Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Guitar Amps
  • Guitar Pedals
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Artist news
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Software & Apps
  • Drums
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • Santana on Beck
  • Friday, I'm in Love
  • Knopfler's 4-note secret
  • 95k+ free music samples
Recommended reading
Plugins Future owns
Plugins Our resident platinum award-winning mixer and producer shares 10 of his go-to plugins
API
Plugins Our pick of the very best VCA compressor software emulation plugins for any music project
Pluginweek logo
Plugins Plugin Week 2025: Exhibitor A-Z
Plugins
Plugins To mark Plugin Week, here’s our pick of the most out-there sound design plugins you should grab now
Man in orange shirt playing drums with a guitar player
Drum Gear Best drum thrones 2025: my pick of budget-spanning stools for comfort behind the kit
plugins
Tech The ultimate soft synth showdown: Serum 2, Pigments 6, Phase Plant, Vital and Massive X: But which is best?
linux
Digital Audio Workstation 14 of the best plugins and DAWs you can use on Linux
  1. Artists
  2. Djs

The 10 best music producers of the '70s

News
By Simon Arblaster ( Future Music ) published 16 May 2016

MusicRadar users have voted, so here's the countdown…

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Cream of the crop

Cream of the crop

After 'shouting out' in search of your nominations, we asked you to vote in our poll to determine just who was the best music producer of the 1970s.

You came, you pondered on our list, and you voted in your droves. So don't just sit there: get clicking to find out who you thought really steered the sounds of the decade that birthed heavy and glam rock, disco and more...

Page 1 of 11
Page 1 of 11
10. Arif Mardin

10. Arif Mardin

Kicking off our countdown from 10 to number one is Arif Mardin, who with the likes of Jerry Wexler and Tom Dowd, was responsible for a string of hits released by Atlantic records.

He produced records for a huge range of artists, including Aretha Franklin, Queen, Diana Ross and the Bee Gees. It was perhaps the latter that gained him the most acclaim. It was during the recording of the Bee Gees’ 1975 album Main Course that Mardin unleashed Barry Gibb’s unmistakable falsetto on the track Nights On Broadway.

Mardin earned one of many Grammy awards for his work on 1979’s Saturday Night Fever soundtrack (for Best Album), a trick he repeated in 2003 with Come Away With Me by Norah Jones.

Page 2 of 11
Page 2 of 11
9. Todd Rundgren

9. Todd Rundgren

Perhaps as well known for his solo work as his production chops, the ‘70s saw Todd Rundgren serving as helmsman for the likes of Grand Funk Railroad, the New York Dolls and Hall & Oates.

Despite aiming to focus on production work, Rundgren was also very busy with his own music. This meandered between prog, pop and rock, with lashings of psychedelia and jazz fusion influences.

One of his most enduring solo pieces was 1972’s I Saw The Light, but while this is every inch a classic, it was perhaps his work on Meat Loaf’s Bat Out Of Hell that brought him the most production acclaim.

Page 3 of 11
Page 3 of 11
8. Lee 'Scratch' Perry

8. Lee 'Scratch' Perry

Often lauded as the grandfather of dub, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry built a studio in his back garden called the Black Ark in the early ‘70s. This became the birthplace of some of the most iconic records in dub and reggae history.

Some of his most notable work in the ‘70s was with Bob Marley & The Wailers, producing such hits as Sun Is Shining.

Page 4 of 11
Page 4 of 11
7. George Clinton

7. George Clinton

Starting out in Motown’s musical factory as a staff songwriter, George Clinton is best remembered for his services to funk. Most notably for the invention of P-Funk, as band leader and producer for Parliament-Funkadelic.

P-Funk’s glorious blend of funk and psychedelic rock has been often copied, but never bettered. It’s superbly exemplified in Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker), which is taken from Parliament’s fourth album Mothership Connection.

Page 5 of 11
Page 5 of 11
6. Roy Thomas Baker

6. Roy Thomas Baker

Roy Thomas Baker started out in the recording industry at a young age and worked with some great producers over the years. But it’s probably for his work as co-producer (with John Anthony) on Queen’s self-titled first album that we have most to thank him for.

Roy went on to produce Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack, A Night at the Opera and Jazz, plus a string of bands and artists including Guns N' Roses, Alice Cooper, Foreigner, Pilot, Ozzy Osbourne and Devo, to name but a few.

Page 6 of 11
Page 6 of 11
5. Brian Eno

5. Brian Eno

Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno would probably win the Best Name ever award, but comes in at five on our ‘70s producers list.

Eno’s career during the ‘70 saw him playing keyboards with Roxy Music, pioneering the concept of ambient music and taking on production duties for the likes of Talking Heads, John Cale and David Bowie as the latter created his legendary Berlin Trilogy.

