Mike Shipley
Michael "Mike" Shipley (6 October 1956 – 25 July 2013) was an Australian mixing engineer, audio engineer, and record producer. Shipley's music career spanned more than 30 years – mostly working in Los Angeles. At the Grammy Awards of 2012 he won the Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical category for his joint work on Paper Airplane (April 2011), by Alison Krauss and Union Station. Shipley died in July 2013, aged 56, of an apparent suicide.
Mike Shipley | |
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 Shipley in 2013 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Michael Shipley |
| Born | 6 October 1956 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Origin | London, England, United Kingdom |
| Died | 25 July 2013 (aged 56) Studio City, Los Angeles, United States |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Years active | 1976–2013 |
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Biography
Michael Shipley was born on 6 October 1956, in Sydney, Australia; as a teenager he moved with his family to London. He became interested in a recording career while at school in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s.[1] He later recalled "One of my teachers at grammar school there was a musician who asked me to come down and sing on a record he was making. I walked into this thing called the recording studio, and it just blew my mind. It was, 'This is home,' and I knew instantly and from that point on that all I wanted to do was to work there."[2] Shipley returned to Australia and completed secondary education at Camberwell Grammar School (class of '74) in Melbourne. He then returned to London, where he started as an assistant at Wessex Sound Studios, and worked with Sex Pistols and Queen.[2][3]
His first engineering sessions were during the punk rock explosion of the late 1970s and early 1980s and included recordings with the Damned.[2][4] He worked alongside Robert John "Mutt" Lange for decades.[3] His contemporaries at Wessex include producers Roy Thomas Baker and Chris Thomas, and engineers Tim Friese-Greene and Bill Price. Shipley also worked with Def Leppard on their albums, High 'n' Dry (July 1981), Pyromania (January 1983), Hysteria (August 1987) and Adrenalize (March 1992).[4]
Asked to work with the Cars, Shipley relocated to Los Angeles in 1984, where he had since been based until his death. Shipley later relocated to Hawaii for a sabbatical, but returned to Los Angeles to work for Def Leppard, Shania Twain, The Corrs, Anberlin, Aerosmith, Maroon 5, Faith Hill, India.Arie, Kelly Clarkson, Green Day, Nickelback and Alison Krauss.[3]
Death
Shipley died on 25 July 2013.[5] Cause of death as stated on 9 August 2013, at the memorial service, was an apparent suicide.[6]
Discography
Recorded work credited to Mike Shipley:[1]
1970s
| Year | Artist | Title | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Hawklords | 25 Years On | Engineer |
| 1979 | Matchbox | Matchbox | Engineer |
| 1979 | The Damned | Machine Gun Etiquette | Engineer |
1980s
| Year | Artist | Title | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Planet 10 | Night | Engineer |
| 1980 | Night | Long Distance | Engineer |
| 1980 | City Boy | Heads Are Rolling | Engineer, audio engineer |
| 1980 | Desmond Dekker | Black and Dekker | Engineer |
| 1981 | City Boy | It's Personal | Engineer |
| 1981 | Def Leppard | High 'n' Dry | Engineer |
| 1982 | Sniff 'n' the Tears | Ride Blue Divide | Producer, engineer, mixing engineer |
| 1982 | A Flock of Seagulls | A Flock of Seagulls | Engineer |
| 1983 | Q-Feel | Q-Feel | Engineer |
| 1983 | Def Leppard | Pyromania | Engineer |
| 1983 | Diamond Head | Canterbury | Producer, engineer, audio engineer |
| 1984 | Thomas Dolby | The Flat Earth | Mixing engineer |
| 1984 | Devo | Shout | Mixing engineer |
| 1984 | Berlin | Love Life | Mixing engineer |
| 1984 | The Cars | Heartbeat City | Mixing engineer |
| 1985 | Prefab Sprout | Steve McQueen | Audio engineer, mixing engineer |
| 1985 | Joni Mitchell | Dog Eat Dog | Producer, audio engineer, mixing engineer |
| 1985 | Kim Carnes | Barking at Airplanes | Mixing engineer |
| 1986 | Benjamin Orr | The Lace | Producer, audio engineer, mixing engineer |
| 1986 | Lone Justice | Shelter | Mixing engineer |
| 1986 | Berlin | Count Three & Pray | Mixing engineer |
| 1987 | Alison Moyet | Raindancing | Mixing engineer, associate producer |
| 1987 | Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers | Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) | Mixing engineer |
| 1987 | Def Leppard | Hysteria | Mixing engineer |
| 1988 | Scorpions | Savage Amusement | Mixing engineer |
| 1988 | Prefab Sprout | From Langley Park to Memphis | Mixing engineer |
| 1988 | Joni Mitchell | Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm | Audio engineer, mixing engineer |
1990s
| Year | Artist | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Vixen | Rev It Up |
| 1990 | Ratt | Detonator |
| 1990 | Cheap Trick | Busted |
| 1991 | Yes | Union |
| 1991 | Joni Mitchell | Night Ride Home |
| 1992 | Shawn Colvin | Fat City |
| 1992 | Def Leppard | Adrenalize |
| 1993 | Winger | Pull |
| 1993 | Heart | Desire Walks On |
| 1994 | Richard Marx | Paid Vacation |
| 1995 | John Waite | Temple Bar |
| 1995 | Meat Loaf | Welcome to the Neighbourhood |
| 1995 | Rodney Crowell | Jewel of the South |
| 1996 | X Japan | Dahlia |
| 1997 | Down by Law | Last of the Sharpshooters |
| 1997 | Guster | Goldfly |
| 1997 | Shania Twain | Come On Over |
| 1997 | Whitesnake | Restless Heart |
| 1998 | Kevin Sharp | Love Is |
| 1999 | David Mead | The Luxury of Time |
| 1999 | Chris Botti | Slowing Down the World |
| 1999 | Ratt | Ratt |
| 1999 | Blondie | No Exit |
| 1999 | Splender | Halfway Down the Sky |
| 1999 | Enrique Iglesias | Enrique |
| 1999 | Kip Winger | Down Incognito |
| 1999 | Faith Hill | Breathe |
| 1999 | Jimmy Barnes | Love and Fear |
2000s
2010s
| Year | Artist | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Maroon 5 | Hands All Over |
| 2010 | Sing It Loud | Everything Collide |
| 2011 | Runner Runner | Runner Runner |
| 2011 | Alison Krauss and Union Station | Paper Airplane |
| 2011 | Thomas Dolby | A Map of the Floating City |
| 2012 | 12 Stones | Beneath the Scars |
| 2013 | Keith Urban | Fuse |
References
- Hogan, Ed. "Mike Shipley | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 September 2016. Note: to access further information, user may have to click on a tab, e.g 'Credits' or 'Awards'
- Droney, Maureen. "Mike Shipley: Having too Much Fun to Stop". Mixonline. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
- Vdovin, Marsha (21 April 2010). "Engineer Extraordinaire Mike Shipley — Behind the Board for Maroon 5, Alison Krauss, and More – Blog". Universal Audio. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
- "Mike Shipley Dies". grammy.com. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
- "Mike Shipley. Music engineer. October 7, 1956 – July 25, 2013. Aged 56". Daily Express. 3 August 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
- Archived 11 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine
External links
- Mike Shipley discography at Discogs
- Mike Shipley at AllMusic
- Mike Shipley on IMDb
- An Evening with Mike Shipley
- LA Grapevine November 2006
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