Although he also released music under his own name, Rupert Hine achieved his widest acclaim for his extensive output as a producer during the synth pop period. Debuting on record at sixteen as one half of the duo Rupert & David, he cut the 1965 single "The Sound of Silence," which failed to register. He stayed out of the spotlight until 1971, when he launched a solo career with the album Pick Up a Bone. Following his second solo release, Unfinished Picture, in 1973, Hine shifted focus to production, starting with Kevin Ayers' Confessions of Dr. Dream.
In 1976 he formed and fronted the group Quantum Jump, whose self-titled debut appeared that year and whose follow-up Barracuda arrived in 1977. From roughly 1978 onward he took on increasing production assignments, overseeing projects by Anthony Phillips, the Members, and Camel, the last of which reached its commercial peak with I Can See Your House from Here.
Hine resumed solo activity with 1981's Immunity while also producing Saga's Worlds Apart and Chris de Burgh's The Getaway. His profile rose sharply in 1984 after he handled both Howard Jones' hit album Human's Lib and Tina Turner's comeback set Private Dancer. Further success with Jones' Dream into Action and the Power Station's self-titled album cemented his standing among the era's leading producers.
Recording as Thinkman, he issued new solo material in 1986 and worked again with Turner on that year's Break Every Rule. He then produced the Thompson Twins' Close to the Bone in 1987 and Stevie Nicks' The Other Side of the Mirror in 1989. During the same span he began a collaboration with Rush, producing Presto and its 1991 successor Roll the Bones. Alongside the 1995 solo album Deep End, he also guided Duncan Sheik's well-received 1996 debut.
