{{BLP sources|date=May 2020}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Mike Paxman | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1953|12|19|df=y}} | birth_place = Salisbury, England | genre = Rock, Pop, Jazz | occupation = Producer, Musician, Writer | instrument = Guitar | years_active = 1978–present }} {{Use British English|date=January 2020}} '''Mike Paxman''' (born 19 December 1953) is an English multi-instrumentalist and record producer, best known for his work with Judie Tzuke, Nick Kamen, Uriah Heep and bands, Status Quo<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.music-news.com/shownews.asp?H=Status-Quo-Quid-Pro-Quo&nItemID=40861 |title=Status Quo 'Quid Pro Quo' |website=Music-news.com |date= |accessdate=23 March 2013}}</ref> and Asia.
Paxman grew up in Wiltshire, England and went to Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury. During the late 1970s, he played drums in the Salisbury-based contemporary jazz quartet Sphere, along with saxophonist Andy Sheppard, pianist Geoff Williams, and double bassist Peter Maxfield (they all had been students at BWS).
He played guitar, in the studio and on tour, and wrote with singer-songwriter Judie Tzuke from the late 1970s. He co-wrote Tzuke's single "Stay with Me till Dawn" and her first album ''Welcome to the Cruise''. He wrote and produced twelve more albums working with Tzuke until the late 1990s.
Beginning in the mid-1980s, Paxman focused on production work founding Big Ocean Studios with Paul Muggleton, Tzuke's partner. They worked with artists including Nick Kamen on the album ''Move Until We Fly'', including the hit single "I Promised Myself"), and the album ''Whatever, Whenever''. Paul Norton (''Under a Southern Sky''), Scarlet (the album ''Naked'' and single "Independent Love Song"), Thomas Anders (the album ''Whispers''),<ref>{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.thomasanders.ru/creative/projects/mike_paxman/projects.htm |title=Thomas Anders and Mike Paxman |website=Thomasanders.ru |date= |accessdate=23 March 2013}}</ref> Frances Ruffelle, and Jimmy Nail.
Paxman has worked with Status Quo extensively producing several albums and DVDs including ''Under The Influence'' (1999), ''Heavy Traffic'' (2002), ''The Party Ain't Over Yet...'' (2005), ''Quid Pro Quo'' (2011), ''Aquostic'' (2014) and ''Aquostic II'' (2016). He produced and mixed the Status Quo ''Frantic Four'' live reunion DVDs in 2013 and 2014.{{fact|date=April 2022}}
Paxman produced Quo's John "Rhino" Edwards' solo albums ''Rhino's Revenge'', released in 2000, ''Rhino's Revenge II'', released in 2015, ''Charge - Rhino's Revenge Live'' in 2019, and ''Just Sayin''' released in 2023. He produced Quo keyboard player Andy Bown's solo albums: ''Unfinished Business'', released in September 2011 {{fact|date=April 2022}} and ''Out There'', a collaboration with the American science fiction writer Russell Hoban, released in 2025.
Paxman produced four studio albums with Uriah Heep: ''Wake the Sleeper'' (2008), ''Celebration – Forty Years of Rock'' (2009), ''Into the Wild'' (2011) and ''Outsider'' (2014). He also produced a number of live albums and DVDs for the band.{{fact|date=April 2022}}
Paxman was the producer for ''Omega'' from Asia with original members John Wetton, Steve Howe, Carl Palmer, and Geoff Downes in 2010. Paxman produced Asia's 30th anniversary studio album ''XXX'', which was released in mid 2012. ''XXX'' was the final Asia album with the original lineup after the departure of Steve Howe and the death of founder and singer, John Wetton on 31 January 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/leisure/boltonmusic/8106232.CD_Review__Asia___Omega/ |title=CD Review: Asia – Omega (From The Bolton News) |website=Theboltonnews.co.uk |date=1 April 2010|accessdate=23 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/mike-paxman-p112937 |title=Mike Paxman – Credits |website=AllMusic |date= |accessdate=23 March 2013}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.uriah-heep.com/newa/tna.php Uriah Heep biography] *[http://www.tzuke.com/music.html Judie Tzuke albums] *[http://www.statusquo.co.uk/quorecords.htm Status Quo albums] *[http://www.allmusic.com/artist/mike-paxman-mn0000489461 Mike Paxman at AllMusic] *[http://www.originalasia.com Asia] *[http://www.andybown.com Andy Bown] *[http://www.russellhoban.org.com Russell Hoban]
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paxman, Mike}} Category:1953 births Category:Living people Category:English record producers Category:English rock guitarists Category:English male guitarists Category:English multi-instrumentalists Category:English male songwriters Category:Musicians from London Category:Musicians from Wiltshire Category:People educated at Bishop Wordsworth's School