By Steve Newton
Ted Templeman is one of the most successful rock-music producers in America. You could say that he is to the United States what Bruce Fairbairn was to Canada.
Templeman was at the controls for such stellar albums as Montrose‘s self-titled debut, the Doobie Brothers‘ The Captain and Me, Van Morrison’s Tupelo Honey, and Little Feat’s Time Loves a Hero, to name just a few.
He also helmed all of Van Halen‘s best albums–those being the ones with David Lee Roth. (For everything you’d ever want to know about Templeman’s stellar career, check out his 2020 autobiography, as told to Van Halen historian Greg Renoff.)
One of the records Templeman “executive produced” was Steve Stevens’ 1989 debut, Atomic Playboys, although that one didn’t hit the Van Halen-like platinum–or even gold–heights Templeman was used to.
I interviewed Stevens in September of 1989, when he was touring behind the Atomic Playboys album, and after commenting on the disc’s wild cover art, I asked him what sort of role the hot-shot producer played on it.
Have a listen:
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