Richard Buskin
As an author and as a journalist, Richard Buskin has interviewed hundreds of celebrities, from Jack Lemmon,
Ginger Rogers, Tony Curtis, Roger Moore and Nicholas Cage to Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Gene Simmons and
Roger Daltrey, while writing articles for magazines and newspapers around the world. Here are some of the features...

Playboy



                                                         Classic Tracks

  
This ongoing series of magazine articles, published monthly since 2003 in Sound On
   Sound (UK/US) and Sound & Recording (Japan), showcases record producers, artists
   and engineers talking about the creation of famous and/or influential recordings. So far,
   it has featured the following songs and interviewees, listed in order of the tracks' original
   release dates. 64 of them appear in a revised format, together with four exclusive new
   interviews and more than 400 photos, in the Classic Tracks
book (Sample Magic, 2012).


- 1951 -
Les Paul & Mary Ford's "How High the Moon"
Les Paul

- 1956 -
Frank Sinatra's "I've Got You Under My Skin"
John Palladino

- 1957 -
Miles Davis's "'Round Midnight"
Frank Laico

Jerry Lee Lewis's "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On"
Jack Clement

- 1958 -
Cliff Richard's "Move It!"
Malcolm Addey

- 1959 -
The Flamingos' "I Only Have Eyes for You"
Terry Johnson

- 1963 -
The Ronettes' "Be My Baby"
Larry Levine

- 1964 -
The Kinks' "You Really Got Me"
Shel Talmy

Petula Clark's "Downtown"
Ray Prickett

- 1966 -
Bob Dylan's "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands"
Bob Johnston

The Four Tops' "Reach Out (I'll Be There)"
Lamont Dozier

- 1967 -
The Doors' "Strange Days"
Bruce Botnick

The Moody Blues' "Nights in White Satin"
Derek Varnals

- 1968 -
Jimi Hendrix's "All Along the Watchtower"
Eddie Kramer

Tommy James and the Shondells' "Crimson and Clover"
Tommy James, Bruce Staple

The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
Ken Scott

- 1969 -
The 5th Dimension's "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In"
Bones Howe

Crosby, Stills & Nash's "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes"
Bill Halverson

The Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"
John Simon

- 1970 -
Van Morrison's "Moondance"
Shelly Yakus

Derek & the Dominoes' "Layla"
Ron & Howard Albert

- 1971 -
Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On"
Ken Sands

Don McLean's "American Pie"
Ed Freeman, Tom Flye

- 1972 -
Luciano Pavarotti's "Nessun Dorma"
James Lock

The Staple Singers' "I'll Take You There"
Terry Manning

- 1973 -
Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff"
Phill Brown

Charlie Rich's "Behind Closed Doors"
Lou Bradley

The New York Dolls' "Personality Crisis"
Jack Douglas

Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
David Hentschel

- 1974 -
The Hollies' "The Air That I Breathe"
Alan Parsons

Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama"
Rodney Mills

Billy Swan's "I Can Help"
Billy Swan, Chip Young

John Lennon's "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night"
Roy Cicala

Big Star's "September Gurls"
John Fry

- 1975 -
10cc's "I'm Not in Love"
Eric Stewart

Aerosmith's "Walk This Way"
Jay Messina

- 1976 -
The Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen"
Bill Price

Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise"
Gary Olazabal, John Fischbach

The Eagles' "Hotel California"
Bill Szymczyk

- 1977 -
Donna Summer's "I Feel Love"
Pete Bellotte

David Bowie's "Heroes"
Tony Visconti

Status Quo's "Rockin' All Over the World"
Pip Williams

Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way"
Ken Caillat

The Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive"
Karl Richardson

- 1978 -
Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights"
Jon Kelly

The Undertones' "Teenage Kicks"
John O'Neill, Damian O'Neill, Davy Shannon

Chic's "Le Freak"
Nile Rodgers

The Only Ones' "Another Girl, Another Planet"
Alan Mair, John Burns

The Who's "Who Are You"
Jon Astley

Blondie's "Hanging on the Telephone"
Mike Chapman

Ian Dury and the Blockheads' "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick"
Laurie Latham

