1.
The Supremes
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The Supremes were an American female singing group and the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Most of these hits were written and produced by Motowns main songwriting and production team, founding members Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Diana Ross, and Betty McGlown, all from the Brewster-Douglass public housing project in Detroit, formed the Primettes as the sister act to the Primes. Barbara Martin replaced McGlown in 1960, and the signed with Motown the following year as the Supremes. Martin left the act in early 1962, and Ross, Ballard, during the mid-1960s, the Supremes achieved mainstream success with Ross as lead singer. In 1967, Motown president Berry Gordy renamed the group Diana Ross & the Supremes, Ross left to pursue a solo career in 1970 and was replaced by Jean Terrell, at which point the groups name reverted to the Supremes. After 1972, the lineup changed frequently, Lynda Laurence, Scherrie Payne. The Supremes disbanded in 1977 after 18 years, since Ballard sang, as did Paul Williams girlfriend Betty McGlown, the Primess manager Milton Jenkins decided to create a sister group to the Primes called the Primettes. Ballard recruited her best friend Mary Wilson, who in turn recruited classmate Diane Ross, mentored and funded by Jenkins, the Primettes began by performing hit songs by artists such as Ray Charles and the Drifters at sock hops, social clubs and talent shows around the Detroit area. Receiving additional guidance from group friend and established songwriter Jesse Greer, after winning a prestigious local talent contest, the Primettes sights were set on making a record. Robinson liked the girls and agreed to help, but he liked their guitarist even more, with the Primettes permission he hired Tarplin, who became the guitarist for the Miracles. Undaunted, later that year the Primettes recorded a single for Lu Pine Records, a label created just for them, titled Tears of Sorrow, the single failed to find an audience, however. Shortly thereafter, McGlown became engaged and left the group, local girl Barbara Martin was McGlowns prompt replacement. Determined to leave an impression on Gordy and join the stable of rising Motown stars, eventually, they convinced Gordy to allow them to contribute hand claps and background vocals for the songs of other Motown artists including Marvin Gaye and Mary Wells. In January 1961, Gordy finally relented and agreed to sign the girls to his label –, the Primes had by this time combined with Otis Williams & the Distants and would soon sign to Motown as the Temptations. Gordy gave Ballard a list of names to choose from that included such as the Darleens, the Sweet Ps, the Melodees, the Royaltones. Ballard chose the Supremes, a name that Ross initially disliked as she felt it too masculine, nevertheless, on January 15 the group signed with Motown as the Supremes. In the spring of 1962, Martin left the group to start a family, thus, the newly named Supremes continued as a trio. Between 1961 and 1963, the Supremes released six singles, none of which charted in the Top 40 positions of the Billboard Hot 100, jokingly referred to as the no-hit Supremes around Motowns Hitsville U. S. A
2.
Phonograph record
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The groove usually starts near the periphery and ends near the center of the disc. The phonograph disc record was the medium used for music reproduction until late in the 20th century. It had co-existed with the cylinder from the late 1880s. Records retained the largest market share even when new formats such as compact cassette were mass-marketed, by the late 1980s, digital media, in the form of the compact disc, had gained a larger market share, and the vinyl record left the mainstream in 1991. The phonograph record has made a resurgence in the early 21st century –9.2 million records were sold in the U. S. in 2014. Likewise, in the UK sales have increased five-fold from 2009 to 2014, as of 2017,48 record pressing facilities remain worldwide,18 in the United States and 30 in other countries. The increased popularity of vinyl has led to the investment in new, only two producers of lacquers remains, Apollo Masters in California, USA, and MDC in Japan. Vinyl records may be scratched or warped if stored incorrectly but if they are not exposed to heat or broken. The large cover are valued by collectors and artists for the space given for visual expression, in the 2000s, these tracings were first scanned by audio engineers and digitally converted into audible sound. Phonautograms of singing and speech made by Scott in 1860 were played back as sound for the first time in 2008, along with a tuning fork tone and unintelligible snippets recorded as early as 1857, these are the earliest known recordings of sound. In 1877, Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, unlike the phonautograph, it was capable of both recording and reproducing sound. Despite the similarity of name, there is no evidence that Edisons phonograph was based on Scotts phonautograph. Edison first tried recording sound on a paper tape, with the idea of creating a telephone repeater analogous to the telegraph repeater he had been working on. The tinfoil was wrapped around a metal cylinder and a sound-vibrated stylus indented the tinfoil while the cylinder was rotated. The recording could be played back immediately, Edison also invented variations of the phonograph that used tape and disc formats. A decade later, Edison developed a greatly improved phonograph that used a wax cylinder instead of a foil sheet. This proved to be both a better-sounding and far more useful and durable device, the wax phonograph cylinder created the recorded sound market at the end of the 1880s and dominated it through the early years of the 20th century. Berliners earliest discs, first marketed in 1889, but only in Europe, were 12.5 cm in diameter, both the records and the machine were adequate only for use as a toy or curiosity, due to the limited sound quality
3.
