Tony Mansfield

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Tony Mansfield, in full Anthony Charles Mansfield, is an English songwriter, musician and producer. He was born in 1955 in Wimbledon, London, and grew up in Clapham. After school he worked briefly in the art department of Decca Records. In 1977 he founded the synth-pop band New Musik, in which he sang, played guitar and keyboards and wrote most of the songs. The group existed from 1979 to 1982. Its first hit was Straight Lines in 1979, followed by This World of Water, Sanctuary and Living by Numbers in 1980. It made the albums From A to B, Anywhere and Warp.

Music and breakthrough

After the band ended, Mansfield devoted himself entirely to producing. In the 1980s he used the Fairlight CMI, an early sampler and synthesizer, both for preparation and for production. He worked on the debut album by Naked Eyes, Burning Bridges from 1983, with Always Something There to Remind Me. With Captain Sensible he wrote hits such as Glad It's All Over. His first production of Take On Me for a-ha, from the album Hunting High and Low of 1984, was later re-recorded by Alan Tarney, but his influence on the sound of the album was great. He also worked with the B-52's, Mari Wilson and Ana Torroja.

Influence

Mansfield's music stands out for its early, inventive use of synthesizers and electronic equipment such as the Korg 700s, the Roland VP-330, the Prophet 5 and the Fairlight. For a pop history without stars he is a good example: a producer who helped define the sound of a decade, even when his name was not in the foreground.

Listening

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Mixtape 7: The 1980s^NL Reader