Trevor Charles Horn, CBE is an English pop music record producer, songwriter,
musician and singer. His influence on 1980s popular music was such that he has
been called "The Man Who Invented the Eighties".
Horn has produced commercially successful songs and albums for numerous
British and international artists. He won a Grammy Award for producing "Kiss
from a Rose" by Seal. As a musician, he has had chart success with the bands The
Buggles, Yes and Art of Noise. He also owns a significant stake in the
recording company ZTT Records, Sarm Studios and a music publishing company,
Perfect Songs. The three are combined under the corporate umbrella of SPZ. In
2010 he received the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding
Contribution to British Music. Early life
Trevor Horn was born in Durham, and grew up in Houghton-le-Spring, part of the
municipality of Sunderland, England. His parents, John and Elizabeth, were from
Hetton-le-Hole, which is near Sunderland. His father worked as an
engineer, with technology related to milk production as his specialty. Trevor
has two sisters, Janet and Marjorie, and a brother, TV producer Ken Horn. Both
sisters eventually emigrated to Canada. Horn became a bass player at school and
was a member of a youth orchestra at Johnston Grammar playing in a selection
of school bands after being inspired by his father who played double bass with
the Joe Clark Band. Horn moved with his family to Leicester, where Horn began
working as a professional musician performing in the local ballrooms while
building a home studio. He later became a musical director and record producer,
starting out producing jingles and unsuccessful records including work with
some punk bands. Career
= Bands= Horn began his professional career as a
session musician in the late 1970s, including playing on the television
show, Come Dancing. Most notably, he played for disco star Tina Charles and
her producer Biddu, whose backing tracks were an influence on Horn's early work.
Another member of her backing band was keyboard player Geoffrey Downes.
In 1978, Horn and Downes formed The Buggles, in which Horn played bass,
guitar and percussion as well as providing vocals, while the female
vocalist was Linda Jardim. Just before The Buggles, however, Horn
signed with Sonet Records and recorded two singles under the moniker of 'The
Big A'. One single, "Caribbean Air Control", was released in the United
Kingdom but failed to chart. A few months later, the song was remixed into
a disco track under the name of "Chromium" with no vocals and a
synthesized and percussion backbeat. This also failed to chart, but did well
in the disco clubs, especially in the US and Canada. In 1979, an entire album was
released entitled Star to Star. Around this time Horn, Downes and Bruce Woolley
co-wrote "Video Killed the Radio Star", which was released by The Buggles in
1979; it reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart and was the first music video to
be played on MTV. The song also appeared on the group's first album, The Age of
Plastic, released in 1980. Later that year, Horn and Downes were
invited to join the rock group Yes. Horn became the lead vocalist, replacing Jon
Anderson. He recorded one album with Yes, Drama, on which he also played bass
on one track. At the beginning of 1981, after only seven months, he left Yes to
concentrate on production work. He also completed a second Buggles
album, Adventures in Modern Recording, mainly alone after a disagreement with
Geoff Downes. Horn did work with Yes again, not as a
band member, butproducing their next two studio albums, including the 1983
"comeback" album 90125. He also went on to be a founding member of the Art of
Noise. He is known for performing on albums that he produces. His latest band
is Producers, in which Horn plays with various musicians/producers, namely Lol
Creme, producer Steve Lipson, drummer Ash Soan and initially singer/songwriter
Chris Braide. The band performed its first gig at the Camden Barfly in
November 2006. They continue to perform, now under the name the Trevor Horn Band.
= Production= Horn was the producer of the Buggles
material, and during his tenure with Yes, Horn helped produce their
releases.. He continued working with Yes on and off as a producer, including on
the album 90125 and the hit single "Owner of a Lonely Heart". Asked in a
2015 interview about what he considers his best work over the years, Horn named
"Owner of a Lonely Heart" from a technical point of view.
Horn's first outside production success came with the pop band Dollar in 1981
and 1982. Four UK Top 20 singles, "Mirror Mirror", "Hand Held in Black and
White", "Give Me Back My Heart" and "Videotheque" were all co-written and
produced by Horn. He then went on to produce The Lexicon of Love by ABC,
which reached No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart. It was during the Lexicon
sessions that Horn first assembled the production team that would characterise
and define the sound of a Horn production in the 1980s: Anne Dudley on
keyboards and arrangements, Gary Langan as chief engineer, J. J. Jeczalik on
programming for the Fairlight CMI, backing vocalist Tessa Webb plus
percussionist Luis Jardim. Originally brought in to play keyboard, Dudley was
soon co-writing with the group and scoring the album's orchestrations.
