Paul O'Duffy (born 31 December 1963, in
London
London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
) is an English record producer, composer and mixer. He is best known for producing
Swing Out Sister
Swing Out Sister are a British pop group best known worldwide for the 1986 song " Breakout". Other hits include "Surrender", " Twilight World", " Waiting Game", and a remake of the Eugene Record soul composition "Am I the Same Girl?"
Histor ...
's Grammy-nominated multi-platinum debut album ''
It's Better to Travel
''It's Better to Travel'' is the debut album by the British pop band Swing Out Sister, released in 1987 on Mercury Records. Upon its release, the album reached number one on the UK Albums Chart.
Information
This was Swing Out Sister's debut alb ...
'', for his BMI nomination as "Producer of the Year" in 1987, his work with
John Barry and his work with
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz.
A membe ...
, which resulted in his co-writing one of the tracks on her multi-platinum album ''
Back to Black
''Back to Black'' is the second and final studio album by English singer and songwriter Amy Winehouse, released on 27 October 2006 by Island Records. Winehouse predominantly based the album on her tumultuous relationship with then-ex-boyfrie ...
''.
Professional life
Mixer / engineer
O'Duffy started out his music career at Marcus Music Studios London, and by the age of 17 was engineering sessions for
War
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
,
Yes
Yes or YES may refer to:
* An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no
Education
* YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US
* YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...
and
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...
. He moved to New York in 1984, establishing himself as a club
remix
A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...
er working on remixes for artists such as
KC and The Sunshine Band
KC and the Sunshine Band is an American disco and funk band that was founded in 1973 in Hialeah, Florida. Their best-known songs include the hits "That's the Way (I Like It)", "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", "I'm Your Boogie Man", "K ...
,
Man Parrish
Manuel "Man" Parrish (born May 6, 1958) is an American songwriter, vocalist and producer. He, along with artists such as Yellow Magic Orchestra, Kraftwerk, Art of Noise, Arthur Baker, Afrika Bambaataa, John Robie, Jellybean Benitez, Lotti Golde ...
,
Stephanie Mills
Stephanie Dorthea Mills (born March 22, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to stardom as "Dorothy" in the original seven-time Tony Award winning Broadway run of the musical ''The Wiz'' from 1974 to 1979. The song " Home" from t ...
,
the System,
Animotion
Animotion is an American synth-pop band from Los Angeles, California, best known for the songs " Obsession", "Let Him Go", "I Engineer", and " Room to Move".
Formed in 1983 from the remnants of a retro science-fiction band called Red Zone, th ...
,
the Bar-Kays
The Bar-Kays are an American funk band formed in 1964. The band had dozens of record chart, charting single (music), singles from the 1960s to the 1980s, including "Soul Finger" (US Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number 17, Hot R&B/Hip ...
,
Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman.
LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul".
She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...
,
Ian Dury and the Blockheads
Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...
and
Freeez
Freeez were an English electronic music group, initially known as one of the UK's main jazz-funk bands of the early 1980s. Initiated by John Rocca, Freeez consisted of various musicians, originally with Rocca and others such as Andy Stennett ( ...
.
Production
O'Duffy returned to London in the late eighties where his remixing successes took him into record production. His first production success was the debut album by Scottish group
Hipsway
Hipsway are a Scottish pop/ new wave band.
History and description
The band was formed in Glasgow in 1984 by ex- Altered Images guitarist Johnny McElhone on bass, and featuring Grahame Skinner (vocals), Pim Jones (guitar) and Harry Traver ...
which included the top twenty hit on both sides of the Atlantic, "Honeythief". He followed this up with production on the number one platinum selling debut album by
Curiosity Killed the Cat
Curiosity Killed the Cat was a British pop band that achieved success in the UK in the late 1980s, with hit singles such as " Down to Earth", " Misfit" and " Ordinary Day", from their No. 1 debut album, '' Keep Your Distance''. This was follo ...
, ''
Keep Your Distance
''Keep Your Distance'' is the debut album by the British band Curiosity Killed the Cat, released in April 1987. It debuted at #1 on the UK Albums Chart, and is their only album to chart on the Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200, reaching #55.
Tra ...
''.
His BMI nomination for Producer of the Year in 1987 came from his work on the multi-platinum debut album ''
It's Better to Travel
''It's Better to Travel'' is the debut album by the British pop band Swing Out Sister, released in 1987 on Mercury Records. Upon its release, the album reached number one on the UK Albums Chart.
Information
This was Swing Out Sister's debut alb ...
'' by Manchester group
Swing Out Sister
Swing Out Sister are a British pop group best known worldwide for the 1986 song " Breakout". Other hits include "Surrender", " Twilight World", " Waiting Game", and a remake of the Eugene Record soul composition "Am I the Same Girl?"
