Who is Mutt Lange
Although country fans probably think of Robert John "Mutt" Lange as Shania's husband, rock n' roll fans from the late 70's and 80's think of Mutt as one of the greatest rock n' roll producer's ever. Some may consider it strange that a man who is best know for his production of heavy metal bands, can find himself now engrossed in country music. The fact is Mutt has always been known for producing multi-multi-platinum artists and Shania Twain's album, "The Woman In Me", which has sold over 12 million copies, certainly fits the bill. Her latest album, "Come On Over", may equal or surpass that, since she has just begun her first world tour which should bolster album sells for months to come. Mutt has always associated himself with good musicians and Shania is no exception.
Mutt's Beginning
Trying to find out personal information about John Robert "Mutt" Lange, is about as easy as grabbing a steak from a hungry Pit Bull. What I have found out is that Mutt was born in 1949 and is 16 years older than Shania. (To the right is a picture of Mutt taken when he was near Shania's Age.) Mutt grew up in Belfast, New Zealand (South Africa) and is one of three brothers who all had unusual school boy nicknames. So to put things in perspective, I'm sure "Mutt" had no more trouble accepting his nickname than his brother "Slug" had accepting his nickname.
Mutt first got his start as a producer in 1976 where he played bass and produced City Boys' self-titled debut. Also, that year he produced Graham Parker's "Heat Treatment". In 1977, his production credits include The Motors' "Motors 1", Supercharge's "Horizontal Refreshments", and one of my favorite original new-wave groups The Boomtown Rats', self-titled debut and their 1978 follow-up "Tonic For The Troops". Rounding out the late 70's, was various other productions including The Outlaws' "Playing To Win", The Michael Stanley Bands' "Cabin Fever", XTC's "White Music", and City Boys' "The Day the Earth Caught Fire" (a band which included guitarist Mike Slammer who has played with Steve Walsh in his band Streets and more recent with Christian musician and former Stryper vocalist Michael Sweet).
Mutt and Metal
Oops! Lange did have one other album out of the 70's that was of considerable importance. AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" which was released in 1979. However, with the death of lead singer Bon Scott just months after the release, AC/DC seemed to be in a bind. However, Lange's trademark "big drum, big guitar" on AC/DC's 1980 follow-up, "Back In Black", more than made up for the loss of Scott at least as far as album sales. Mutt and AC/DC struck again in 1981 with "For Those About To Rock We Salute You", an album which launched AC/DC into superstardom and made Lange one of the most sought after record producers in the business.
1981 proved to be good to Mutt in other respects. A group of British teenagers, had released an album, one year prior, called "On Through The Night". This group showed enormous potential. Critics throughout the world began calling them the next Led Zeppelin (since they were from the UK). However, the production on the album was not equal to the content. But never fear, Mutt was there. When he had taken over the reigns to produce their second album, things had begun to change. The 1981 release, "High and Dry", the second album from Def Leppard, was packed with a hard rocking sound that in my mind forever changed the sound of heavy metal. Although it didn't produce a hit at the time (although years later "Bringing On the Heartbreak" became a legendary ballad hit), it certainly caught the eyes of both critics and youth alike.
In 1983, Def Leppard released their third album, "Pyromania", which was not only produced by Mutt, it had him credited as co-writter on all of the songs (some as principle writer). It seems like Mutt's songwriting touches seemed to be exactly what the band needed and as a result, Def Leppard had several big hits such as, "Photograph" and "Rock of Ages". After millions of copies were sold (over 9 million to date), Def Leppard and Mutt had made it big. In fact, Def Leppard members often referred to Lange as the 6th member of the band.
In 1986, it looked as if Mutt was invincible when his latest production, AC/DC's "Who Made Who", became another chart topper. However, things looked grim when an automobile accident involving drummer Rick Allen led to the loss one of his arms. Also, in December of 1986, Lange was also involved in a car wreck which resulted in leg injuries that required three weeks of hospitalization.
In 1987, four years after "Pyromania" and with Rick's determination and Mutts' innovative production skills, a unique electronic drum sound was formed, and Def Leppard's next release, "Hysteria", was an instant smash eventually selling over 11 million copies. Like "Pyromania", Mutt co-wrote all of the songs with the band including the smash "Poor Some Sugar On Me". The story goes that Mutt had went to the restroom and Lep singer Joe Elliott was just "goofing around" in the studio when "Mutt" returned sooner than expected and overheard him. To Elliot's surprise, Mutt really liked the hook Elliot was singing and the results were the biggest smash hit off the album for Def Leppard.
Hysteria was the last album that Mutt actively produced for Def Leppard turning over the day to day production to Mike "Bat Ears" Shipley. However, he stayed on as executive producer for the 1992 "Adrenalize" album where he continued to be co-writer on all of the songs except for one.
