Ossie Byrne

Oswald Russell "Ossie" Byrne (1926, Queanbeyan, NSW, Australia – December 1983, London, UK) was an Australian record producer, best known for producing the early recordings of Bee Gees. He learned to play cornet and trumpet in his youth and joined a Salvation Army band. After the war he played with local groups in Canberra and Sydney and in the mid-1950s he moved to Wollongong where he built a small recording studio in his house. In 1961 he recorded a local group, The Del-Fi's and in 1965 he moved to Hurstville, Sydney and set up St. Clair Studio. In 1966 he went to England to follow the Bee Gees and after opened a studio called Village Way Studios owned till his death at which time he left it in his will to Paul Layton of the The New Seekers with engineer/producer Paul "Doc" Stewart to keep the studio running. Stewart with Roy Williams (Nervous Records) and Steve Rispin made Village way the leading centre for Neo rockabilly and psychobilly until Ozzie's death at which point they moved to Tin Pan Alley Studios in Denmark Street, London, UK.