Ten Stories from Producer Ted Templeman’s New Book

During the 70s and 80s, Ted Templeman was hands down the hottest producer in rock music. He worked on some of the most memorable records in the history of the genre, like Van Morrision’s Tupelo Honey, The Doobie Brothers’ Takin’ It to the Streets and the first six albums by Van Halen. Seeing the words “Produced by Ted Templeman’ emblazoned on the back cover of an LP was as sure a thing as a listener could get to knowing what they put on their turntable was going to be worth the price.

Ted Templeman: A Producer’s Life in Music, told to Greg Renoff, is a fascinating peek into the rock and roll at it’s most decadent, with some amazing stories told by someone who was there. I’ve had an advance of the book for some time now, and have been telling anyone even remotely interested in music that they had to pick it up the day it came out, which was yesterday. Over at Ultimate Classic Rock, I delved into just 10 of the tales contained within, from how Templeman was a part of the longest airplane hijacking in history to missing out on signing Cheech and Chong to why he still doesn’t like Van Halen’s biggest hit, “Jump.” Check it out.