Steve Rowland (record producer)
Encyclopedia
Steve Rowland is singer, columnist
, record producer
and actor
. He grew up in Beverly Hills. His father is film director
Roy Rowland
, his mother Ruth was a writer, whilst Louis B. Mayer
was her uncle.
shows like "The Rifleman", Bonanza
, Wanted: Dead or Alive and a two year role in The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
. Film
appearances included co-starring roles in Battle of the Bulge
with Henry Fonda
; Gun Glory with Stewart Granger
; Crime in the Streets
with John Cassavetes
and Sal Mineo
, and the original The Thin Red Line
with Kier Dullea and Jack Warden
.
During the making of five films in Spain
, Rowland enjoyed Spanish chart
success with the group, Los Flaps. The lure of the exciting British
music
scene of the Swinging Sixties brought him to London
, where he produced thirteen Top Ten hits
for Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
. Among those worldwide hits were "Hold Tight", "Zabadak
", "Bend It" and "The Legend of Xanadu
" (a million selling UK
Number One).
He also discovered Peter Frampton
and The Herd
, and with "Way Of Life" had a #6 UK Singles Chart
hit
with his own group
, The Family Dogg. He produced hits for P.J. Proby and The Pretty Things
. In 1970 he produced the album "Coming From Reality" for Detroit Folk-Rock star Rodriguez. In the 1970s he was awarded a gold
album
and ASCAP award for producing Jerry Lee Lewis (the London Sessions). In the late 1970s, he was creative manager
/A&R
for Hansa
/Ariola, where he discovered and signed The Cure
and The Thompson Twins
, and handled Boney M
and Japan
.
In 1988, he ran his own dance
label
Dr. Beat, and later became creative director of Wham Records. Rowland has also written, produced and collated music for the TWI TV series Hi Five broadcast in thirty eight countries. At the end of 1993 Rowland became a director of Pavilion Studios forming a production company
working with a number of young DJs
, producers, artistes and programmers. During this time he auditioned and tried to sign the then unknown Spice Girl, Geri Halliwell
. In 1995 he became managing director of Media Bank UK, a Hong Kong
based international production company.
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
, record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. He grew up in Beverly Hills. His father is film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Roy Rowland
Roy Rowland (film director)
Roy Rowland was a film director. The New York-born director helmed a number of films in the 1950s and 60s including Our Vines Have Tender Grapes, Meet Me in Las Vegas, Rogue Cop, The 5000 Fingers of Doctor T and The Girl Hunters. Rowland married Ruth Cummings, the niece of Louis B...
, his mother Ruth was a writer, whilst Louis B. Mayer
Louis B. Mayer
Louis Burt Mayer born Lazar Meir was an American film producer. He is generally cited as the creator of the "star system" within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in its golden years. Known always as Louis B...
was her uncle.
Career
In 1950s, Hollywood, he went on to act in thirty five TVTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
shows like "The Rifleman", Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
, Wanted: Dead or Alive and a two year role in The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp is a Western television series loosely based on the adventures of frontier marshal Wyatt Earp. The half-hour black and white series ran on ABC-TV from 1955 to 1961 and featured Hugh O'Brian as Earp. An off-camera barbershop quartet sang the theme song and hummed...
. Film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
appearances included co-starring roles in Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
with Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
; Gun Glory with Stewart Granger
Stewart Granger
Stewart Granger was an English-American film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. He was a popular leading man from the 1940s to the early 1960s rising to fame through his appearances in the Gainsborough melodramas.-Early life:He was born James Lablache Stewart in Old...
; Crime in the Streets
Crime in the Streets
Crime in the Streets is a 1956 film about juvenile delinquency, directed by Don Siegel and based on a television play written by Reginald Rose. The play first appeared on the Elgin Hour and was directed by Sidney Lumet. The film featured actor Sal Mineo who had previously appeared in Rebel Without...
with John Cassavetes
John Cassavetes
John Nicholas Cassavetes was an American actor, screenwriter and filmmaker. He acted in many Hollywood films, notably Rosemary's Baby and The Dirty Dozen...
and Sal Mineo
Sal Mineo
Salvatore "Sal" Mineo, Jr. , was an American film and theatre actor, best known for his performance as John "Plato" Crawford opposite James Dean in the film Rebel Without a Cause...