Mutt and Rock Music
As I stated, 1981 was a very kind year to Lange. He proved to be very beneficial to Foreigner, who's 2nd and 3rd albums did not quite live up to the debut album, and resulted in Mick Jones' reducing the band from 6 members to 4. Gone was Foreigner's two-guitar attack as well as the keyboardist who contributed so much to the patented Foreigner sound. But to the surprise of the critics, Mutt made his debut with Foreigner and came in and gave the new stripped down sound of the band the raw edge that it needed to make Foreigner's "4" album their most successful to date. "Urgent", "Juke Box Hero", and "Waiting For A Girl Like You" were three of the hits on the album. In addition, Mr. Lange also contributed background vocals for the album as well.
Lange's 1984 production of The Cars' "Heartbeat City" proved that Mutt's abilities were not limited to heavy metal. The results were four smash hits, "You Might Think", "Magic", "Hello Again", and "Drive", as well as several other songs that got quite a bit of radio play.
Also, in 1984, Mutt's songwriting abilities began to really surface. He was the sole writer on the smash hit song, "Lovin' Every Minute of It", performed by the Vancouver-based band Loverboy. This song seemed to give Loverboy, a band who's songwriting had begun to slump, a temporary boost.
Mutt and Pop Rock
By 1988, Mutt began to turn his back toward heavy metal and hard rock, and began to focus more on popular rock. In 1988, he produced "Tear Down The Walls" which was recorded by Billy Ocean. In 1989, he teamed up with Bryan Adams to produce "Waking Up the Neighbors". In 1993, Lange was nominated for a Grammy Award for the song he produced and cowrote with Michael Bolton entitled "Said I Love You ... But I Lied.".
Mutt came to the rescue of Heart, who was also enduring a song writing slump, on their 1990 album "Brigade". He wrote two of the biggest songs for "Brigade", "Wild Child" and the smash hit "All I Want To Do Is Make Love To You". He also wrote another Heart hit, "Will You Be There", for the 1993 album "Desire Walks On".
Mutt and Recent Projects
Interesting enough, the song "All I Want To Do is Make Love To You" was wrote in 1979, over a decade before Heart made it a success. The song was definitely written for a female vocalist with a female point of view. So I may be drawing a conclusion, but I will always wonder if that was Mutt's fantasy, to find his dream female vocalist that he could settle down with and make beautiful music together for the rest of his life.
Well, fourteen years after he wrote that song it seems like his dream, if that was indeed his dream, came true. Mutt had found Shania and the two of them have been making beautiful music together ever since. For more on Shania and Mutt, how they met, how they write songs together, etc. please see my Shania and Mutt.
However, Mutt still stays in touch with his rock n' roll roots. In between recordings of Shania's "Woman In Me" and "Come On Over", he worked again with Canadian artist Brian Adams. Brian's 1996 release "18 'til I Die" was co-produced by Mutt and Bryan. With the exception of one song, Mutt and Adams co-wrote the album together. In addition, Lange played either guitar or bass on most of the tracks.
Mutt in the Studio
Well, if you have manage to read this far you must think that Lange is the closest thing to God. Although life in the studio with Lange reaps multiplatinum results, the same life can also present its own form of misery. Mutt has been described as "a brilliant totalitarian record producer", "a guy who just made us do it over and over and over ...", but perhaps most accurately "slow and meticulous".
Def Leppard finally broke ties with Mutt after 1992's "Adrenalize because the band members felt that they were trapped in the studio. Their albums, in particular 1987's "Hysteria" and 1992's "Adrenalize," took years to record, with each layer carefully added. While the band is very proud of those records, the studio process with "Mutt" became so arduous that Lep guitarist, Phil Collen, says he seriously considered quitting the band. Collen is quoted as saying "I spent four years in the studio making `Hysteria,' and it got to the point where I'd go to the loo so I could just get out of the room.I'd get coffee and go, `Shit, I don't want to go back in there. It's worse than working in a factory.' We'd spend months doing the same guitar riff. We started doing that again on `Adrenalize,' and it wasn't valid at that point. That was some kind of turning point." In fact, Collen also had to redo Steve Clark's last guitar work to bring the album up to snuff.
Regardless, Def Leppard probably would have never made it to the extent they did if it weren't for Mutt. They know it, and yes, they are still friends despite the break-up. It seems that even the people that do have negative comments toward Lange still have the utmost admiration for the man and his abilities. It is basically a matter of working with him. Bryan Adams once joked, "Mutt could work with my mom and have a hit record."
Mutt's production of Shania's "The Woman In Me" has been said to be the most costly production of any country music record to date. However, with typical Lange class, he reimburssed the record company himself for the money that the album went over budget. Since "The Woman In Me" has sold over 12 million copies to date, I bet that Mutt is no longer paying expenses out-of-pocket for "Come On Over".
As far as Mutt's production's with Shania, it is no secret that he makes Shania the focus of the music. Every song is specially and uniquely mic'ed to make the most of her vocals. Mutt does his recordings with Shania in his Nashville studio, but he also has studios in London, New York, and Los Angeles.
So there you have it. A brief biography and history on super-producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange.
by David Collins (5/7/98)
Embedded Soundclip collage made by David W. Collins.
1998 Camelneck Records & Publishing (Article and Soundbyte)
Unauthorized reproduction of article and soundclips are strictly prohibited.
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