Zeus B. Held

Zeus B. Held is a German music producer and musician, known for his work in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He was involved with several artists of the krautrock, disco, and new wave era, such as Birth Control, Rockets, Gina X Performance, Dead Or Alive, John Foxx, Fashion, and Men Without Hats on their successful album Pop Goes the World.

Besides being an experienced producer and soundcreator his musical education on piano and reed instruments made him also a well-respected arranger. Spending 6 years as keyboard player and multi-instrumentalist with the German group “Birth Control” (6 LPs) gave him the experience as a touring musician. After these years on the road he worked as producer, session- musician, programmer, and engineer in German and French studios before moving to London in 1982.

Career

His production “……combines electronic Teutonic sounds with a soulful sensibility for melodic expression…”. (NME, June 1982) After writing and producing the groundbreaking album by Gina X Performance Nice Mover, (followed by three more Gina X albums), his first UK production credits were with Fashion and Dead or Alive, he produced Pete Wylie's "Sinful" album and an album by Men Without Hats for Polygram US which yielded a number one in many European countries and a US Top 20 hit with "Pop Goes The World". This was followed by two albums with Transvision Vamp on MCA with a top five single and a number one album. Zeus went on to write and produce two successful albums with Nina Hagen (Nina Hagen in 1990, and Street in 1991), Udo Lindenberg's Casanova, Win, National Velvet, Spear Of Destiny, and two albums with Marc Parrot.