Martin Charles Strong (born 1960 in

Musselburgh Musselburgh (; sco, Musselburrae; gd, Baile nam Feusgan) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It has a population of . History The name Musselburgh is Ol ...

) is a Scottish music historian known for compiling discographies of popular music including ''The Great Rock Discography''. Strong has been described in broadsheet newspaper profiles as a "compiler of acclaimed mammoth discographies" and "a man who knows more about rock music than is healthy for one individual".

Career

Strong has researched music extensively since the early 1980s, dedicating 70 hours per week to his craft as of 2004. He is perhaps best known for ''The Great Rock Discography'', with the 7th edition being published in 2004; the foreword was penned by

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobil ...

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

. The book has garnered acclaim, with United States music critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

recommending it as one of the three best rock music encyclopaedias, and the one with the "maddest completism". Author

Ian Rankin Sir Ian James Rankin (born 28 April 1960) is a Scottish crime writer, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels. Early life Rankin was born in Cardenden, Fife. His father, James, owned a grocery shop, and his mother, Isobel, worked in a sch ...

named it as one of the "5 Books Every Man Should Read", calling it "a great book" that "would keep imhappy on any desert island". It was re-released as ''The Essential Rock Discography'', a condensed version, in 2006. Strong has also authored ''The Great Metal Discography'' (2 editions), ''The Great Psychedelic'', ''The Great Alternative & Indie'' (2 volumes) and ''Lights, Camera, Soundtracks'' (with Brendon Griffin). Along with ''The Great/Essential Rock Discography'' – on which Griffin also worked sporadically – these titles have been published by

Canongate Books Canongate Books (trading as Canongate) is an independent publishing firm based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is named after the Canongate area of the city. It is most recognised for publishing the Booker Prizewinner '' Life of Pi''. Canongate wa ...

Mercat Press Mercat Press is an imprint of the Edinburgh, Scotland-based publishing company Birlinn Limited. It was established in 1970 as a subsidiary of the bookseller James Thin, and published facsimile editions of out-of-print Scottish works, such as t ...

published a history of Scottish contemporary music, ''The Great Scots Musicography'', in 2002. Strong's final tomes were two volumes of ''The Great Folk Discography'', published by

Birlinn The birlinn ( gd, bìrlinn) or West Highland galley was a wooden vessel propelled by sail and oar, used extensively in the Hebrides and West Highlands of Scotland from the Middle Ages on. Variants of the name in English and Lowland Scots in ...

in 2010 and 2011; a third part of the trilogy, ''The Great Folk Discography: The Celtic Connections'', has been shelved. He maintains the online resource
The Great Rock Bible
Aside from his books, Strong has written for '' The List'', ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide. History The early years The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...

'', ''

Songlines A songline, also called dreaming track, is one of the paths across the land (or sometimes the sky) within the animist belief systems of the Aboriginal cultures of Australia which mark the route followed by localised "creator-beings" in the Dre ...

'', '' HMV Choice'' and the

Rough Guides Rough Guides Ltd is a British travel guide book and reference publisher, which has been owned by APA Publications since November 2017. In addition to publishing guidebooks, the company also provides a tailor-made trips service based on custome ...

series. He served as researcher for

Jimmy Cliff James Chambers OM (born 30 July 1944), known professionally as Jimmy Cliff, is a Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and actor. He is the only living reggae musician to hold the Order of Merit, t ...

's 2003 ''Anthology'' release.

Personal life

Strong lives in

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had ...

and has three daughters.

References

External links

The Great Rock BibleFolkLib Index - Music Reference Books by Martin C. Strong
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Martin C. 1960 births Living people Discographers People from Musselburgh Scottish music historians