Trevor Horn is an English music producer, musician, composer, and recording studio owner. He is one of the biggest pioneers of the 80’s music sound – “the man who invented the 80’s” – producing for artists such as ABC, Yes, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and many more.
His main rig consisted of a Fairlight CMI, a TR808, a Simmons Electronic Drum Module, a Roland Sequencer, a MiniMoog, and a couple digital multi-tracks. Horn was one of the first owners of the Fairlight CMI in the UK in which only 10 were sold.
Trevor Horn was one of many primary producers on the album Flowers In The Dirt by Paul McCartney. “Trevor Horn was also an avid Beatles fan from 1963 [onwards], growing up with The Beatles, The Stones, and Bob Dylan”. (Sinclair, 2017) Horn and McCartney had met while they were both working in Air Studios as McCartney encountered Horn, trying to help him with a machine he was unsure about. Trevor Horn was originally auditioning to be a bassist for McCartney’s band and eventually got along with the other members and co-produced Flowers In The Dirt.
Rough Ride is the second track in the album Flowers In The Dirt. This album was a result of Paul McCartney experimenting, researching the latest synth-pop trends of the 80s, overall trying to rediscover his voice. “Paul McCartney may have been the only artist on the planet uninterested in sounding like the Beatles” (Runtagh, 2017) Trevor Horn, famously known as the man who invented the 80’s, was his biggest chance in helping McCartney find his voice. “I [Paul] had wanted to work with Trevor Horn and Steve Lipson, and this was the first occasion…”. (McCartney, 2017)
From first listen, Rough Ride gives a funk sort of feel evident from the recurring guitar riff. The drumbeat supports the funk atmosphere and sets a foundation for the groove of the song. “Steve Lipson and I [Horn] lifted the beat from Experience Unlimited which is a go-go band we really liked’. (Sinclair, 2017) However, the drum section from the middle 8 was played by McCartney himself; the rest was inspired by Experienced Unlimited. The bass was played by Stephen Lipson in which he “had this bass sound I [Lipson] had been working on, it was a huge bass sound, two synths” (Sinclair, 2017) This bass reminded me of a similar bass sound used on Stevie Wonder’s Superstition in the sense that it involved more mid range frequencies as well as the lower ones. The guitar was played by McCartney on some effects pedals, such as reverb and what sounded like a vibrato effect, which made it sound more nostalgic. The synths and keyboards were also performed by Linda, McCartney’s partner, on a Mini Moog synthesizer and producer Trevor Horn. The middle 8 section was something they experimented with a lot, as previously mentioned McCartney played the drums, but they also kept rewriting it. This was a result of Horn’s creative songwriting process, referenced in his interview ‘The Art of Record Production’, “A lyric will take you somewhere different whereas if you write backing tracks, you just end up writing 8 bars for ages”. All together this produced Paul McCartney’s newfound sound that he was looking for.
References:
Sinclair, P. (2017) In their own words: The producers discuss McCartney’s flowers in the Dirt, SuperDeluxeEdition. Available at: https://superdeluxeedition.com/interview/in-their-own-words-the-producers-discuss-mccartneys-flowers-in-the-dirt/ (Accessed: November 8, 2022).
Runtagh, J. (2017) Behind the songs: Paul McCartney shares intimate memories of recording ‘flowers in the dirt’, Peoplemag. PEOPLE. Available at: https://people.com/music/paul-mccartney-flowers-in-the-dirt-song-stories/ (Accessed: November 8, 2022).
The Art of Record Production (2019) YouTube. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I2Lmvo4rvA&t=949s (Accessed: November 8, 2022).