Histor ...
, which included the worldwide hit "
Breakout". The album was also nominated in the US for a
Grammy Award
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 ...
and led to more work for him and his distinctive retro sound with US acts.
One of these was the band
Was Not Was
Was (Not Was) is an American pop rock group founded in 1979 in Detroit, Michigan, by David Weiss and Don Fagenson, who adopted the stage names David Was and Don Was. Their song catalog features an eclectic mix of pop and rock styles, often fea ...
with the resulting worldwide hits "Walk the Dinosaur", "Spy in the House of Love" and platinum selling album ''
What Up, Dog?
''What Up, Dog?'' is a 1988 album by Was (Not Was). It became the group's breakthrough album worldwide and was ranked #99 on the ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of the 100 Best Albums of the 1980s. The cover illustration was credited to Christop ...
''.
At the other end of the spectrum O'Duffy produced one of
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus; June 17, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter with a career that spans seven decades. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", " Somewhere Down the Road", " Mandy", "I Write the Songs", " Can ...
's last chart hits "Keep Each Other Warm" from his eponymous album ''
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus; June 17, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter with a career that spans seven decades. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", " Somewhere Down the Road", " Mandy", "I Write the Songs", " Can ...
'', in which Manilow recorded other artists' songs using a variety of top producers.
O'Duffy additionally produced and mixed
Tom Verlaine
Tom Verlaine (born Thomas Miller, December 13, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known as the frontman of the New York City rock band Television.
Biography
Verlaine was born Thomas Miller in Denville, New Jersey and ...
's (
Television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
) solo album ''
Flash Light
A flashlight ( US, Canada) or torch ( UK, Australia) is a portable hand-held electric lamp. Formerly, the light source typically was a miniature incandescent light bulb, but these have been displaced by light-emitting diodes (LEDs) since the ...
'' in 1987.
In 2009, he produced John Barry's unreleased orchestral album, ''The Seasons''.
Writer/producer
In the 1990s, O'Duffy increased his songwriting credits, producing and writing on four subsequent albums for Swing Out Sister (including 1992's ''
Get in Touch with Yourself
''Get in Touch with Yourself'' is the third studio album by the British pop group Swing Out Sister. The album was released on Fontana Records in 1992 and was produced by Paul Staveley O'Duffy.
Lineup and musical style
For the recording of ''Get ...
'') as well as production for
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop music, p ...
on her album ''
Reputation
The reputation of a social entity (a person, a social group, an organization, or a place) is an opinion about that entity typically as a result of social evaluation on a set of criteria, such as behavior or performance.
Reputation is a ubiquitous ...
'', which became Springfield's best-selling new album since her 1960s-era peak. He produced the
Pretenders
Pretenders may refer to:
* The Pretenders, a rock band
** ''Pretenders'' (album), the 1980 debut album by the group
* ''Pretenders'' (TV series), a 1972 British television series
* ''The Pretenders'' (play) (Norwegian: ''Kongs-Emnerne''), an 18 ...
' "If There Was a Man" and "Where Has Everybody Gone?", as well as
Necros
Necros was an early American hardcore punk band from Maumee, Ohio, although they are usually identified with the Detroit music scene. They were the first band to record for Touch and Go Records.
History
Necros was formed in mid-1975 by then-t ...
,
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English synth-pop band formed in Liverpool in 1980. The group's best-known line-up comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Peter Gill (drums, percussion), Mark O'Toole (bass guit ...
,
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a focus ...
,
Lisa Stansfield
Lisa Jane Stansfield (born 11 April 1966) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. Her career began in 1980 when she won the singing competition ''Search for a Star''. After appearances in various television shows and releasing her first ...
,
Danny Wilson,
the Beloved,
John Barry, the
eponymous debut album by
Lewis Taylor
Andrew Lewis Taylor (born 20 January 1966) is a British multi-instrumentalist musician, born and raised in Barnet, North London, England, in the late 1960s. He started in the music business as a guitarist touring with the psychedelic rock band E ...
, and Pigeonhed.
In the 2000s, O'Duffy continued to collaborate with artists and songwriters including
Charlotte OC
Charlotte Mary O'Connor, better known by her stage name Charlotte OC, is a British singer-songwriter.
Biography
Charlotte O'Connor is the daughter of a half-Malawian, half-Indian mother and Irish father. She grew up in Blackburn, Lancashire, an ...
,
Låpsley
Holly Lapsley Fletcher (born 7 August 1996), known by the stage name Låpsley, is an English singer, songwriter, musician and producer. Her debut album '' Long Way Home'' was released on 4 March 2016.
Early life
Låpsley was born in York. Her m ...