He achieved his greatest commercial success in 1984, firstly with the
Liverpudlian band Frankie Goes to Hollywood. He was approached by Bob
Geldof to produce the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?", but he was
unavailable. Instead, he gave use of his studio, SARM West in London, free of
charge to the project for 24 hours, which Geldof accepted, assigning Midge
Ure as the producer instead. On 25 November 1984, the song was recorded and
mixed. Horn did produce the B-side featuring messages from artists who had
and had not made the recording, which were also recorded over the same backing
track as the A-side. Other artists he has produced include
John Howard, Paul McCartney, Tom Jones, Cher, Grace Jones, Seal, Propaganda,
Tina Turner, Lisa Stansfield, Pet Shop Boys, Simple Minds, Eros Ramazzotti,
Mike Oldfield, Marc Almond, Charlotte Church, t.A.T.u., LeAnn Rimes, Genesis
and Belle & Sebastian. Several musicians have described Horn's style of
production as dominating. Frankie Goes to Hollywood's debut album Welcome to
the Pleasuredome barely featured any of the band's performances, instead
featuring Horn and session musicians; and the Pet Shop Boys remarked that
although Horn had promised to complete their single "Left to My Own Devices" in
a couple weeks, it took several months for them to receive the final mix due to
the lavish live orchestration and studio work.
On 11 November 2004, a Prince's Trust charity concert celebrating Horn's 25
years as a record producer took place at Wembley Arena. Performers at the show
included The Buggles, Bruce Woolley, ABC, Art of Noise, Belle & Sebastian,
Lisa Stansfield, Pet Shop Boys, Seal, Dollar, Propaganda, t.A.T.u., Yes, Grace
Jones and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. A double album, Produced by Trevor Horn,
was released in conjunction with the concert. An edited version of the
concert has been broadcast on television in several countries under the title 25
Years of Pop: Produced by Trevor Horn, and a DVD release of the full concert
called Slaves to the Rhythm is available.
On 22 May 2006, the Pet Shop Boys released their album Fundamental which
was produced by Horn. The album reached No. 5 in the UK chart. In the same
month, he featured in a Pet Shop Boys concert specially recorded for BBC Radio
2. Following the critical success of the event Horn has produced an album
version, Concrete, released on 23 October 2006. Horn also produced
Captain's debut album, This is Hazelville, released late 2006. He has
also worked with John Legend and David Jordan.
For the 2008 movie Wanted, Horn produced Danny Elfman's vocals on the closing
credits song "The Little Things". In 2009, Horn produced the album Reality
Killed The Video Star for British singer Robbie Williams. Aside from the album
title paying homage to Horn's hit single with The Buggles back in 1979, it also
reflects Horn and Williams' mutual disdain for the ongoing crop of reality
television and music contest programmes in the UK and elsewhere. Ironically, the
album was Williams' first studio album not to reach number 1 in the UK, beaten
to the top spot by the debut album by JLS, who were runners-up on television's
The X Factor in 2008. Horn is also the executive producer of
Jeff Beck's album, Emotion & Commotion, released in early 2010. He is returning
to work with Yes again, producing their new album from October 2010. That album,
2011's Fly From Here, is a reunion of sorts for Horn's former bandmate Geoff
Downes; not only is Downes a member of the band's current incarnation, but the
album also takes its title from a song written by Horn and Downes during their
original stint with Yes in the 1980s. = Songwriting=
Horn's songwriting credits date back to 1979 when he co-wrote a song for Dusty
Springfield, "Baby Blue" with Bruce Woolley and Geoff Downes.
All the Buggles' hits – including "Video Killed the Radio Star", "Living in the
Plastic Age", "Elstree" and "I Am a Camera" – were co-written by Horn and
Downes. Horn co-wrote all of the 1980 Yes album,
Drama. On his return to the band in 1983 he contributed to their biggest hit,
"Owner of a Lonely Heart" and the dance hit "Leave It"; still later, he would
co-write about half of the tracks on their 2011 album Fly from Here, much of
which was based on a song he had written with Downes back in the Drama era, just
prior to joining the band. For Dollar's The Dollar Album, Horn
wrote a love story across four songs: "Hand Held in Black and White", "Mirror
Mirror", "Give Me Back My Heart" and "Videotheque". All four singles broke
the UK Top 20, and two, "Mirror Mirror" and "Give Me Back My Heart", reached No.
4 in the UK chart. During 1982 and 1983, Horn worked with
Malcolm McLaren and Anne Dudley, writing numerous worldwide hits including
"Buffalo Gals", "Double Dutch", "Duck for the Oyster" and the Duck Rock album.
