Steve Levine: Revisiting the Beach Boys

Steve Levine is a multi-award winning British record producer, who has produced albums for stars ranging from Deniece Williams to Gary Moore, Ziggy Marley and Quarterflash. He was also the producer of Culture Club’s first three multi-platinum selling albums from the 1980s.

In 1984 Steve won Producer of the Year at The Brit Awards, and in 1988 he won a Grammy for his work with Deniece Williams.

We join Steve as he as he unearths the master tapes of The Beach Boys' self-titled 1985 album, which he originally produced, and undertakes the painstaking process of remixing the music for a forthcoming re-release. The original album was the band’s first to be recorded digitally, and featured guest musicians Ringo Starr and Stevie Wonder, plus a track written by Boy George and Roy Hay of Culture Club.

Lewis Borg-Cardona joins Steve to examine his creative process, as the former Culture Club producer accesses individual tracks from the original London and Los Angeles session tapes. Forty years later, armed with new technology, Steve is able to transform the sonic quality via equipment that wasn’t available for the original sessions.

Lewis also hears Steve reminisce with Culture Club guitarist Roy Hay, and there are also contributions from the late Brian Wilson, Boy George, original session player Julian Lindsay, producer Carmen Rizzo and former Beach Boys manager Jerry Schilling, as well as original band members Al Jardine and Bruce Johnston.

Producer: Lewis Borg-Cardona

A Magnum Opus Broadcasting production for the BBC World Service

Image: Steve Levine in the recording studio (Credit: Steve Levine)