* En anglais uniquement
Though first emerging as a staple of the British progressive rock community of the 1970s,
Bob Sargeant enjoyed his greatest success a decade later as one of the most notable producers of the new wave era. He first surfaced as a keyboardist with
Mick Abrahams' backing band, on
Abrahams' 1971 self-titled solo debut. Freelance work with
Andy Roberts,
Junco Partners and
Patrick Campbell-Lyons followed, and in 1975
Sargeant issued his lone solo album, First Starring Role. After briefly joining
Curved Air in time to play on their 1976 LP Airborne, he resurfaced three years later in the producer's seat, helming the Ruts' Crack, the Monochrome Set's
Strange Boutique a year later, and subsequent work with
the English Beat (the classic
I Just Can't Stop It) and
Any Trouble (Where Are All the Nice Girls?) solidified
Sargeant's status as a rising talent. In addition to producing both of the English Beat's other studio albums, he also helmed
Haircut 100's 1982 debut
Pelican West; concurrently, he also continued producing any number of sessions for
John Peel's BBC radio program, with dates from
the Buzzcocks,
Wire,
Madness, the
Undertones,
Gang of Four and
Gary Numan later seeing official release. In 1985
Sargeant worked on the
Damned's Phantasmagoria, followed a year later by the Woodentops' acclaimed debut Giant. From the late 1980s onward, however, he was largely inactive. ~ Jason Ankeny