The Producers were a new wave and power pop band from Atlanta, Georgia in the 1980s. The original line up included Van Temple on guitar and vocals, former Whiteface member Kyle Henderson on bass and vocals, former Billy Joe Royal sideman Wayne Famous on keyboards, and Bryan Holmes on drums.
History
Originally formed as a Beatles cover band named Cartoon, they changed musical directions and began performing their own material in nightclubs around the Atlanta area. The response to their music was so good that they were quickly signed to CBS subsidiary Portrait Records by Cheap Trick, REO Speedwagon and Mother's Finest producer Tom Werman. They released two albums for the Portrait label, The Producers (1981) and You Make the Heat (1982). The Producers became a regional favorite in the southeastern United States, propelling "What She Does To Me" onto the national Billboard Magazine singles charts. "What's He Got" had some popularity as a music video but did not chart. They toured extensively opening for Cheap Trick, and The Motels. "She Sheila" from their second album was a popular MTV video. They headlined MTV's New Year's Rockin Eve in 1982.
Aftermath
Despite this success, Portrait Records dropped the band after only two albums. Kyle Henderson became a born-again Christian and left the band shortly after they were dropped to record a solo album for Kerry Livgren's Christian rock label, Kerygma Records and was replaced by future Jellyfish, Umajets and Sheryl Crow bassist Tim Smith (not to be confused with another musician named Tim Smith--born 1961--of the Progressive Art Punk outfit Cardiacs). The next Producers album, Run For Your Life, was released in 1985 on a small Atlanta-based independent label. That album featured a collaboration between The Producers and Kansas, "Can't Cry Anymore," a song which appeared on both Run For Your Life and the 1986 Kansas album Power. The Producers regained a major label contract in the late 1980s with MCA Records and recorded what was to be their fourth album, Coelacanth, but the band was one of several dropped in a 1989 label purge at MCA before the album could be released. Coelacanth was finally released in 2001. The band "retired" in 1991 but still plays shows from time to time around the Southeast.
Trivia
The first 2 albums were re-released on a single CD by an independent label (One Way Records) in 2001, but it quickly went out-of-print. The rare, remastered CD now fetches well in excess of $100 when found on eBay and Amazon.com, although the used vinyl versions of the same albums are readily available, usually for $5 to $10.
External links
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