Rupert Hine has passed away
 

https://www.billboard.com/articles/n...source=twitter

Rock Producer Rupert Hine, Who Worked Alongside Tina Turner, The Fixx and Rush, Dies at 72

6/5/2020 by Marc Schneider

[photo]
Rupert Hine
Fin Costello/Redferns
Rupert Hine posed with tape machines in a recording studio in 1973.

British producer, songwriter and advocate Rupert Hine, who put his stamp on classic albums dating back five decades and who carved out an enduring recording career of his own, has died at the age of 72. The London native's death was confirmed by U.K. songwriters and composers body The Ivors Academy, of which he was a member of the board. "His passion, wisdom, inspiration and his immense kindness will be hugely missed," the organization said. His cause of death was not disclosed.

Hine started out in the music business in the mid-1960s as half of folk duo Rupert & David before launching a solo career in the early '70s and later stints with the bands Quantum Jump and Spin 1ne 2wo. As a solo artist he cut six albums under his name and three under the alias Thinkman, according to his website.

He also penned tracks for other artists and wrote and produced the soundtrack for the 1985 John Cusack comedy Better Off Dead.

But it was as a producer that Hine made the biggest impact in popular culture. While the 1970s were a busy time for Hine, with titles by Camel, Anthony Phillips (ex-Genesis) and Kevin Ayers (ex-Soft Machine) to his credit, it wasn’t until New Wave engulfed the 1980s that he reached international success by becoming the go-to producer for The Fixx and Howard Jones, two of the genre’s biggest acts. Hine helmed the first four studio albums by The Fixx, including 1983’s Reach the Beach and its top-5 hit "One Thing Leads to Another," and the first two albums by Jones.

"An extraordinary man and one of my dearest longtime friends, my music mentor and producer, passed away in the early hours of this morning," Jones said on Twitter, adding that he had just spent time with Hine this week.

Hine also had a hand in crafting Tina Turner’s 1984 juggernaut Private Dancer, having produced the single “Better Be Good to Me,” a top-5 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 that earned a Grammy Award — for best rock vocal performance, female — in 1985. He also co-wrote and produced “Break Every Rule,” the title track to Turner’s 1986 album, and again collaborated with the rock legend on 1989’s Foreign Affair.

Other production credits from the decade include Stevie Nicks’ The Other Side of the Mirror, as well as albums by the Thompson Twins, Underworld, Saga and Chris De Burgh, among others. He also linked up with progressive rock heroes Rush for a two-album run that included 1989’s Presto and 1991’s Roll the Bones.

In the 1990s, Hine worked on albums with Bob Geldof and French artist Éric Serra, as well as releases by actresses Katey Sagal and Milla Jovovich. One of his biggest hits of the decade arrived in 1996, when he produced the self-titled debut album by Duncan Sheik, which included modern rock radio staples "Barely Breathing" and "She Runs Away." The pair teamed up again with 1998’s Humming.

Hine continued his work in the 21st Century, producing albums for Suzanne Vega, Ra, Stuart Davis and others. In 2008 he oversaw the benefit album Songs for Tibet: The Art of Peace, which had contributions from Rush, Vega, Sheik, Sting, Alanis Morissette, Ben Harper and Hine himself, among others. A follow-up compilation, meant to mark the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday, featured Peter Gabriel, Lorde, Kate Bush, Elbow, Sheik and Howard Jones.

Billboard's The Encyclopedia Of Record Producers — for which he wrote the forward — states that "few producers have worked with as aid a stylistic range of gold and platinum-selling artists as Hine."

An early adopter of electronic music production techniques, Hine was a founding member of Music Producers Guild, the International MIDI Association and a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in the US. In 2011 he received an APRS Fellowship Award, and he has sat on the boards of committees for BASCA and the Ivors Academy.

In 2011, Hine launched Auditorius, a joint venture with BMG Rights Management.

Hine is survived by his wife Fay and son Kingsley.




The Ivors Academy ✔
@IvorsAcademy
We are so saddened to post that our Board Director Rupert Hine has passed away.
Rupert played an integral part in shaping the organisation, and his passion, wisdom, inspiration and his immense kindness will be hugely missed.
A full tribute will be up on our website shortly

View image on Twitter
4:22 AM - Jun 5, 2020
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Howard Jones ✔
@howardjones
Rupert Hine ....An extraordinary man and one of my dearest longtime friends, my music mentor and producer, passed away in the early hours of this morning. I’m so fortunate to have spent a precious hour with him Tuesday. I will be writing about him on FB soon... luvya Roop !!

