Robert Lange
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Robert John "Mutt" Lange (born November 16, 1948, Mufulira, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia)), is a record producer of popular music. He has produced albums for bands such as Def Leppard, AC/DC, Bryan Adams, Romeo's Daughter and most recently his wife Shania Twain.
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Biography
Robert John Lange's South African born father was a mining engineer, his mother came from a prosperous family in Germany. Nicknamed "Mutt" at an early age, he grew up a fan of country music, in particular the singer, Slim Whitman. Sent to study at Belfast High School in South Africa, he started a music band in which he played rhythm guitar and sang harmonies. He eventually married Stevie van Kerken (aka Stevie Vann) and moved to England where, in 1970, he started the band, "Hocus" in which his wife would sing.
Beginning production work in 1976, his first major hit was AC/DC's album Highway to Hell. He produced several more albums with the band, also working with 80's pop-rock group Foreigner. He worked with Def Leppard on their hit albums, Pyromania and Hysteria cowriting many songs.
After "Hysteria," Lange felt he had contributed all that he could to Def Leppard's career, and he decided to bow out of working with them while they were at their peak. In 1991, he produced Bryan Adams' Waking Up the Neighbours, including "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You", a hugely-successful single (aided by its appearance of the soundtrack of the Kevin Costner film Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves).
After seeing singer Shania Twain, he got in touch with her agent and offered to produce for her. They were married December 28, 1993, and have a son, Eja, born in August 2001. The couple live in Switzerland and have a sheep farm (station) in New Zealand.
Discography
Produced Albums
Albums produced by Mutt Lange on which he produced at least 3 tracks or more.
- City Boy - City Boy, 1976
- City Boy - Dinner at the Ritz, 1976
- Graham Parker - Heat Treatment, 1976
- Supercharge - Local Lads Make Good, 1976
- City Boy - Young Men Gone West, 1977
- Clover - Love On The Wire, 1977
- Clover - Unavailable, 1977
- Supercharge - Horizontal Refreshment, 1977
- The Boomtown Rats - The Boomtown Rats, 1977
- City Boy - Book Early, 1978
- The Outlaws - Playin' to Win, 1978
- The Boomtown Rats - A Tonic for the Troops, 1978
- Deaf School - English Boys, Working Girls, 1978
- City Boy - The Day the Earth Caught Fire, 1979
- Supercharge - Body Rhythm, 1979
- The Boomtown Rats - The Fine Art of Surfacing, 1979
- AC/DC Highway to Hell, 1979
- AC/DC Back in Black, 1980
- AC/DC For Those About To Rock, 1981
- Def Leppard, High 'N' Dry, 1981
- Foreigner, Four, 1981
- Def Leppard, Pyromania, 1983
- The Cars, Heartbeat City, 1984
- Def Leppard, Hysteria, 1987
- Romeo's Daughter - Romeo's Daughter, 1988
- Billy Ocean - Tear Down These Walls, 1989
- Bryan Adams - Waking Up The Neighbours, 1991
- Stevie Vann - Stevie Vann, 1995
- Bryan Adams - 18 'Til I Die, 1996
- Shania Twain - The Woman In Me, 1995
- Shania Twain - Come On Over, 1997
- The Corrs - In Blue, 2000
- Shania Twain - Up!, 2002
- Shania Twain - Greatest Hits, 2004
Produced Album Tracks
Albums produced by Mutt Lange on which he produced 2 tracks or less.
- Stephen - Right On Running Man, 1974/5
- Billy Ocean, Suddenly, 1984
- Billy Ocean, Love Zone, 1986
- Celine Dion, All The Way... A Decade Of Song, 1999
- Backstreet Boys, Millennium, 1999
- Britney Spears, Oops... I Did It Again, 2000
- Celine Dion, A New Day Has Come, 2002
- Bryan Adams, Room Service, 2004
Grammy awards
- 1991 - "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" - Best Song Written Specifically For A Motion Picture Or For Television
- 1995 - "The Woman In Me" - Best Country Album
- 1998 - "You're Still the One" - Best Country Song
- 1999 - "Come On Over" - Best Country Song