Haydn Bendall

Haydn Bendall (born 13 April 1951, Essex, England) is an English record producer, engineer and mixer. He was Chief Engineer at Abbey Road Studios for ten years and was awarded the Audio Pro Industry Excellence Award for Best Studio Engineer in 2009.

Bendall started out at Orange Studios, moving on to Steinway & Sons as a piano tuner. He joined Ken Townsend's Abbey Road team in 1973 as a part-time assistant, taking on a full-time position a year later.

Initially partnering with Tony Clarke, Bendall worked on albums by Herbie Flowers, BeBop Deluxe, Steve Harley, Alan Parsons, Cliff Richard and Camel, developing a close working relationship with Sky. In the 1980-90s, he worked with Kate Bush on five albums, including Hounds of Love in 1985. Further Abbey Road work included engineering or producing for XTC, Bonnie Tyler, Tina Turner and Massive Attack. Film soundtrack work included The Long Good Friday and Ryuichi Sakamoto's pieces on the Oscar- and Grammy-winning soundtrack to The Last Emperor.

Leaving Abbey Road in 1991, Bendall became an independent producer/engineer. As an independent, Bendall has worked with The Pet Shop Boys, Everything but the Girl, Pat Metheny, Chris Botti, Leona Lewis, The Priests, Mike Batt and Katie Melua. In 1992, Bendall engineered the Grammy-award-winning album Secret Story for Pat Metheny. He also worked with Eric Woolfson on the development of three musicals: Gaudi, Gambler and Poe.

He is currently based in Strongroom Studios, Shoreditch, London.

Recently Bendall mixed and engineered La Voce for Russell Watson and Noël for The Priests. Other projects include engineering and mixing the Vatican album Alma Mater featuring the voice of Pope Benedict XVI, recording orchestral tracks for Andrea Bocelli and mixing tracks for Siphiwo Ntshebe.

In 2012, in collaboration with Walter Afanasieff, Bendall recorded the Grammy-Award-winning album 'Impressions' for Chris Botti.Bendall also recorded 'Secret Symphony' for Katie Melua.

In 2015 Bendall engineered and mixed Duets for Van Morrison which included collaborations with Bobby Womack, Natalie Cole, George Benson, Ginger Baker, Mark Knopfler, Mick Hucknall and Roger Daltrey.

2016 saw Haydn credited with the mix for Tom Ford's film Nocturnal Animals.

1979 Cliff Richard – Rock'n'Roll Juvenile

1981 Camel– Nude

1982 Sky – Sky 4: Forthcoming

1982 Alan Parsons – Eye in the Sky

1982 Kate Bush – The Dreaming

1982 Camel - The Single Factor

1984 Camel - Stationary Traveller

1985 Kate Bush – Hounds of Love

1985 Alan Parsons – Vulture Culture

1986 Everything But the Girl – Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

1986 Paul McCartney – Press to Play

1987 Ryuichi Sakamoto – Last Emperor – Grammy Award

1987 Marc Almond – Mother Fist and Her Five Daughters

1989 Kate Bush – The Sensual World

1990 a-ha – East of the Sun, West of the Moon

1990 Kate Bush – This Woman's Work

1990 Gary Moore – Still Got the Blues

1990 Pet Shop Boys – Behaviour

1991 Camel – Dust and Dreams

1992 Pat Metheny – Secret Story – Grammy Award

1999 XTC - Apple Venus Volume 1

2002 Everything But the Girl – Like the Deserts Miss the Rain

2003 Pet Shop Boys – PopArt

2004 Chris Botti – When I Fall in Love

2005 Chris Botti – To Love Again: The Duets

2005 Katie Melua – Piece by Piece

2007 Leona Lewis – Spirit

2008 Il Divo – Promise

2009 Andrea Bocelli – My Christmas

2010 Russell Watson – Il Voce

2012 Chris Botti - Impressions - Grammy Award

2012 Katie Melua - Secret Symphony

2013 Sarah Brightman - Dreamchaser

2015 Van Morrison - Duets

Selected Singles

1981 Elton John and Kiki Dee – Don’t Go Breaking My Heart

1981 Olivia Newton-John – Physical

1986 Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush – Don’t Give Up

1986 Freddie Mercury – Time and In My Defense

1991 Tina Turner – Simply the Best

1991 Massive Attack – Unfinished Sympathy

Soundtracks

Brazil (1985) – sound engineering

The Last Emperor (1987) – co-production. The soundtrack received an Oscar for the best sound-recording and a Grammy award for the best album.

Someone to Watch Over Me (1987) – sound engineering.

Crusoe (1988) – sound engineering.

Scandal (1989) – sound-engineering for the theme song ‘Nothing Has Been Proved’ with Dusty Springfield and Pet Shop Boys.

Twin Peaks (1990) – sound engineering.

Strike It Rich (1990) – sound engineering.

White Squall (1996) – sound engineering.

Victory (2009) – sound engineering.

Touchback (2011) – sound engineering.

Nocturnal Animals (2016) - mixing.