Recording studio
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A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are designed by an acoustician or audio engineer to achieve optimum acoustic properties. The engineers and producers listen to the music and the recorded tracks on monitor speakers and/or headphones. Major recording studios typically have a range of large, heavy, Isolation booths are small sound-insulated rooms with doors, designed for instrumentalists. This equipment may interfere with the recording process, Recording studios are carefully designed around the principles of room acoustics to create a set of spaces with the acoustical properties required for recording sound with precision and accuracy. This will consist of both room treatment and soundproofing to prevent sound from leaving the property. Even though sound isolation is a key goal, the musicians, singers, audio engineers and record producers still need to be able to see other, to see cue gestures. As such, the room, isolation booths, vocal booths. Some smaller studios do not have instruments, and bands and artists are expected to bring their own instruments, having musical instruments and equipment in the studio creates additional costs for a studio, as pianos have to be tuned and instruments need to be maintained. However, it makes it convenient for recording artists, as they do not have to bring in large. As well, less costly studio time is spent moving in gear, drummers bring their own snare drum, cymbals and sticks/brushes. The types and brands of equipment owned by a studio depends on the styles of music for the bands. A studio that mainly records heavy metal music will be likely to have large, powerful guitar amp heads, in contrast, a studio which mainly records country bands will likely have a selection of small, vintage combo amps. A studio that records a lot of 1970s-style funk may have an electric piano. General purpose computers have rapidly assumed a role in the recording process. A computer thus outfitted is called a Digital Audio Workstation, or DAW, other software applications include Ableton Live, Mixcraft, Cakewalk Sonar, ACID Pro, FL Studio, Adobe Audition, Auto-Tune, Audacity, and Ardour. While Apple Macintosh is used for most studio work, there is a breadth of available for Microsoft Windows. If no mixing console is used and all mixing is done using only a keyboard and mouse, the OTB is used when mixing with other hardware and not just the PC software
4.
Soul music
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Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It combines elements of African-American gospel music, rhythm and blues, Soul music became popular for dancing and listening in the United States, where record labels such as Motown, Atlantic and Stax were influential during the Civil Rights Movement. Soul also became popular around the world, directly influencing rock music, catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps and extemporaneous body moves, are an important feature of soul music. Other characteristics are a call and response between the lead vocalist and the chorus and a tense vocal sound. The style also occasionally uses improvisational additions, twirls and auxiliary sounds, Soul music reflected the African-American identity and it stressed the importance of an African-American culture. The new-found African-American consciousness led to new styles of music, which boasted pride in being black, Soul music dominated the U. S. R&B chart in the 1960s, and many recordings crossed over into the pop charts in the U. S. By 1968, the music genre had begun to splinter. Some soul artists developed funk music, while other singers and groups developed slicker, more sophisticated, by the early 1970s, soul music had been influenced by psychedelic rock and other genres, leading to psychedelic soul. The United States saw the development of neo soul around 1994, there are also several other subgenres and offshoots of soul music. The term soul had been used among African-American musicians to emphasize the feeling of being an African-American in the United States, according to another source, Soul music was the result of the urbanization and commercialization of rhythm and blues in the 60s. The phrase soul music itself, referring to music with secular lyrics, is first attested in 1961. The term soul in African-American parlance has connotations of African-American pride, gospel groups in the 1940s and 1950s occasionally used the term as part of their name. The jazz style that derived from gospel came to be called soul jazz, important innovators whose recordings in the 1950s contributed to the emergence of soul music included Clyde McPhatter, Hank Ballard, and Etta James. Ray Charles is often cited as popularizing the genre with his string of hits starting with 1954s I Got a Woman. Singer Bobby Womack said, Ray was the genius and he turned the world onto soul music. Charles was open in acknowledging the influence of Pilgrim Travelers vocalist Jesse Whitaker on his singing style, little Richard and James Brown were equally influential. Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson are also acknowledged as soul forefathers. Cooke became popular as the singer of gospel group The Soul Stirrers
5.