, and the original The Thin Red Line
The Thin Red Line (1964 film)
The Thin Red Line is a 1964 Cinemascope film based on James Jones's novel of the same name. The film follows the life of a number of American soldiers during the battle of Guadalcanal.The black-and-white film was filmed in Spain...
with Kier Dullea and Jack Warden
Jack Warden
Jack Warden was an American character actor.-Early life:Warden was born John Warden Lebzelter in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Laura M. and John Warden Lebzelter, who was an engineer and technician. He was of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry...
.
During the making of five films in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Rowland enjoyed Spanish chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
success with the group, Los Flaps. The lure of the exciting British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
scene of the Swinging Sixties brought him to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where he produced thirteen Top Ten hits
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
for Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich , were a British pop/rock group of the 1960s. Two of their single releases sold in excess of one million copies each, and they reached Number One in the UK with the second of them, "The Legend of Xanadu".-Biography:Five friends from Wiltshire, David John Harman,...
. Among those worldwide hits were "Hold Tight", "Zabadak
Zabadak (song)
"Zabadak" is the name of a hit song by the musical group Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich, written by Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley. It was featured on the 1967 Boxing Day episode of Top of the Pops....
", "Bend It" and "The Legend of Xanadu
The Legend of Xanadu
"The Legend of Xanadu" is a single by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich that reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in 1968, and was the group's biggest hit...
" (a million selling UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Number One).
He also discovered Peter Frampton
Peter Frampton
Peter Kenneth Frampton is an English musician, singer, producer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. He was previously associated with the bands Humble Pie and The Herd. Frampton's international breakthrough album was his live release, Frampton Comes Alive!. The album sold over 6 million copies...
and The Herd
The Herd (UK band)
The Herd were an English psychedelic rock group, founded in 1965, that came to prominence in the late 1960s. They launched the career of Peter Frampton and scored three UK top twenty hits.-Biography:...
, and with "Way Of Life" had a #6 UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
with his own group
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
, The Family Dogg. He produced hits for P.J. Proby and The Pretty Things
The Pretty Things
The Pretty Things are an English rock and roll band from London, who originally formed in 1963. They took their name from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing" and, in their early days, were dubbed by the British press the "uglier cousins of the Rolling Stones". Their most commercially successful...
. In 1970 he produced the album "Coming From Reality" for Detroit Folk-Rock star Rodriguez. In the 1970s he was awarded a gold
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
and ASCAP award for producing Jerry Lee Lewis (the London Sessions). In the late 1970s, he was creative manager
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
/A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
for Hansa
Hansa
The Hanseatic League, known as Hansa or Hanse in various Germanic languages, was a 13th–17th century alliance of European trading cities...
/Ariola, where he discovered and signed The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
and The Thompson Twins
Thompson Twins
The Thompson Twins were a British pop group that were formed in April 1977 and disbanded in May 1993. They achieved considerable popularity in the mid 1980s, scoring a string of hits in the United Kingdom, the United States and around the globe. The band was named after the two bumbling detectives...
, and handled Boney M
Boney M
Boney M. is a Eurodisco group created by German record producer Frank Farian. Originally based in Germany, the four original members of the group's official line-up were Jamaicans Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett, Maizie Williams from Montserrat and Bobby Farrell from Aruba...
and Japan
Japan (band)
Japan were a British New Wave group, formed in 1974 in Catford, South London. The band achieved success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when they were often associated with the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement .- History :The band began as a group of friends...
.
In 1988, he ran his own dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
Dr. Beat, and later became creative director of Wham Records. Rowland has also written, produced and collated music for the TWI TV series Hi Five broadcast in thirty eight countries. At the end of 1993 Rowland became a director of Pavilion Studios forming a production company
Production company
A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...
working with a number of young DJs
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
, producers, artistes and programmers. During this time he auditioned and tried to sign the then unknown Spice Girl, Geri Halliwell
Geri Halliwell
Geraldine Estelle "Geri" Halliwell is an English pop singer-songwriter, author and actress. After coming to international prominence in the late 1990s as Ginger Spice, a member of the girl group the Spice Girls, Halliwell launched her solo career in 1998 and released her album Schizophonic...
. In 1995 he became managing director of Media Bank UK, a Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
based international production company.