The Fascinating Career of Robin Scott, the Man Behind M’s No. 1 Hit “Pop Muzik”

The first song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1980 was KC & the Sunshine Band’s “Please Don’t Go,” but looking back, we can see that the ’80s actually started two months earlier. In the first week of November 1979, a British musician named M hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 with “Pop Muzik.” The song embraced the fading disco trend, but its synthetic, plastic sound had more in common with the songs that would dominate the charts in the following years than anything from the late ’70s.

Robin Scott never charted on the Billboard charts again, either under his real name or under the alias “M.” But his career was much more than one big hit at a turning point in popular music. As a recording artist, producer and label head, Scott has worked with a variety of notable musicians. Here are some highlights from Scott’s incredibly diverse career.

Scott’s pre-‘pop music’ journey

Scott came a long way in music before he introduced himself to pop music. He began as a folk artist in the late 60s and released his first album, Woman from the Warm Grass, in 1969. Scott’s debut was produced by Sandy Robertson, who soon went on to produce albums by Fairport Convention spin-off band Steeleye Span, as well as several albums by former Fairport Convention vocalist Ian Matthews.

It wasn’t long before Scott put his recording career on hiatus. In the mid-’70s, he managed and produced British-American pub band The Rougarators. The group recorded three John Peel sessions for Peel’s famous BBC Radio 1 show but never achieved much commercial success. The Scott-produced single “Cincinnati Fatback” was notable as one of the first releases on British punk label Stiff Records.

In 1978, Scott co-founded his own label, Do-It Records, which released Lugaret’s only full-length album, Play It by Ear. Do-It went on to release Adam & the Ants’ first album, Dirk Wears White Sox (1979), and the first two albums by Swiss synth-pop band Iello, Solid Pleasure (1980) and Claro Que Si (1981). Dirk Wears White Sox became a number one indie album in the UK, and Solid Pleasure spawned Iello’s first US dance hit, “Bostich.”

A big hit with help from the stars

The success Scott achieved as a label head and producer was overshadowed by the accomplishments of Pop Muzik. Though Scott was the driving force behind M, he did not write Pop Muzik or the 1979 album on which it appeared all by himself. Level 42 co-founder Phil Gould played drums and percussion, and frequent Level 42 collaborators Wally Badarou and Gary Barnacle also played on the album. All three also appeared on Scott’s second album, M, The Official Secrets Act, as did Level 42 frontman and bassist Mark King.

One other name stands out more in the credits on New York, London, Paris, Munich: the album was recorded at Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland, not far from David Bowie’s home. Though Bowie made a trip to the studio, the credits list only handclaps. Bowie’s longtime engineer and producer, David Richards, was one of three engineers who worked on New York, London, Paris, Munich.

Exploring further genres

In just over a decade, Scott went from being close to Fairport Convention to being close to punk to being close to Level 42. By the early ’80s, Scott had more genres to explore: in 1981, Scott co-produced avant-garde composer and electronic music pioneer Ryuichi Sakamoto’s third solo album, Left Handed Dream.

Two years later, Scott collaborated with the South African quartet Shikisha to record the album Jive Shakisha! Scott and the four women who make up Shikisha provide vocals on this album of mostly township music (with the occasional Western pop touch). Although the album was recorded more than two years before Paul Simon introduced the genre to many Western music fans with Graceland, Jive Shakisha! was not released until 1998.

There’s a lot more to Scott than his quirky late ’70s hits. He’s continued to work hard in recent years, releasing several singles including “Sigo Aqui” earlier this year, and a compilation album called “Life Class” in 2023. Given the bold sound of “Pop Muzik” when it was first released, it’s no surprise that Scott has been taking musical risks for over half a century. His signature hits are just a small part of an incredible musical adventure.