Michael Richard Seth Stone (1951 – May 2002) was an English

recording 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, reproductio ...

and

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 ...

. He worked with

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

(multiple albums), Foreigner (multiple albums), Journey (multiple albums), Toby Beau,

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

(multiple albums),

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English hard rock band formed in London in 1978. The group was originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their own en ...

April Wine April Wine is a Canadian rock band formed in 1969 and based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Led by singer-guitarist-songwriter Myles Goodwin since its inception, April Wine's first success came with its second album, '' On Record'' (1972), which rea ...

(multiple albums), and others.

Biography

Stone began his career as an assistant recording engineer at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music ...

in England. While still a teenager, Stone worked on some sessions for

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' '' Beatles For Sale'' (1964). Later, he became a runner at

Trident Studios Trident Studios was a British recording facility, located at 17 St Anne's Court in London's Soho district between 1968 and 1981. It was constructed in 1967 by Norman Sheffield, drummer of the 1960s group the Hunters, and his brother Barry. ...

, then worked his way up to tape operator and assistant engineer. In 1974, Stone began a long relationship with Queen when he worked with Queen's then producer, Roy Thomas Baker, to engineer the unique vocal layering for "

Bohemian Rhapsody "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth album, '' A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack o ...

". Following Baker's departure as Queen's producer, the band hired Stone as their engineer for his expertise in over-dubbing vocals. By the early eighties, Stone had produced popular top-selling albums for both

and Journey. Stone was scheduled to oversee the re-mastering of the Queen catalogue when he died in 2002. Queen's

Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury and ...

wrote of Stone in a eulogy: "Mike's production style of big chorus building and hitting hard, the ability to treat vocals uniquely, and find space in a recording have influenced a generation of young producers." Stone's work productivity was limited in later years by an alcohol problem, and he died of complications from it.

Selected discography

*1971

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

– ''

Nursery Cryme ''Nursery Cryme'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Genesis, released in November 1971 on Charisma Records. It was their first to feature drummer/vocalist Phil Collins and guitarist Steve Hackett. The album received a mixed resp ...

'', Tape jockey *1973

– ''

'', Engineer *1974 Queen – '' Queen II'', Engineer *1974 Queen – '' Sheer Heart Attack'', Engineer *1975 Queen – '' A Night at the Opera'', Engineer *1976 Queen – '' A Day at the Races'', Engineer, Guest Vocalist *1977 Queen – ''

News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national red top tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling English-language newspaper, and at closure still had one ...

'', Engineer, Co-producer *1978 Toby Beau - ''Toby Beau'', later re-released as "''My Angel Baby''", Engineer *1979

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

– ''

'', Producer, Engineer *1979

Shoes A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture t ...

– ''Present Tense'', Producer, Engineer *1980 New England - Explorer Suite Co-Producer *1981 Journey – ''

Escape Escape or Escaping may refer to: Computing * Escape character, in computing and telecommunication, a character which signifies that what follows takes an alternative interpretation ** Escape sequence, a series of characters used to trigger some s ...

'', Producer *1981

– '' The Nature of the Beast'', Engineer, Co-producer *1981 April Wine – '' Live in London'', Co-mixer *1982

– ''

'', Producer *1982 April Wine – '' Power Play'', Co-producer *1983

– ''

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , whi ...

'', Producer *1983 April Wine – ''

Animal Grace ''Animal Grace'' is the eleventh studio album by Canadian rock band April Wine, released in 1984. The first single off the album, "This Could Be the Right One", peaked at number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100. It continues to be played on radios ac ...

'', Co-producer *1983 Journey – ''

Frontiers Frontiers may refer to: * Frontier, areas near or beyond a boundary Arts and entertainment Music * ''Frontiers'' (Journey album), 1983 * ''Frontiers'' (Jermaine Jackson album), 1978 * ''Frontiers'' (Jesse Cook album), 2007 * ''Frontiers'' (P ...

'', Producer *1984

Tommy Shaw Tommy Roland Shaw (born September 11, 1953) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known for his tenure in the rock band Styx (band), Styx as co-lead vocalist. In between his stints with Styx, he has played with other groups includi ...

– ''

Girls with Guns Girls with guns is a subgenre of action films and animation that portray a female protagonist engaged in shootouts. The genre typically involves gun-play, stunts and martial arts action. Cinema The 1985 Hong Kong film '' Yes, Madam'', directe ...

'', Producer *1985 April Wine – '' One for the Road'', Co-producer *1985

- '' Astra'', Co-producer *1987

– ''

'', Producer *1987

Helix A helix () is a shape like a corkscrew or spiral staircase. It is a type of smooth space curve with tangent lines at a constant angle to a fixed axis. Helices are important in biology, as the DNA molecule is formed as two intertwined helic ...

– '' Wild in the Streets'', Co-producer *1988

Ratt Ratt is an American glam metal band formed in San Diego, California, in the 1970s, that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum, and multi-platinum by the RIAA. The group is bes ...

– ''

Reach for the Sky ''Reach for the Sky'' is a 1956 British biographical film about aviator Douglas Bader, based on the 1954 biography of the same name by Paul Brickhill. The film stars Kenneth More and was directed by Lewis Gilbert. It won the BAFTA Award fo ...

'', Co-producer *1990 Y&T '' Ten'', Producer *1995 Foreigner – '' Mr. Moonlight'', Co-producer, Engineer *1996 Ten – '' Ten'', Co-producer and mixer *1996 Ten – ''

The Name of the Rose ''The Name of the Rose'' ( it, Il nome della rosa ) is the 1980 debut novel by Italian author Umberto Eco. It is a historical murder mystery set in an Italian monastery in the year 1327, and an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in ficti ...

'', Co-producer and mixer *1997 Ten – '' The Robe'', Mixer

Notes

References for record producers with the name 'Mike Stone' often get confused. Others with this name are

Mike D. Stone Mike D. Stone (October 24, 1949 - December 3, 2017) was an American recording engineer and record producer. Stone worked with Frank Zappa (multiple albums), Joe Walsh, B. B. King, Bee Gees (multiple albums), America, Peter Criss, Paul Stanley, ...

(10/24/1949 – 12/3/2017) of the

Record Plant The Record Plant is a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and currently operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it has produced highly influential albums, including Blo ...

recording studio in Los Angeles, California who engineered for the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...

Joe Walsh Joseph Fidler Walsh (born November 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has been a member of three successful rock bands: the James Gang, Eagles, and Ringo Starr & His All-Starr ...

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity and satire of ...

Peter Criss George Peter John Criscuola (born December 20, 1945), better known by his stage name Peter Criss, is a retired American musician, best known as a co-founder, original drummer, and vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. Criss established The Ca ...

Paul Stanley Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who is the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popula ...

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, and

B. B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shimm ...

, and Mike "Clay" Stone of

Clay Records Clay Records was an independent record label founded by Mike Stone in 1980 in music, 1980 and based in a record shop in Stoke-on-Trent, England. History Clay's first signing was local Stoke punk band Discharge (band), Discharge who released t ...

who worked with largely punk and metal acts in the UK.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Mike not Mike Stone of Clay Records 1951 births 2002 deaths English record producers English audio engineers Queen (band) Asia (band) Alcohol-related deaths in England

Biography

Selected discography

Notes

See also

References