Julian Mendelsohn

About

From Wikipedia:

Julian Mendelsohn is an Australian record producer, audio engineer and mixer. […] Records on which he has worked have appeared in the British top ten charts. He is best known for producing the work of the Pet Shop Boys, and has also produced music for musicians including Elton John, Jimmy Page, Bob Marley, INXS, Level 42, Nik Kershaw and Paul McCartney.

In 1986, Julian Mendelsohn remixed songs from “Press To Play” album. His remix of “Tough On A Tightrope” was included as a B-Side… But his most important collaboration with Paul McCartney is his producer role on 1993 album “Off The Ground”. It was at Paul “Wix” Wickens’ suggestion that Julian Mendelsohn came to produce “Off The Ground”.

[…] I then started working with producer Peter Collins and mixed “Pass the Dutchie” by Musical Youth, my first number one single. Other artists included Tracy Ullman, The Belle Stars and Nick Kershaw. Paul “Wix” Wickens (keys) and Charlie Morgan (drums) were the main musicians for Peter’s sessions, both of whom I developed a lasting relationship with. […]

In the early 90s I co-produced, together with “Wix” Wickens Tasmin Archer’s debut album “Great Expectations” and the No1 single “Sleeping Satellite”. Just after that I was privileged to be asked by Paul McCartney to produce his album “Off the Ground”.

Julian Mendelsohn – From MoreNoiz.com

When it started to look as though I was up for the job I was absolutely desperate for a holiday. I’d been working like a dog for a year and a half and felt that I needed to have a couple of months off. So when I went to meet Paul I wasn’t incredibly fussed about it. Naturally I would have been disappointed if he hadn’t then asked me to co-produce, but if that was so I would have thought ‘Oh well, I’ll have a holiday then. In fact, that attitude probably helped me to get the job, because I didn’t come on too strong.

Julian Mendelsohn – Club Sandwich 64, Winter 1992

Two songs on the album, ‘Peace In The Neighbourhood’ and ‘Biker Like An Icon’, were actually recorded during rehearsals. Bob Kraushaar, my engineer, and I set up some mikes, to get the feel of the room and to enable the band to hear how it was going. Then, around early February, when we came to record those two songs properly, we listened to the rehearsal tapes and they were so fantastic that we didn’t have to bother! I think we may have re-done one part of ‘Peace In The Neighbourhood’ but ‘Biker Like An Icon’ appears on the album exactly as it was recorded, within an hour, at rehearsal. It’s my favourite track on the album, too, a real rocker. Fantastic.

Julian Mendelsohn – Club Sandwich 64, Winter 1992

We always tried to record the band live, so that everybody would be on their instrument at the same time and Paul would be singing live. The aim was to get a complete performance for each song and very rarely replace anything. Normally these days you’d get a band to do a backing track, keep the drums and replace everything else bit by bit, but we tried to do the whole thing in one go. There are quite a few completely live vocals on the album.

Julian Mendelsohn – Club Sandwich 64, Winter 1992

Last updated on June 16, 2019