Spencer Proffer

Spencer Proffer (born Salek Profesorski, December 25, 1948) is an American media and record producer.

He is the CEO of Meteor 17, a convergence media production company based in Los Angeles, California, United States.

Proffer produced the first heavy metal record, Quiet Riot's Metal Health, to reach the top of the pop charts, selling six million albums.

His Children of the Sun collaboration with Billy Thorpe spawned a computer-animated laser choreography of an album in planetariums across North America.

Proffer has produced and arranged over 200 albums, many of which have achieved gold and platinum-selling status, produced or executive-produced 17 films as well as supervised and produced music for 135 films and television.

Proffer was born in Munich, Germany, and immigrated to the United States in 1954 at the age of six.

He grew up in Los Angeles, California.

He attended Fairfax High School.

In 1967, he co-wrote "Picture Postcard", recorded by Gary Lewis & the Playboys.

By the time he was 21, he had 18 songs recorded as a songwriter.

After college, he secured recording contracts for various recording groups for which he was the bandleader (Dunhill, MGM, and CBS).

Proffer graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from UCLA at the age of 20 and enrolled at Loyola University School of Law.

He was an Executive Editor of the school's Law Review and a member of the St. Thomas More Law Honor Society.

He wrote songs for the animated The Hardy Boys ABC television series and performed nights and weekends with his band, Proffer, Marmelzat and Reed (PMR).

While in law school, he attracted the attention of Clive Davis, then CEO of CBS Records, and the group was signed to a recording contract on Columbia Records.

After graduating law school in 1972 at 23, he accepted a position to work for Davis at CBS and moved to New York.

He left CBS shortly after Davis' departure, to become National Executive Director and Head of Worldwide A+R at United Artists Records.

While at UA, Proffer produced and co-produced a number of worldwide hit records ranging from Tina Turner's Acid Queen, to the No. 1 hit "One Man Woman" by Paul Anka and Odia Coates.

Upon Transamerica's sale of United Artists in 1977, Proffer ventured on his own as an independent record producer, songwriter and arranger.

He launched the Pasha Music Organisation out of a studio apartment and within a year constructed a deal with David Geffen's Elektra/Asylum Records to produce and arrange the first solo album from Hollies lead singer, Allan Clarke.

In 1977, he met Australian guitarist and singer Billy Thorpe.

Proffer and Thorpe formed a friendship and partnership and would collaborate on four albums.

The first was Children Of The Sun.

The album became a hit in America, and spawned a computer-animated, laser choreography of a music album in Griffith Observatory planetarium which Proffer produced.

Proffer and Thorpe had planned to produce a full-length feature film based upon the Children Of The Sun saga.

However Capricorn Records, distributed by Polygram at that time, filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and records were no longer available to be purchased anywhere in the country for a period of two years.

Subsequently, Proffer remixed and re-released this album on his own Pasha/CBS label, 10 years later.

In 1978, Proffer and his recording engineer Larry Brown designed and built the Pasha Music House, consisting of two recording studios in Hollywood, which served as the home for all of Proffer's productions for the next twelve years.

Advances from a Polydor Records production arrangement along with matching funds from City National provided the capital to build the facility.

The first project recorded there was a series of tracks for the platinum-selling soundtrack to Staying Alive, on which Spencer served as an executive producer as well as a Polydor UNICEF benefit album featuring Olivia Newton-John.

produced by Rick Stevens.

Proffer produced many renowned rock artists at Pasha including Cheap Trick, Heart, Little River Band, Eddie Money, Beach Boys, W.A.S.P., King Kobra, Kick Axe, Vanilla Fudge, Ian Hunter, Shooting Star, Jon Butcher and Outlaws.

Pre-production for Guns N' Roses debut Geffen release, Appetite for Destruction, and Mötley Crüe's Shout at the Devil were recorded at Pasha.

Additionally, the first rock record to reach No. 1 in the Billboard 200 was produced and mixed by Proffer: Metal Health by Quiet Riot.

It sold six million albums at that time.

It was released on Proffer's Pasha Records, via his long term co-venture with CBS Records.

Proffer's next decade was spent supervising and producing music for film and television.

Proffer co-produced a charitable concert and media event with Doc McGhee and Quincy Jones in 2005, for over 44,000 Marines and their families, headlined by Beyoncé Knowles, Destiny's Child and Kiss, hosted by Cedric the Entertainer.

In 2012, he donated 25 scholarships to youth across North America to attend Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama.

In 2016, he completed production of Chasing Trane, The John Coltrane Documentary.