Pete Hinton is the catalyst who helped turn UK metal into chartable thunder. Raised on 60s radio grit, he surfaced at Carrere UK (1978-1984) as A&R and producer, signing Saxon (formed 1976: Biff Byford, Graham Oliver, Paul Quinn, Steve Dawson, Pete Gill) in 1979 and steering the breakthrough punch of "Wheels of Steel" (1980) and "Strong Arm of the Law" (1980); he stayed in the "Denim and Leather" orbit as mixer/partial producer (1981). Early 80s he produced Demon (1982 "The Unexpected Guest" plus singles). Late 80s he jumped borders, producing Deathwish (1987) and Coroner's "No More Color" (1989). His biggest controversy was label politics: budgets shifted, producers got swapped, and he walked away in 1984 rather than play nice.