Robert John"Mutt" Lange and Shania Twain had grown up decades,hemispheres,and continents apart with that factor it is so uncanny that there were so many similarities between Mutt and Shania's musical backgrounds. They both grew up in places that were far beyond the known periphery of the music business, they were both marked out by there peers by an obsessive determination, to learn there craft, and the type of music they heard as children was straight ahead commercial-pop. Robert John Lange was born in Mufilira, Northern Rhodesia(now Zambia), on November 11, 1948, he was the second of three boys. Mufilira is a mining town on the Congo border, right in the center of the copperbelt, some of the richest seam of copper ore in the world. His South-African born father, Ivan Guy Lange, was a mining engineer--not a suit and tie office manager, more a pickax and shovel guy. A foreman in charge of teams of Native workers--a reclusive man happiest on his own. In contrast, his mother Elizabeth(nee` Von Wartenburg) was a very cultured, sophisticated woman who came from a landed family in Germany. Their marriage ended in divorce before Mutt turned 15. The three Lange boys, Peter,John, and Bill, enjoyed a comfortable colonial upbringing, but far from the verandaed luxury of Happy Valley. There was domestic help, but not hot and cold running servants, as the Langes were at the lower end of the expat social scale. While the whole population was able to support a string of social and sports clubs, it could not support a segregated high school in every town. At the age of 11 the Lange boys were sent away to boarding school, paid for by the government. John followed Peter to Guinea Fowl, in Gwelo, Southern Rhodesia(now Gweru in Zimbabwe). The school was in a converted RAAF Training barracks from the second world war. Pupil's movements were controlled by a blast of the air raid siren. Johan Du Plooy was another student in Guinea Fowl, he played on the Cricket Team with John Lange. "He was one of the opening bowlers, he says, and I was the Wickett Keeper." He was a good all around sportsman. He played Rugby as well,but I don't recall him being into music at all. He was a quiet guy, always humble, friendly enough, he was never a big deal, nev er a bully. I got to know him better after I moved to Belfast High School." In the early sixties, the political situation in South Africa became increasingly unstable. The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was always opposed by Nationalists arguing that it existed only to serve the economic interests of the white population in Southern Rhodesia. Violent unrest led to its dissolution in 1963, with the two northern territories becoming independent as Zambia and Malawi. Zambia's leader, Kenneth Kaunda, had his own agenda for the copper profits, Southern Rhodesia became increasingly militant in there refusal to accept black majority rule. By the time Ian Smith made his unilateral declaration of Independence in 1965, the mining industry was in turmoil. By 1965 the splintered Lange family had returned to South Africa. In 1963 Ivan Lange had a new job as a mine manager in Klerksdorp, 65 miles Southwest of Johannesburg, and as a divorced man needed to send his sons away to complete their education, Belfast High was in South Africa, on the High Veldt of the Northern Transvaal, halfway between Pretoria and The Mozambique border. Du Plooys parents had sent him there to learn Afrikaans and he never understood why John Lange ended up there. It was a state funded, coeducational boarding school that took in teenagers from all over Africa. According to Du Plooy, "It was extremely rigid, unbending,cold, isolated, it wasn't a pretty place, ikt felt to me like a prison." At Guinea Fowl, the educational system was english in origin and relatively liberal. At Belfast, it was Dutch Calvinist, intent on rigidly following the repressive Christian Nationalist Education Policies of the apartheid government. Discipline was all and fun----unless it involved maiming other boys on the rugby field---was unhealthy. "Although we had girls at the school, we weren't even allowed to hold their hands."says Du Plooy. "During school break the girls would go to one side, the boys to the other. We weren't allowed to mix except at specially organized social evenings where they kept us all indoors and watched us like hawks. Radio's were not allowed in school. "John hated Belfast High. If any of us could have got out of there we would. At one stage I wanted to run away and he did,too. We discussed it but, of course, we never did." Due to regard South African education authorities had for Rhodesian educational standards, John Lange was placed in a grade where he was one of the oldest in his year. He was average academically and a reasonable sportsman, but he didn't enjoy team sports because they were compulsory, even then he knew he wanted to be a musician. A Pop musician. There he was at fifteen, blond hair cut so short it could only hint at curls, fair skinned freckled face, practicing his guitar and telling his friends, "I'm going to be involved in music." To which they all said, "Oh yeah right." He struck up a close friendship with James Borthwick, a year ahead academically but one day younger. James was already a five year veteran, as he'd been packed off to Belfast soon after his mother died in 1958. James Borthwick says, "That Mutt and him quickly discovered a mutual interest in music." "In 1963 there was a school band, but only instrumental, that played at debating evenings and behind the screen before the movie in the school hall on Friday nights. We played piano, trumpet,T-Box Bass,and drums...which were military drums placed upside down on the floor, and a cymbal hung from a science lab retort stand. By the time Mutt had arrived, I had graduated from T-Box Bass to drums. "The advent of the Merseybeat sound inevitably led us to the vocal,three guitar,and drum format and so I left the dance band and formed up with Mutt on Rhythm guitar, Roland Deale on lead guitar and Sydney Baker on bass. At first we were a bit shy to try singing and so played shadows tunes and other guitar instrumental stuff. A favorite was "The Rise and Fall of Flingel Bunt,' in which Mutt played a mean lead guitar!" Over the next two years, the band went through frequent name and personnel changes. "In those days of school boy bands, finding a name came even before learning the songs,"says James Borthwick. It was John Lange who thought that everybody should have nicknames. It was his friend Vernon "Bird" Loker who first coined the nickname "puppy" for him, because "he was always ragged looking, like a dog." "Puppy" Lange accepted his name for awhile, before he decided it wasn't Rock and Roll enough, and , in typical self deprecating style altered it too "Mutt," which stuck. He was in good company. His younger brother Bill ended up as "Slug" apparently because he was pudgy,slow,and laid back, Raymond Arenstein became "Compost," and Borthwick, the third in a line of James Hamilton Borthwick's was "Junior." The first band was called Renegades and then it was called The "Phantoms" and within a year after the first of many line up changes, the Comanches. Johan Du Plooy joined first on piano and then on rhythm guitar. "John was never going to be the lead singer," Borthwick recalls. "Even back then he was more interested in making music itself than performing; he didn't want to be the star. The Comanches went through quite a few permutations," says Borthwick. "Even in such a restricted enviroment, it was extraordinary how many allegiances were regularly being broken and reformed." In 1965, the band rechristened itself as the "Visions," with Robert John "Mutt" Lange on lead guitar, Vernon "Bird" Loker on rhythm, Raymond "Compost" Arenstein on bass, and James Borthwick on drums. "James said it was when they renamed themselves "Visions" that his and Mutt's friendship intensified. James disagrees with Johan's memory of Mutt's vocal prowess. "Central to our musical tastes and ambitions was vocal harmony, and Mutt and I had voices that blended perfectly. The rough,m gravelly voice he later became known for was only cultivated in the seventies. Mutt had an excellent voice and ear for harmony, and notwithstanding his tireless capacity for working hard on the songs we sang, and the fact that none of us could read music, he was without question a natural musician. They spent hours and hours practicing in Mutt's room, perfecting there blending of voices. We chose songs that put this to good effect, rarely singing songs that needed a lead singer. Like other school boy bands of that time, we were convinced that we were gonna hit the bigtime, as soon as we could afford the gear. They played pop hits by The Swinging Blue Jeans, The Searchers, The Everly Brothers, the Who, Herman's Hermits, the Beach Boys, The Hollies, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, the Yardbirds, the Byrds, the Zombies, Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, and Manfred Mann(an expat South African). Despite their radio ban, the school did allow the band to practice and even to play at school functions. Dancing,however,was not permitted. "There was another Belfast Institution that had some bearing on "Mutts" perfectionism," James said. The school cadet band, which was very prestigous as it had, against all odds, won many competitions it was not easy to get in. James auditioned as a bugle player in 1961, and became a drummer in 1964, Mutt joined in 1965 and played the tenor drum, that had entailed alot of twirling and flash. What was significant about the band was bandmaster. Although he knew very little about music, he was a slave driver. We practiced for hours and hours, through freezing winter, before school, during school breaks, and after school hours. We were also expected to attend a band camp during our vacation. All of us learned, allbeit forcibly, how to