Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English record producer and musician. His influence on pop and electronic music in the 1980s was such that he has been called "the man who invented the eighties".
Horn took up the bass guitar at an early age and taught himself to sight-read music. In the 1970s, he worked as a session musician, built his own studio, and wrote and produced singles for various artists. Horn gained fame in 1979 as a member of the Buggles, who achieved a hit single with "Video Killed the Radio Star". He was invited to join the progressive rock band Yes, becoming their lead singer.
In 1981, Horn became a full-time producer, working on successful songs and albums for acts including Dollar, ABC, Malcolm McLaren, Yes, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. He ventured into business with his wife Jill Sinclair, purchasing Sarm West Studios and establishing the publishers Perfect Songs and their own label, ZTT Records. In the following year, Horn co-formed the electronic group Art of Noise. He achieved hits in the following decades with Seal and t.A.T.u. He has performed with the supergroup Producers, later known as the Trevor Horn Band, since 2006.
Horn's awards include Brit Awards for Best British Producer in 1983, 1985, and 1992, a 1995 Grammy Award for Seal's song "Kiss from a Rose", and a 2010 Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.
Early life
Trevor Charles Horn was born on 15 July 1949 to John and Elizabeth Horn in Hetton-le-Hole, England, and grew up in Durham City. The second of four children, he has two sisters, including the novelist Marjorie DeLuca, and a brother, the television producer Ken Horn. His father was a maintenance engineer at the neighbouring dairy and a professional musician who played the double bass in the Joe Clarke Big Band during the week. Horn attended Johnston Grammar School in Durham.
At around eight years of age, Horn took up the double bass and was taught the basics by his father, including the concept of playing triads. He taught himself the bass guitar and became confident in sight-reading music, using guide books and practising on his father's four-string guitar in the spare room of the house. In his early teens, Horn filled in for his father on the double bass in the Joe Clarke band when he was late for a gig. At school Horn was given a recorder which he picked up with little effort as he already had music knowledge, and performed in the local youth orchestra. His interests turned to contemporary rock acts such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan. At 14, Horn played electric guitar in his first group, the Outer Limits, named after the 1963 television series, playing mainly covers by the Kinks.
Horn went on to pursue a "succession of day jobs", including one at a rubber company. He also put on a Bob Dylan imitation act for two nights a week "with a harmonica around my neck", and played the bass at odd gigs. Then, at seventeen, Horn decided to pursue a career in music and "woke my parents up at 4am to tell them". They were reluctant at first as they wanted him to become a chartered accountant as he performed well in maths, but Horn had failed the required exams. Horn's parents pleaded with him to try one more job, but three months into his role as a progress chaser in a plastic bag factory, he was fired. "I said, 'That's it, I'm never going into that world again!'", and the next day, received an offer to play the bass in a local semi-professional band at a Top Rank Ballroom, playing top 40 and dance music for £24 a week for five nights' work. Horn also received airplay on BBC Radio Leicester, performing self-written songs on a guitar.
Career
1971–1979: Early work
At 21, Horn relocated to London and took up work by playing in a band which involved re-recording top 20 songs for BBC radio due to the needle time restrictions then in place. This was followed by a one-year tenure with Ray McVay's big band, included performances at the world ballroom dancing championship and the television show Come Dancing. Horn also joined the Canterbury Tales, a group based in Margate, and spent time in Denmark where he ended up broke. His mother sent him money for his return journey. He also worked as a session musician for rock groups and jingles. At 24, Horn began work in Leicester, where he had a nightly gig playing bass at a nightclub and helped construct a recording studio. He produced songs for local artists, including a song for Leicester City F.C.
