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.Barclay, Michael; Jack, Ian & Schneider, Jason (2011) Have Not Been the Same, ECW Press,
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 prog-rock group Birth Control (6 LPs) gave him 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,"Top Single Picks", Billboard, 21 August 1982, p. 67. Retrieved 20 August 2014Chin, Brian (1985) "DanceTrax", Billboard, 23 March 1985, p. 57. Retrieved 20 August 2014 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. He produced the album Freaky Trigger (1989) by the Scottish group Win. Zeus went on to write and produce two successful albums with Nina Hagen (Nina Hagen in 1990,Hardy, Phil (1995) The Da Capo Companion to 20th-century Popular Music, Da Capo Press, , p. 111 and Street in 1991), Udo Lindenberg's Casanova, National Velvet, Spear of Destiny, and two albums with Marc Parrot.
He has produced and co-written an album with South African group Shikisha, an EP with Victoria Wilson-James, and recorded and produced an album with Hawkwind – Distant Horizons.
In 1995 he wrote and recorded the music for a worldwide advertising campaign for Swatch. His 1987 'E Reg' remix of Gary Numan's "Cars" hit the British charts again as the 'Premier Mix' in March '96.
After extended travelling round the world he produced his own two projects: No Sweat, a jazzy hip-hop album with diverse guest singers and assorted samples and involving his collected samples "Inma Wiru", his Australian project under the banner of "Digital Dreaming", distributed by Warner Music. During his long stays in Australia Zeus also toured and recorded with Aboriginal Singer and Guitarist Frank Yamma and his band.
In 1999 he co-wrote Nina Hagen's single "Der Poetenclub" which also features the voice of Falco (of "Rock Me Amadeus" fame). His production and arranging skills led to intensive work on audio-visuals and soundtracks, one of which was a British film shown at the Cannes 2001 festival, Mad Dogs.
Since 2003 he has divided his time between working in his Freiburg, Germany-based studio and his London KGBeat studio and production setup. From 2005 Zeus he also worked with "Jazz & Rock Schulen Freiburg", where he created and realised the 3-year project "EuroPop", which was a musician's networking, events (EuroPop Festival in Neuf-Brisach) and education program founded by the European Union. His musical ventures saw Zeus writing for and playing with big bands and orchestras.
The 2011 retrospective album, Voice-Versa, is a compilation of compositions involving the usage of a Sennheiser vocoder which Zeus acquired in 1978, featuring solo material as well as edited tracks by Gina X Performance and Rockets. The release of his remixed and remastered Australian album Dream2Machine on the Broome-based label Desert Ocean Productions in late 2013 also marks Zeus' continual creative collaboration with Jim Lampi and his multimedia approach to music and the arts.
His solo adventure Logic of Coincidence, released June 2015 on Les Disques du Crepuscule, is an album of electronic music which features US cult author Luke Rhinehart's voice and readings on two tracks. A remix of one album track by "Dream Control" marks the start of Zeus' collaboration with former Tangerine Dream member Steve Schroyder. In August 2017 Dream Control's first album entitled "Zeitgeber" is released on Planetware Records. In October a special edited vinyl version of this album was released on U.S. label Medical Records.
Currently Dream Control is working on a film project which should be released in early 2021. In 2019 Zeus teamed up with Guru Guru band leader Mani Neumeier to record an album of adventurous tracks under the name of Mani & Zeus "The Secret Lives". Released on Düsseldorf label Bellerophon Records in September 2020 it had some great response by the media. In October 2020 Zeus was awarded with the City of Cologne's Holger Czukay Prize in “appreciation of life's work” for his writing and production work with "Gina X Performance".