work as a team and what it meant to strive for perfection. During the school holidays, Mutt often travelled from klerksdorp to Jahannesburg to stay with his aunt, who lived in a grand old house in the very up market suburb of Houghton. He stayed with aunt who was a wealthy widow and something of an eccentric. Her husband had been an executive of the giant Anglo-American corporation. His Aunt would drive around town in an old Rover packed full of her dogs, who were various shapes and sizes, who had scratched the wood and paintwork to smithereens. There was an old steinway grand piano, which Mutt would tinker on. Mutt was always experimenting with music. A morning while staying in Klerksdorp, James Borthwick, had woke to hear his friend playing "Little Red Rooster" on his dads cello. Back in Johannesburg, James and Mutt spent there evenings at the movies or devouring whatever local bands were on offer, travelling by bus and foot to dances, concerts, and "battle of the bands" competitions. None of the bands they saw--Dickie Loader and The Blue Jeans, the Stacoatos, The Four Dukes, Thyne Eak, The Birds of a Feather, Bill Kimber and the Couriers, The Bats, Royal Showband, Gene Rockwell and the Falcons, The Bow Street Runners, Group 66--meant anything outside of a South African Music Scene Contracting in Increasing isolation. It didn't worry the boys, who avidly studied their musical techniques, admired and coveted their instruments and equipment, and dreamed their dreams for the future. Their dreams had a slight hiccup in 1965, when James and Johan Du Plooy graduated and Mutt had to endure another year of school. At that time there was a draft system in South Africa and 90 percent of white males ended up having to serve nine months in the military. After graduating Belfast in the end of 1966, he got a job as a bank clerk and then he was called up to serve in April of 1967. While his contemporaries in America and Europe were sampling the delights of summer love, Mutt was serving as a medic in the South African Army. When he was discharged early the following year, Mutt started fulfilling his ambition. With accumulated pay he bought a magnificent Fender Bass Amplifier and Fender Precision Bass Guitar and moved into a boarding house in Kennnsington,Johannesburg, with his brothers Peter and Bill. The room he had could hardly contain the new equipment. Meanwhile James Borthwick had gotten a job at the South Afircan Broadcasting Corporation as a sound engineer on a radio station. When Mutt came to visit him in the studio, his eyes lit up; he realized that was what he wanted to do. The former bank clerk managed to convince Dave Gooden, who owned Sonovision Studios, that he was the right man for the job of apprentice sound engineer. It may have been that Gooden recognized a kindred spirit, as he went out on a limb and built the studio himself. Mutt joined the studio and the staff consisted of Dave, his sister, who was the secretary/typist, and a delivery man with a bicycle. Later they expanded to a huge double story business with all of the latest state of the art sound equipment. As Mutt was being apprenticed, James jhad quit SABC to study for an economics and accounting degree. James formed a band with Steve McNamara, who was going to college for an art degree. Mutt was impressed with his guitar playing and on a few occasions they played gigs in Johannesburg with Mutt on bass. In 1969, during the university vacation, Mutt and James recorded a demo in Sonovision Studios. James recalls, "Mutt would push the record button and run around into the studio, pick up his guitar and sing. All the tracks were his own compositions,except one song which we wrote together. It took them days to overlay James acoustic guitar, and Mutt's bass, and both of their voices, overtracking harmonies. Mutt already had a sense of perfection. By now he had made some contacts in the local recording industry and persuaded someone in Gallo's to listen their demo. They were knocked out by what they heard and immediately offered us a recording contract under the unfortunate name 'Sound Reason.' Everything was done in such a rush and we were so enamored by the whole affair, we didn't stop to think. Steve McNamara was drafted into the group as a third member, although he didn't do much on the album. The arrangements were done by someone who, although an excellent musician in his own right, had no affinity for the songs, and the result was a disaster. James says he thinks it was a lesson to Mutt to never again rush into things. Although James said Mutt's ambitions remained undimmed. He dreamed of making it overseas. Almost four decades later it is hard to explain just how radical, nay inconceivable, an ambition this was. The local record business was no more than a cottage industry, which grew more insular as the outside world slowly showed its disapproval of the arptheid regime. The only pop music Mutt heard in his youth was international hits with strong hooks and melodies that stuck in the head. There wasn't much else out there. In the mining towns of Northern Rhodesia there were no radio stations, so music came from what records the expat community brought with them and there tastes were often suspect. Long before he heard Elvis for the first time, little Mutt listened to Slim Whitman, and has loved him ever since. In the mid fifties, the Florida born country singer, with extra added yodel was hugely successful with hits including, "Rose Marie," "Indian Love Call," and "Serenade." Somehow, Slim touched a chord right across Africa. Nigerian Superstar King Sunny Ade has described Whitman as one of his band line-ups invariably include a pedal steel guitar. While the guitar is ubiquitous across the continent, it is unlikely Mutt was exposed to much black African music as a child, musicians as accomplished as the Zimbabwean Thomas Mapfumo learned their trade playing covers of The Beatles,Sinatra, and Presley. The record bars were colorful places where the local artists' records were pressed by the dozen, with covers made from wallpaper off-cuts, but not places where a young white boy would hang out. In South Africa, the music scene was even more segregated. The black music scene was traditional, not so vibrant as the unique sounds you hear coming out today, Geoff Williams. "It hadn't evolved back then. There was interest in soul music, some great Jazz, and a lot of Tratitional Township music. We weren't really exposed to each others music. White audiences had vastly different tastes. It hadn't evolved back then. There was interest in soul music, some great Jazz, and a lot of traditional township music. We weren't really exposed to each other's music. White audiences had vastly different tastes. "There was no television and the state-run radio stations played the international hits along side the middle-of-the-road covers by bland white "Pop Stars" like Ge` Korsten, as tasteless as they were talentless. Anything more left-field could only be found in specialist import shops in big cities, Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland was a procribed text, featuring a black guitarist and an album cover displaying topless women of all races. It hit every puritan button available." Ralph Simon says, "The scene was so restrictive, with three million whites who didn't get involved in black music. As a white kid, you didn't hear much black music unless you looked for it. The Beatles were allowed on the radio until John Lennon made the pronouncement that they were bigger than Jesus, then all their stuff was banned. When you took a record to radio you had to take the lyrics also, and if they didn't pass muster with the censors at the SABC then you could not get the record played. South Africa's hippie revolution, such as it was, came late, but bands like the psychedelic pioneers Freedom's Children,Abstract Truth, and Rhodesia's Otis Waygood Blues Band did manage to emulate their English and American Idols. Acid trips,pot smoking,communes in the country,and long,drug fueled, and (sometimes)inspired Jam sessions----often with black musicianslike the legendary and exquisite sax player Kippie Mocketsi--were part of the scene. In it's context, it was wild,and by 1970, the government was stomping on longhaired deviants with boots,scissors,and military call-up papers. After Sound Reason folded, Mutt put all his concentration into Sonovision, working on radio soap operas and jingles for ad agencies. Jingles only lasted fifteen seconds and nobody cared much how they sounded except Mutt, who was obsessed with getting the right drum sounds. He ste about forming a new band called Hocus. James Borthwick had just switched to studying for an arts degree when Mutt presented him with an ultimatum. "He told me he had musicians lined up for a new project he was working on and it was now or never." I told him, "I still have alot of thinking to do and that was it our paths split. I went back to University, though Steve quit his course to follow Mutt. I still saw him on occasion, but since I was no longer part of his ambition, our friendship cooled." Geoff Williams got a call to be the drummer. He was reluctant to go to an audition, but when he did he was knocked out. "He was already Mutt when I met him," says Geoff, "so there we were Mutt and Geoff. I thought 'Hell, these guys are really talented." I was asked to join and within a matter of months we were full time. We weren't commercial, but to secure a gig and get some money, we did a crash course learning hits. Mutt was always the driving force. When Geoff first joined they had a lead singer, Colin, but Mutt was a far better vocalist than he was. From when we turned professional Mutt was more or less the lead singer. We went back to a trio with Steve McNamara on guitar and had to keep it very tight. After Johan Du Plooy went to do his military service, he lost touch with Mutt. In 1969, while working as a medical rep, he attended