Translator
With two albums and an EP to their credit, the four musicians of Translator were ready for something new. "We had played with David Bowie at Oakland Stadium, and we did all sorts of tours with cool bands," says guitarist Steve Barton. "But we wanted to shake things up."
The eventual choice to produce Translator's third album was an inspired one. "Our Columbia A&R guy at the time suggested Ed Stasium," recalls Barton. "I said, 'Okay, I don't know who that is.'" The CBS rep mentioned a few of Stasium's recent projects. That list included engineering The Ramones' Leave Home and Rocket to Russia as well as Talking Heads: 77; mixing Talking Heads' More Songs About Buildings and Food; and producing The Ramones' Road to Ruin and It's Alive.
Barton was sold: "I was like, 'Okay, done!'"
(excerpted from the book Disturbing the Peace: 415 Records and the Rise of New Wave by Bill Kopp)