Rupert Hine

Hine was born in Wimbledon, London on 21 September 1947.[4]

In the early 1960s, Hine formed half of the folk duo Rupert & David. The duo performed in pubs and clubs and occasionally shared the stage with a then-unknown Paul Simon. The duo's one released single (on the Decca label in 1965) was a cover of Simon's "The Sound of Silence". The single was not a success, but was notable for featuring a young Jimmy Page on guitar and Herbie Flowers on bass.[5]

Hine released two albums under his own name in the early 70s: Pick Up a Bone (1971) and Unfinished Picture (1973). In 1973, Hine, along with guitarist Mark Warner, bassist John G. Perry (then of Caravan) and drummer Trevor Morais (formerly of The Peddlers) formed the band Quantum Jump, releasing two albums, Quantum Jump (1976) and Barracuda (1977). After a re-release of the track "Lone Ranger" (from Quantum Jump) became an unexpected UK Top Ten hit in 1979, a third album – Mixing, a reworking of tracks selected from the first two Quantum Jump albums – was released.

After Quantum Jump disbanded, Hine released a trilogy of albums under his own name, including Immunity (1981); Waving Not Drowning (1982); and The Wildest Wish to Fly (1983). The American release of Wildest Wish dropped two tracks, radically reworked two others and incorporated two tracks from 1981's Immunity – including "Misplaced Love", which featured a guest vocal by Marianne Faithfull and had been a minor hit in Australia, reaching number 14 on the chart.[6] In 1985, Hine wrote and produced much of the soundtrack for the black comedy film Better Off Dead.

In 1994, Hine released The Deep End. In 1995 he joined with guitarist Phil Palmer, Paul Carrack, Steve Ferrone and Tony Levin to form the band Spin 1ne 2wo. The group released a self-titled project, made up of rock covers of songs by artists including Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Blind Faith, Steely Dan and Bob Dylan.

In 2008, Hine oversaw the direction of the compilation album Songs for Tibet: The Art of Peace, and also contributed to it a remixed version of his song, "The Heart of the Matter" (from The Deep End). In 2008, during the Beijing Olympics, the album was iTunes third most downloaded around the globe.

Hine wrote two songs for Le Cheshire Cat et moi, a 2009 CD by Nolwenn Leroy which was produced by Teitur Lassen.

In 2011 Rupert Hine, launched Auditorius, a joint music publishing project with BMG Rights Management. In November the same year, following a glowing citation from Bob Geldof, Rupert was honoured by the APRS with a Sound Fellowship Award; presented to recognise special contributions to the 'Art, Science and Business of Recording'. Hine joined Joe Boyd, Clive Green, Bob Ludwig, Jimmy Page and Chris Thomas to receive the award from Sir George Martin, APRS President, who together with an elite group of past recipients; sound and music innovators, including Sir Paul McCartney, Peter Gabriel, Chris Blackwell, also holds a Fellowship Award.

In March 2015, Esoteric Recordings (part of Cherry Red Records) issued "Unshy on the Skyline",[7] a compilation from a trio of albums Hine made between 1981 and 1983, Immunity, Waving Not Drowning and The Wildest Wish to Fly, complemented by the lyrics of poet and artist Jeannette-Thérèse Obstoj, and featuring guest contributions from musicians Robert Palmer, Phil Collins and guitarist Phil Palmer. The album has been re-mastered by Hine's long time friend and sound engineer Stephen W Tayler, who had recorded, mixed and co-produced the original albums.

To recognise the Dalai Lama's 80th birthday in July 2015, the Art of Peace Foundation commissioned Hine to produce Songs for Tibet II, to celebrate and honour the Dalai Lama's vision. A follow-up to the Grammy-nominated Songs for Tibet that Hine produced in 2008, artist contributions came from Sting, Peter Gabriel, Lorde, Kate Bush, Elbow, Duncan Sheik, Howard Jones, The Family Crest, Ed Prosek, Of Monsters & Men, Bob Geldof, Crystal Method, Rival Sons, Eleanor McEvoy and Hine himself.

On 30 August 2019, Esoteric Recordings (part of Cherry Red Records) issued "Fighting Apathy With Shock", a "best of" chosen by Hine from his Thinkman project, the albums The Formula (1986), Life Is A Full Time Occupation (1988) and Hard Hat Zone (1990) all with lyrics by Jeannette Obstöj (1949-2015). Re-mastering of the collection is by Stephen W Tayler who co-produced the original albums. Although Hine performed nearly all the music himself, there are notable contributions from The Fixx's Jamie West-Oram, Stewart Copeland of The Police and Café Jacques' vocalist Chris Thomson. Followers of Hine's prior projects were intrigued to see him fronting the group: a departure from his earlier solo work. The four-piece, which appeared on television programmes across Europe in support of the record, combined its music with a mission to call out the dangers of the all-too-powerful media. Unusually, and with a finely judged sense of irony, the men who accompanied Hine in public appearances were actors, not musicians (Greg Crutwell, Andy Baker and Julian Clary). And Thinkman was not a real band at all. By the time the last album was released the band's message had shifted away from media topics and onto environmental issues (the track "Take Them to the Traitors' Gate", was dedicated to Prince Charles) and a new team of supporting players were deployed for appearances; the line-up included Karl Hyde and Rick Smith of Underworld.

Hine died at his home in Wiltshire on 4 June 2020 at the age of 72.[4][8]