- Richard Batchens
Richard Batchens is an Australian record producer and recording engineer. He was the main in-house producer for the Australian recording company Festival Records in the early-mid 1970s and was one of the most prominent and successful producers of the era.
His work includes many major releases on Festival's Infinity Records label (not affiliated with the U.S. based MCA Records subsidiary label also called
Infinity Records .) He worked on all the early albums and singles for Sherbet, Australia's most successful pop band of the early-mid 1970s, and the first five LPs by renowned singer-songwriterRichard Clapton . [ [http://www.milesago.com/Misc/batchens.htm "Milesago" website - Richard Batchens page] ]He also produced some of the early Cold Chisel material, including the single "Goodbye (Astrid Goodbye)" and their second album "
Breakfast at Sweethearts ".Career
Black Feather: -- producer, "At the Mountains of Madness" (1971) LP and "Seasons of Change" single. Blackfeather's LP was recorded in late 1970 and released on Festival's new Infinity imprint in Jan. 1971, and featured guest appearances by two members of Fraternity,
Bon Scott on recorder and percussion and John Bissett on keyboards. The LP reached #7 in the Australian national charts. The classic track "Seasons of Change" (originally written by Robinson for Fratenity) proved to be one of the group's most memorable tracks and became a national Top 20 hit when released (against the band's wishes) as a single. This track also crops up on the Raven's "Golden Miles" CD compilation in 1994 along with the album track "Long Legged Lovely". [ [http://www.crabsodyinblue.com/acdcblackfeather.htm Crabsody In Blue website] ]Richard Clapton: -- produced, engineered and mixed the soundtrack album "Highway One" (1976, Festival Records) [ [http://www.richardclapton.com/newSite/discDetail.cfm?recordID=10 Richard Clapton website] ] .
Cold Chisel:-- Cold Chisel's first LP had been produced by the renowned ABC producer-engineer Keith Walker (who engineered live concert recordings and broadcasts for the ABC rock station
Double Jay ), but for their second album their record company decided to put the band in the hands of a 'real' producer. Richard Batchens was the hot name at the time. He was reportedly not all that keen on the band's individual performances in the studio and made them do things over and over. In the end he smoothed out the rough edges, but the band has said they felt they also lost some of the life, while at the same time, the more sophisticated approach tended to highlight the quality of the songs. [ [http://www.whiteroom.com.au/howlspace/en/coldchisel/coldchisel.htm HowlSpace website] ] The band had their reservations, but they were reasonably happy with the results, and "Breakfast At Sweethearts" proved to be their commercial breakthrough, turning Cold Chisel into platinum selling superstars. After attempting to record a follow-up single with Batchens, Cold Chisel decided to record the next album ("East") withMark Opitz .KNOWN PRODUCTION/ENGINEERING CREDITS:
Blackfeather * 1971
At the Mountain of Madness [Infinity/Festival L34159] Co-produced by John RobinsonSplit Enz * 1975 - "Mental Notes" (Mushroom Records)- engineer
Richard Clapton *1973 - "
Prussian Blue " (Infinity/Festival L 34956)*1975 - "
Girls on the Avenue " (Infinity/Festival L 35508)*1976 - "
Highway One " soundtrack (Festival Records) [ [http://www.richardclapton.com/newSite/discDetail.cfm?recordID=10 Richard Clapton website] - production, engineering and mixing]* 1977 - "
Goodbye Tiger " (Festival Records) - production, mixing [ [http://www.richardclapton.com/newSite/discDetail.cfm?recordID=8 Richard Clapton website] ]
=Sherbet=*1972 - "Time Change... A Natural Progression" (Infinity/Festival L34725 LP, D20018 CD
*1973 - "On With the Show" (Infinity/Festival L35007 LP, D20020 CD)
*1974 - "Slipstream" (Infinity/Festival L35275 LP) - co-credit with Sherbet
*1974 - "In Concert" (Infinity/Festival L35443 LP)
*1975 - "Life... Is For Living" (Infinity/Festival L35652 LP)
[ [http://hem.passagen.se/honga/database/s/sherbet.html Australian Rock Database] ]
Cold Chisel *1977 - "
You're Thirteen, You're Beautiful, and You're Mine " - live EPRecorded live at the Regent Theatre, Sydney, 1977. Mixed at Albert Studios, Sydney, Australia. Produced by Keith Walker. Consultant Producer:, Richard Batchens.*1978 - "
Goodbye (Astrid Goodbye) " (Elektra 100078)*1979 - "
Breakfast at Sweethearts " (Elektra 600042-1 LP)[ [http://hem.passagen.se/honga/database/c/coldchisel.html Australian Rock Database] ]
References
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