Country music
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Country music is a genre of United States popular music that originated in the southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from the genre of United States, such as folk music. Blues modes have been used throughout its recorded history. The term country music is used today to many styles and subgenres. In 2009 country music was the most listened to rush hour radio genre during the evening commute, immigrants to the Southern Appalachian Mountains of North America brought the music and instruments of Europe and Africa along with them for nearly 300 years. Country music was introduced to the world as a Southern phenomenon, Bristol, Tennessee, has been formally recognized by the U. S. Congress as the Birthplace of Country Music, based on the historic Bristol recording sessions of 1927. Since 2014, the city has been home to the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, historians have also noted the influence of the less-known Johnson City sessions of 1928 and 1929, and the Knoxville sessions of 1929 and 1930. Prior to these, pioneer settlers, in the Great Smoky Mountains region, had developed a musical heritage. The first generation emerged in the early 1920s, with Atlantas music scene playing a role in launching countrys earliest recording artists. Okeh Records began issuing hillbilly music records by Fiddlin John Carson as early as 1923, followed by Columbia Records in 1924, many hillbilly musicians, such as Cliff Carlisle, recorded blues songs throughout the 1920s. The most important was the Grand Ole Opry, aired starting in 1925 by WSM in Nashville, during the 1930s and 1940s, cowboy songs, or Western music, which had been recorded since the 1920s, were popularized by films made in Hollywood. Bob Wills was another musician from the Lower Great Plains who had become very popular as the leader of a hot string band. His mix of country and jazz, which started out as dance hall music, Wills was one of the first country musicians known to have added an electric guitar to his band, in 1938. Country musicians began recording boogie in 1939, shortly after it had played at Carnegie Hall. Gospel music remained a component of country music. It became known as honky tonk, and had its roots in Western swing and the music of Mexico. By the early 1950s a blend of Western swing, country boogie, rockabilly was most popular with country fans in the 1950s, and 1956 could be called the year of rockabilly in country music. Beginning in the mid-1950s, and reaching its peak during the early 1960s, the late 1960s in American music produced a unique blend as a result of traditionalist backlash within separate genres
6.
Reba McEntire
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Reba Nell McEntire is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. She began her career in the industry as a high school student singing in the Kiowa High School band, on local radio shows with her siblings. While a sophomore in college, she performed the National Anthem at the National Rodeo in Oklahoma City and caught the attention of country artist Red Steagall who brought her to Nashville and she signed a contract with Mercury Records a year later in 1975. She released her first solo album in 1977 and released five studio albums under the label until 1983. The album brought her success, bringing her a series of successful albums. She has sometimes referred to as The Queen of Country. And she is one of the artists of all time. In the early 1990s, McEntire branched into film starting with 1990s Tremors, Reba Nell McEntire was born March 28,1955, in McAlester, Oklahoma, to Jacqueline and Clark Vincent McEntire. She was named for her maternal grandmother Reba Estelle Smith, Reba Smith was the daughter of Byron Williams B. W. Her father, and her grandfather, John Wesley McEntire, were both champion steer ropers and her father was a World Champion Steer Roper three times, John McEntire was the son of Clark Stephen McEntire and Helen Florida McEntire. Her mother had wanted to be a country-music artist but eventually decided to become a schoolteacher. Reba reportedly taught herself how to play the guitar, Reba played guitar in the group and wrote all the songs. The group sang at rodeos and recorded The Ballad of John McEntire together, released on the indie label Boss, the song pressed one thousand copies. In 1974, McEntire attended Southeastern Oklahoma State University planning to be a school teacher. While not attending school, she continued to sing locally. That same year she was hired to perform the anthem at the National Rodeo in Oklahoma City. Country artist Red Steagall, who was performing that day, was impressed by her vocal ability and agreed to help her launch a country-music career in Nashville. After recording a tape, she signed a recording contract with Mercury Records in 1975
7.
