Stephen Street

Not afraid to work with artists taking their first hesitant steps on the path to success, this producer has changed the face of modern music by topping the charts with bands many considered to be marginal. Steve Sutherland on the indie pop producer supreme

I could’ve been a contender. The 17th of June 1995, that would have been my big day. The way it didn’t happen went like this... The week Blur played their triumphant outdoor gig at Mile End Stadium in East London, I invited the band in to guest edit NME. Alex James kept a diary of his nightly sashaying around Soho, Graham Coxon illustrated a Joy Division album, uh, can’t rightly remember what Dave Rowntree did, but Damon Albarn reviewed the singles with me, along with a couple of cheeky primary school kids.

Once they’d given Robson & Jerome’s ‘Unchained Melody’ a righteous thumbs-down and Seal’s ‘Kiss From A Rose’ a cheery thumbsup, they wanted to know how come Damon was doing NME when he was a singer, their logic being that, if he could edit, then it was only fair that I should get the chance to sing.

EGO MANIACS

And so the deal was struck: a band of NME staffers would open the Mile End bill, propping up The Boo Radleys, Sparks, John Shuttleworth, Dodgy and The Cardiacs. Back at the office, I imparted the awesome news to the staffbut, to my astonishment considering what a bunch of ego maniacs we all were, they declined the invitation. In short, they bottled it. So that’s how come I’m not some mega-millionaire rock superstar. Oh, and I forgot to mention, the kids were Stephen Street’s.

The easiest way to introduce Stephen Street is the fact that if you’ve been a UK teen with a taste for indie music at any time during the past 40 years, he will have contributed significantly to the soundtrack of your life. Artists he has worked with to gladden your ears include The Smiths, Blur, The Cranberries, Kaiser Chiefs, New Order, Babyshambles and The Courteeners – yup, indie in excelsis!

IN PARADISE