The great facilitators: those who help the music get made, and those who help pay for it and get it out to the public. Producers have become an increasingly high-profile breed, sometimes receiving credits alongside the artist and often helping to write as well as record the material. Some producers, such as Mark Ronson and Danger Mouse, have even become de facto artists who also happen to produce as well. Alongside questions about some of the world’s leading producers, this quiz also spotlights some of the most notable record labels, past and present.
Answers: here
1 Now part of the Beggars group, which independent label was founded by Peter Kent and Ivo Watts-Russell in 1980? Which musical collective was formed by Watts-Russell in 1983 to showcase some of the label’s talent?
2 For which famous soul label were the keyboard player Booker T and his band the house session musicians? What colour were their onions?
3 Who provided the glossy production for John Lennon’s album Imagine? And which Lennon hit, not from this album, featured a group of children called the Harlem Community Choir?
4 Founded by Bruce Pavitt in 1986, which label released the first records by Nirvana and Soundgarden? In which American city is it based?
5 Who wrote and produced the ten-minute epic ‘Bat out of Hell’ for Meat Loaf? And who played the revved-up lead guitar part?
6 Which independent record label released the first Suede album in 1993? Many of their assets were later transferred to another London indie imprint, who launched the careers of the Sugarcubes and Alabama 3: which label?
7 What connects ‘Baby, I Love You’ by the Ronettes, ‘You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling’ by the Righteous Brothers and ‘My Sweet Lord’ by George Harrison? Which Beatles single, their last US number one, could be added to the list?
8 Which Jamaican producer worked at the Black Ark, where he produced records for the Heptones, the Wailers, Max Romeo and many others? What’s the title of the famous three-CD box set of his work, released in 1997?
9 U2 have been signed to which record label for their entre career? Which of their albums was the first to top the chart in both the US and the UK?
10 Who helped kick Adele’s career into another gear when he wrote and recorded ‘Rolling in the Deep’ with the singer in two days? In 2011, he produced Ceremonials, the second album by which act?
11 Which DJ co-produced (with Steve Osborne) the Happy Mondays album Pills ’n’ Thrills and Bellyaches in 1990? Which record label had he set up the previous year?
12 Who received production credits and added some backing vocals on all but four tracks on Humbug, Arctic Monkeys’ third album? Which member of Simian Mobile Disco produced the other four tracks, then went on to work with the band on their next two albums?
13 Who set up Creation Records in 1983, going on to release records by the likes of the Jesus & Mary Chain, Primal Scream and Oasis? Which label did he set up after Creation was dissolved in 1999?
14 Who produced the first album, and all the band’s major hits, for Frankie Goes to Hollywood? What was the record label he co-founded with Jill Sinclair and Paul Morley?
15 Which famous label was started by record store owner Geoff Travis in the late seventies? After it fell into receivership, which other indie label and distributor purchased the company from Sanctuary Records in 2007?
16 Who worked as an engineer on some of the early records by the Smiths, and was then credited as co-producer on the band’s album Strangeways, Here We Come? Which classic Britpop album did he produce for release on the Food label in 1994?
17 What is the trade name of the Norwegian songwriting and production duo Tor Hermansen and Mikkel Eriksen? For which bestselling artist did they help to create a run of four consecutive American number ones?
18 Which entrepreneur became the manager of the Beatles, helping them to land their first recording contract? To which label did EMI assign the band?
19 Which label was started in Manchester in 1978, and went on release records by groups such as Joy Division and the Happy Mondays? Along with Alan Erasmus and Rob Gretton, who was the driving force behind the label?
20 Which professional footballer founded a small label called 2 Wikid? With which singer did he enter into a legal dispute in 2004, after the singer attempted to release an album under his own steam despite allegedly being under contract to 2 Wikid?
21 Which two big hitters, one a Canadian guitarist and the other a British keyboard player, shared producing duties on U2’s Achtung Baby?
22 Whose production output includes most of David Bowie and Marc Bolan’s work, some Thin Lizzy records and a 2006 album by Morrissey? Which band, fronted by Pete Ham and touted as the ‘new Beatles’, hired him to produce their first album, Magic Christian Music?
23 Which label unsigned the Sex Pistols after a notorious TV appearance by the group, and went on to become the subject of the band’s ire on their debut album? Which label actually released the record?
24 Which independent label has released all five Arctic Monkeys albums? In which city did the band start out?
25 Which record label was founded by the Wailers in 1965? Which major label distributed the music internationally?
26 What was the name of the label for which Dr Dre produced his own and Snoop Dogg’s debut albums? Which co-founder of the label eventually filed for its bankruptcy in 2006, and is now awaiting trial on hit-and-run murder charges over an incident in 2015?
27 With which record label is producer and mogul Chris Blackwell most closely associated? In 1989, by which time it had become the world’s biggest independent imprint, the label was sold to which major record company?
28 Which label, whose roster includes Beach House, the Low Anthem and John Grant, won Independent Label of the Year in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016? The label was founded by two former members of which Scottish indie band?
29 The compilation series Now! That’s What I Call Music was launched in the UK in which year? (Two points if you get the year spot on, one point for two years either side.)
30 Who produced the first four Elvis Costello albums? Which of these albums remains Costello’s biggest seller?