Rod Stewart
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Sir Roderick David Rod Stewart, CBE is a British rock singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry, Stewart is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold over 100 million records worldwide. He has had six number one albums in the UK and his tally of 62 UK hit singles includes 31 that reached the top ten. Stewart has had 16 top ten singles in the US, with four reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and he was knighted in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to music and charity. In October 1963, he joined the Dimensions as a harmonica player, in 1964, Stewart joined Long John Baldry and the All Stars, and in August, Stewart signed a solo contract, releasing his first single, Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, in October. He maintained a career alongside a group career, releasing his debut solo album. Stewarts early albums were a fusion of rock, folk music, soul music, in 2008, Billboard magazine ranked him the 17th most successful artist on the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists. A Grammy and Brit Award recipient, he was voted at #33 in Q Magazines list of the Top 100 Greatest Singers of all time, and #59 on Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Singers of all time. Roderick David Stewart was born at 507 Archway Road, Highgate, North London on 10 January 1945 and his father was Scottish and had been a master builder in Leith, Edinburgh, while Elsie was English and had grown up in Upper Holloway in North London. Married in 1928, the couple had two sons and two daughters living in Scotland, and then they moved to Highgate. Stewart came after a gap following his youngest sibling, he was born at home during World War II. The family was neither affluent nor poor, Stewart was spoiled as the youngest and he had an undistinguished record at Highgate Primary School and failed the eleven plus exam. He then attended the William Grimshaw Secondary Modern School, Muswell Hill and his father retired from the building trade at age 65, buying a newsagents shop on the Archway Road when Stewart was in his early teens, the family lived over the shop. Stewarts main hobby was railway modelling, Stewart was the most talented footballer in the family and was a strong supporter of Arsenal F. C. at the time. Combining natural athleticism with near-reckless aggression, he became captain of the football team. The family were great fans of the singer Al Jolson and would sing. Stewart collected his records and saw his films, read books about him and his introduction to rock and roll was hearing Little Richards 1956 hit The Girl Cant Help It, and seeing Bill Haley & His Comets in concert. In 1960, he joined a group with schoolfriends called the Kool Kats, playing Lonnie Donegan
8.
Rhythm and blues
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Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated as R&B or RnB, is a genre of popular African-American music that originated in the 1940s. In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, R&B lyrical themes often encapsulate the African-American experience of pain and the quest for freedom and joy. Lyrics focus heavily on the themes of triumphs and failures in terms of relationships, freedom, economics, aspirations, the term rhythm and blues has undergone a number of shifts in meaning. In the early 1950s it was applied to blues records. This tangent of RnB is now known as British rhythm and blues, by the 1970s, the term rhythm and blues changed again and was used as a blanket term for soul and funk. In the 1980s, a style of R&B developed, becoming known as Contemporary R&B. It combines elements of rhythm and blues, soul, funk, pop, hip hop, popular R&B vocalists at the end of the 20th century included Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey. Although Jerry Wexler of Billboard magazine is credited with coining the term rhythm and blues as a term in the United States in 1948. It replaced the term race music, which came from within the black community. The term rhythm and blues was used by Billboard in its chart listings from June 1949 until August 1969, before the Rhythm and Blues name was instated, various record companies had already begun replacing the term race music with sepia series. In 2010 LaMont Robinson founded the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame Museum, writer and producer Robert Palmer defined rhythm & blues as a catchall term referring to any music that was made by and for black Americans. He has used the term R&B as a synonym for jump blues, however, AllMusic separates it from jump blues because of its stronger, gospel-esque backbeat. Lawrence Cohn, author of Nothing but the Blues, writes that rhythm, according to him, the term embraced all black music except classical music and religious music, unless a gospel song sold enough to break into the charts. Well into the 21st century, the term R&B continues in use to music made by black musicians. In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, arrangements were rehearsed to the point of effortlessness and were sometimes accompanied by background vocalists. Simple repetitive parts mesh, creating momentum and rhythmic interplay producing mellow, lilting, while singers are emotionally engaged with the lyrics, often intensely so, they remain cool, relaxed, and in control. The bands dressed in suits, and even uniforms, an associated with the modern popular music that rhythm. Lyrics often seemed fatalistic, and the music typically followed predictable patterns of chords, there was also increasing emphasis on the electric guitar as a lead instrument, as well as the piano and saxophone
9.
