Though first emerging as a staple of the British progressive rock community of the 1970s, Bob Sargeant enjoyed his greatest success a decade later as one of the most notable producers of the new wave era. He first surfaced as a keyboardist with Mick Abrahams' backing band, on Abrahams' 1971 self-titled solo debut. Freelance work with Andy Roberts, Junco Partners and Patrick Campbell-Lyons followed, and in 1975 Sargeant issued his lone solo album, First Starring Role. After briefly joining Curved Air in time to play on their 1976 LP Airborne, he resurfaced three years later in the producer's seat, helming the Ruts' Crack, the Monochrome Set's Strange Boutique a year later, and subsequent work with the English Beat (the classic I Just Can't Stop It) and Any Trouble (Where Are All the Nice Girls?) solidified Sargeant's status as a rising talent. In addition to producing both of the English Beat's other studio albums, he also helmed Haircut 100's 1982 debut Pelican West; concurrently, he also continued producing any number of sessions for John Peel's BBC radio program, with dates from the Buzzcocks, Wire, Madness, the Undertones, Gang of Four and Gary Numan later seeing official release. In 1985 Sargeant worked on the Damned's Phantasmagoria, followed a year later by the Woodentops' acclaimed debut Giant. From the late 1980s onward, however, he was largely inactive. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi