BIS FOR … BÊTE NOIRE
R.E.M disowned Shiny Happy People almost as soon as it became a hit. Pulp’s Nick Banks even decared Common People a ‘tuneless dirge.’
I didn’t come up against an artist’s bête noire first-hand until recently, when I was chatting to the producer Stephen Lipson. Stephen has to be one of the unsung heroes of pop production, with credits ranging from Propaganda to Paul McCartney, S Club 7 to Simple Minds.