- 1979 -
Elvis Costello's "Oliver's Army"
Roger Bechirian

The Knack's "My Sharona"
David Tickle

Gary Moore's "Parisienne Walkways"
Chris Tsangarides

Supertramp's "The Logical Song"
Peter Henderson

The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star"
Gary Langan

The Jam's "The Eton Rifles"
Vic Coppersmith-Heaven

- 1980 -
The Cure's "A Forest"
Mike Hedges

Devo's "Whip It!"
Robert Margouleff

- 1981 -
The Specials' "Ghost Town"
John Collins, John Rivers

Soft Cell's "Tainted Love"
Mike Thorne

R.E.M.'s "Radio Free Europe"
Mitch Easter

The Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up"
Chris Kimsey

The Human League's "Don't You Want Me"
Martin Rushent

- 1982 -
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts' "I Love Rock 'N' Roll"
Glen Kolotkin

Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force's "Planet Rock"
Arthur Baker

John Mellencamp's "Jack & Diane"
Donald Gehman

Madness's "Our House"
Clive Langer & Alan Winstanley

The Pretenders' "Back on the Chain Gang"
Steve Churchyard

- 1983 -
Duran Duran's "The Reflex"
Ian Little

The Police's "Every Breath You Take"
Hugh Padgham

Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Relax"
Steve Lipson

- 1984 -
Depeche Mode's "People Are People"
Gareth Jones

Tina Turner's "What Love Got to Do With It"
John Hudson

Bryan Adams' "Run to You"
Bob Clearmountain

Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A."
Toby Scott

Madonna's "Like a Virgin"
Jason Corsaro

- 1985 -
Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing"
Neil Dorfsman

a-ha's "Take on Me"
Alan Tarney, Gerry Kitchingham

Talking Heads' "Road to Nowhere"
Eric "E.T." Thorngren

Sade's "The Sweetest Taboo"
Mike Pela

- 1986 -
The Smiths' "The Queen is Dead"
Stephen Street

Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al"
Roy Halee

- 1987 -
Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)"
Narada Michael Walden

Pet Shop Boys' "It's a Sin"
Julian Mendelsohn

New Order's "True Faith"
Stephen Hague

Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up"
Mark McGuire, Phil Harding, Pete Hammond

MARRS' "Pump up the Volume"
John Fryer

The Pogues' "Fairytale of New York"
Chris Dickie

- 1988 -
Public Enemy's "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos"
Hank Shocklee

- 1989 -
The Pixies' "Monkey Gone to Heaven"
Gil Norton

Metallica's "One"
Flemming Rasmussen

The Ramones' "Pet Sematary"
Fernando Kral

The Stone Roses' "Fool's Gold"
John Leckie

- 1990 -
The Orb's "Little Fluffy Clouds"
Dr. Alex Paterson

Sinéad O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U"
Chris Birkett

Orbital's "Chime"
Paul Hartnell

- 1991 -
Natalie & Nat 'King' Cole's "Unforgettable"
Al Schmitt

Future Sound of London's "Papua New Guinea"
Gary Cobain, Brian Dougans

- 1992 -
Michael Jackson's "Black or White"
Bill Bottrell

- 1993 -
Green Day's "Basket Case"
Neill King

- 1994 -
Nine Inch Nails' "Closer"
Sean Beavan

Tricky's "Black Steel"
Mark Saunders

- 1995 -
Oasis' "Wonderwall"
Owen Morris


 

 

Among the record producers, engineers and composers who Richard Buskin has interviewed for
  articles not in the "Classic Tracks" series are Chet Atkins, Glen Ballard, John Barry, Tom Dowd,
Gus Dudgeon, Dave Edmunds, Geoff Emerick, Trevor Horn, Glyn Johns, Quincy Jones,
Leiber & Stoller, Tommy LiPuma, Sir George Martin, Jimmy Miller, Giorgio Moroder,
Mickie Most, Eddy Offord, Sam Phillips, Phil Ramone, Bob Rock, Alex Sadkin,
Elliot Scheiner, Norman Smith, Stock Aitken & Waterman, Bruce Swedien,

Bob Thiele, Russ Titelman, Vangelis, Butch Vig, Don Was,
Jerry Wexler and Hans Zimmer.




© 1999-2012 Richard Buskin/Playboy Magazine/Sound On Sound. All rights reserved.