View image on Twitter
7:55 AM - Jun 5, 2020 · South West, England
180 people are talking about this

Very sad
His work here mentioned is very limited. He produced some of the biggest acts in rock and pop. It no wonder Stevie wanted to work with him.
I know that TOSOTM is not everyone's favorite. But IMHO, it was a far better album musically and lyrically than RAL. Even though not as commercially successful as RAL but then again many of the songs were not simple pop with drum machines. Considering what he had to work with Stevie at the time, he did one hell of a job.

Does Stevie ever speak of him? He seems to be somewhat of a mystery-not one of the usual cast of characters who contribute randomly to her different albums. And were they an item? I feel like she alluded to that in the liner notes of TimeSpace but can't remember.

There is some rumor and speculation. She did speak about him during 1989. I swear I remember an interview where she states Rooms on Fire is about Rupert.
I also remember there was something that happened that curtailed their relationship instantly. One rumor floating around was Rupert brought cocaine into the studio during recording of TOSOTM and that set Stevie off. The romance rumors also speculated some sort of lovers quarrel. We may never know for sure.

I believe it's the commentary track on the Crystal Visions video collection where Stevie says "Rooms On Fire" is about or at least inspired by Rupert. (That doesn't mean they were ever an item, of course.)

We might find out, soon, when Stevie writes her tell all book. Supposedly to be written when everyone is dead or too old to care.

RIP Rupert.

I love his work on 'Rooms of Fire', '2 Kinds of Love', and 'Ooh My Love'. He helped Stevie have a hit song in Europe, so she even toured there.

If you google 'Rupert Hine Stevie Nicks', there are some pics of them together socially. I remember one was in a Stevie/FM fanzine from the time, and the caption said that they went to the 'Rattle and Hum' movie premier together.

LOL
Rooms on Fire is a love at first sight song.
How can you say its about him and they were not an item especially since they spent a year together in the studio. They must have hooked up or were an item even if it was short lived.

Are you saying mama hooked up with every producer she ever had(pun not intended)?

I mean, it sure looks that way, I'm only seeking affirmation concerning my suspicions. :p

they were an item.

they were having a relationship during the making of the album.

she followed him to UK to mix the album or something like that, and then all she's ever said is that "something happened that meant we could never be together again" she also added that "it wasn't about love, we just couldn't be together again"

I thought she talked about it on the liner notes to her greatest hits. She's talked about it in interviews. How the walls of the castle (the castle as in, house they rented to record in in LA) were on fire whenever they were together, so Rooms on Fire she said *is* about him and their relationship. Wasn't he the one that she said there were sparks when they met because "He was older and wiser than me and we both knew it" ? Which is pretty funny and typical Stevie fact-mangling because if he was 72 then they are the same age. :rolleyes:

He was her boyfriend at the time.

She's got issues. Or she's mentally ill. I've never seen someone distort facts the way she does...

Stevie on Rupert:

magical drawers...:laugh::eek::sorry:

Here it is, from the TimeSpace liner notes (thanks to http://www.inherownwords.com/rooms.htm for saving me from having to get up and look for it!) :) (PS-- that's a picture of Brad Jeffries with her, not Rupert).

The night I met Rupert Hine was a dangerous one. He was different from anyone else I had ever known...He was older, and he was smarter, and we both knew it. I hired him to do the album before we even started talking about music. It seemed that we had made a spiritual agreement to do a magic album...in a fabulous Dutch castle, at the top of the mountain. We recorded it in the formal dining room...where, upon the walls hung all these very old and expensive pieces of art...looking at us...we were never alone.

It always seemed to me that whenever Rupert walked into one of these old, dark castle rooms, that the rooms were on fire. There was a connection between us that everyone around us instantly picked up on, and everyone was very careful to respect our space...our TIMESPACE, so we all lived at the castle for about four-and-a-half months. I went home with him to England to mix the album at his studio...he left in December. I joined him there in London in January. We left immediately for his studio, Farmyard Studios, somewhere outside London. It was like being in a cottage in Wales, it was a little spooky...the atmosphere was like nothing I had ever experienced. Then something happened to him that simply made it impossible for us to ever be together again. I left him there...the rooms were still burning, but the fire had been stolen from us. It wasn't over love, in fact...it had nothing to do with love. It was just a bad situation. I came back to Los Angeles, a very changed woman. And now, long nets of white...cloud my memory...Now I remember the rooms, the music, and how truly magic the whole thing was...
~Stevie Nicks, TimeSpace Liner notes 1992

Very sad. I like what he and Stevie did on the OSOTM. It’s my favorite of her solo albums. Anyway, I heard or read that he was actually married while he had a fling with Stevie during the making of the album. And also something about his wife was pregnant or something. I hope she devotes at least a whole chapter of her book about this period of time in her life.