American band Tom Tom Club’s self-titled debut album, which spawned the massive hit song Genius of Love, was certified platinum in the United States for sales exceeding one million units on July 15.

The album was recorded at Chris Blackwell’s Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas.

Steven Stanley was the audio engineer on that project. He also played keyboards; other Jamaicans involved were percussionist Uziah “Sticky” Thompson and keyboardist Tyrone Downie.

In an interview with the Jamaica Observer‘s Splash on Thursday, Stanley said he was not surprised by the album’s latest certification.

“I feel good, but it was expected because I see the royalties every six months, so I knew that it sells a lot,” he said.

The 64-year-old Stanley, who is a graduate of Kingston Technical High School, has been involved in music since 1975. He recalled how he met the husband-and-wife team of Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth of Tom Tom Club (formerly of rock group Talking Heads).

“I was always at Compass Point Studios working. I worked there for eight years with Chris Blackwell and Tina and Chris Frantz lived on the compound and would often pass through the studio, so that’s how they knew of me,” said Stanley.

He added, “The first time that I did something for them was when their engineer didn’t arrive from New York. They were looking for a different thing to do, as their band The Talking Heads was breaking up. I engineered the track Once in A Lifetime.

Once in A Lifetime was featured on The Talking Heads’ fourth studio album, Remain in Light, which was released in 1980. The song made charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada and was certified gold for sales of more than 500,000 units in the United Kingdom.

Said Stanley, “I had a lot to do with the Tom Tom Club debut album. I was like the pilot.”

Released in 1981 by Sire/Warner Bros, Tom Tom Club reached 23 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart. It spawned the hit singles Word Rappinghood (number seven in the UK and number one on Billboard‘s Dance Chart), Under The Boardwalk (a cover of The Drifters classic which peaked at 22 in the UK) and Genius of Love, a gold-selling hit that peaked at 31 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Genius of Love was a huge hit in Jamaica in 1981. Cultural analyst and former music industry executive Clyde McKenzie remembers the song’s popularity.

“It was quite popular in Jamaica. You wouldn’t go to a party where Afrique, Grotto Swing or Soul Shack or any of the other popular sets or sound systems would be playing and not hear this song. It was anthemic. The clubs were banging it, people loved to dance to it; the song definitely had a groove which caught on. I remember the tune being sampled by so many artistes even to this day,” said McKenzie.

Downie and Thompson played on Genius of Love. In 1995, the song was sampled by Mariah Carey for her number one song, Fantasy.

The Tom Tom Club album was re-released in May 2009 as a part of a two-CD deluxe package with the band’s second album Close to The Bone. It was re-issued on Limited Edition white vinyl by Real Gone Music in March 2019.

Stanley’s audio engineer credits include Ian Dury’s Lord Upminster album, Marcia Griffiths’ hit song, Land of Love, as well as hit singles and albums by Gwen Guthrie, Grace Jones, Black Uhuru and Sean Paul.