a Trade Fair in Johannesburg. There, playing in a small tent off the main area; was a three piece band called Hocus. The bass player, who had sandy hair down to his shoulders, looked very familiar, it was Mutt. Johan says, "Mutt always knew exactly what he wanted and he worked for it. It didn't happen by accident." Mutt quit Sonovision in 1970 and the band rented a house on a fifty acre plot near Mudders Drift, fifteen miles from Johannesburg. They kept their gear permanently set up in the lounge and each had their own bedroom. Getting it together in the country was not an excuse for the band members to smoke bales of pot and drink themselves silly. They may have had long hair but that was as far as the rebellion went. "Hocus was an extremely clean band," Geoff says. Geoff mentions how him and Mutt used to have a few beers, but he didn't ever smoke and after he became a vegetarian he didn't even have a beer. The band survived on a strict budget; their live work was supplemented by jingles for soap powder or soup cans. Mutt would write it, the band would rehearse it, and then they'd drive into town to record it. Mutt was obsessed with getting there sound right and they rehearsed for hour after hour. Geoff continues saying,"He wasn't a raging dictator. Everyone did their own self-development on their instruments, Mutt more so than anyone. He was incredible; after a full day's rehearsal you could hear him doing scales in his room and he'd have the music out, getting into some new scale, trying out a new finger grip, writing something. Some people get born with talent, but he wasn't a born musician." He had worked very hard at crafting his profession, he listened and he learned and he practiced. His voice is so versatile, he had a kind of Van Morrison/John Fogerty voice strong, forceful and quite distinctive. Mutt liked those big voice people, but he also had a breathy voice, full of little breathy hits and nasal intonations. If you listen to Bryan Adams, Def Leppard, and Shania, they all have similar intonations in their voice and I'm sure that Mutt imparted it. He was constantly trying to get the sound and balance right. Miking up was primitive, if it happened at all, though they always tried to put a microphone in the bass drum. Other than the microphone in the bass drum everything was balanced by ear. Mutt could never stand too much volume, so Hocus toned down. They werre fanatical about hearing what was going on.While their songs were tightly constructed and disciplined, with no freak-out guitar solos-Mutt hated showing off and would never hurtle around the stage-they still flowed. The spine of every song was the bass and the drums. When organ player Alan Goldswain and singer Stevie Van Kerken joined from The Music Corporation, Hocus could specialize in another of Mutt's great loves, vocal harmonies. The Johannesburg music scene only consisted of a few smal clubs, so Hocus lived vicariously through imported music magazines and albums. Then Melody Maker arrived from England, and they devoured every word. They would read the gigs pages first which if being compared to something it would be like a refugee from behind the Iron Curtain staring in the windows of a department store. Elton John had started up then and they went to see him perform at the Roundhouse, another band-Atomic Rooster had also played there, and the Strawbs were there, while the Moody Blues were doing a tour. They were astonished because there were huge name bands just on a little strip ad in the corner. While many of his contemporaries would have been using the gatefold sleeve of the first Crosbys,Stills and Nash album for cleaning grass and rolling joints, Mutt digested every word on it, he knew which studio it was recorded at and who the mix was done by. He had also known where it was mastered by, who the back up singers were and what session musicians were hot. They would also talk about such minutiae all day-except when they were rehearsing. There major musical influence was American West Coast Country Rock pioneered by the Byrds,Poco,the Flying Burrito Brothers, and the Eagles. British acts Elton John,Emerson,Lake and Palmer,Free,Rod Argent and King Crimson were also important. James Borthwick continued by saying, "Mutt and I always had a penchant for the country music of groups like Buffalo Springfield and Poco, which we regarded which we regarded as our ideal band. "We also knew that their music had a limited following in the broader scheme of things, and we only had two voices. Even though Hocus never recorded an album, they had a Top Ten hit in Rhodesia with "Roll Me Over." While "River Roll" picked up play in South Africa the next year. Mutt called record companies in the States, who were impressed enough with the five songs that were completed to want to talk of a deal once there album was finished. They never finished it." By 1971, the band had grown to a six-piece, all pulling in different directions. At that time Mutt had started to get some freelance production work. He and Stevie(He knew Stevie since they were four)had become an item and she was one of the country's most in demand singers. Mutt started to see a bigger picture than a rundown farmhouse on the outskirts of Johannesburg. Hocus split up in November of 1971. Their last gig was in Pretoria. Mutt and Stevie got married the next day, and Geoff was there best man. The more important thing was Mutt's business relationship with Clive Calder(born December 13, 1946) who had coincidentally just formed two record companies. Clive had a partner named Ralph Simon(born December 7, 1946) they set up Sagittarius Promotions, which was involved in artist management and promoting shows at The Electric Circus in Johannesburg, while Clive Calder Productions was involved with production and song publishing. Clive was a live wire, skinny blonde guy, a fine cricketer who played the piano,while he loved music, he was always more interested in the business side. He was Billboards South African correspondent, he then hooked a job as an A&R manager at EMI Records. He made a trip overseas which gave him a great amount of insight as to how he could break them too. As all great managers, Clive could talk the talk. Clive told Otis Waygood, "I am going to turn you into the biggest thing South Africa has ever seen." Clive produced there first album in two days, and then hyped the hell out of there first tour, reaching small towns whose longest-haired inhabitants had previously always been goats. Clive also produced two albums(Astra and Galactic Vibes) with the acid-astral rockers freedom's children, sometimes described, by South African rock critics, as "the best band the world never heard." Stevie Van Kerken sang on their first album. Calder recognized that Mutt had stumbled upon a large uncut diamond. When everything around him was crumbling, Mutt held onto his belief systems. He started to produce local artists, some of whom were also managed by Clive, and had instant success with "Jessica Jones," whose "Sunday, Monday, Tuesday" was a South African number one in 1972. They also had a single out titled "Waikiki Man" which topped the charts in New Zealand and Rhodesia. He also worked with Richard Jon Smith, the first black singer to make an impact with all sections of the community. Mutt's other specially was recording international hits for local compilation albums. Ralph Simon says, "Mutt was very well known as this budding engineer who could always come up with a snappy jingle." Mutt always had that bent and flair for coming up with very good Hooks and Melodies. He would study the charts and the records that had commercial success. In a small market like South Africa, you had to be very derivative. "We put out an album titled The Greatest Hits of Johnny Nash and Mutt played and sang on every track." Ralph Simon said. Ralph goes on to say they also put out an album titled The Greatest Hits of the Troggs, and Mutt sounded like Reg Presley. Mutt knew how to be a human jukebox. Even back then working with primitive equipment, Mutt knew what he wanted and how to get it. His fundementals of his technique and approach were the same back then. Ralph Simon was always amazed at Mutt's absolute focus and passion. Paul Wright says,"Mutt was like a single clear thought, but always relaxed." Paul Wright worked with Mutt as an engineer at Sonovision. Paul who worked with Mutt as an engineer said that the multitrack recording came out strong at this time. While most people were putting lots of layers down and then 'fixing it in the mix,' Mutt would know exactly what picture he was creating right from the start. I also recall his comments making me aware of just how important the bass guitar is in the scheme of things. Mutt would tell him that if you can sort of imagine all those harmonies building up out of the bass line...great things happen. In South Africa, Calder and Simon's interests stretched beyond pop and psychedelic rock bands. In February 1972, they had concluded recording,management, and publishing deals with most of the top black acts south of the equator. The idea, which was spearheaded by white-afro rock group 'Hawk,' and black soul acts the Miracle and Triangle, was to look to the international market. Calder was ahead of his time, for the real interest in "World Music" did not take off for another decade. The local audiences enjoyed the multiracial approach, the authorities however didn't. Government crackdowns effectively destroyed the local rock scene and sanctions made it very hard, to sell records abroad, that is when Calder and Simon made the decision to leave South Africa for London. They went from being sharks in a small pond to being just another piece of bait, bluffing furiously to make their way. Clive Calder, however was a born predator, supremely capable of triumphing in the global music business. By 2000, Clive Calder's Zomba Group was the largest independent music firm in the world.

	Zomba is still privately owned, it's annual sales top $1.2 Billion. Jive Records, which is home to Britney Spears, The Backstreet Boys,R. Kelly, N'Sync,Billy Ocean,Steps,A Tribe Called Quest,and Groove Armada, had a phenomenal 7.16 percent share of the market. Zomba was an international web of fifty companies. Spanning eight divisions: records,music,publishing,production,music libraries,record/software distribution, and export, film/tv music,recording studios,and instrument hire companies. In June of 2002 Clive Calder sold Zomba to BMG Records, the music division of German Media Conglomerate Bertelsmann AG, for 3 Billion dollars. BMG acquired a 25 percent stake in Zomba's music publishing division in 1991, and in 1996, 20 percent of it's record division. Showing how shrewd a businessman he is, Clive forced the German Corporation to exercise its option to buy Zomba just 6 months before it expired. At the time its market share had declined to 3.4 percent. Yet without Mutt, the multibillion dollar payday might never have happened. All that made Zomba great, they were doing in South Africa thirty years ago, allbeit in microcosm. Ralph Simon acknowledges that Mutt was very instrumental in the rise and rise of Zomba. He played a major role in the growth of the company. Clive and Ralph had both come from a music and music publishing, live entertainment background. We always felt we had the ability to develop a business that had the various legs of publishing, a record company, a music studio, and a live business. Early 1974, Mutt left for London with Stevie. They were signed to a single deal by Phil Carson at Atlantic Records and while he cut a couple of sides, nothing seemed to happen.So to make ends meet, Mutt and Stevie sang backing vocals for Arthur Brown. The following year Clive and Ralph arrived, and they landed Richard Jon Smith a deal with Polydor. After they had Mutt produce Richard Jon Smith, they started pushing him hard. As Ralph Simon recalls that it was largely an attempt to get Mutt some work when the Atlantic Deal didn't come together that led to the whole notion of managing producers...which we were the first to do. Back in the days of punk and rock against racism benefits, being a white South African required a lot of explaining in the English Music Scene. No one knew that in the early years, Zomba had been kept afloat by laundering money for the ANC. The funds from that were invested in the company in England, and Zomba in turn arranged for envelopes stuffed with cash to be tossed over the fence of a convent in a Johannesburg suburb. Mutt was the only thing Clive had, he managed him as an artist as well said Nigel Grainge. The head of A&R at Phonogram who, in 1975, gave Mutt the first City Boy album to produce. Over the next two years, he also had done albums for Graham Parker and The Rumour and displaced country rockers Clover(whose lead singer was Huey Lewis), while at the fledgeling Virgin Records, Simon Draper recalls,"These two rubes showed up, throwing their weight around and they wanted to be record producers. Unfortunately, they were uncool,slightly off the pace." Mutt's big break through came from Grainge, who had signed The Boomtown Rats to his new Ensign label late 1976. Grainge liked Mutt because he,too,was a record nut, a compulsive collector, a real fan. When he was in South Africa, he had devoured every piece of information on album sleeves and that desire to know everything has never left him. "Alot of record producers are closeted in a studio and not aware of what is going on outside; very few of them take the time to discover what they are competing with," says Graingge. They are usually a year behind everybody else. Mutt always wanted to know what was happening. He'd make lists and say 'Come on Nige,what shall I get?' One of the reasons we got along so well to all the obscure stuff I was into. He loved bands like Spirit and QuckSilver Messenger Service, all those classic American acts of the late sixties, and would always look for that kind of vibe. Even in 1975, there would still be a huge bunch of obscure stuff that would come through Warners and Columbia that would be exciting. Steely Dan were just being launched. That is one of the secret to Mutt's success. He listens to music all the time, to all music, to pop,rock,country,heavy metal,aor,reggae,soul,folk,teeny bop,rap,and punk, judging it on musical merits overlaid by a sound commercial ear. Because he is not bound by genre he is able to crossover, taking bits with him to sprinkle into the mix like fairy dust. Mutt's early successes came with bands where he harnessed the collective energy and created a distinctive sound----but always with a commercial edge and melodic heart. The Rats, were a ragged bunch of Dublin protopunks, whom with Mutt's help became regular chart toppers. Their first meeting was not a success, as Rob Geldof recalls in his autobiography-'Is that it?' In his book he says Chris Hill and Nigel introduced them to Mutt Lange, a brilliant record producer who was then relatively unknown, but who has gone on to become one of the most successful record producers in the world. The Boomtown Rats played for Mutt at Chessington. An Ensign man asked, 'What do you think?', Mutt replied, 'I think they're terrible.' in his clipped South African accent. He went on to say, 'What on earth do you expect me to do with this lot?' 'I'd rather not get involved.' Some of Mutt's colleagues took him to see them perform and he changed his mind. Just one week into recording, at Dieter Dirks Studio in Stommein, just outside Cologne, they began to wish that Mutt would have stuck to his first instinct. Robert John Lange was a martinet. He was a perfectionist who drove others as hard as he drove himself. We had made our demo tapes in a little studio owned by Eamon Andrews in Dublin. It took a couple of hours to make the demo tapes. We ran through the songs a few times and picked the best version. Working with Mutt, the recording took 8 weeks. They did 78 takes alone for 'Lookin' After Number One.' In their brief two hour experience in the studio they played together as if they were doing a live performance. Now they were required to create a layered production with each instrument playing on there own away from the others. The sound had to be broken into its component parts in order to give the producer greater control in the final stages of mixing the instruments together. It caused The Boomtown Rats a great deal of difficulty initially. For the first time they actually heard themselves individually, and they were embarrassed because some of them were playing completely different chords to the others. They had played months live with these mistakes. They lived in an apartment connected to a studio and often worked from 10am through 2am. Mutt was obsessive about detail and would spend hours going over and over the same thing until in the end we lost the feel of it. They felt inadequate and more so around Mutt because he was a brilliant musician and was impatient with our fumbling. Mutt would tell Johnny 'Hit it harder, hit it harder' meaning do the finger pounding on the keyboard. Mutt would also tell Pete the bass player, 'harder Pete, it's not coming through.' By the end Pete's fingers would be raw. Mutt having been a bass player himself, would unintentionally belittle Pete's ability. Mutt would tell him 'That's no good. You're not playing it properly. It goes like this, 'Then he would play it and completely outclass Pete.' The Boomtown Rats were also a big break for Clive and Ralph Grainger recalls.

	The Boomtown Rats were also a big break for Calder and Simon, as Grainge recalls: “I knew nothing about publishing when The Rats deal had been done and when we were talking to Mutt, Clive then asked Fachtna O’Kelly, The Rats manager, what they were going to do with their publishing. They really didn’t know, so Clive offered to set up their own publishing company through Zomba, which he did for a handling percentage. They never made a penny off of the Rats because of the structure of their deal and Clive built his empire on them without the out lay of a penny. Steve Brown, who is now a successful record producer, had worked as a tape operator and engineer for Phonogram in the late seventies. Mutt and Steve worked together on recordings with City Boy, The Rats, and Graham Parker. There were allot of times Steve was close to tears from sheer exhaustion. Steve says, “If I hadn’t have worked with Mutt, I’d have doubted myself when I got into sessions where things aren’t going well and you, the producer, have to pull them together. He was a big disciplinarian, which I liked. If you are going to call a recording session, you are there before it starts, to get your bits and pieces together. It’s a business, not a coke snorting, booze-drinking madness. Mutt never took drugs or drank, there were tense moments during the Graham Parker sessions when some of the musicians were way gone on amphetamines. During the recording sessions for the second Rats Album, “A Tonic for the Troops,” Brown recalls that Mutt insisted on a minimum of six hours sleep at night, but “he’d still be awake two hours before anyone else. Then he would put on his track suit, eat some breakfast or energy food, and go out running at least five miles, come back, eat some more, shower, and then go to the control room half an hour before anybody else. He was a vegetarian. In terms of discipline he was way out of his time and he never talked religion, but Steve imagined that there was some force that drove him on. He had a very disciplined lifestyle. Mutt drove musicians hard. The band City Boy were post punk, good players and they wrote pretty good songs and he stretched them as far as they could go. They’d do sixteen hours a day, six days a week. It wasn’t clinical----they were going for performance and performance goes with feel. Mutt is into feel. It’s not just getting the notes right, it’s getting the feel too. He is totally soulful. Steve Brown being the engineer was waiting for the performance so they could move on to what was next. Steve Broughton did a guitar part and did it for about three hours and he was performing his heart out, doing what Steve Brown(Engineer)thought he would never achieve. Broughton looked up at Mutt and Mutt wasn’t looking at him, so he looked over at Brown and he said ‘Yes,’ and gave him the thumbs up. Mutt gave Steve Brown such a look and said ‘No.’ It took another four hours for Steve Broughton to get the thing right. However hard Mutt pushed the artist, he pushed himself harder. Allot of nights he sent the band home, and while the engineer hit the buttons he went out into the studio and would replace the instruments and backing vocals himself. He would stand behind the mike,cup his hand behind his ear,like some ageing folksinger, to get the tuning just right, and when he sang he literally threw his body at the microphone, giving virtuoso performance nobody ever saw. Steve Brown says,”He is not a great musician, but he is very competent and he has a great deal of feel. What he loses on the technical side he gains on the feel and soulfulness. His feel for backing vocals was totally amazing, which manifested itself on all the Def Leppard records.” If genius constantly requires ninety percent perspiration, Mutt insists on delivering ninety eight percent. With all of his success, he is aware of his limitations. He once explained that to Helen Boduc, it does not come naturally to him, and it never has. David Foster can go and work on a project for a month and he will be done, but to achieve the same result Mutt knows it will take four months and that he will have to work harder. Mutt is a perfectionist and he will stick to it until he gets there. All it takes is time and focus. Before the advent of computerized mixing desks in the late seventies, the producers job was still considered by many to be to transfer a live performance onto vinyl. Mutt looked beyond that and technology caught up with his vision. He and Geldof argued allot as Mutt started dissecting songs, taking the melody and then saying, “We must change those two notes because it is derogatory to the scan of the song.” If he would lose the argument with Geldof, which did happen, he would employ his last weapon; he sulked, “If a producer is sulking you are not going to get much work done, so you might as well try and get where he’s coming from, says Brown. Bob used to say, “The guy sulks and I can’t stand it.’And  Bob was a champion sulker of his own.” Mutt wasn’t available to produce The Boomtown Rats biggest hit, ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’, although he did the rest of the recording for their third album, ‘The Fine Art of Surfacing.’ After that he switched musical genres to Aussie hard rockers AC/DC. In there second outing together, Mutt had to help them overcome the seemingly insurmountable loss of original lead singer Bon Scott. Back In Black went to number one in the United States and Australia, eventually selling nineteen million copies. “He can really hear it,” says Ralph Simon. “He evolved the way Brian Johnson sang after Bon Scott died. They made four albums together and he brought a tacit commercial edge to them, added backing vocals, which really lifted the broader acceptability of the new heavy metal.” Mutt was a hard taskmaster, but an adept at creating diamonds from chaos. Few men would have been able to salvage Def Leppard let it alone one time but Mutt was able to do it twice. Mutt’s production on High ‘N’ Dry in 1981 set the band up in America, but during their recording of the follow up, Pyromania, guitarist Pete Willis was dealing with a drinking problem. He would either show up drunk at the studio or not show up at all. “When on the road, there is a semi excuse for getting kind of crazy, because it is not a natural way to live,” said lead singer Joe Elliot. Pete started acting like that in a fixed place----in the recording studio. He would show up to play a guitar solo drunk; if he’d had the guitar on backwards it would have sounded as good. Mutt just bawled him out, and told him not to come back to the studio until he got his act together. Basically he never came back. Pyromania’s huge momentum was lost on New Year’s Eve 1984, when drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a car crash. Then in December 1986, during The Hysteria recording sessions, Mutt too crashed his car. He was on his way to the studio on the outskirts of Hilversum, Holland. It was first thing in the morning, it had been raining; he skidded on the brick cobbled road and smashed his knee on the dashboard. “Knowing Mutt,” says Rick Allen, “he was probably thinking about music and forgot he was driving. He hurt his knee very badly and was in the hospital for three weeks. All the time he was there he kept demanding keyboards, and drum machines were sent in so he could keep working.” Once, during those same sessions, Mutt left the control room to relieve himself. Joe Elliot, scarcely the most accomplished musician, picked up a guitar and began to fool around. Mutt came back in and announced, “That’s the best hook I’ve heard in five years.” The hook became the chorus of “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” the album’s anthem. Hysteria sold over fifteen million copies. “It became the most important song on the record,” says Joe. “And it was done almost by accident had he not gone for a piss ” Ralph Simon believes Mutt’s influence on Def Leppard was greater than the band members ever realized. “Having come from the background of being a sonic constructor and knowing he heard the end sonic  architecture, Mutt knew exactly what he had to do. He would either sing the parts or the backing vocals and if you listen to Joe Elliot---who could never really sing properly---and then early Mutt work, Mutt’s phrasing punctuated everything he did. Rick said, “Mutt wanted to compete with Michael Jackson, get our songs played on Top 40 radio. He helped us create this sound that was very polished and very appealing. It could cross over into more of a pop market, but it still had the guitars. It was so appealing we couldn’t get away from that sound so we stuck with it. I miss working with Mutt.  He always knew what he wanted, though at times his perfectionism drove us crazy. It was our problem, it showed us we weren’t as good as we thought we were. Over a relatively short period of time we had to improve ten-fold. We couldn’t keep up with him.” Mutt had a fanatical attention to details. In the days before CD’s , the final steps of making an album was the cutting. As you got toward the center and the groove got closer together, the sound quality decreased, so it was important to push the levels back up. “When I was cutting Hysteria to vinyl, Mutt would send the album up one track at a time and get that absolutely right,” says Steve Brown. “Mutt notices everything and he wants it spot on. Side one, track one, and then he would send up track two. That had to run right, with the right space in between tracks and the right EQ. That happened twice a day. The album was done after six days; most took one or two at the outside. It made a bit of vinyl perfect.” The success of Def Leppard and AC/DC showed that Mutt had the right ears for the lucrative American Market. His work with Foreigner on 4 was an exhausting process, as his collaborator Thomas Dolby recalls. Mutt was never far from music. His idea of relaxation was sitting cross legged on the bed of his Manhattan hotel suite “doing pitch perfect covers of Van Morrison songs.” Dolby says, “You play something over and over and think you’ve nailed it. And Mutt says, “That was great, man, but in the fifteenth bar, the third note was a hair early.’ And you say, ‘Okay, you want me to punch in?’ And in his sweetest South African accent, he goes, ‘No just take it from the top.” You might end up playing the same part a hundred and fifty times. After awhile it can drive you crazy. “Mutt is aware of the precise placement of every single note in every single track,” he says. “At the same time, he can sit back in his chair and listen to the record like he’s a nineteen-year old fan hearing it for the first time. That’s an incredible skill, and one that results in hit records.” The Cars wanted the same gloss that turned Foreigner into an FM radio staple. Like Mutt, their leader, Rick Ocasek was a stickler for getting it just so, and hang the time and expense. Mutt, despite his painstaking approach, did bring his projects in on budget, whereas the Americans were profligate with studio time. The recording process was so intense, Mutt almost had a breakdown-----and never worked with the band again. Keyboard player Greg Hawkes says that Mutt is a definite stickler for feel and continues on to say that he’d sit there with somebody for hours working on a part, and only looking for the feel. If he didn’t hear the feel, it wasn’t down on tape. Mutt would always refer to the demo’s and say , ‘You’ve got to have the feel of this,’ or , “This doesn’t have the feel of the demo----do it again.’ That’s the point of creativity, it’s always trying to get that feel. Mutt was the one who insisted that “Drive” was a hit. It was a simple song, direct. Rick Ocasek admits he thought the song,direct. Rick Ocasek admits he thought the song was kinda weird to be a single. The song only had two,three chords and droning; The subject matter was kind of depressing. However Mutt always said, ‘It’s a big single.’ Rick always went, ‘sure’. “Drive” was a worldwide smash in 1984, and also in 1985, it was used effectively during The Live Aid Concert that it still tugs at hearts today. Mutt had strong views on lyrics. ‘Lyrically, negativity wasn’t in Mutt’s vocabulary,” recalls Joe Elliot. Whose songs took on a darker tone when they stopped working with Mutt. “Mutt has absolutely no shame about being a commercial record producer. Lyrics are secondary. Mutt would say,’When it comes to writing lyrics, it doesn’t matter whether they’re good or bad. They just have to be memorable. ‘Sometimes I’d play him personal stuff, and he’d go, ‘I really like that.” Then we’d play it in the studio, and he’d object. He’d say, “As your friend, I like it. But it’s not pop, and it’s not going to sell, so shut it.” Rick Ocasek disagreed with Mutt’s view on words.”I think it’s still a kind of poetry, or some sort of poetic form with music. Mutt used to say, ‘Nobody ever listens to the lyrics anyway, so who gives a shit? ‘I like Mutt but he just has firm beliefs about things like that.” In his songwriting, Mutt returns time and again to the same sources for inspiration. One particular favorite is B.W. “Buckwheat” Stevenson’s “My Maria,” A US top ten hit in 1973. Stevenson was a Texan who was equally at home singing country, blues, and rock, died in 1988 after having heart surgery. He was only 39 years old. Ralph Simon says, “Mutt always goes back to B.W. Stevenson because he feels that the melodic integrity of the pop hook was what fed his music. He uses allot of  hits from the late sixties and early seventies as a touchstone and reference point, as guidelines for how he should meld someone. He knows how to construct a song that has the common touch.” Working with Mutt was an exhausting, long winded process. Perfection, Mutt sought was time-consuming and could be bad for band morale. Stars used to being cheered every time they stumble up the fret board do not like being told to do it again and again. And again. Few acts could face a third album with Mutt unless commercial sense triumphed over ego(AC/DC managed four albums). The Rats constantly tried to escape. Def Leppard started Hysteria with Jim Steinman and continued with Nigel Green before they realized how much they needed Mutt. Bryan Adams was going nowhere in 1989. The Vancouver born rocker spent two fruitless years trying to follow up the disappointing Into The Fire, and sessions with Steve Lillywhite and Bob Clearmountain had to be scrapped. He then started working with Mutt. Bryan says, “Mutt’s a lovely guy. I’ve got nothing but fantastic things to say about him. He really pulled me out of a rut. I’ll be forever indebted to him. Let’s be honest: Mutt could work with my mom and have a hit record. We come from similar backgrounds and mwith similar musical interests. When we first started writing together, it was obvious that we were going to make a good record together. The fact that we carried on since that is due to the fact that we’ve had some great moments making music, not to mention a few dodgy Indian curries!” The two of them had hit it off and established a method of working together that neither had ever had before and that Mutt was later to refine to perfection with Shania. Mutt forced Bryan to rethink his whole modus operandi. Bryan goes on to say, “He made me realize there really were no rules, and that a song just has to have something special, no matter what it is---that you have to come up with it, make it work, stretch it, rip it apart, strip it down, take it’s clothes off, and see how it looks. One of us would come in with an idea for a song, and we’d try and set up some kind of structure for it, then puzzle over it for awhile, try and come up with a middle eight; then he’d come up with some genius rhythm thing for it, and we’d go back and listen to that, then realize the verse wasn’t very good; so we’d erase that, rewrite the verse----it was unbelievable! He would take old songs that Jim Vallance and I had written, which I thought were quite cohesive, and he’d listen to the chorus and say, ‘That chorus is quite a good verse.’ I’ve never met anyone like him in my life. He really is an all-encompassing producer: He writes, arranges, sings and plays. There were times when we were working around three in the morning, and I’d go, ‘Look, I can’t sit here any longer,’ and he’d say, ‘ Okay man, see ya later, ‘so I’d go off to bed, wake up around ten or eleven, go back to the studio, and he’d still be there---and not only had he not gone to sleep, he’d also sussed out the problem we’d  had the night before!”  That cut both ways. After their first collaboration, Mutt swore he would never work with Bryan again. There were times, Bryan’s working habits drove him so crazy he had to go out in the woods and take a walk around the house. If Mutt, with his obsessive approach, couldn’t take it, it must have been bad. However, they did end up doing songs on two more albums. Their major songwriting collaboration was “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You,” used on the soundtrack for the movie Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves. It topped the UK singles charts for fifteen interminable weeks in 1991 and sold millions. Waking Up The Neighbours was a massive hit, another ten million seller. There were criticisms---Bryan was not a big fan of Mutt’s trademark layered backing vocals and Joe Elliot dared to suggest it was just a Def Leppard album with a different vocalist.(He later apologized) In the early nineties, Mutt also collaborated wit5h power Balladeer Michael Bolton, co-writing the hits “Said I Loved You But I Lied” and “Can I Touch You There?” and producing the album one thing. In December of 1993 the month he married Eilleen Twain; Mutt had three songs simultaneously in the top ten of the US Top 100 Singles Chart-----“Please Forgive Me”(Bryan Adams), “All For Love”(Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting):From The Three Musketeers Soundtrack; and, “I Said I Loved You But I Lied”(Michael Bolton). He appeared to be at the height of his profession but, in fact, his greatest triumphant was still to come, and from the most unlikely source: country music. Throughout his career Mutt had dabbled in country—recording albums with Clover (who later changed to Huey Lewis and The News) and The Outlaws—without much success. Rick Allen says, “Mutt was always a closet country picker. If you take the distorted guitars off ‘Armageddon It’; it’s definitely a country tune.” By 1993, Mutt was ready for another challenge. The Garth Brooks explosion had shown that Nashville had the power to shift millions of units, but their sound was still outdated and thin compared to what he could deliver.

	Mutt A Spiritual Man Mutt didn’t have the same success with his love life as his recording career. It was remarkable primarily because all the women he married or became involved with continued to adore him long after they broke up. They would also end up as friends with each other, perhaps because they realized that any long-term relationship with him would be doomed. Mutt was a serial monogamist, yet his one true love, the only mistress who could always captivate him and take him away, was his muse. He was a difficult man to be married to, charming and attentive when his attention was focused on the girl, but impossible to distract once he entered the recording studio. In there, time, life and love receded into mist. In ‘Is That It’ Bob Geldof’s book he suggests that Mutt’s tyrannical producing on there first album was partly due to the strain of the break up of his marriage to Stevie. In the only extant picture of Hocus, you can see Stevie resting her hand on Mutt’s knee, staring straight at the camera with a proprietorial intensity while Mutt just has the tips of his fingers on her wrist and the skewed look of a man who would rather be somewhere else. During the recording of the Rats third album, “A Swedish girl was always in the studio with him,” says Nigel Grainge, “probably because he spent so much time in the studio it was the only time to keep up with him. He pretty much ignored her.” Mutt’s second wife, Olga, was quite different from Stevie---a definite case of opposites attracting. Olga’s up bringing and accent were cut glass, upper class, English even though, her name and ancestry is Scandinavian. Olga a stunningly beautiful blonde, former model who was always surrounded by a cloud of gorgeous women. She was a party girl who was into the club scene and very high spirited as well as sharing Mutt’s passion for all things Indian. Alison Green who is an American Music business lawyer met Mutt and Olga at a party in their house at 4 Fern Shaw Close in Chelsea. Alison says, “Olga loved to throw dinner parties, she had like a salon, the Gertrude Stein of Rock and Roll. She bonded with all the bands he produced; she was a people magnet, the most outgoing girl you could meet. Olga and Mutt were complete polar opposites.” There were rare occasions where Mutt would be present at his wife’s parties and he was excellent company, conversation wise Mutt enjoyed talking about a wide variety of interests---including everything from gardening, high culture, ballet, and painting to sport, especially rugby and soccer, and geopolitics and was a polite listener. Alison describes Mutt as being a really nice guy, very quiet, very mellow. She goes on to say that she didn’t think Mutt had an evil bone in his body and his biggest single vice was being a “workaholic”, so focused that the world ceased to exist. His work habits were legendary and he would disappear for days on end, lock himself in the studio and sleep on the floor until he was physically ready to drop. In 1980, when Mutt was working with Foreigner on 4, he was poised to become one of the biggest producers in the world. Mutt was in such demand that he would go sequentially from album to album at the same time making a good bit of money. When he did eventually finish a project he had driven himself into exhaustion, then he and Olga would head off on vacation. Where he would recharge his batteries before throwing himself into the next project. By the mid-eighties, despite all the night parties, rock and roll widowhood had taken its toll on Olga, who reluctantly called time on a marriage that was no longer a marriage. By Alison’s account Olga was devastated by the breakup. She was crazy about Mutt, she adored him, and she really, really loved him. As time wore on though she realized this wasn’t a phase, it was a lifestyle part of his personality and it just wasn’t going to change. She wanted kids, somebody to share her life with. Money was never an issue to Mutt. When he and Olga split, he bought a mansion in Surrey. He decided to build a shrine outside his bedroom window but there was a three hundred year old oak in the way. He paid thousands of pounds to have the oak moved and replanted. He gave Olga the house in Chelsea, never abandoned her, and supported her financially without a quibble. Clichéd as it sounds, he has remained friends with all his exes, helping Stevie emotionally when she went through problems, giving her a song to record on her solo album, which was released by Silvertone(part of Zomba). After their divorce, Olga discovered a rock band, Romeo’s Daughter. They were signed to Jive, their publishing went to Zomba, and Mutt produced their first album, keeping it all in the family (and their bank account if it had proved to be successful). Even though Mutt has worked for years with bands who seemed devoted to sex, drugs, and rock and roll, Mutt was never interested. After “workaholic” the next word that describes him best would be “Spiritual.” It always comes up and for all his fame and fortune, he is very humble. He and Olga had a meditation room in there house but what was so cool about Mutt and Olga’s marriage was that he never expected her to follow his beliefs. They shared a bond, but with Olga it was more fashion; she found her own way to follow, while with Mutt it was more in his heart. To him it was the core of his being. Olga’s interest in Indian mysticism was more social than spiritual. She regularly invited some of the biggest names in rock with there wives and partners including Mick Jones of Foreigner and Chris Squier of Yes to parties attended by the trendy mystic of the day. One of the particular favorites was a guru who, according to one party regular, was more Essex than Indian. They would all sit in a circle chanting “Guru Dave, Guru Dave” over and over again. Dave might not have been very spiritually enlightening but he was very good at extracting donations. Mutt was very seldom there because he never got back from the studio until 6am. Recording studios are inherently stressful places, cocoons fueled by artificial light and air. The body’s natural rhythms’ can become reversed and daylight, unless it is dawn, becomes an enemy. Mutt’s unique way for remaining calm and composed in the business is something that has always followed him. He is an ascetic amidst excess, a monk among mayhem. People who worked with him knew he was a vegetarian and an exercise nut that didn’t drink alcohol, smoke, or take drugs. Most people would not ask further and Mutt never volunteered much. Steve Brown figured since Mutt didn’t eat eggs that he was allergic to them and Mutt knew but chose never to correct him. For those who are interested, Mutt Lange has had a guru in India for thirty years to whom he has always been very spiritually devoted. He never wanted to be in the limelight and occasionally it is like he is using his spiritual path to guide him to his end result. The path that he follows is that he tries to construct a kind of happiness shrapnel musical pieces that have an enormous impact globally. The impact of his songs is far greater than many political leaders. Mutt does not preach instead he leads by example. Three members of Def Leppard who have had their share of rock and roll excess leading directly to tragedy are now vegetarians. Guitarist Phil Collen was first and now drummer Rick Allen and Vivian Campbell are also vegetarians. Phil Collen has also been heavily influenced by Indian Spirituality and the laws of Karma, though he never tells which path he follows. Rick Allen has fought a long battle against Tequila and Cocaine, has now found his own spiritual peace. Rick says, “I’d been heading that way ever since I met Mutt. For years I knew that might be an answer, but instead I had been attracted to the polar opposite—here’s a bottle, here’s a mirror---always banging my head against the wall, hurting myself. I realized that I had to find my spiritual side, a cleaner way of life. It’s a purely personal thing.” It’s hard to find anyone who will say a bad or let alone any, word about Mutt. The word friends and ex-wives use to describe their feelings for him is the same: “love.” He is and wishes to remain, an intensely private person. Bryan Adams has said a little. Bryan had battled facial skin problems and then he had given up eating red meat. He followed Mutt’s example, he stopped eating anything with a face, no chicken, no fish, and no eggs. He also started to explore Mutt’s spiritual path. Bryan says, “He improved my spiritual life. I’m not incredibly religious or spiritual, but  I learned a lot of ways from him, the laws of Karma. I read books on his path and it’s very interesting.” It could be easy to dismiss this as another musicians fad, a twelve step program for the spiritually disenfranchised. However Mutt has been following the same path since 1970. Back to when he was a teenager at Belfast High he was interested in metaphysical matters. According to Johan du Plooy, Mutt didn’t have any of the anger that you often get with teens. He was very busy with sports and music that he didn’t have time to be idle and angry. Mutt was a gentle young guy, well liked and respectable. The arrival of John Savage-Reid, a charismatic boy who lived in the Sudan, nicknamed “The Camel” and a committed Baptist called Brian Gurney.  The extent of Johan du Plooys faith was if you were nice to granny, kind to the cat, then you’d go to heaven. Johan says, “Here were these young guys who actually believed, really believed. It was the first time we’d ever really been exposed to Christianity. We got a group together, John(Mutt), me(Johan) and a guy named spooky(David Spour). We would spend weekends at spooky’s  farm outside Belfast and have these heavy discussions about religion, and play with his monkey, which would run up if you put sugar in the tea cup. John(Mutt) was a very strong Christian at a time when we were being exposed to different philosophies. There weren’t too many of us and the rest of the school ignored it completely. How much it influenced Mutt’s later life isn’t known. The second most radical stage of Mutt’s spiritual development happened in 1970 when living in the farmhouse with Geoff Williams and Steve McNamara. Hocus had a recess over a long weekend and the three of them went separate ways to catch up on there personal things. Over that weekend Steve was exposed to the path. On his return, he told, Geoff and Mutt all about this Eastern Philosophy. It’s very strict, no stimulant substances, no alcohol, not eating anything living at all. Fish and eggs both were considered the taking of a life. Mutt and Geoff were skeptical, but they all have a live and let live attitude. Mutt  didn’t follow Steve McNamara right away, because he is a man who takes time before committing himself to a cause. He ended up committing to the cause at the end of the year and he did so absolutely. Mutt is the kind of person that when he sets out to follow a way it is all or nothing. He will not commit to a vegetarian diet and then turn around and eat a steak on his birthday. Another tribute to his character is how he has neither in the past thirty years nor in current day life touched alcohol. That decision never caused any friction or animosity with anyone he worked with and they were okay with the choice of no drinking that he had made. Mutt is a very private person he chose a path to follow and adheres to his decision but at the same time he does not try to convert anyone else to his way of living. Although if he was somewhere and someone would be making a steak on the stove he might walk by and say “moo.” The path that Mutt follows is called Radhasoami Satsang. It was founded by Shiv Dayal Singh in the Panjab in 1861, a breakaway from Sikhism, which was in a state of turmoil after The Sikh Kingdom had been defeated by the British. Sikhism had been born in a time of chaos. In the early 16th Century, as the Muslims establishing military supremacy in Northern India, Nanak the son of a Hindu merchant in Lahore, had a vision of God’s presence while taking a bath in the river. According to legend after a full day of silence, he pronounced, “There is no Hindu and no Musselman(Muslim).” Shrewdly, he adopted a unique way that combined both Hindu and Muslim features, one of which is the turban. The faith that he developed was eclectic which stresses the unity of God and brotherhood of man. From Islam came the concept of a single creator called The True Name and the futility of idol worship. He took the ideas of Karma, reincarnation, and ultimate unreality of the world, from Hinduism, while utterly rejecting the caste system. The Sikhs believe spiritual release can only be obtained by taming the ego through devotional singing, constant recitation of the divine name, meditation and service. Nanak also emphasized the unique role of the guru(teacher) as essential in leading people to find God. Nanak was followed by nine further guru’s, the tenth of whom, Gobind Singh, turned his teachings on their head.

	In 1699, he founded the Khalsa, the community of the Pure, and turned the Sikhs into warrior priests. After Gobind Singhs assassination, The Adi Granth (The collected writings of Nanak) was declared to be The Guru. No further human gurus we allowed. As warriors, the Sikhs fought the Muslims, eventually ruling most of the Punjab before losing two wars to the British. Radhasoami Satsang went back to the earliest tenets of Sikhism vegetarianism, abstinence from stimulants, and repeating the name of God and teachings of medieval, often rebel and unorthodox, Indian Saints. It was a modern manifestation of Sant Mat(path of the masters), a philosophical school that some claim dates back to the dawn of history that is recorded and stresses the importance of listening to inner sound. It was led by a living guru, as practitioners are initiated by a master who has reputedly already made the inner journey. The idea of the path of sound and light is universal. Versions of this path can be found in many of the world’s major religions, including Christianity it is referred to in St. Johns Gospel. Sant Mat practitioners try to merge their sould with a “true” and “pure” God, minus the beliefs, practices, and rules that make up most organized religions. They believe it to be a scientific method of entering the Kingdom of heaven while living in the here and now. They hate being described as a “religion” or, even worse a “cult.” The technique requires acute concentration on a point behind and between the eyebrows, called the Ajna Chakra (“seat of the soul”), is considered a gateway into the human soul. The senses are withdrawn and collected at this point. At worst, practitioners claim that this meditation clears up the clutter of everyday life; at best, it leads to contact with the true God and finding the true self, which in turn leads to wisdom, unconditional love, fearlessness, connectedness, bliss, and spiritual immortality.  In Mutt’s case marriage to one of the most desired women on the planet and a fortune running into the hundred of millions. Radhasoami Satsang came to the west in the beginning of the twentieth century. Kirpal Singh was the first Sant(Perfect Living Master) to visit The United States, in 1955, later he founded his own independent organization, Ruhyani Satsang. Now it’s known as the Science of Spirituality/Sawan Kirpal Ruhani Mission, the current head is Rajinder Singh, fifty four, who was an electronic engineer and researcher at AT&T until he was selected as the organizations new leader by his own spiritual teacher, Darshan Singh. Unlike many similar sects, it does not encourage active recruitment. As Mutt, did the way people discover it is through word of mouth or educational seminars publicized on the alternative spirituality circuit. A man’s religion should be allowed to remain a personal matter. However when Shiv Dayal Singh announced that once again there were living guru’s, he declared open season. Anybody with a few acolytes could anoint themselves a guru and command absolute obedience from their followers. There are currently over one hundred different groups that follow parts of the Radhasoami Tradition around the world. In 2000, a tabloid newspaper in America and Britain attempted to link Mutt and Shania with a controversial Sant Mat offshoot led by Thakar Singh, which has many followers in Germany and Switzerland. Thakar claims to follow the path of Kirpal Singh, but he split from Kirpal’s designated successor, Darshan Singh(whom Mutt continued to follow), in the end of the seventies and set up his own sect. Mutt Lange is not a follower of Thakar Singh. He meditates and exercises regularly, sticks to his vegetarian diet, stays away from alcohol and drugs, and keeps a regular journal. He may have practiced sexual abstinence in the past, but he’s also been married three times with various girlfriends in between. Alison Green comments, “I never heard Olga complain about that. If they had no sex it was because Mutt was never home.”  Now being married to an International Sex Symbol, the idea of refraining from sex with her gets a lot of chuckles from both his and Shania’s friends. There friends laughed at the idea that their relationship was platonic, long before they learned she was pregnant. Mutt may be charming and gentle, but by his nature he is a controller. People who are drawn to him are also then attracted by his beliefs. Mary Bailey and Shania both follow the same path as Mutt. He may appear not to have any enemies but don’t think he is a push over either. Mutt would never suck up and he was also never a guy to suffer fools. Mutt picked his business managers who were really tough and totally insulated him from anything he didn’t want to deal with.

