Ed Stasium

Ed Stasium
Stasium in 2013
Stasium in 2013
Background information
BornNew Jersey, United States
GenresRock
Occupation(s)Record producer, audio engineer
InstrumentGuitar
Years active1969–present
LabelsWarner Brothers, Enigma, Capitol, Epic

Ed Stasium is an American record producer and audio engineer, who has worked on albums by the Ramones, Talking Heads, Motörhead, the Smithereens and Living Colour.[1]

Early life and education

Raised in Green Brook Township, New Jersey,[2] and graduated from Dunellen High School.[3]

History

Stasium began his recording career in 1970 fronting the band Brandywine. He appeared on their sole LP, Aged.[4] When he returned to the music industry three years later, it was as a recording engineer, working on a wide variety of projects ranging from The Chambers Brothers' Unbonded to Barry Miles' Magic Theater to Sha Na Na's Sha Na Now. He was the engineer on "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight & the Pips as well as "Dynomite" by Tony Camillo and Bazuka.

In 1976 he was again involved as a sound engineer in the production of the album Morin Heights by the Scottish band Pilot, which was recorded in Canada in the studios of the same name.

Stasium's long affiliation with the American punk and new wave, and the latter-day alternative rock, began in 1977, the year he engineered both the Ramones' Leave Home and Talking Heads' Talking Heads: 77.

His production career began a year later with the Ramones' Road to Ruin, followed in 1979 by work on the group's It's Alive and the soundtrack to the film Rock 'n' Roll High School.

Stasium enjoyed perhaps his greatest success during the latter half of the 1980s. In addition to engineering Mick Jagger's Primitive Cool, he scored a major hit with Living Colour's Vivid, and also produced Soul Asylum (Hang Time), the Long Ryders (Two Fisted Tales) and Julian Cope (Saint Julian).

In 1990, he helmed the Smithereens' album, 11, reuniting with the group a year later for Blow Up; Marshall Crenshaw's Life's Too Short and Motörhead's 1916 appeared around the same time. Productions from acts including the Hoodoo Gurus (Crank) and the Reverend Horton Heat (Space Heater) followed as the decade progressed.

In 2006, Stasium produced the rock band, LOURDS. Stasium and Breaking Records founder, Bernadette O'Reilly, were colleagues that reunited for this project. It was produced in Stasium's Durango, Colorado, studio.

In 2014, he produced an album by The Empty Hearts on 429 Records. The band included Blondie drummer Clem Burke, The Chesterfield Kings bassist Andy Babiuk, The Cars guitarist Elliot Easton, The Romantics guitarist and vocalist Wally Palmar, and Small Faces and Faces pianist Ian McLagan.[5] The album was released on August 5, 2014.

Previously living in Bayfield, Colorado, Stasium currently resides in Poway, California.

Discography

References

  1. ^ "BBC". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  2. ^ Shearn, Ian T. "The unsung NJ connection to an R&B masterpiece", NJ Spotlight News, November 10, 2023. Accessed May 28, 2024. "Ed Stasium — a young, Green Brook rock guitarist whom Camillo converted to his chief sound engineer."
  3. ^ "Top Billing; Please do feed these Animals", Courier News, October 31, 1993. Accessed May 28, 2024, via Newspapers.com. "They come from the land Down Under, these Baby Animals.... Their latest album, Skinned and Dangerous, was produced by Green Brook native and Dunellen High School grad Ed Stasium."
  4. ^ "Ed Stasium | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  5. ^ "Meet The Empty Hearts: Members of Blondie, Cars, Romantics, Chesterfield Kings Form New Band". Billboard.com. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Skypark – Overbluecity (2000, CD)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  7. ^ "Ed Stasium | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 January 2021.