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Colin Thurston was among the premier producers of the new wave, helming era-defining hits including
Duran Duran's "Hungry Like the Wolf" and
Kajagoogoo's "Too Shy." Born in Singapore in 1947,
Thurston began his career playing guitar in a series of little-known bands -- in frustration he turned to jingle writing, but rock & roll remained his passion and in the mid-'70s he began work as an engineer in a small London recording studio. In 1977
Thurston was recruited by producer
Tony Visconti to engineer two of the year's landmark LPs,
David Bowie's
Heroes and
Iggy Pop's
Lust for Life. When
Visconti declined to work with the influential post-punk outfit
Magazine, the group recruited
Thurston instead, and via their 1979 release,
Secondhand Daylight, he earned his first credit as a producer, instilling the record with the icy, remote textures that would prove his sonic trademark.
Thurston next signed on with the pioneering synth pop unit
the Human League, helming their early efforts
Reproduction and
Travelogue. By all accounts he was jet-lagged and brusque when first introduced to
Duran Duran in 1980, but by the end of their live set he enthusiastically agreed to produce their first EMI single -- the sessions instead yielded half of the band's self-titled 1981 debut LP, and in the wake of smash singles like "Girls on Film" and "Planet Earth,"
Duran Duran were the most popular new band in Britain. Their 1982 follow-up,
Rio, also launched the quintet to stateside stardom on the strength of MTV smashes "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Save a Prayer," and in 1983
Thurston and
Duran Duran keyboardist
Nick Rhodes teamed to co-produce
Kajagoogoo's breakthrough hit, "Too Shy."
However,
Thurston did not participate in sessions for
Duran Duran's follow-up,
Seven and the Ragged Tiger, and despite credits including
Bow Wow Wow's I Want Candy,
Talk Talk's
The Party's Over, and
Howard Jones'
Human's Lib, his career slowly but inexorably ground to a halt. After a long illness,
Thurston died January 15, 2007, at age 59. ~ Jason Ankeny