He’d only recently turned 60, but Tony Cohen started his career in the mid-‘70s, and was known for his ability to truly collaborate with artists and enhance their vision. Whilst his name became as synonymous with bad habits as some of the artists he worked with, Tony was by all reports a kind and generous man, and he helped create some truly important work.
Although probably best known for recording Nick Cave (going right back to the Boys Next Door) and allied artists including the Go-Betweens, Dave Graney and various Tex Perkins projects, Tony’s earliest studio experiences were alongside Ian “Molly” Meldrum. Whilst still in his teens, in 1976, Cohen was co-producing Supernaut, and shortly thereafter he was working with Meldum on the Ferrets. His work with the Boys Next Door on their first album Door Door in 1979 was career-defining, and for the next few years he helped shape the sound of Melbourne with records by the Models, James Freud, the Birthday Party, the Moodists, Hunters & Collectors and the Sacred Cowboys (the band that Meldrum famously described on Countdown as the worst he’d seen in the last five years).
Let’s remember Tony Cohen with fifteen classic tracks that he either produced or engineered.
- Supernaut – “I Like It Both Ways” (1976)
- The Ferrets – “Don’t Fall In Love” (1977)
- Boys Next Door – “Shivers” (1979)
- James Freud & The Radio Stars – “Modern Girl” (1980)
- Models - “Two Cabs To The Toucan” (1981)
- Go-Betweens – “Your Turn My Turn” (1982)
- The Birthday Party – “Nick The Stripper” (1981)
- Hunters & Collectors – “Talking to a Stranger” (1982)
- Sacred Cowboys – “Nothing Grows in Texas” (1982) Including Molly’s legendary intro!
- Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “The Mercy Seat” (1988)
- Beasts of Bourbon – “Chase The Dragon” (1991)
- The Cruel Sea – “This Is Not The Way Home” (1991)
13. The Saints “Ghost Ships” (1984)
14. Dave Graney ’n’ the Coral Snakes – “I’m Gonna Release Your Soul” (1994)
15. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “Do You Love Me” (1994)
-DL