Page 7 of 11
Page 7 of 11
4. Giorgio Moroder

4. Giorgio Moroder

Disco took a turn for the more electronic in the late ‘70s, building on roots that were put down in Philadelphia. And Giorgio Moroder is widely regarded as the man responsible for the explosion of synth-tastic four-on-the-floor disco.

Let’s face it: the intro to Donna Summer’s I Feel Love became a blueprint not just for disco, but for most electronic dance music.

Page 8 of 11
Page 8 of 11
3. Eddie Kramer

3. Eddie Kramer

Over the years, Eddie Kramer has worked with just about everyone, collaborating with the likes of The Beatles, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, the Kinks, Kiss, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones and Carlos Santana.

He helped create Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studio, which he presided over as Director of Engineering until 1974. After this he returned to engineering independently; for the Rolling Stones on Love You Live, on Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti and The Song Remains the Same, and on Peter Frampton's Frampton Comes Alive!

Page 9 of 11
Page 9 of 11
2. Tony Visconti

2. Tony Visconti

Tony Visconti is the second key David Bowie collaborator to make this list. Starting out as the bassist in The Hype (with Bowie, guitarist Mick Ronson and drummer John Cambridge), Visconti produced The Man Who Sold the World in 1970.

He would go on to work on the albums Diamond Dogs (1974), Young Americans (1975), Low (1977) and Heroes (1977).

Page 10 of 11
Page 10 of 11
1. Alan Parsons

1. Alan Parsons

And so we come to our winner, according to MusicRadar users: Mr Alan Parsons. In fact, he won at a canter, with nearly half of the votes.

Alan’s work with The Beatles, The Hollies, The Alan Parsons Project and Pink Floyd has earned him top billing on this list.

During his time at Abbey Road working on Dark Side Of The Moon, it is thought that he swapped the engineering shifts around so he could work exclusively on the project. Perhaps a key contributing factor to the success of the album? We’ll leave you to ponder as you soak up the album’s overture...

Page 11 of 11
Page 11 of 11
Simon Arblaster
Simon Arblaster
Social Links Navigation
Video Producer & Reviews Editor

I take care of the reviews on MusicRadar and Future Music magazine, though can sometimes be spotted in front of a camera talking little sense in the presence of real musicians. For the past 30 years, I have been unable to decide on which instrument to master, so haven't bothered. Currently, a lover of all things high-gain in the guitar stakes and never one to resist churning out sub-standard funky breaks, the likes of which you'll never hear.

All-access artist interviews, in-depth gear reviews, essential production tutorials and much more. image
All-access artist interviews, in-depth gear reviews, essential production tutorials and much more.
Get the latest issue now!
More Info
Read more
Plugins Future owns
Our resident platinum award-winning mixer and producer shares 10 of his go-to plugins
API
Our pick of the very best VCA compressor software emulation plugins for any music project
Pluginweek logo
Plugin Week 2025: Exhibitor A-Z
Plugins
To mark Plugin Week, here’s our pick of the most out-there sound design plugins you should grab now
Man in orange shirt playing drums with a guitar player
Best drum thrones 2025: my pick of budget-spanning stools for comfort behind the kit
plugins
The ultimate soft synth showdown: Serum 2, Pigments 6, Phase Plant, Vital and Massive X: But which is best?
Latest in Djs
Silva Bumpa Feel Da Same
Why Silva Bumpa created his own R&B instrumental just to remix it into the garage-inspired Feel Da Same
Eric Prydz DJing Getty images
“I was as shocked as everyone else”: Eric Prydz reveals why he’s changed his mind about playing THE hit
Tomorrowland fire
Martin Garrix sings Metallica's praises after they helped to save his Tomorrowland set
Aphex Twin and Philip Glass
“The only way to find out about these things is to jump in”: Aphex Twin and Philip Glass on their '95 collaboration
Barry Can't Swim
Barry Can’t Swim has no time for people who have an issue with artists using synth presets
David Guetta
David Guetta says he’s never played a pre-recorded DJ set, and can’t understand why anyone would think he has
Latest in News
Ozzy Osbourne performs during half-time of the 2022 NFL season opening game between the Buffalo Bills and the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on September 08, 2022 in Inglewood, California.
Ozzy Osbourne BBC documentary mysteriously is moved from tonight’s schedules
the crow hill
"No strings attached": The Crow Hill Company releases Lo-Fi Strings, a free tape-treated string library with a warm and nostalgic sound
Chubby Checker in 2019
“I’m doing what I love doing the most: Being in front of an audience”: Why Chubby Checker is skipping his Hall Of Fame induction
Wunderkammer WoO.1
WoO.1 is a pocket-sized sampler designed for endless on-the-go looping
George Michael and Taylor Swift
How George Michael accidentally created the ‘80s smash that’s now been picked up by Taylor Swift
John Lennon and Yoko Ono polaroid photos
“It embodied what John and I strongly believed in – Rock for Peace and Enlightenment”: New Lennon box set announced

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...