Best known for his work with The Smiths, The Cranberries, and Blur, today we are talking with English music producer, Stephen Street!
Street began his musical career in the late 1970s playing in various bands in London. He then started at Island Records as an in-house assistant and then as an in-house engineer.
The Smiths and Morrissey
One of Street’s first jobs as in-house engineer was for a session for The Smiths’s “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”. He then worked on their album Meat Is Murder, with Morrissey and Marr producing for the first time.
Street continued to work with The Smiths, working as an engineer on their album The Queen Is Dead before assuming a producer role for Strangeways, Here We Come, their final album.
After The Smiths broke up, Street worked with Morrissey as a producer and co-songwriter on his album Viva Hate. This album reached No. 1, spawning two top 10 hits in the UK. Street went on to co-write and produce two further singles for Morrissey which appeared on Bona Drag.
Blur
After hearing “She’s So High”, Blur’s first single, Street contacted their manager. Soon after he produced their second single “There’s No Other Way”, although he did not produce the album as a whole. Street produced Blur’s next four albums: Modern Life Is Rubbish, Parklife, The Great Escape and Blur.
Street produced Blur’s 2015 album The Magic Whip, their first since the band’s reformation with Coxon.
The Cranberries
In 1992, Street started working with Irish band The Cranberries on their debut album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?. The album turned out to be a huge success in the U.S. In 1994, Street worked with the band again on their second album No Need to Argue.
Street worked with the band on their fifth album Wake Up and Smell the Coffee and the two extra tracks that were recorded for their 2002 best of album Stars: “Stars” and “New New York”.
Street also produced their sixth studio album Roses, released in 2012. He also produced their final album In the End, released in 2019.
In February 2020, it was announced Street will receive the Outstanding Achievement Award at the upcoming Music Producer’s Guild Awards.
Watch the video below to hear more about Stephen Street and his work with these iconic artists!