Discography
Albums Birth Control : 7 albums as keyboard, saxophonist and co-writer in the 70s. Zeus B. Held (solo): Zeus' Amusement 1978 Metronome, Europium 1979, Teldec/Telefunken"Zeus – Europium", Contemporary Keyboard, GPI Publications, 1980, vol. 6, p. 86 "Attack Time" 1981 CBS, Visionova (Soundtrack) 1980, Sport & Culture Gina X Performance: "Nice Mover" 1978 EMI, "X- Traordinaire" 1980 EMI, "Voyeur" 1981 EMI, "Yinglish" 1981 Statik/Virgin UK Fashion: "Fabrique" 1982 Arista, "Twilight of Idols" 1984 CBSBarr, Tim (2013) Kraftwerk: from Dusseldorf to the Future With Love, Ebury Press John Foxx: "The Golden Section" 1983 Virgin Dead or Alive: Sophisticated Boom Boom 1984 CBSClarke, Donald (1998) The Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Penguin Books, p.344 Chaz Jankel: "Looking at you" 1985 A&M Die Krupps: "Entering the Arena" 1985 Voice Versa/Statik Spear of Destiny: "Outland" 1986 Virgin, Riff: "Mission Love" 1989 RCA "S.O.D.'s Law" 1992 Burning Rome Records Claire Grogan: "Claire Grogan" 1986 London Men Without Hats: "Pop Goes The World" 1987 Polygram US Pete Wylie: "Sinful" 1987 Circa/Virgin Kamerata: "Lovers & Other Strangers" 1987 Polydor Transvision Vamp: "Pop-Art" 1988 MCA, "Velveteen" 1989 MCA Win: "Freaky Trigger" 1988 Virgin Music Art: Soundtrack for Multi Media Installation, 1988 Champagne Music CH Udo Lindenberg "Casanova", 1988 Deutsche Grammophon Nina Hagen: "Nina Hagen" 1989 Phonogram GmbH, "Street" 1991 Phonogram GmbH National Velvet: "Courage" 1989 Capitol Canada Doctor Rain: "The Spoon Run Away" 1991 Imago Marc Parrot: "Solo Para Locos" 1992 WEA Spain, "Solo Para Ninos" 1995 WEA Spain The Bozfor: "Endorphenia" 1992 EMI-Electrola The Fetish: "The Fetish" EP, 1992 Aunt Jamima: "Birth" 1993 Sony Germany Candy Dates: "This Easy Life" 1994 WEA Vortex: "Transistor Revenge" 1995 Vortex/Roadrunner Yulduz Usmanova: "Binafscha" 1996 Blue Flame Zeus & the Spiritual Traders: "Compassion" 1996 H.A.N.D.spun, BMG Vortex : "Energize" 1996 Vortex/Roadrunner Strobe: "Lost in Space" 1997 Vortex/Roadrunner Octavia: "HipOpera", Janus Media 1998 Nokturnl : "Point Your Finger". EP, Heartbeat, Australia 1998 Digital Dreaming : "Inma Wiru 1998, Massive Recordings, Australia Shikisha : Maluju, Toshiba/EMI 2000 Bulletproof Electric Revue : "Cake, Pills and Pain", Northern Recordings, 2002 Held Lampi Project : "Digital Dreaming", Kissing Fish Music, 2004 Zeus B. Held : "Voice-Versa", LTM 2011 Held Lampi Project : "Dream2machine", Desert Ocean Productions, 2013 Zeus B. Held : "Logic of Coincidence", Les Disques du Crepuscule 2015 Zeus B. Held : "Vinyl Collection", Medical Records, 2016 Dream Control : "Zeitgeber", Planetware Records, 2017 Mani Neumeier & Zeus B. Held : "The Secret Lives", Bellerophon Records, 2020
Singles Zeus: "Fool on the Hill" 1978 Metronome, "Musik, Music, Musique" 1979 Teldec Rockets: "On the Road Again", 1978 Decca France Gina X Performance: "Nice Mover”1978 EMI, "No G.D.M" 1979/82 EMI, "No G.D.M '85" 1985 Statik, "Do It Yourself" 1979 EMI, "Striptease" 1980 EMI, "Weekend Twist" 1980 EMI, "Drive My Car" 1984 Statik, "Harley Davidson" 1984 Statik Fashion: "Move On" 1982 Arista, "Streetplayer" 1982 Arista, "Something in Your Picture" 1982 Arista, "Love Shadow" 1983 Arista, "Eye Talk" 1984 CBS/Sony, "Dreaming" 1984 CBS/Sony, "You in the Night" 1984 CBS/Sony John Foxx: "Endlessly" 1983 