Producer Brian Potter, Who Shaped 1970s Radio Hits Across Genres, Dies at 87

Brian Potter, the British songwriter and producer behind hits for Player, the Four Tops, Glen Campbell, and Tavares, died July 9. Operating as a house producer with partner Dennis Lambert, Potter crossed genre lines—country, soul, pop—when radio boundaries were still fluid. His rise from Essex drummer to Los Angeles hit-maker exemplified the transatlantic pipeline sustaining American pop in the 1970s. The Four Tops credited him with their commercial comeback after Motown.