, Purple Ferdinand,
Andreya Triana
Andreya Triana is a British singer and songwriter, ''Red Bull Music Academy'' alumna and MOBO nominated artist hailing from South East London, Her debut album, '' Lost Where I Belong'' released in September 2010 on London based record label Nin ...
and
Ella Eyre
Ella McMahon (born 1 April 1994), known professionally as Ella Eyre, is a British singer and songwriter. She is known for her collaborations with Rudimental on their UK number-one single "Waiting All Night" (2013), which won the 2014 Brit Awar ...
.
Hiatus and recovery
An amateur racer of both off-road and on-road motorcycles, O'Duffy was riding a road bike in London when a car cut across his lane and ran him down. His back was broken in two places, and he spent many months in traction and several years in recovery. His motorcycle, a Ducati 851 which had been given to him by his then management team, was repaired and presented back to him after a chance meeting with Federico Minoli, then head of
Ducati
Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. () is the motorcycle-manufacturing division of Italian company Ducati, headquartered in Bologna, Italy. The company is directly owned by Italian automotive manufacturer Lamborghini, whose German parent company is Au ...
worldwide, at the
Houses of Parliament
The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...
. Fully recovered after further surgery to fuse his back.
During the first three years after the accident, O'Duffy worked almost exclusively out of the substantial studio he had built at his home in North London. It was here that
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz.
A membe ...
came to spend a month in 2006 to work on tracks for what became the ''
Back to Black
''Back to Black'' is the second and final studio album by English singer and songwriter Amy Winehouse, released on 27 October 2006 by Island Records. Winehouse predominantly based the album on her tumultuous relationship with then-ex-boyfrie ...
'' album, which features the O'Duffy/Winehouse song "Wake up Alone".
Film and television
O'Duffy produced the
John Barry score for
007
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
film ''
The Living Daylights
''The Living Daylights'' is a 1987 spy film, the fifteenth entry in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the first of two to star Timothy Dalton as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by John Glen, the film's ...
'' (winner, 1988 BMI Film Music Award).
Further work with Barry continued, including in 1992 the movie ''
Chaplin Chaplin may refer to:
People
* Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977), English comedy film actor and director
* Chaplin (name), other people named Chaplin
Films
* '' Unknown Chaplin'' (1983)
* ''Chaplin'' (film) (1992)
* ''Chaplin'' (2011 film), Ben ...
'' starring
Robert Downey Jr.
Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an American actor and producer. His career has been characterized by critical and popular success in his youth, followed by a period of substance abuse and legal troubles, before a resurgence of ...
, for which Barry was nominated for an
Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology), ...
and a
Golden Globe
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
. O'Duffy worked with John Barry on his UK concerts at the
Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no governm ...
.
O'Duffy produced the
Hans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, Oscars and four Grammy Awards, Grammys, and has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmys and a Tony Awar ...
score for the film ''
Days of Thunder
''Days of Thunder'' is a 1990 American sports action drama film released by Paramount Pictures, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Tony Scott. The cast includes Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid, C ...
'' (winner, 1991 BMI Film Music Award) and the version of "
All by Myself
"All by Myself" is a song by American singer-songwriter Eric Carmen released in 1975. The verse is based on the second movement (''Adagio sostenuto'') of Sergei Rachmaninoff's circa 1900–1901 '' Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor'', Opus 18. The ...
" used in the film ''
Bridget Jones's Diary
''Bridget Jones's Diary'' is a 2001 romantic comedy film directed by Sharon Maguire and written by Richard Curtis, Andrew Davies (writer), Andrew Davies, and Helen Fielding. A co-production of the United Kingdom, United States and France, it is ...
''. He also produced the
Dr. Calculus track "Full of Love" for the 1988
Kevin Bacon
Kevin Norwood Bacon (born July 8, 1958) is an American actor. His films include the musical-drama film '' Footloose'' (1984), the controversial historical conspiracy legal thriller '' JFK'' (1991), the legal drama '' A Few Good Men'' (1992), t ...
film ''
She's Having a Baby
''She's Having a Baby'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy film directed and written by John Hughes and starring Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern. It tells the story of a young newlywed couple who try to cope with married life and their parents ...
''.
O'Duffy is also a well-known composer for television, having composed the themes and incidental music for: ''The Team – A Season with Mclaren'' (BBC2 series) ''The Great Outdoors'' (Channel 4 series) ''The Big Elsewhere'' (with Swing Out Sister, NHK Japan series) ''London Bridge'' (Carlton TV drama series).
References
External links
"Distinctive yet accessible" – An interview with Paul Staveley O’Duffy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oduffy, Paul Staveley
1963 births
Living people
British music industry executives
English record producers
English male film score composers
English television composers
English bass guitarists
English male guitarists
Male bass guitarists
English keyboardists
English songwriters
British male songwriters
People educated at St Ignatius' College, Enfield
People from Enfield, London