Spot (producer)

Spot
Spot on roller skates with Easy Reader in 1979
Spot on roller skates with Easy Reader in 1979
Background information
Birth nameGlenn Michael Lockett
BornJuly 1, 1951
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
DiedMarch 4, 2023(2023-03-04) (aged 71)
Sheboygan, Wisconsin, U.S.
Genres
OccupationRecord producer
Years active1977–2022
LabelsSST
Formerly ofPanic
Websitespotinator.com (archived copy)

Glenn Michael Lockett (July 1, 1951 – March 4, 2023), better known as Spot, was an American record producer best known for being the house producer and engineer for the influential independent punk record label SST Records.[1] He styled his name SPʘT, using all capital letters and adding a dot inside the O.[2]

Early life

Glenn Michael Lockett was born in the Los Angeles area to a white mother (maiden name Katz) and an African-American father on July 1, 1951.[3] With his older sister Cynthia, he was raised in upper-middle-class Hollywood.[3] Lockett's father Claybourne, known as Buddy to his soldier friends, had been a fighter pilot with the 100th Fighter Squadron in WW II,[4] an all-Black formation that was part of the Tuskegee Airmen.[5] Lockett moved from Hollywood to Hermosa Beach in the mid-1970s, where he met Greg Ginn while working at a vegetarian restaurant called Garden of Eden.[5] Lockett also freelanced for Easy Reader, authoring record reviews under the name Spot.[5][6]

Befriending Ginn, Spot was briefly bassist for Panic, the band which would soon become Black Flag.[5]

Career

Spot recorded, mixed, produced or co-produced most of SST's pivotal acts between 1979 and 1986. He is credited on albums by such notable bands as Black Flag,[1] Minutemen,[1] Meat Puppets,[1] Hüsker Dü,[1] Saint Vitus,[1] Misfits, and Descendents.[1] After leaving SST in 1986, Spot moved to Austin, Texas.[1]

Spot was an accomplished photographer[1] and published a book of his work titled Sounds of Two Eyes Opening.[7] In 2018, a gallery showing of his photographs was mounted at Pacific Coast Gallery in Hermosa Beach.[6]

Production and engineering discography

Death

Spot died on March 4, 2023, at Morningside Healthcare in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where he was recovering from a stroke he had suffered three months earlier. He had been suffering from fibrosis since late 2021 and was awaiting a lung transplant prior to his stroke.[2][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Backer, Sam (November 9, 2018). "Behind the Sound Of American Punk". Red Bull Music Academy. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Corcoran, Nina (March 4, 2023). "SST Records Producer Glen "SPOT" Lockett Dies at 72". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Earles, Andrew (November 18, 2010). Hüsker Dü: The Story of the Noise-pop Pioneers who Launched Modern Rock. Voyageur Press. pp. 88–. ISBN 9780760335048. Retrieved November 27, 2012.
  4. ^ Holway, John (2000). Red Tail, Black Wings: The Men of America's Black Air Force. Yucca Tree Press. p. 166. ISBN 9781881325437.
  5. ^ a b c d Chick, Stevie (2011). Spray Paint the Walls: The Story of Black Flag. PM Press. pp. 33-36. ISBN 978-1-60486-418-2.
  6. ^ a b McDonald, Ryan (September 28, 2018). "Spot On: Exhibit of photos of South Bay from '70s and '80s highlights other side of legendary SST Records producer". Easy Reader. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  7. ^ Cosgrove, Ben (November 24, 2014). "Edge of the World: Photos of SoCal's Skate, Beach and Punk Scenes, 1969 – 1982". Time. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  8. ^ a b c Brodsky, Rachel (March 4, 2023). "Glen "SPOT" Lockett, Hardcore Producer, Dead At 72". Stereogum. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  9. ^ a b Sebastian, Matt (March 4, 2023). "SPOT — SST Records' producer for Black Flag, Minutemen, Hüsker Dü and more — has died". Slicing Up Eyeballs. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  10. ^ Williams, Alex (March 11, 2023). "Spot, Record Producer Who Captured the Fury of 1980s Punk, Dies at 71". The New York Times. Retrieved March 11, 2023.