Mickie Most
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Mickie Most (real name Michael Peter Hayes) was born in Aldershot (England)
in June 1938. His early ambition was to be a singer, and when he
emigrated briefly to South Africa in the early 60s, he enjoyed 11
consecutive Number 1's as Mickie Most and The Playboys with covers of
songs such as Johnny B Goode and Rave On.
By 1962 he was back in England and had turned to record production
where he found his real talent. His most
notable success was The Animals' House Of
The Rising Sun although he produced all the original Animals
recordings as well as Lulu, Herman's
Hermits, The Jeff Beck Group, all of Donovan's
earlier records, and Terry Reid's first album.
His uncanny ability to pick a hit song made him the most successful
record producer in Britain during the 60s and 70s and he went on to form his own label called RAK, which was to produce
many of the finest British records of the 1970s. He also became a
celebrity judge on the TV talent show New
Faces.
After Kim Wilde gave him one of his
final successes on RAK he sold the label and its extensive back
catalog to EMI in 1983 in a multi-million-pound deal that made Most
one of the richest men in Britain. His ventures back into music after
that were infrequent, although he did produce Johnny
Hates Jazz (whose line-up included his son, Calvin Hayes).
Most died at home on 30 May 2003 of mesothelioma (a cancer caused
by exposure to asbestos). He was cremated at Golders Green crematorium
in North London.
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