Michael John Gilmour Howlett (born 27 April 1950) is a record producer and teacher based in the United Kingdom and Australia.

Career

In the late 1960s, Howlett was the bassist in Sydney pop band the Affair, which included vocalist Kerrie Biddell. The group travelled to England after winning a prize in the

Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds was an annual national rock/pop band competition held in Australia from 1966 to 1972. The winners of the national finals were the Twilights (1966), the Groop (1967), the Groove (1968), Doug Parkinson in Focus (m ...

band competition. Howlett settled in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and in 1973 joined renowned British

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

group

Gong A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...

, which had been founded by an Australian

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

Daevid Allen Christopher David Allen (13 January 1938 – 13 March 2015), known professionally as Daevid Allen, sometimes credited as Divided Alien, was an Australian musician. He was co-founder of the psychedelic rock groups Soft Machine (in the UK, 1966) ...

. He remained with Gong until 1977, recording several albums with them and co-writing much of their material later in this period with drummer Pierre Moerlen. After leaving Gong, Howlett formed the short-lived band Strontium 90, which consisted of himself, Sting,

Stewart Copeland Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is a Scottish-American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the English rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with th ...

and

Andy Summers Andrew James Summers (born 31 December 1942), is an English guitarist who was a member of the rock band The Police. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a band member in 2003. Summers has recorded solo albums, collaborated w ...

. In addition to being the band's lead bassist and chief songwriter, Howlett performed most of the lead vocals in live performances. The band recorded several demos and played at a Paris Gong reunion concert in May 1977, but disbanded when Summers left to join Copeland and Sting's other project,

the Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Poli ...

. An archival collection of Strontium 90 material was released two decades later as '' Strontium 90: Police Academy''. A few months after the breakup of Strontium 90, Howlett served as bassist for the one-off studio band The Radio Actors, which also included Gong bandmate

Steve Hillage Stephen Simpson Hillage (born 2 August 1951) is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s. Besides his solo recordings he has been a me ...

on lead guitar and Strontium 90 bandmate Sting (who came to the group by way of Howlett's recommendation) on lead vocals. The band's single, "Nuclear Waste" b/w "Digital Love", was reissued on CD in 1995 with liner notes and three bonus tracks, though none of the bonus tracks involved Howlett. In the 1980s, Howlett became an in-demand producer, with a string of notable credits. He produced many hit singles and albums for leading

new wave music New wave is a loosely defined music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the late 1970s and the 1980s. It was originally used as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock, including punk itself. Late ...

acts including A Flock of Seagulls, the Alarm, China Crisis,

Martha and the Muffins Martha and the Muffins are a Canadian rock band, active from 1977 to the present. Although they only had one major international hit single " Echo Beach" under their original band name, they had a number of hits in their native Canada, and th ...

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic band formed in Wirral, Merseyside, in 1978. The group consists of co-founders Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals), along with Martin ...

Stephen Duffy Stephen Anthony James Duffy (born 30 May 1960 in Alum Rock, Birmingham, England) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He was a founding member, vocalist, bassist and then drummer of Duran Duran. He went on to record as a solo perform ...

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The ...

and

Comsat Angels The Comsat Angels were an English post-punk band from Sheffield, England, initially active from 1978 to 1995. Their music has been described as "abstract pop songs with sparse instrumentation, many of which were bleak and filled with some form ...

. He also produced the album '' Secret Secrets'' for

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 ...

in 1985. Gong performs occasional reunion gigs around the world, and Howlett usually joins them. In 1993, he launched a record label, Mauve, which released albums by singer-songwriters Rafa Russo, Debbie Cassell and Jay Fisher. From 2005 to 2009, Howlett was chairman of the Music Producers Guild (MPG). Howlett was awarded a PhD on the subject of record production in 2009 and has lectured in music technology at several universities, including the

University of Glamorgan , image_name = University of Glamorgan arms.png , image_size = 220px , caption = University of Glamorgan coat of arms , motto = Success Through Endeavour , established = , closed = , administrative_staff = , chancellor = John Morris ...

(now the

University of South Wales The University of South Wales ( cy, Prifysgol De Cymru) is a public university in Wales, with campuses in Cardiff, Newport and Pontypridd. It was formed on 11 April 2013 from the merger of the University of Glamorgan and the University of Wa ...

) in

Pontypridd () ( colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng ( Trallwn) and Treforest () ...

