John Robie
| John Robie | |
|---|---|
| Origin | New York City, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, Record producer, Engineer |
| Website | http://www.discogs.com/artist/John+Robie |
John Robie is an American musician and record producer, widely credited as the driving force behind many of the most successful songs from the early 80's electro boom and is best known for his work with the New York record producer Arthur Baker. John Robie's songs are represented by Downtown Music Publishing.
Early years
Robie's first role in the world of music was as a remixer for the remix service Disconet, providing professionally selected and remixed music for discotheque Dj's.
Breakthrough
Robie's first real production came in 1982 with the album Extra Extra by London based dance music artist John Rocca. In 1984 he co-produced Planet Patrol's breakthrough hit Play at Your Own Risk, on which he played the majority of instruments and collaborated with Baker. He also produced the seminal Lost in Space by Jonzun Crew and Freestyle's Don't Stop the Rock. Not a success but interesting for its use of the E-mu Emulator, one of the first digital sampling keyboards, was his production on Cuba Gooding, Sr.'s 1983 track "Happiness Is Just Around the Bend."
Mainstream
John Robie also recorded a track as the band C-Bank called One More Shot, a song that later would resurface (albeit in a reworked form) as Shellshock, a non-album track by New Order that he produced and that appears on the Pretty in Pink soundtrack. This followed his work with Arthur Baker and Jellybean Benitez on the New Order song Confusion in 1983.