In 1984, he co-wrote several hits with the Art of Noise including "Close",
"Beat Box" and "Moments in Love". The next year he co-wrote "Slave to the
Rhythm". This was originally intended as Frankie Goes to Hollywood's second
single, but was instead given to Grace Jones. Horn and his studio team reworked
and reinterpreted it, jazz style, into six separate songs to form the album
Slave to the Rhythm. Horn also contributed to the album by approaching
David Gilmour, who ultimately played guitar on it.
In the 1990s, Horn wrote two songs for solo female singers. "Riding into Blue"
was recorded by Inga Humpe and "Docklands" which was recorded by Betsy
Cook. He also co-wrote two songs with Terry Reid for his 1991 album, The
Driver and "The Shape of Things to Come" for Cher's 1995 album It's a Man's
World. Horn co-wrote the theme song "Everybody
Up" to the TV programme The Glam Metal Detectives, a comedy sketch show which
appeared on BBC Two in 1995. This was another collaboration with Lol Creme.
Horn's songwriting can be heard on numerous film soundtracks. In 1992, Horn
collaborated with composer Hans Zimmer to produce the score for the movie Toys,
which included interpretations by Tori Amos, Pat Metheny and Thomas Dolby.
In the 2000s, Horn provided additional production on three international hits
for t.A.T.u., "All the Things She Said", "Not Gonna Get Us", and "Clowns". He
also co-wrote "Pass the Flame" in collaboration with Lol Creme and
co-wrote the title track from Lisa Stansfield's 2004 album The Moment.
He co-wrote 'Sound The Bugle', performed by Bryan Adams and featured on the
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron soundtrack.
British producer Nigel Godrich credits Trevor Horn as an influence.
= Music publishing= In 1982, Horn founded the musical
publishing company Perfect Songs together with his wife, Jill Sinclair.
This coincided with their then recent acquisition of Basing Street Studios,
which also housed the fledgling publishing company. Perfect Songs was
able to harness and develop the up and coming young artists working in the
recording studio. The first to be signed were Frankie Goes
to Hollywood, followed by the Art of Noise and Propaganda. These first few
signings to the company were instrumental in establishing the company
ethos of "innovation and artiste development, taking risks and signing
acts far into the left field". Successful songwriters he has signed
since include Seal, Ian Brown, Gabrielle, Chris Braide, Shane MacGowan,
Marsha Ambrosius, Alistair Griffin, and Paul Simm.
Awards BRIT Award 1983 – Best British Producer
BRIT Award 1985 – Best British Producer BRIT Award 1992 – Best British Producer
Grammy Award 1995 – Record of the Year Horn was appointed Commander of the
Order of the British Empire in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to the
music industry. Honorary degree of Doctor of Music by
Southampton Solent University, England. Personal life
Horn married former mathematics teacher and business partner Jill Sinclair in
1980. They have four children; two sons, Aaron and William, and two daughters,
Gabriella and Alexandra, the latter of whom has worked as a trainee solicitor.
Aaron, like his father, is a musician and producer. He works with his band,
Sam and the Womp and frequently DJs around London. Both Aaron and Ally Horn
are co-directors of Sarm Studios. On 25 June 2006, while at home from
Goldsmiths College, University of London, Aaron was practicing with his
air rifle, not realising his mother was close by. A 4.5 mm air gun pellet
accidentally hit Jill in the neck, severing an artery and causing
irreversible brain damage from hypoxia, leaving only her lower brain functions
and no chance for recovery. She was rushed to the Royal Berkshire Hospital
intensive care unit where her condition was described as "critical but stable".
Communication from ZTT Records confirmed on 1 September 2006 that Jill was in a
natural coma and had been moved to a rehabilitation centre. In September
2009, Horn told The Times that he preferred not to answer questions about
his wife, but confirmed that she was still in a coma.
In June 2012, Horn told The Sunday Times that his wife was not in a coma, but,
"She cannot speak, move, or smile. The only expression she can show is of
discomfort." Jill Sinclair died of cancer on 22 March 2014, aged 61.
Horn is not Jewish, but has attended synagogue with his children.
Discography References
Further reading Wells, E. "The Hit Factory". The Times.
Retrieved 2 October 2007. External links
Official website Official Facebook page
ZTT Records official website Perfect Songs official website
Trevor Horn Video interviewed at SARM Studios
official discography Trevor Horn at the Internet Movie
Database Where Are They Now? Trevor Horn news