Virgin, "Your Dress" 1983 Virgin, "Like a Miracle" 1983 Virgin Dead Or Alive: "What I Want 1983 CBS/Sony, I'd Do Anything" 1983 CBS/Sony, "That's the Way I Like It" 1984 CBS/Sony Le Clan: "Vive le Mambo" 1984 MN/Barclay France Lilidrop: "Tartine Breakfast" 1982 Eurodisc/Virgin France Cha Cha at the Opera: "A Cha Cha at the Opera" 1982 Island Impulse: "The Prize" 1983 Polydor This Island Earth: "See That Glow" 1984 Magnet, "Take Me to the Fire" 1985 Magnet The Spy: "Big Brother" 1984 Trigger /Disques Brilliant: "Wait For It" 1984 WEA Ellery Bop: "Torn Apart" 1985 WEA Academy: "Tonight" 1985 RCA, "Stand Up" 1985 RCA, “You Are in My System” 1986 RCA, "Keep on Pushing" 1986 RCA East of Java: "Different World" 1985 RCA Ranch: "Put Your Love in Me" 1985 Sedition/PTR The Krupps: "RISK “ 1985 Voice Versa Annabella Wu: "Under The Gun" 1985 RCA/Arista Angel Chorus: "Devil on My Shoulder" 1986 Virgin Pete Wylie: "Diamond Girl" 1986 Virgin Michael van Dyke: "I Do" 1986 Metronome Spear of Destiny: "Strangers in Our Town" 1986 Virgin, “Never Take Me Alive”, 1987 Virgin, "Was That You?”1987 Virgin, "The Traveller" 1987 Virgin Claire Grogan: "Love Bomb" 1987 London Records Men Without Hats: "Pop Goes the World" 1987 Phonogram US, "Moonbeam, featuring Ian Anderson" 1988 Phonogram US Kamerata: "Heroin" 1987 Polydor GmbH "Charlotte" 1987 Polydor GMBH, "Horseback" 1988 Polydor GMBH Eric Robinson: "No.1", 1988 MCA Udo Lindenberg : "Airport", "Die Klavierlehrerin" Polydor 1988 Transvision Vamp: "Tell that girl”1988 MC, "Baby I Don, t Care" 1989 MCA, "Landslide of Love", 1989 MCA, "I want your love" 1990 MCA Riff "No Mercy" 1989 RCA The Marines: "Go Go Now" 1989 Sony UK, "Say Goodbye" 1989 Sony UK Nina Hagen : "Hold Me" Phonogram 1989, "Viva Las Vegas" Phonogram1989 "Michail, Michail" Phonogram 1990 Riff "All or nothing" 1990 RCA Flesh For Lulu: "Every Little Word" 1989 Beggars Banquet Barry Ryan: "Turn Away" 1989 BMG/Ariola Tony Head: "Sweet Transvestite" 1990 RCA/BMG, Sunsonic: "Drive Away", 1990 Polydor Exotic Birds: "Stay OnThis Road" 1990 Alpha See See Rider: "Da Da Love" 1990 Lazy Nina Hagen : "Blumen Fuer Die Damen", Phonogram 1991 "In My World" Phonogram 1991 The Fetish : "Psychotic Sympathy" Voice Versa The Bones: "Hot" 1993 EMI-Eletrola, "Come On" 1993 EMI-Eletrola Dein Cyan: "An Solchen Tagen" 1994 EMI-Eletrola Hexenhaus: "Hallo & Tschuess" 1995 SingSing Record GMBH/Hansa Charlie's Angels: "Honey" 1995 Org Records Strobe: "In ain't out" 1996 Vortex Lani: "Reach for the sky" 1997 Shock Australia Zeus & the Spiritual Traders: "Buddha of Compassion", 1997 H.A.N.D.spun Disco Pistols: "Talk to Me", Org Records, 1998 Nina Hagen : "Der Poetenclub", Orbit Records, 2000 Victoria Wilson James: "Fandango", Arriva, 2000 Bulletproof Electric Revue : "2 Cut A Long Story Short", Northern Recordings, 2002
Remixes and additional productions Dead or Alive: "Misty Circles" 1983 CBS/Sony, "Lover Come Back" 1985 CBS/Sony Alphaville: "Big in Japan" 1984 WEA Black Uhuru: "Solidarity" 1984 Island Peter Godwin: "Window Shopping" 1984 Polydor Barb: "Yeah" 1984 Magnet Kissing The Pink: "The Other Side of Heaven" 1985 Magnet East of Java: "Taipo Say Drum" 1984 RCA/Arista 5 TA: "Heaven" 1986 Virgin France Love & Rockets: "Ying and Yang" 1986 Beggars Banquet Pascal Rod: "On En Fera" 1986 Virgin France Alliss Terrell: "Miss Florida" 1986 Virgin France