, Wales and

Thames Valley University The University of West London (UWL) is a public research university in the United Kingdom with campuses in Ealing, Brentford, and in Reading, Berkshire. The university has roots in 1860, when the Lady Byron School was founded, later Ealing ...

(

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was hi ...

, London). In 2009, he became Head of Music at

Queensland University of Technology Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The univ ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Australia and is an Adjunct Professor for QUT.

Personal life

Howlett is married with three children and two grandchildren. He lives in West London.

Production credits

; Fischer-Z * '' Word Salad'' (1979); '' Going Deaf for a Living'' (1980) ; Punishment of Luxury * ''

Laughing Academy ''Laughing Academy'' is the debut studio album by English band Punishment of Luxury, released in 1979 by record label United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an Americ ...

'' (1979) ;

* "Insect Love" (1979); '' Metro Music'' (1979); " Echo Beach" (1980); '' Trance and Dance'' (1980) ;

The Revillos The Rezillos are a punk/ new wave band formed in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1976. Although emerging at the same time as other bands in the punk rock movement, the Rezillos did not share the nihilism or social commentary of their contemporaries, bu ...

* ''Rev Up'' (Snatzo/ Dindisc, 1980) ; The Teardrop Explodes * "When I Dream" (1980) ;

* "

Messages A message is a discrete unit of communication intended by the source for consumption by some recipient or group of recipients. A message may be delivered by various means, including courier, telegraphy, carrier pigeon and electronic bus. A ...

" (1980); "

Enola Gay The ''Enola Gay'' () is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets. On 6 August 1945, piloted by Tibbets and Robert A. Lewis during the final stages of World War II, it be ...

" (1980); "

Souvenir A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a ...

" (1981) ; Sniff 'n' the Tears * ''Love/Action'' (1981); ''Ride Blue Divide'' (1982) ;

Thompson Twins Thompson Twins were a British pop band formed in 1977 in Sheffield. Initially a new wave group, they switched to a more mainstream pop sound and achieved considerable popularity during the mid-1980s, scoring a string of hits in the United Ki ...

* "Perfect Game" and "Politics" from '' A Product of ...'' (1981) ; Any Trouble * ''Wheels in Motion'' ( Stiff, 1981) ;

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 w ...

* " Pale Shelter" (1982) ;

* '' Songs of the Free'' (1982) ; Blancmange * '' Happy Families'' (1982); "

Living on the Ceiling "Living on the Ceiling" is a song by English synth-pop band Blancmange. It was released as the band's third single in 1982, taken from their debut studio album ''Happy Families''. It became the band's first (and biggest) UK Top 40 hit, peaking at ...

" (1982) ; A Flock of Seagulls * '' A Flock of Seagulls'' (1982); '' Listen'' (1983) ; Hunters & Collectors * ''Hunters & Collectors'' (1982); ''Payload'' (EP, 1982) ; The Comsat Angels * ''

Land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various isl ...

'' (1983); '' 7 Day Weekend'' (1985, not all songs) ; China Crisis * '' Working with Fire and Steel – Possible Pop Songs Volume Two'' (1983) ;

John Foxx John Foxx (born Dennis Leigh; 26 September 1948) is an English singer, musician, artist, photographer, graphic designer, writer, teacher and lecturer. He was the original lead singer of the new wave band Ultravox, before leaving to embark on a ...

* "Twilight's Last Gleaming" from '' The Golden Section'' (1983) ;

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

* ''

Love Life Love Life or Lovelife may refer to: Organizations * loveLife South Africa, a youth focused HIV prevention initiative in South Africa *Love Life, a campaign started by Blackie Chen and Christine Fan to benefit children suffering from cancer Fi ...

'' (1984, not all songs) ;

* '' Secret Secrets'' (1985) ; The Alarm * '' Strength'' (1985) ; The Ward Brothers * ''

Madness of It All ''Madness of It All'' is the debut studio album from the British pop-rock band The Ward Brothers, which was released by Siren in 1987. The album was not a commercial success, but two of its singles were UK chart entries; " Cross That Bridge" reach ...

'' (1986, not all songs) ;TV21 * ''All Join Hands'' (1982)

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Howlett, Mike 1950 births Living people Academics of the University of West London Fijian people of British descent Queensland University of Technology faculty Alumni of the University of Glamorgan Fijian record producers British music educators British record producers The Police People from Lautoka Fijian emigrants to Australia Fijian musicians Gong (band) members Strontium 90 (band) members The Affair (band) members Male bass guitarists Progressive rock bass guitarists