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Shel Talmy, producer for the Who, the Kinks and David Bowie, dies aged 87

The American producer helped to craft a raw, immediate sound for British rock in the mid-1960s, with hits such as You Really Got Me and My Generation

I Can’t Explain became their debut and reached the UK Top 10, as did the Talmy-produced follow-up Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere, but it was third single My Generation that became the band’s big breakthrough and an era-defining statement of disaffection – again, Talmy gave it a raw, almost punkish feel to match the lyrics’ snubbing of convention. Talmy also produced The Kids Are Alright, a commercial flop on release now seen as a Who classic, as well as the album My Generation, which contained those singles as well as other Townshend originals and covers of James Brown and Bo Diddley. In 1965, Talmy also worked with David Bowie producing two singles with bands he fronted before his 1967 solo debut album: I Pity the Fool by the Manish Boys, and You’ve Got a Habit of Leaving by Davy Jones & the Lower Third.

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