The Bahamas boy talks tunes and tides with Adrian Deevoy

The urbane Mr Palmer talks to Hank Bordowitz about crossing over from cult status to general acceptance.

First of an occasional series of chats with engineers; Richard Elen extracts facts from Phill Brown.

The co-producer of Level 42's last two records has also lent his keyboard playing skills to the likes of Grace Jones, Robert Palmer, Mick Jagger and Talking Heads. He discusses his roles as programmer, synth player and producer with Paul Tingen.

Creating The Future

Anyone can dream about the studio of the future, but it takes a unique talent to build it in the present. Wally Badarou's personal studio defies conventional ideas of studio design, substituting voice-controlled DMP11s for a large console, and putting the musician first. Paul Tingen listens in.

The Making Of A New Music Supremo

Philip Glass is the best known, and certainly the best paid, contemporary new music composer. In London for performances of his music for the films Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi, he talked to Mark J. Prendergast.

Richard Elen's fact-extraction mission with engineer Phill Brown reaches its conclusion.

The Fixx are big in American. Chris Holland-Hill, who's big in Hemel Hempstead, finds out why.

drummer Tony Thompson fuses influences

From Folkie to MIDI. Chris Maillard finds out how the hard bitten acoustic veteran has been bitten hard by the electronic bug

The Power Station's percussive powerhouse talks. Bill Milkowski puts pen to paper

Duran man Andy Taylor gives Chris Maillard a Station announcement

What have David Bowie, Laurie Anderson, King Crimson, Frank Zappa and Jean-Michel Jarre got in common? They've all employed the services of Adrian Belew, one of the world's most inventive guitarists, and a man with a passion for creating new sound textures.

Sharpe & Numan

Gary Numan renews his working relationship with Bill Sharpe for another single project. Dan Goldstein drops in on them, and discovers the link could soon become permanent.

Jools in the Crown

His idiosyncratic style of fretless bass playing inspired a generation, but now the ex-Japan man is playing sessions, writing his own music, and programming his own synths.

Jim Gilmour, principal keyboard player in the band, talks to Paul Wiffen about the host of keyboards the band use onstage and in the studio. Their recent European tour increased their reputation as one of Canada's premier music-makers. Photography by Sally Newman.

Making tracks

Demo Tape Discipline

the final chapter reveals the tricks of the mix

Animbling we will go (old English for left hand exercises, synth fans).

lies, damned lies, and cartoons

Richard Walmsley contemplates British success in the US and meets two bands who have achieved just that...

From the profound to the downright silly, we wind up a year's chit-chat

Having recently released his own independent LP, 'Oh Africa', we asked Sound On Sound reader Kofi Busia to write about his experiences. In this the third and final part of his story, he reveals his discoveries about the record industry and explains why he set up his own record label.