The Clash's first producer and anti-Trump campaigner

Born: September 8, 1951;

Died: March 2, 2018

MICKEY Foote, who has died aged 66, was the producer and sound-mixer on the historic 1977 debut album of the punk band The Clash, and was largely responsible for creating the aggressive, in-your-face studio sound which turned them into global superstars. Including the tracks London's Burning and White Riot, the record changed the face of music in the UK and ultimately beyond, influencing future rockers, post-punk and new wave bands and even reggae, dub, funk, ska and rockabilly. It also gave a voice, including a political voice, to a new generation during a time of growing civil unrest.

After leaving the music business, Mr Foote settled in 2007 for a quiet life back in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire, with his partner Kym. But it became anything but quiet after the US property tycoon Donald Trump, son of Mary Anne MacLeod of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, decided to create a new golf course complex at Menie Links, close to Mr Foote's home.

The former record producer was horrified at the damage this would cause to the environment, the wildlife, the residents and not least the area's magnificent sand dunes. Rekindling the fire he showed with The Clash, he helped launch a protest movement against Mr Trump, who would later become as controversial in the White House as he is in Scotland. To paraphrase a famous Clash hit, Mr Foote fought the Trump but we don't yet know who won.

Mr Foote became spokesman for the Sustainable Aberdeenshire movement, dedicated to opposing Mr Trump's plans, and his efforts were shown in the award-winning 2011 documentary You've been Trumped directed by Anthony Baxter. Mr Foote, who features prominently in the film, was rapturously cheered during the film's premiere and became something of a local hero among many in Aberdeenshire.

He fought Mr Trump's plans until his dying day and his partner Kym, a Londoner, and sister Alison have vowed to keep up the fight despite the fact that Aberdeen Council, local businesses and much of the media initially fell under Mr Trump's dollar-backed spell.

He has completed the first golf course but has been blocked by the council from building surrounding houses until he has completed the clubhouse and hotel first. Mr Foote always believed that Mr Trump's real aim was to build 600 houses to make enough money to offset the cost of the golf course, clubhouse and hotel.

Michael Alexander George Foote was born in Aberdeen on September 8, 1951, to George Foote, a gas fitter, and his wife Eva (née Smith), a psychologist.

He first attended Causewayend Primary School in the Granite City but after his parents separated when he was eight, he was educated down south, first at the Barstable School in Basildon, Essex, and later at the Newport College of Art which later merged into the University of Wales.

It was in Newport that he met the singer and guitarist John Mellor, the son of a crofter's daughter from the Scottish Highlands, who would later become The Clash's front man using the soon-to-be famous stage name Joe Strummer. Mr Mellor was not a student at the art college but the two men met in the student union and immediately clicked.

Joe Strummer went on to play with the band the 101s in London, where he linked up again with Mr Foote. When Strummer helped start up The Clash, Mr Foote became their sound man on the road, including opening for the Sex Pistols during their 1976 Anarchy Tour of the UK. Due to fights among and within the bands, many of the gigs were cancelled, including their Scottish gigs at the Apollo in Glasgow and Caird Hall in Dundee.

The Pistols were the breakthrough band of the time. Their music was raucous but they became increasingly frustrated by the fact that The Clash's lyrics made more sense and had tuned into the spirit of the times. So when The Clash asked Mr Foote to produce their first album in 1977, he was the perfect man for the job. He had been their sound man on the road and he was determined to take that sound, their energy and vibe, into the studio. In the 1977 album ,called simply The Clash, he did so and the rest was history. Fans will argue forever but whereas the Pistols rocked the establishment, The Clash took punk rock to a new level.

One music writer said: "The Clash are the only band that matters" - probably a blurb pushed by their label CBA but anathema to Johnny Rotten and the Sex Pistols. Rotten would later in life, however, admit to the greatness of The Clash and Mr Foote.

Even before The Clash's debut album was released, Mr Foote was influential in releasing one of its tracks, White Riot, as a single. Urging young British whites to rise up the way their black compatriots had done, the song hit a raw nerve. Contrary to the culture of the time, it did not criticize British blacks but urged white youth to take inspiration from them. That in itself was a major premonitory statement. The track London's Burning vividly portrayed the bleakness, boredom and hopelessness of many in the inner cities, way ahead of its time.

Although the album The Clash was not immediately released in the US, Mr Foote helped see it released on the other side of the pond in 1979, bringing the band to a new audience.

"Mickey was a private guy but always a bit of a rebel," his sister Alison told The Herald. "He was a groomsman at my wedding and had to wear a hired suit but he wore luminous pink socks as a statement."

Although Mr Foote and The Clash had a falling out in the late '70s, they remained friends and the Scot helped re-release many of their demos and previously unknown recordings over the years, as well as compilations of their best work.

Mickey Foote died in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary on March 2. He is survived by partner of 30 years, Kym Swindells, his sister Alison Duncan and nieces and nephews.

PHIL DAVISON