Tony Mansfield (born 19 January 1955) is an English songwriter, musician and record producer.

Early work

Mansfield was born in

Wimbledon, London Wimbledon () is a district and town of Southwest London, England, southwest of the centre of London at Charing Cross; it is the main commercial centre of the London Borough of Merton. Wimbledon had a population of 68,187 in 2011 which includes ...

, and became best known as the main songwriter/producer for

New Musik New Musik were an English synthpop group active from 1977 to 1982. Led by Tony Mansfield, they achieved success in 1980 with the top 20 single " Living by Numbers" which was followed up with the top 40 hits "This World of Water", "Sanctuary" ...

, a synthpop band that performed from 1979 to 1982. Following their debut hit single "Straight Lines" in 1979, the band had three further UK Top 40 hits in 1980 ("This World of Water", "Sanctuary" and "Living By Numbers"), and released three albums: '' From A To B'' (1980), '' Anywhere'' (1981) and ''

Warp Warp, warped or warping may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books and comics * WaRP Graphics, an alternative comics publisher * ''Warp'' (First Comics), comic book series published by First Comics based on the play ''Warp!'' * Warp (comics), a ...

'' (1982). The group also released a compilation album for the United States in 1981 known as ''Sanctuary'' which consisted of tracks from the first two albums. After the demise of

GTO Records GTO Records was a British record label which released many hits during the 1970s. It ran from 1974 to 1981 and mainly concentrated on pop music and disco. The acronym represented the Gem Toby Organization. Background The record label was co-fo ...

, New Musik disbanded.

Productions and collaborations

Mansfield's career as a freelance producer had begun pre-New Musik in the late 1970s, and after the demise of his band he turned exclusively to production. Mansfield became skilled in the use of the

Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commercial lic ...

and used it extensively throughout the 1980s for production and pre-production. During this time he worked on a number of successful albums and singles for various artists in the 1980s, most notably

Naked Eyes Naked Eyes are an English new wave band"All Eyes on Pete Byrne", ''Newsday'', 15 October 2013 that rose to prominence in the early 1980s. The band had four US top 40 singles. The group's first hit, "Always Something There to Remind Me", was ...

Captain Sensible Raymond Ian Burns (born 24 April 1954), known by the stage name Captain Sensible, is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. Captain Sensible co-founded the punk rock band the Damned, originally playing bass before switching to guitar. H ...

(which included writing credits on hits such as "Glad It's All Over", "There Are More Snakes Than Ladders" and "One Christmas Catalogue"), the 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 ...

'' by a-ha, ''XXX'' by Miguel Bosé, ''

Showpeople ''Showpeople'' is the debut album by UK singer Mari Wilson. It was released in 1983 and featured her breakthrough hit "Just What I Always Wanted". Background In early 1982, Wilson had achieved minor success with two singles, "Beat the Beat" a ...

'' by

Mari Wilson Mari Macmillan Ramsay Wilson (born 29 September 1954, Neasden, London) is a British pop and jazz singer. She is best known for her 1982 UK top-10 hit single "Just What I Always Wanted" and her 1960s image complete with beehive hairstyle. Car ...

, '' Bouncing off the Satellites'' by

The B-52's The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, ...

, Vicious Pink,

Jean Paul Gaultier Jean Paul Gaultier (; born 24 April 1952) is a French haute couture and prêt-à-porter fashion designer. He is described as an "enfant terrible" of the fashion industry and is known for his unconventional designs with motifs including corset ...

and

After The Fire After the Fire (or ATF) were a British rock band that evolved from playing progressive rock to new wave over ten years, while having only one hit in the United States (" Der Kommissar") and one hit in the United Kingdom (" One Rule for You" ...

. In the 1990s he produced the No.1 debut album ''Puntos Cardinales'' for Ana Torroja and in 2001, ''Online'' for the Latvian band Brainstorm amongst other production works. Mansfield's work has featured in various television productions, advertisements and films including ''

Earth Girls Are Easy ''Earth Girls Are Easy'' is a 1988 American science fiction musical romantic comedy film that was produced by Tony Garnett, Duncan Henderson, and Terrence E. McNally and was directed by Julien Temple. The film stars Geena Davis, Julie Brown, C ...

'' (1988), ''

Romy and Michele's High School Reunion ''Romy and Michele's High School Reunion'' is a 1997 American comedy film directed by David Mirkin and starring Mira Sorvino, Lisa Kudrow, and Janeane Garofalo. The plot revolves around two 28-year-old girls who appear to have not achieved much s ...

'' (1997) and '' Hysterical Blindness'' (2002).

References

External links

Tony Mansfield page by Jonas Wårstad

Unofficial homepage
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mansfield, Tony 1955 births Living people English songwriters English male singers English new wave musicians English record producers People from Wimbledon, London British synth-pop new wave musicians Musicians from London Aztec Camera members British male songwriters