countertenor singing voice, in particular his far-reaching falsetto s ...

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, and produced also

Bruce Dickinson Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who has been the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1981 to 1993 and 1999–present. He is known for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stag ...

's first solo album '' Tattooed Millionaire'' (1990). Beside his work with metal bands, Tsangarides recorded songs for artists of other musical genres, like singer/songwriter

Joan Armatrading Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, (, born 9 December 1950) is a Kittitian-English singer-songwriter and guitarist. A three-time Grammy Award nominee, Armatrading has also been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist. She receive ...

, pop star

, goth rockers The Lords of the New Church,

Killing Joke Killing Joke are an English rock band from Notting Hill, London, England, formed in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (bass). Their first album, '' Killing Joke'', was released ...

and keyboardist

Jan Hammer Jan Hammer () (born 17 April 1948) is a Czech-American musician, composer, and record producer. He first gained his most visible audience while playing keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra during the early 1970s, as well as his film scores fo ...

. In 1987, he remixed the song "

Never Let Me Down Again "Never Let Me Down Again" is a song by English electronic music band Depeche Mode. It was released as the second single from their sixth studio album, ''Music for the Masses'' (1987), on 24 August 1987. It reached No. 22 in the UK, No. 2 in West ...

" by

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

band

for a release as single. The 1990s saw Tsangarides still at work with metal bands like

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Exo ...

, Overkill, Judas Priest again with the album ''Painkiller'', the Japanese

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and guitar virtuoso

, but he also produced the British gothic rock act

The Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is an English rock music, rock band, formed in 1980 in Leeds. After achieving early underground fame there, the band had their commercial breakthrough in the mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stop ...

and the

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

groups

and

. For the latter band, he also produced and engineered the hit single "

Joey Joey may refer to: People *Joey (name) Animals * Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial * Joey, a Blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets Film and television * ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horace ...

" in 1990. In 1999, Tsangarides collaborated as a performer and songwriter with Shin Hae-chul in the techno/metal act Monocrom. They made one album and did an arena tour in Shin's native Korea. At the beginning of the 2000s, Tsangarides had his own music company called Rainmaker Music, which included a recording studio with the same name in South London. He later opened another studio called The Dump in Kenley, Surrey, which operated until January 2006. Among others,

New Model Army The New Model Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Thr ...

, Leanne Harte, Winters Bane and Glyder recorded there. In 2006, Tsangarides opened a new recording facility, Ecology Room Studios in Kent, England, where he went on producing new and established acts on lower budgets than in corporate studios. The Strawbs,

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

Steeleye Span Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, and we ...

, The Quireboys, Biomechanical, Spit Like This, Savage Messiah and many other bands recorded at his new facility. LunarMile, whose members include Toni-Marie Iommi (daughter of Black Sabbath's

Tony Iommi Anthony Frank Iommi () (born 19 February 1948) is a British musician. He co-founded the pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's guitarist, leader and primary composer and sole continuous member for nearly five decades. I ...

) and Alex Hill (son of Judas Priest's Ian Hill), recorded there in June 2007. Tsangarides is featured in

Sacha Gervasi Alexander Simon "Sacha" Gervasi''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (; born 1966) is a British director, screenwriter and former journalist. Early life Gervasi was born in London. His mother ...

's documentary film ''

Anvil! The Story of Anvil ''Anvil! The Story of Anvil'' is a 2008 Canadian rockumentary film about the Canadian heavy metal band Anvil. The film is directed by screenwriter Sacha Gervasi, in his directorial debut, and features interviews with other musicians who have bee ...

'', released in 2009, while at work on the album '' This Is Thirteen'', which Anvil recorded at Ecology Room Studios. Between 2010-2013, Tsangarides collaborated with th
Band Complete
team at SAE Athens. Tsangarides acted as the recording-sessions mentor, supervisor, recording engineer, and producer. Band Complete engaged students in several areas of creative media production/publishing and the professional life of a music band. Overall, Tsangarides mentored three intakes and engineered/produced EPs for Puta Volcano, Stonebringer, and Skinny Whales. In February 2012, Tsangarides announced details of a new record label Dark Lord Records formed with The Strawbs frontman

Dave Cousins Dave Cousins (born David Joseph Hindson; 7 January 1945) is an English musician who has been the leader, singer and most-active songwriter of Strawbs since 1967. Career Cousins is a founder member of the Strawbs, which started out as the Str ...

. The first release on the new label was ''Normalityville Horror'' by Spit Like This on 21 May. Tsangarides occasionally played guitar and performed live with the metal band Exmore / More 2012. He died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

and

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

on 7 January 2018, aged 61.

Technical accomplishments

Tsangarides is known for a guitar recording technique called "the vortex", which he first used when recording the guitar of

John Goodsall John Goodsall (15 February 1953 – 10 November 2021) was a British-American progressive rock and jazz fusion guitarist most noted for his work with Brand X, Atomic Rooster, and The Fire Merchants. Life and career Goodsall was born in Middles ...

for the Brand X album '' Moroccan Roll'' in 1977. He later refined the technique, which gives to the recordings a random panning effect similar to a reverb, but obtained through a particular placement of microphones.