Morse code
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Morse code is a method of transmitting text information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment. It is named for Samuel F. B, Morse, an inventor of the telegraph. Because many non-English natural languages use more than the 26 Roman letters, each Morse code symbol represents either a text character or a prosign and is represented by a unique sequence of dots and dashes. The duration of a dash is three times the duration of a dot, each dot or dash is followed by a short silence, equal to the dot duration. The letters of a word are separated by an equal to three dots, and the words are separated by a space equal to seven dots. The dot duration is the unit of time measurement in code transmission. To increase the speed of the communication, the code was designed so that the length of each character in Morse varies approximately inversely to its frequency of occurrence in English. Thus the most common letter in English, the letter E, has the shortest code, Morse code is used by some amateur radio operators, although knowledge of and proficiency with it is no longer required for licensing in most countries. Pilots and air controllers usually need only a cursory understanding. Aeronautical navigational aids, such as VORs and NDBs, constantly identify in Morse code, compared to voice, Morse code is less sensitive to poor signal conditions, yet still comprehensible to humans without a decoding device. Morse is, therefore, an alternative to synthesized speech for sending automated data to skilled listeners on voice channels. Many amateur radio repeaters, for example, identify with Morse, in an emergency, Morse code can be sent by improvised methods that can be easily keyed on and off, making it one of the simplest and most versatile methods of telecommunication. The most common signal is SOS or three dots, three dashes, and three dots, internationally recognized by treaty. Beginning in 1836, the American artist Samuel F. B, Morse, the American physicist Joseph Henry, and Alfred Vail developed an electrical telegraph system. This system sent pulses of current along wires which controlled an electromagnet that was located at the receiving end of the telegraph system. A code was needed to transmit natural language using only these pulses, around 1837, Morse, therefore, developed an early forerunner to the modern International Morse code. Around the same time, Carl Friedrich Gauss and Wilhelm Eduard Weber as well as Carl August von Steinheil had already used codes with varying lengths for their telegraphs. In 1837, William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone in England began using a telegraph that also used electromagnets in its receivers
10.
Multitrack recording
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Multitracking became possible in the mid-1950s when the idea of simultaneously recording different audio channels to separate discrete tracks on the same reel-to-reel tape was developed. Prior to the development of recording, all of the singers, band instrumentalists, and/or orchestra accompanists had to sing. Multitracking allowed the engineer to adjust the levels and tone of each individual track, as well, different electronic effects such as reverb could be applied to specific tracks, such as the lead vocals, while not being applied to other tracks where this effect would not be desirable. In the 1980s and 1990s, computers provided means by which sound recording and reproduction could be digitized, revolutionizing audio recording and distribution. Though magnetic tape has not been replaced as a recording medium. Even in the 2010s, with digital multitracking being the dominant technology, with the introduction of SMPTE timecode in the early 1970s, engineers began to use computers to perfectly synchronize separate audio and video playback, and or multiple audio tape machines. In this system, one track of each carried the timecode signal. Some large studios were able to link multiple 24-track machines together, an extreme example of this occurred in 1982, when the rock group Toto recorded Toto IV on three synchronized 24-track machines. This setup theoretically provided for up to 69 audio tracks, which is far more than necessary for most recording projects. For computer-based systems, the trend in the 2000s is towards unlimited numbers of tracks, although issues such as RAM memory. Moreover, on computer-based systems, the number of available recording tracks is limited by the number of sound card discrete analog or digital inputs. At any given point on the tape, any of the tracks on the device can be recording or playing back using sel-sync or Selective Synchronous recording. They might then record a version on track 4 while listening to the other tracks. All the tracks can then be played back in perfect synchrony and this can be repeated until all of the available tracks have been used, or in some cases, reused. During mix down a set of playback heads with higher fidelity are used. Before all tracks are filled, any number of existing tracks can be bounced into one or two tracks, and the original tracks erased, making room for more tracks to be reused for fresh recording. In 1963, The Beatles were using twin track for Please Please Me, the Beach Boys Pet Sounds also made innovative use of multitracking with 8-track machines of the day. Motown also began recording with 8-track machines in 1965 before moving to 16-track machines in mid-1969, a recording engineer can record only the section being worked on, without erasing any other section of that track
11.
