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Gus DudgeonGus Dudgeon (1942 - 2002) was a British record producer. The Tea Boy Gus was born in Surrey. After being sacked from 11 jobs Gus became a tea-boy at Decca's Olympic Studios in Baker Street, London. He was able to answer the right questions about using and repairing a tape recorder. It was only when he saw a photograph of Lonnie Donegan in the very studio where he worked that it started to thrill him. Despite having no musical training he progressed to sound engineer. He worked with Bruce Channel, Graham Davey and Shirley Collins. Early pop successes included The Zombies' "She's Not There" (1964) and John Mayall's "Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton" (1966). He helped in the auditions for Tom Jones and The Rolling Stones. By 1966 he was becoming bored. He was reprimanded for telling The Moody Blues that they had chosen the wrong sound mix for a song. Finally he became a co-producer on an album by Ten Years After in 1967. The Elton John Years Encouraged by Andrew Loog Oldham he left Decca and founded his own company. When Tony Visconti was unhappy with David Bowie's guitar song "Space Oddity" Gus turned it into an epic. A rather nervous Elton John brought him "Your Song" in 1970. Gus rejected the piano accompaniment and recorded it with choir and orchestra. It reached number one. For the next six albums that Elton recorded, the pattern was established. Elton recorded the voice and piano, then left. Gus Dudgeon did the rest. Sometimes, as with "Daniel" the sound was simple. At other times, as with "Rocket Man", it was an extravaganza. Elton John and Gus Dugeon together founded the Rocket Records label. It was dissolved in 1976. Gus did the sound mix for the Elton John / John Lennon concert ay Madison Square Gardens in 1974. The Folk-Rock Years After the break-up with Elton John, Gus had difficulty establishing himself. He claimed that he used to go and see three new live bands every week. He produced Chris Rea, Lindisfarne, Joan Armatrading, Elkie Brooks, Fairport Convention, The Beach Boys and Steeleye Span. In the 1980s he built Sol Studios. He re-united with Elton John in 1985 for three more albums. Rejecting the dance scene, he started working with alternative bands such as XTC, Menswear, and The Frank and Walters. He managed a band called Slinki Malinki. He was always very supportive of new bands. Once he starting receiving royalties from Elton John records he started to realise that the 250 pounds that he had been paid by David Bowie was inadequate. He sued Bowie for a million pounds in 2002. The Guinness Book of Records recognised that he was the first person to use sampling. His production of John Kongos' hit "He's Going To Step On You Again" (1971) used a tape loop of African tribal drumming. Gus was also founder of the Music Producers Guild. He died in a car crash near Reading on July 21 2002, together with his wife Sheila. Dudgeon, Gus Dudgeon, Gus Dudgeon, Gus
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