Stephen W. Taylor on Stretch TOTP performance

[WalkAThinLine.]

Stephen W. Taylor is an engineer who has worked with numerous artists and producers including Genesis, Jethro Tull, Peter Gabriel, U.K., Brand X, Gong, The Fixx, Howard Jones, and Rupert Hine. In this interview, Taylor recalled a time he worked as a recording engineer when he was asked to mix a Stretch song for a Top of the Pops performance.

Top of the Pops during that period insisted bands re-record the backing tracks. I was told “Don't worry, because what we always do is, the band comes in, they bring a copy of the backing track of their original single, we make a copy of that, we sit around for three hours and drink tea, and everybody gets paid. Job done.” [laughs] I thought, “Oh, that's a relief, I'm not being thrown in at the deep end.” Except, once in a blue moon, a representative of the Musician's Union would come along to make sure that things were done properly. And they did for this session, and I found myself actually having to record and mix a track in three hours for Top of the Pops.

It was for a band called Stretch and the song was “Why Did You Do It?” It turned out okay. It wasn't perfect, but it was good enough and it was used on Top of the Pops the next day. That was trial by fire again and I think that gave them the confidence to say, “Right, you can become one of our engineers now."

https://www.innerviews.org/inner/stephen-w-tayler