Colin Larkin | |
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| Born | 1949 (age 74–75) |
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| Website | colinlarkin |
Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British music writer. He founded and was the editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of Popular Music . [1] Along with the ten-volume encyclopedia, Larkin also wrote the book All Time Top 1000 Albums , [2] and edited the Guinness Who's Who of Jazz, [3] the Guinness Who's Who of Blues, [4] and the Virgin Encyclopedia of Heavy Rock. [5] He has over 650,000 copies in print. [6]
Larkin was born in Dagenham, Essex. [7] He spent much of his early childhood attending the travelling fair where his father, who worked by day as a plumber for the council, moonlighted on the waltzers to make ends meet. It was in the fairground, against a background of Little Richard on the wind-up 78 rpm turntables, that Larkin acquired his passion for the world of popular music. [8]
Larkin studied at the South East Essex County Technical High School and at the London College of Printing, where he took typography and graphic design. [7]
Larkin's company Scorpion Publishing published John Gorman's trilogy of Labour history, Banner Bright, [9] To Build Jerusalem and Images of Labour. [10] Music books at this time included Johnny Rogan's Timeless Flight: The Definitive Story of the Byrds [11] and Bob Dylan, His Unreleased Recordings. [12] [7]
In 1989, Larkin formed Square One Books to create a multi-volume Encyclopedia of Popular Music , and to publish music-related books. He published additional music biographies including those on Graham Bond, R.E.M., Eric Clapton, the Byrds and Frank Zappa. [13]
In a pre-internet age, the work required to create an encyclopedia of popular music was considerable. Aided by a team of contributors, a fast-growing library of music magazines, books and the music itself, an eventual 3000 vinyl singles, 3500 vinyl albums, 4500 music biographies and 38,000 CDs, [14] Larkin began compiling the Encyclopedia.
In 1992, the first edition of the Encyclopedia of Popular Music went into print. [15] Rolling Stone described the work as "musical history in the making",[ citation needed ] and The Times called it "a work of almost frightening completeness".[ citation needed ] Musician Jools Holland called it "without question the most useful reference work on popular music".[ citation needed ]
Square One developed their own in-house software using 4th Dimension. [16]
Over 50 separate titles followed the creation of the Encyclopedia's database, and in 1997 Larkin sold Square One Books to American data company Muze. [16] Larkin became full-time editor-in-chief and ran the encyclopedia as a cottage industry, with a team of fewer than ten contributors, who in terms of wordcount were "producing an Agatha Christie novel a month". [14]
From September 2008, Larkin ceased all involvement with Muze Inc. or any of its related companies following the closure of the Encyclopedia of Popular Music as a stand-alone product and his subsequent redundancy.[ citation needed ] On 15 April 2009, it was announced that most of the assets of Muze Inc. were purchased by Macrovision. [17]
In 2008, Larkin launched a new website whose original inspiration had come from the All Time Top 1000 Albums , initially called 1000Greatest.com. This would later change its name to become the multi-media rating site and iPhone app, btoe.com (Best Things On Earth).[ citation needed ] Larkin closed down this website in August 2018 and re-directed the content to Musopedia.com. He is CEO and editor-in-chief of Musopedia Ltd.
Larkin wrote the liner notes for the Rolling Stones' curated project Confessin' the Blues. [18]
In November 2020, Larkin released his latest book, Cover Me – The Vintage Art of Pan Books: 1950-1965. His first non-music book, it was a celebration of the classic Pan Books paperbacks, incorporating full-colour reproductions of over 300 of the original cover artworks. [19] The book was nominated for the H. R. F. Keating Award in 2021 and reached the shortlist final eight. [20] A paperback edition was published in May 2022. [21]
Traffic is the second studio album by the English rock band of the same name, released in 1968 on Island Records in the United Kingdom as ILPS 9081T (stereo), and United Artists in the United States, as UAS 6676 (stereo). The album peaked at number 9 in the UK Albums Chart and at number 17 on the Billboard Top LPs chart. It was the last album recorded by the group before their initial breakup.
Mabel Louise Smith, known professionally as Big Maybelle, was an American R&B singer. Her 1956 hit single "Candy" received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999.
Fleetwood Mac, also known as Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, is the debut studio album by British blues rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in February 1968. The album is a mixture of blues covers and originals penned by guitarists Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer, who also share the vocal duties. It is the only album by the band without any involvement of keyboardist/vocalist Christine McVie.
Beryl Audley Bryden was an English jazz singer, who played with Chris Barber and Lonnie Donegan. Ella Fitzgerald once said of Bryden that she was "Britain's queen of the blues".
John Barleycorn Must Die is the fourth studio album by English rock band Traffic, released in 1970 as Island ILPS 9116 in the United Kingdom, United Artists UAS 5504 in the United States, and as Polydor 2334 013 in Canada. It marked the band's comeback after a brief disbandment, and peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Top LPs chart, making it their highest-charting album in the US, and has been certified a gold record by the RIAA. In addition, the single "Empty Pages" spent eight weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 74. The album was marginally less successful in the UK, reaching number 11 on the UK Albums Chart.
Cochise was an English country rock band that performed in the early 1970s. Their albums and singles were released on the United Artists and Liberty Records labels.
Genius + Soul = Jazz is a 1961 album by American musician Ray Charles, featuring big band arrangements by Quincy Jones and Ralph Burns. Charles is accompanied by two groups drawn from members of The Count Basie Band and from the ranks of top New York session players. It was recorded at Van Gelder Studio in two sessions on December 26 and 27, 1960 and originally released on the Impulse! label as Impulse! A–2.
The Rooftop Singers were an American country folk-singing trio in the early 1960s, best known for the hit "Walk Right In". The group was composed of Erik Darling and Bill Svanoe with former jazz singer Lynne Taylor (vocals).
Into the Purple Valley is the second studio album by roots rock musician Ry Cooder, released in 1972.
Charles James McDevitt is a Scottish musician who was one of the leading lights of the skiffle genre which was highly influential and popular in the United Kingdom in the mid-to-late 1950s.
The Vipers Skiffle Group – later known simply as The Vipers – were one of the leading British groups during the skiffle period of the mid to late 1950s, and were important in the careers of radio and television presenter Wally Whyton, coffee bar manager Johnny Martyn, wire salesman Jean Van den Bosch, instrument repairer Tony Tolhurst, journalist John Pilgrim, record producer George Martin, and several members of The Shadows.
Ahead Rings Out is the debut album by British blues-rock band Blodwyn Pig, released in 1969. The band had been formed in 1969 by Mick Abrahams, the former guitarist of Jethro Tull, and sales of Ahead Rings Out rivalled those of Jethro Tull’s next album, Stand Up, reaching No. 9 on the British album chart.
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the Grove Dictionary of Music, which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms. It was described by The Times as "the standard against which all others must be judged".
All Time Top 1000 Albums is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the Encyclopedia of Popular Music. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the public in record shops, universities, schools and the French music trade show MIDEM – and ranked in order. Each album's entry is accompanied by an annotation with a 100-word review, details of its creation, and notes about the band or artist who recorded it.
Satisfaction Guaranteed is a 1979 studio album by Mark Murphy.
What a Way to Go is a studio album by Mark Murphy.
Mark II is a 1973 studio album by Mark Murphy.
Stolen...And Other Moments is a compilation album of American jazz vocalist Mark Murphy's Muse Records recordings. It was released by the 32 Jazz label in the United States in 1997. This album is collection of songs from his Muse years from 1972 to 1991.
Dim the Lights is a studio album by Mark Murphy.
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