STEPHEN LIPSON, Trevor Horn, Annie Lennox, Macca - The TRUTH behind 80s & 90s hits

Stephen Lipson helped create some of the most ambitious and distinctive records of the 1980s and 1990s—including Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Relax,” Grace Jones’s “Slave to the Rhythm,” Propaganda’s A Secret Wish and landmark recordings with Annie Lennox.

In this in-depth interview, Stephen Lipson reveals what really happened inside the studio as he worked alongside Trevor Horn and the ZTT team to construct records that sounded unlike anything else on the radio.

Stephen discusses the making of “Relax,” “Two Tribes” and “Slave to the Rhythm”; his working relationship with Trevor Horn; producing Annie Lennox; collaborating with Paul McCartney; and entering the world of film music through Hans Zimmer.

He also explains how emerging technology transformed record production, why perfection could require repeatedly rebuilding a track and what separates a technically accomplished recording from a genuinely great record.

Stephen Lipson’s remarkable career includes work with Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Grace Jones, Propaganda, Annie Lennox, Paul McCartney, Simple Minds, Jeff Beck, Hans Zimmer and Billie Eilish.

This is the story of one of the producers and musicians who helped define the sound of modern pop.
0:00 Introduction
1:44 Stephen Lipson’s childhood and musical beginnings
6:06 The bedroom band that started everything
7:53 Building a recording studio from scratch
10:58 Why records mattered more than pop stars
14:49 Producing Driver’s Seat by Sniff ’n’ the Tears
19:03 What does a record producer actually do?
22:01 Joining Trevor Horn and the birth of ZTT
24:57 How Relax was created
31:29 Annie Lennox, S Club 7 and knowing when you’re wrong
33:08 From Frankie Goes to Hollywood to Grace Jones
34:23 The extraordinary making of Slave to the Rhythm
39:09 A surreal encounter with Jim Steinman
42:41 Songwriting, publishing and Paul McCartney
45:00 Producing Annie Lennox as a solo artist
48:37 The argument behind Annie Lennox’s Medusa
52:26 The Downtown Lights vocal that brought everyone to tears
57:57 Working with Paul McCartney on Rough Ride
1:00:59 Moving from pop records into film music
1:02:29 How Stephen’s Dark Knight Rises mix went wrong
1:04:00 Meeting Hans Zimmer—and telling him the truth

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