John Ratcliff (13 September 1954) is an English record producer and musician. He originally, discovered, supported and recorded the Norwegian

synth-pop 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 ...

group

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 ...

. Between 1983 and 1985 he rented a flat in Dartmouth Road,

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne ...

for the band to live in as it was 200 yards from his recording studio called Rendezvous. Sometimes the band members would take a 75 yard shortcut across the adjacent warehouse roof to get into the studio. Over that two year period the band recorded nearly forty songs, many of which ended up on their next three albums. The most notable of these being a demo of

Take On Me "Take On Me" is a song by the Norwegian synth-pop band A-ha. The original version, recorded in 1984 and released in October of that same year, was produced by Tony Mansfield and remixed by John Ratcliff. The 1985 international hit version was p ...

which embodied the distinctive a-ha sound that would later propel the band to worldwide success. TerrySlater(A-ha)

Eventually he got the band to sign a management deal with his and Terry Slater's management company, giving Pål,

Morten Morten is a common given name in Norway and Denmark. Approximately 22,138 have this name as a given name in Norway and about 52 people have it as a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Morten Abel, Norwegian singer *Morten Andersen, Da ...

and Mags a 25% share each of the profits. This arrangement was quickly superseded when Slater signed them to a publishing deal with ATV. He is noted for re-producing 8 of the 10 tracks on a-Ha's debut album

Hunting High And Low ''Hunting High and Low'' is the debut studio album by Norwegian new wave band A-ha, released on 1 June 1985 in the United States and 28 October 1985 in the United Kingdom by Warner Bros. Records. The album was a huge commercial success, reachin ...

in 1985 at

Eel Pie Studios Eel Pie Recording Studios, formerly Oceanic, was a recording studio located in The Boathouse, Twickenham on the banks of the River Thames in Ranelagh Drive, by Twickenham Bridge, West London, and also simultaneously at No. 45 Broadwick Street, ...

near Richmond-upon-Thames. The most notable track being their worldwide hit "

". Ratcliff has also worked with

Dexy's Midnight Runners Dexys Midnight Runners (currently officially Dexys, their former nickname, styled without an apostrophe) are an English pop rock band from Birmingham, with soul influences, who achieved major commercial success in the early to mid-1980s. They a ...

. He is currently the musical director, a composer and performer with the Macedonian Arts Council.

Producer

All chart placings refer to

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

only unless indicated otherwise.
Singles: * "

" by

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 ...

(1985, No. 2) (USA 1985, No. 1) * " Love Is Reason" by

(Norway 1985, Unplaced) Albums: * ''

Hunting High and Low ''Hunting High and Low'' is the debut studio album by Norwegian new wave band A-ha, released on 1 June 1985 in the United States and 28 October 1985 in the United Kingdom by Warner Bros. Records. The album was a huge commercial success, reachin ...

'' by a-ha (1985, No. 2)

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ratcliff, John 1954 births Living people English record producers