Steve Lindsey (born Steve Clark Lindsey; May 6, 1956) is an American record producer, songwriter music publisher and music industry executive.
Early life
Steve Lindsey, born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, to
Mort Lindsey
Mort Lindsey (born Morton Lippman; March 21, 1923, Newark, New Jersey – May 4, 2012, Malibu, California), was an orchestrator, composer, pianist, conductor and musical director for Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Pat Boone, Jack Narz, and Me ...
and his wife Judy. He had a connection to music from an early age and began playing piano at the age of five. Lindsey's father, Mort, was a conductor and composer who worked with Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand and Merv Griffin.
Lindsey's family moved to
Malibu, California
Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malib ...
, when he was fifteen. He attended
Santa Monica High School
Santa Monica High School, officially abbreviated to SaMoHi, is located in Santa Monica, California. Founded in 1891, it changed location several times in its early years before settling into its present campus at 601 Pico Boulevard. It is a part o ...
, and during his time there, played in local bands. He befriended session musicians, including David Paich and Bob Glaub, from the Los Angeles studio scene.
Career
In his mid-20s, Lindsey built a studio at his Ocean Park home, and began making demos for artists such as
Allee Willis
Alta Sherral "Allee" Willis (November 10, 1947 – December 24, 2019) was an American songwriter, multi-media artist, collector, and art director. Willis co-wrote hit songs including " September" and "Boogie Wonderland" by Earth, Wind & Fire. She ...
,
Brenda Russell, and
Julie Brown
Julie Ann Brown (born August 31, 1958) is an American actress, comedian, screen/television writer, singer-songwriter, and television director. Brown is known for her work in the 1980s, where she often played a quintessential valley girl charac ...
.
Lindsey's first professionally released song which he wrote and produced was "
Trapped in the Body of a White Girl" for Julie Brown, on
Sire records
Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records.
History Beginnings
The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehre ...
, followed by "Hot Dog" for
Martini Ranch
Martini Ranch was an American new wave band conceived in 1982 by Andrew Todd Rosenthal. The band was composed of Rosenthal (vocals and guitar) and actor Bill Paxton (voices and samples), and featured a similar sound to late 1980s Devo. The Mart ...
. Within a few years Lindsey was an in-demand session keyboard player, writer and producer, and became the full-time associate producer for
Richard Perry
Richard Van Perry (born June 18, 1942) is an American record producer. He began as a performer in his adolescence while attending Poly Prep, his high school in Brooklyn. After graduating from college he rose through the late 1960s and early 1970 ...
from 1986 to 1991. Under Perry, he worked on albums by
The Pointer Sisters
The Pointer Sisters are an American pop and R&B singing group from Oakland, California, that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, jazz, electronic music, bebop, bl ...
,
Elton John,
Luther Vandross,
Randy Travis,
Chaka Khan, and
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
. Moonlighting under Perry, Lindsey produced
Marvin Gaye's last top 10 single "
My Last Chance" as well, as songs for
The Temptations
The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...
and Alexander O’Neal.
Producer, publisher and songwriter
He left Perry to produce Leonard Cohen's album
''The Future'', and four
Aaron Neville
Aaron Joseph Neville (born January 24, 1941) is a retired American R&B and soul singer. He has had four platinum albums and four Top 10 hits in the United States, including three that reached number one on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. ...
albums at
A&M, including ''The Grand Tour'' and ''Soulful Christmas''. He later produced a song “Just Walk Away”, from
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...
's album, ''
The Color of My Love''. He executive produced Leonard Cohen's ''Tower of Song'' album, for A&M, which included performances by
Peter Gabriel,
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album '' Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (1 ...
,
Trisha Yearwood
Patricia Lynn Yearwood (born September 19, 1964) is an American singer, actress, author and television personality. She rose to fame with her 1991 debut single " She's in Love with the Boy," which became a number one hit on the ''Billboard'' c ...
, Aaron Neville and
Elton John. For Elton John’s ''Duets'' album, he produced songs "Born To Lose" by Elton John and Leonard Cohen, as well as “I'm Your Puppet" by Elton John and Paul Young. In 1997, he produced Guster’s album ''Goldfly'', and in 2005, produced Chris Botti’s breakthrough album ''A Thousand Kisses Deep''.
In 1994, he started Blotter Music with Windswept, a publishing company in Los Angeles California. Through Blotter, he published, signed and developed an array of talent, including
Bridget Benenate
Bridget Benenate is an American songwriter. She first found success in her song "Permission To Shine", which was performed by the band Bachelor Girl. The same year Bridget's song "Everything Changes" was featured on '' Dawson’s Creek''.
In 200 ...
(
"Breakaway" sung by
Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. She rose to fame after winning the first season of ''American Idol'' in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA. Her debu ...
),
Mickey Avalon
Mickey Avalon (born Yeshe Perl; December 3, 1975) is an American rapper from Hollywood, California. His debut self-titled solo album was released Nov. 7, 2006 on Interscope/Shoot to Kill Records in association with MySpace Records. Frequent topi ...
,
Mike Elizondo
Mike Elizondo (born October 22, 1972) is an American producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. A protege of Dr. Dre, Elizondo has worked with 50 Cent, Eminem, Carrie Underwood, Fiona Apple, Mastodon, Ry Cooder, Skylar Grey, Twenty ...
and
Benji Hughes. During that time, Lindsey also taught
Dr. Dre piano and
music theory for four years.
In 2004, he started West Side Independent publishing, one of the four sides of the Independent Publishing Group, with Cameron Strang. They signed and developed J.R. Rotem,
Bruno Mars
Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical ...
and Brody Brown. Brown and Mars later wrote the songs
"Grenade" and
"Fuck You". Cameron Strang has since become Chairman and CEO of Warner Chappell Music with whom Lindsey has exclusive joint ventures: Thou Art The Hunger and Mod Junkie. To date, Lindsey has sold over 100 million records as a publisher.
Lindsey wrote and produced the song, "Welcome to Burlesque", performed by Cher in the Screen Gems movie ''Burlesque'' (2010).
Music supervision and teaching
Lindsey supervised the Aaron Ryder films, ''
My One and Only'', ''
House at the End of the Street
''House at the End of the Street'' is a 2012 American psychological thriller film directed by Mark Tonderai that stars Jennifer Lawrence. The film's plot revolves around a teenage girl, Elissa, who along with her newly divorced mother Sarah, move ...
'' and ''
M.U.D.''
He taught a music supervision class at
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...
, and is a professor at
Loyola Marymount University
Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...
. He also lectures at the Musician's Institute, in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
.
He resides in
Beverly Hills, California.
References
External links
Steve Lindsey , Biography, Albums, Streaming LinksSteve LindseyNews Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindsey, Steve
Record producers from New York (state)
Living people
1956 births