Phil Spector
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He is acknowledged as one of the most influential figures in pop music history. Spectors other chart-topping singles include Youve Lost That Lovin Feelin, The Long and Winding Road, from 2007 to 2009, Spector was the subject of a trial and retrial for the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson, of which he was convicted in the second degree. He is serving a sentence of 19 years to life. In 2008, The Washington Times named Spector the second greatest record producer in music history, in 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him #63 on their list of the Greatest Artists of All Time. In their 2003 list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, they included the Spector-produced Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes, A Christmas Gift for You, according to BMI, Youve Lost That Lovin Feelin is the song that received the most US airplay in the 20th century. For co-producing Harrisons Concert for Bangladesh, Spector earned the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, in 1989, Spector was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a nonperformer. In 1997, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, harvey Phillip Spector was born on December 26,1939 to a first-generation immigrant Jewish family in the Bronx, New York City. His father, Ben, was an ironworker from Russia with the surname Spekter, Spectors father committed suicide on April 20,1949. In 1953, his mother moved the family to Los Angeles where she found work as a seamstress, having learned to play guitar, Spector performed Rock Island Line in a talent show at Fairfax High School, where he was a student. With three friends from school, Marshall Leib, Sandy Nelson, and Annette Kleinbard, Spector formed a group. During this period, record producer Stan Ross — co-owner of Gold Star Studios in Hollywood — began to tutor Spector in record production, in 1958, the Teddy Bears recorded the Spector-penned Dont You Worry My Little Pet, which helped them secure a deal with Era Records. At their next session, they recorded another song Spector had written—this one inspired by the epitaph on Spectors fathers tombstone. Released on Eras subsidiary label, Dore Records, To Know Him Is to Love Him reached number one on Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on December 1,1958 and it was the seventh number-one single on the newly formed chart. Following the success of their debut, the signed with Imperial Records. Their next single, I Dont Need You Anymore, reached number 91 and they released several more recordings, including an album, The Teddy Bears Sing. But failed to reach the top 100 in US sales, after the split, Spectors career quickly moved from performing and songwriting to production. While recording the Teddy Bears album, Spector had met Lester Sill and his next project, the Spectors Three, was undertaken under the aegis of Sill and his partner, Lee Hazlewood. In 1960, Sill arranged for Spector to work as an apprentice to Leiber and Stoller in New York, Ronnie Crawford would become Spector’s first true recording artist and project as producer
12.
George Martin
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Sir George Henry Martin CBE was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, audio engineer and musician. He was referred to as the Fifth Beatle, including by Paul McCartney, Martin produced 30 number-one hit singles in the United Kingdom and 23 number-one hits in the United States. Martin produced comedy and novelty records in the early 1950s, working with Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Bernard Cribbins and his career spanned more than six decades of work in music, film, television and live performance. He held a number of executive roles at media companies and contributed to a wide range of charitable causes, including his work for The Princes Trust. In recognition of his services to the industry and popular culture. Martin was born in Highbury, London, when he was six, Martins family acquired a piano that sparked his interest in music. As a child, he attended schools, including a convent school in Holloway, St Josephs School, and at St Ignatius College. When WWII broke out, and St. Ignatius College students were evacuated to Welwyn Garden City, his family left London, I remember well the very first time I heard a symphony orchestra. I was just in my teens when Sir Adrian Boult brought the BBC Symphony Orchestra to my school for a public concert. Hearing such glorious sounds I found it difficult to them with ninety men and women blowing into brass. Despite Martins continued interest in music, and fantasies about being the next Rachmaninov and he worked briefly as a quantity surveyor, and later for the War Office as a Temporary Clerk, which meant filing paperwork and making tea. In 1943, when he was 17, he joined the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy and became an aerial observer, the war ended before Martin was involved in any combat, and he left the service in 1947. Martins oboe teacher was Margaret Eliot, after that, Martin explained that he had just picked it up by himself. On 3 January 1948 – while still at the Academy – Martin married Sheena Chisholm and he later married Judy Lockhart-Smith on 24 June 1966, and they also had two children, Lucie and Giles Martin. Following his graduation, he worked for the BBCs classical music department, then joined EMI in 1950 as an assistant to Oscar Preuss, the head of EMIs Parlophone Records from 1950 to 1955. Although having been regarded by EMI as a vital German imprint in the past, after taking over Parlophone when Preuss retired in 1955, Martin recorded classical and Baroque music, original cast recordings, and regional music from around Britain and Ireland. Martin also produced numerous comedy and novelty records, later that decade Martin worked with Peter Sellers on two very popular comedy LPs. One was released on 10 format and called The Best Of Sellers, the album was Bridge on the River Wye
