Mike Howlett
Mike Howlett | |
---|---|
![]() Howlett live with Gong at HMV Forum in 2009 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Michael John Gilmour Howlett |
Also known as | Mister T. Being |
Born | (1950-04-27) 27 April 1950 (age 74) Lautoka, Fiji |
Origin | Sydney |
Genres | Progressive rock, new wave |
Occupation(s) | Producer, musician |
Instrument | Bass guitar |
Formerly of | The Affair, Gong, Strontium 90 |
Website | mikehowlett |
Michael John Gilmour Howlett (born 27 April 1950) is a bass guitar player, 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 band competition. Howlett settled in London and in 1973 joined renowned British progressive rock group Gong, which had been founded by an Australian expatriate, Daevid Allen. 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 and Andy Summers.[1] 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. 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 on lead guitar and Strontium 90 bandmate Sting (who came to the group by way of Howlett's recommendation) on lead vocals.[2] 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 acts including A Flock of Seagulls, the Alarm, China Crisis, Martha and the Muffins, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Stephen Duffy, Gang of Four and Comsat Angels. He also produced the album Secret Secrets for Joan Armatrading 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).[3]
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 (now the University of South Wales) in Pontypridd, Wales and Thames Valley University (Ealing, London).[3] In 2009, he became Head of Music at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia[4] and is an adjunct professor for QUT.[citation needed]
Personal life
Howlett is married with three children[5] and two grandchildren. He lives in West London.
Production credits
|
|
References
- ^ "Planet Gong: Tribal: Maze: Mike Howlett". Archived from the original on 6 March 2003. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
- ^ Williamson, Harry (1994). "Earthdate Summer 1977". In Nuclear Waste (pp.7) [CD booklet]. Durham: Voiceprint.
- ^ a b "Music Producers Guild – Members Directory – Mike Howlett". Retrieved 7 February 2010.
- ^ "Calyx – The Canterbury Website: Mike Howlett biography". Retrieved 7 February 2010.
- ^ "Mike Howlett - Family Photos". Web.onetel.com. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
External links
- Official website
- 1997 interview on Calyx: the Canterbury website
- Biography on Calyx: the Canterbury website
- Mike Howlett discography at Discogs
- v
- t
- e
- Fabio Golfetti
- Dave Sturt
- Kavus Torabi
- Ian East
- Cheb Nettles
- Daevid Allen
- Gilli Smyth
- Didier Malherbe
- Pip Pyle
- Laurie Allan
- Charles Hayward
- Tim Blake
- Francis Moze
- Steve Hillage
- Mike Howlett
- Pierre Moerlen
- Miquette Giraudy
- Chris Cutler
- Bill Bruford
- Brian Davison
- Dave Stewart
- Mireille Bauer
- Stephen Lewry
- Keith Bailey
- Paul Noble
- Graham Clark
- Theo Travis
- Mark Hewins
- Cotton Casino
- Kawabata Makoto
- Tsuyama Atsushi
- Tatsuya Yoshida
- Magick Brother
- Camembert Electrique
- Continental Circus (Soundtrack)
- Flying Teapot
- Angel's Egg
- You
- Shapeshifter
- Zero to Infinity
- Acid Motherhood
- 2032
- I See You
- Rejoice! I'm Dead!
- The Universe Also Collapses
- Unending Ascending
- Shamal
- Gazeuse!
- Expresso II
- Downwind
- Time is the Key
- Leave It Open
- Pentanine
- Fairy Tales
- The Owl and the Tree