Ian Christopher Stanley (born 28 February 1957) is a British musician, songwriter and record producer. He was previously a member of the English band

Tears for Fears Tears for Fears are an English pop rock band formed in Bath, England, in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, Tears for Fears were associated with the new wav ...

for most of the 1980s, and played a key role in the making of their multi-platinum selling second studio album ''

Songs from the Big Chair ''Songs from the Big Chair'' is the second studio album by English pop rock band Tears for Fears, released on 25 February 1985 by Phonogram Records. The album peaked at number two in the UK and at number one in the US, becoming a multi-platinum s ...

''.

Biography

Career

After offering them free use of his recording facility, Stanley became a member of Tears for Fears, contributing on synthesizers, drum machines, organ, pianos and backing vocals on their first three albums. He also co-wrote (with

Roland Orzabal Roland Orzabal (born Roland Jaime Orzabal de la Quintana; 22 August 1961) is a British musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, and author. He is best known as a co-founder of Tears for Fears, of which he is the main songwriter and joint v ...

) many of their songs from the period 1983–1985, and was a part of the production team during this era as the band worked with producer

Chris Hughes Chris Hughes (born November 26, 1983) is an American entrepreneur and author who co-founded and served as spokesman for the online social directory and networking site Facebook until 2007. He was the publisher and editor-in-chief of ''The New R ...

at their studio, The Wool Hall, in Bath. He has appeared in several Tears for Fears music videos, including ''Change'' (in which he plays one of the two masked musicians), '' Mothers Talk'' (version 1 & 3), ''Shout'', ''

Everybody Wants to Rule the World "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a song by English pop rock band Tears for Fears. It was written by Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley, and Chris Hughes and produced by Hughes. The song was first released on 22 March 1985 by Phonogram, Mercury, ...

'', ''Head over Heels'' and ''I Believe'', and has performed with the band on many television performances. He also appeared in the 1983 Tears for Fears live video ''

In My Mind's Eye ''In My Mind's Eye'' is a concert performance video released by the British group Tears For Fears. It was recorded in December 1983 at the London Hammersmith Odeon (now the Hammersmith Apollo), and released on home video in October 1984. The ba ...

'', and the 1985 Tears for Fears documentary film ''

Scenes from the Big Chair ''Scenes from the Big Chair'' is a documentary film about the British band Tears for Fears. Released on home video in 1985, the 75 minute documentary was made at the height of the band's global success following the release of their multi-platinu ...

'', as well as completing two world tours with the band.

Post-Tears for Fears and production

Following the success of ''Songs from the Big Chair'', Stanley collaborated with

on the 1986 side project Mancrab, releasing a single, "Fish for Life", which was made for the soundtrack of the film ''

The Karate Kid Part II ''The Karate Kid Part II'' is a 1986 American martial arts drama film written by Robert Mark Kamen and directed by John G. Avildsen. It is the second installment in the ''Karate Kid'' franchise and the sequel to the 1984 film ''The Karate Kid'', ...

''. Stanley also began working on Tears for Fears' third album, ''

The Seeds of Love ''The Seeds of Love'' is the third studio album by British pop rock band Tears for Fears, released on 25 September 1989 by Fontana Records. It retained the band's epic sound while incorporating influences ranging from jazz and soul to Beatlesque ...

'', but (along with producer Chris Hughes) left the project due to creative differences. His more prominent contributions to this album, however, can be heard on the hit single "

Sowing the Seeds of Love "Sowing the Seeds of Love" is a song by English pop rock band Tears for Fears. It was released as the first single from their third studio album, '' The Seeds of Love'' (1989). The song was a worldwide hit, topping the Canadian '' RPM'' Top Sin ...

" and the B-sides "Always in the Past" and "My Life in the Suicide Ranks". Since the 1980s, Stanley has produced such artists as

Lloyd Cole and the Commotions Lloyd Cole and the Commotions were a British rock/pop band that formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1982. Between 1984 and 1989, the band scored four Top 20 albums and five Top 40 singles in the UK; it also had success in several other countries in ...

A-ha A-ha (usually stylised as ''a-''h''a''; ) is a Norwegian synth-pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. Founded by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars and vocals), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitars and vocals), and Morten Harket (lead vocals), the band ...

The Pretenders Pretenders are an English–American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Fa ...

, Howard Jones,

Ultra adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by breaking high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park. '' ...

Republica Republica are an English alternative rock band formed in 1994. The height of their popularity spanned from 1996 to 1999. The current line-up consists of Saffron (vocals), Tim Dorney (keyboards), Johnny Male (guitar), Conor Lawrence (drums). T ...

Naimee Coleman Naimee Coleman (born 8 December 1976) is an Irish singer/songwriter from Dundrum, Dublin, Ireland. Coleman began writing music at the age of 14 and won the 2FM Song Contest in 1994 as a member of a band named the Wilde Oscars. After signing wit ...

, Stephanie Kirkham,

Natalie Imbruglia Natalie Jane Imbruglia ( , ; born 4 February 1975) is an Australian singer and actress. In the early 1990s, she played Beth Brennan in the Australian soap opera '' Neighbours''. Three years after leaving the programme, she began a singing car ...

Propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

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' ...

and

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

. He also contributed to

The Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is an English 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 stopped releasin ...

re-recording of ''Temple of Love'' and additional production on '' Under The Gun''. Stanley also did A&R for Warners

East West Records East West Records (stylized as east''west'') is a record label formed in 1955, distributed and owned by Warner Music Group, headquartered in London, England. History Upon its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had one hit with th ...

but left in 1998. Stanley's most recent work was producing

The Beautiful South The Beautiful South were an English pop rock group formed in 1988 by Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway, two former members of the Hull group The Housemartins, both of whom performed lead and backing vocals. Other members throughout the band's exi ...

's album ''

Superbi ''Superbi'' is the tenth and final album by the British group The Beautiful South, released on 15 May 2006 by SonyBMG. The album entered the British chart at No. 6 before dropping to No. 20 and No. 37 in its second and third weeks respectively. I ...

'' (2006), in part at his Irish studio in

Enniskerry Enniskerry (historically ''Annaskerry'', from ) is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. The population was 1,889 at the 2016 census. Location The village is situated on the Glencullen River in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains in the ea ...

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by t ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Ian 1957 births Living people English keyboardists English new wave musicians Tears for Fears members English record producers English songwriters People from High Wycombe