JOE ELLIOT ON MUTT LANGE

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	Phil Collen on "Hysteria": Our most popular album to date. It was Mutt's idea to make a rock version of "Thriller" - rock songs that were hit singles. We were fortunate enough to have seven strong singles from this record, Mutt Lange was very influential here. We seemed to be making a video every few weeks. We were in the top ten all over the world at one time or another. (thanks to Jack -zephyr 102)

HOCUS
	Discography: Singles Two Time Woman (1971) Roll Me Over (1971) River Roll (1971) He (1972) Rolling Wheels (1976) Musicians: Robert John "Mutt" Lange: vocals, bass guitar Steve MacNamara: guitar, sitar Allan Goldswain: keyboards Stevie van Kerken (Lange, later Vann): vocals, piano Geoff Williams: drums A HISTORY by Geoff Williams, January 2002 1970 (Original line-up as a professional group) "Mutt" Lange (previously in "Sound Reason"): Bass guitar, vocals Steve MacNamara ("Sound Reason"): Lead guitar, vocals Geoff Williams ("Strange Brew"): Drums, vocals Colin Hughes (From the UK, previous bands unknown): Vocals Graham Stewart (Previous band unknown): Keyboards Recording: a single, "Two time woman" / "Affair brite nite" Colin and Graham leave the band. 1970 (As a trio) "Mutt" Lange: Bass guitar, vocals Steve MacNamara: Lead guitar, vocals Geoff Williams: Drums, vocals 1971 (Hocus expands to five piece) "Mutt" Lange: Bass guitar, vocals Steve MacNamara: Lead guitar, vocals Geoff Williams: Drums, vocals Stevie van Kerken ("New trends", "Music Corporation"): Vocals Allan Goldswain ("Strange Brew", "Music Corporation"): Keyboards, vocals Recording: Single,"Roll me over" / "Monkey in my family tree" Steve MacNamara leaves band to study music at Berklee in the USA 1971 (Replace Steve, also expand to six-piece) "Mutt" Lange: Bass guitar, vocals Graham Holloway (Previous band unknown): Lead guitar Geoff Williams: Drums, vocals Stevie van Kerken: Vocals Allan Goldswain: Keyboards, vocals Graham Stewart (Previously "Hocus"): Keyboards 1971 Hocus splits, Mutt and Stevie marry with Stevie becoming Stevie Lange (obviously). 1972 Mutt, Stevie and Allan continue to perform as "Hocus" "Mutt" Lange: Bass guitar, vocals Stevie Lange: Keyboards, vocals Allan Goldswain: Keyboards, vocals Recording: Single, "He" 1972 Hocus as a group entity finally splits. "Mutt" Lange focuses more strongly on his bourgeoning career as a record producer. "Mutt" and Stevie continue to gig for some time, working with a variety of bands and muso's, prior to their departure for London (1973/ 1974).

	Elliott, Lange, Savage): Woman Rocket Animal Love Bites Pour Some Sugar On Me Armageddon It Gods Of War Don't Shoot Shotgun Run Riot Hysteria Excitable Love And Affection Mutt's Contributions: Mutt is the producer. He also co-writes every song and sings background vocals on all tracks. Album Review: This is the long awaited follow-up to Pyromania that took four years to make. The time between albums was due to numerous incidents. First, when the Lepps finished the Pyromania Tour, Mutt was unavailable due to his working with The Cars. The Lepps tried to produce the album first with Jim Steinman and then by themselves with Nigel Green. Mutt came along to write some songs with them and then eventually took the helm of the project. The goal of this album was to make the rock version of Michael Jackson's Thriller, with every song being capable of being a single. They were not far off, although it took nearly a year for anyone to realize it. The first six songs became top twenty hits, with four of them entering the top ten. The summer of 1988 would not be the same without "Pour Some Sugar On Me", "Love Bites", and the entire Hysteria album. This album had become Mutt's largest selling album since he began producing full albums in 1976. Vital Stats Released: 1987 Label: Mercury 830 675-2 Production: Produced by Robert John Lange Recorded at:Wissellord Studios in Hilversum, Holland. Engineered by Nigel Green The Players: Guitars: Steve Clark Guitars: Phil Collen Bass: Rick Savage Lead Vocals: Joe Elliott Drums: Rick Allen Backing vocals: The Bankrupt Brothers The Songs (All songs Composed by Twain & Lange): The Players: Drums: Paul Leim Electric and fretless bass: Joe Chemay Acoustic & nylon string guitars, electric riff & rhythm guitars: Biff Watson Acoustic piano, wurlitzer: John Jarvis Pedal steel: John Hughey Electric guitar: Brent Mason Slide guitar: Larry Byrom Electric riff & rhythm guitars, guitar textures, talk box, 12 string guitar, wa-wa guitar, 6 string bass, electric sitar: Dann Huff Acoustic piano: Michael O'Martian Acoustic piano, wurlitzer, organ: John Hobbs Organ, synthesizer, acoustic piano: Arthur Stead Fiddle: Rob Hajacos Pedal steel, cosmic steel: Paul Franklin Pedal steel, lap steel: Bruce Bouton Fiddle: Joe Spivey Mandolin: Eric Silver Accordian: Joey Miskulin Fiddle: Larry Franklin Fiddle: Stuart Duncan Fiddle: Aubrey Haynie Fiddle: Glen Duncan Strings: Carl Marsh Strings: David Hamilton Guest vocals: Bryan White Background vocals: Mutt Lange Lead, background vocals: Shania Twain Man! I Feel Like A Woman I'm Holdin' On To Love (To Save My Life) Love Gets Me Every Time Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You) From This Moment On Come On Over When Whatever You Do! Don't!  If You Wanna Touch Her, Ask! You're Still The One Honey, I'm Home That Don't Impress Me Much Black Eyes, Blue Tears I Won't Leave You Lonely Rock This Country You've Got A Way   Mutt's Contributions: Mutt is the producer. He co-wrote all songs. He is a background vocalist. Album Review: An incredible follow-up to The Woman In Me. In most cases with Mutt, the more he works with an artist, the better their albums get. This album, although loaded with fiddles, departs from the country-sound Shania Twain began with. This album holds the record for the biggest country selling album of all time. It also generated ten singles. When Mutt worked with Def Leppard, he wanted to make Hysteria the Thriller of metal/pop. I don't know if that was his goal for this album. Either way, he accomplished that. There is not a weak song on this album, and as with The Woman In Me, you can hear Mutt's vocals all over the album.  Vital Stats Released: 1997 Label: Mercury- 314-536-003-2 Production: Produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange Recorded at Masterfonics Tracking Room, Nashville and many other recording studios Engineered by Jeff Balding and Mark Hagen   The Players: Drums: Paul Leim Electric and fretless bass: Joe Chemay Acoustic & nylon string guitars, electric riff & rhythm guitars: Biff Watson Acoustic piano, wurlitzer: John Jarvis Pedal steel: John Hughey Electric guitar: Brent Mason Slide guitar: Larry Byrom Electric riff & rhythm guitars, guitar textures, talk box, 12 string guitar, wa-wa guitar, 6 string bass, electric sitar: Dann Huff Acoustic piano: Michael O'Martian Acoustic piano, wurlitzer, organ: John Hobbs Organ, synthesizer, acoustic piano: Arthur Stead Fiddle: Rob Hajacos Pedal steel, cosmic steel: Paul Franklin Pedal steel, lap steel: Bruce Bouton Fiddle: Joe Spivey Mandolin: Eric Silver Accordian: Joey Miskulin Fiddle: Larry Franklin Fiddle: Stuart Duncan Fiddle: Aubrey Haynie Fiddle: Glen Duncan Strings: Carl Marsh Strings: David Hamilton Guest vocals: Bryan White Background vocals: Mutt Lange Lead, background vocals: Shania Twain