Bands worked with

Source: *

The Amorettes The Amorettes were a hard rock band formed in Scotland in 2009. They performed in support of Black Star Riders, Europe, W.A.S.P., Ash, The Dead Daisies, Black Stone Cherry, Gun and Thunder among others, and toured across the UK, and perfor ...

* Angra *

* Aqualung *

* Barón Rojo * Biomechanical * Bitches Sin * Black Acid Souls *

Blanco Diablo

Blind Tiger
* Kevin Borich * Brand X *

Briar Rose Briar Rose may refer to: Folklore * "Little Briar Rose", also called "Sleeping Beauty", a folk tale originally recorded by the Brothers Grimm Characters * Briar Rose, a pseudonym used by Princess Aurora in Walt Disney's 1959 film ''Sleeping Beau ...

* Broon * Ethan Brosh * Capital Sun * Chemicals of Democracy * Colosseum II * The Comsat Angels *

Sara Craig Sara Craig is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Craig launched her career in 1987 by placing a classified ad in Toronto's '' NOW'' looking for musicians to work with. She released her debut EP in 1991, and quickly became popular in Canadian altern ...

* Crowning Glory *

* Delfins *

* Desolation Angels *

* Exmore / More 2012 *

* Fear of God * Fortnox ( Epic) *

Samantha Fox Samantha Karen Fox (born 15 April 1966) is an English pop singer and former glamour model from East London. She rose to public attention aged 16, when her mother entered her photographs in an amateur modelling contest run by '' The Sunday Peop ...

Girl A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a '' woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionar ...

Girlschool Girlschool are a British Rock music, rock band that formed in the new wave of British heavy metal scene in 1978. Frequently associated with contemporaries Motörhead, they are the longest-running all-female rock band, still active after more ...

* Glyder * Hardwicke Circus *

* Hex A D *

The Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album '' Dare ...

* Incinery * Jailcat * Japan *

King Lizard King Lizard was a four-piece rock band from London, England. Biography The band first formed in 2002, and after extensive line-up changes, took its final form in 2010. Lead singer Flash Roxx started the band at age 19. Sky London became ...

* The Lords of the New Church *

* Magnum *

* Mama's Boys *

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primar ...

Matt Mays and El Torpedo Matt Mays (born August 10, 1979) is a Canadian indie rock singer-songwriter and was the lead singer of Matt Mays & El Torpedo, a rock music group based in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and New York City. Previously, Mays was a member of a Canadian in ...

* Nick Miller * Mimas * Money *

* N.EX.T * Nightlord *

Gilbert O'Sullivan Raymond Edward "Gilbert" O'Sullivan (born 1 December 1946) is an Irish singer-songwriter who achieved his most significant success during the early 1970s with hits including " Alone Again (Naturally)", " Clair", and "Get Down". O'Sullivan's s ...

* Overkill *

Praying Mantis Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. They hav ...

*Prowler (band) * The Prime Movers *

Quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical ...

* The Quireboys *

Rock Goddess Rock Goddess are an English all-female heavy metal band formed in Wandsworth, South London, in 1977 by sisters Jody Turner and Julie Turner. The band were initially active during the new wave of British heavy metal musical movement, releasin ...

* Revival * Savage Messiah * Shin Hae-chul/Monocrom * Sinner *

Slave Raider Slave Raider was an American heavy metal band formed in 1985 that was known for its over-the-top antics, heavy make-up and glam song lyrics. In the Twin Cities, Slave Raider had a sizeable following that were known as "The Raid". They opened f ...

Spider Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species d ...

* Spit Like This *

* Stella Maris * Stonebringer *

Strawbs Strawbs (or The Strawbs) are an English rock band founded in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys. The band started out as a bluegrass group, but eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock and progressive rock. They are best known ...

John Sykes John James Sykes (born 29 July 1959) is an English guitarist, best known as a member of Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy and Tygers of Pan Tang. He has also fronted the hard rock group Blue Murder and released several solo albums. Following a stint in ...

Therapy? Therapy? are a Northern Irish rock band from Larne, formed in 1989 by guitarist-vocalist Andy Cairns and drummer-vocalist Fyfe Ewing. Therapy? recorded their first demo with Cairns filling in on bass guitar. To complete the lineup, the band r ...

* ThisGirl * Barbara Thompson * Tigertailz * TNT * Tokyo Blade *

* UFO * Virgil & the Accelerators * Winters Bane * Wretched Soul * Y&T

References

External links

Chris Tsangarides on Encyclopedia Metallum

Chris Tsangarides on Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsangarides, Chris 1956 births 2018 deaths British audio engineers British record producers British people of Greek Cypriot descent Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music Deaths from pneumonia in the United Kingdom 20th-century British businesspeople

Career

Technical accomplishments

Bands worked with

See also

References

External links