Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British music writer. He founded and was the editor-in-chief of ''
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. Along with the ten-volume encyclopedia, Larkin also wrote the book ''
All Time Top 1000 Albums'', and edited the ''Guinness Who's Who of Jazz'', the ''Guinness Who's Who of Blues'', and the ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Heavy Rock''. He has over 650,000 copies in print.
Early life
Larkin was born in
Dagenham,
Essex
Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
. 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
Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Ar ...
on the wind-up
78 rpm
A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...
turntables, that Larkin acquired his passion for the world of popular music.
Larkin studied at the South East Essex County Technical High School and at the
London College of Printing, where he took
typography
Typography is the art and technique of Typesetting, arranging type to make written language legibility, legible, readability, readable and beauty, appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, Point (typogra ...
and graphic design.
Art and publishing
Larkin's company Scorpion Publishing published John Gorman's trilogy of
Labour history, ''Banner Bright'', ''To Build Jerusalem'' and ''Images of Labour''.
Music books at this time included
Johnny Rogan's ''Timeless Flight: The Definitive Story of
the Byrds'' and ''
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
, His Unreleased Recordings''.
[''All about the guru of groove, Colin Larkin, editor of The Encyclopedia of Popular Music']
OUP.com
/ref>
''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music''
In 1989, Larkin formed ''Square One Books'' to create a multi-volume '' The 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
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...
, the Byrds and Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...
.
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,[''The Collector'' No. 20: Colin Larkin, '' Record Collector'', Issue 314, Sept 2005.] Larkin began compiling the ''Encyclopedia''.
In 1992, the first edition of '' The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' went into print. ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' described the work as "musical history in the making", and ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' called it "a work of almost frightening completeness". Musician Jools Holland called it "without question the most useful reference work on popular music".
Later activities
Square One developed their own in-house software using 4th Dimension.cottage industry
The putting-out system is a means of subcontracting work, like a tailor. Historically, it was also known as the workshop system and the domestic system. In putting-out, work is contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who complete the p ...
, with a team of fewer than ten contributors, who in terms of wordcount were "producing an Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...
novel a month".[
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. On 15 April 2009, it was announced that most of the assets of Muze Inc. were purchased by Macrovision.
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). Larkin closed down this website in August 2018 and re-directed the content to Musopedia.com. He was CEO and editor-in-chief of Musopedia Ltd. The company was dissolved in 2020.
Larkin wrote the ]liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards.
Origin
Liner notes are descended from the prog ...
for the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
' curated project ''Confessin' the Blues''.
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
Pan Books is a British publishing imprint that first became active in the 1940s and is now part of the British-based Macmillan Publishers, owned by the Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group of Germany.
History
Pan Books began as an indepe ...
paperbacks, incorporating full-colour reproductions of over 300 of the original cover artworks. The book was nominated for the H. R. F. Keating Award in 2021 and reached the shortlist final eight. A paperback edition was published in May 2022.
Bibliography
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''Guinness Who's Who of Jazz'', Guinness Publishing (UK), 1992.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''Guinness Who's Who of Sixties Music'', Guinness Publishing (UK), 1992.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''Guinness Who's Who of Indie And New Wave Music'', Guinness Publishing (UK), 1992.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''Guinness Who's Who of Heavy Metal'', Guinness Publishing (UK), 1992.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.),'' Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' (1st Edition, 4 Vols), Guinness Publishing 1992.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music Concise Edition'', Guinness Publishing 1993.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''Guinness Who's Who of Seventies Music'', Guinness Publishing (UK), 1993.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.),'' Guinness Who's Who of Folk Music'', Guinness Publishing (UK), 1993.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''Guinness Who's Who of Soul Music'', Guinness Publishing (UK), 1993.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''Guinness Who's Who of Blues'', Guinness Publishing (UK), 1993.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''Guinness Who's Who of Fifties Music'', Guinness Publishing (UK), 1993.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''Guinness Who's Who of Country Music'', Guinness Publishing (UK), 1993.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''Guinness Who's Who of Stage Musicals'', Guinness Publishing (UK), 1994.
* Larkin, Colin, ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'', Guinness Publishing (UK), 1994.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''Guinness Who's Who of Rap, Dance & Techno'', Guinness Publishing (UK), 1994.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''Guinness Who's Who of Film Musicals & Musical Films'', Guinness Publishing 1994
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''Guinness Who's Who of Reggae'', Guinness Publishing (UK), 1994.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''Guinness Who's Who of Jazz'' (2nd Edition), Guinness Publishing (UK), 1995.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' (2nd Edition, 6 Vols), Guinness 1995 (UK),
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''Guinness Who's Who of Indie And New Wave'' (2nd Edition), Guinness Publishing 1995.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''Guinness Who's Who of Blues'' (2nd Edition), Guinness Publishing (UK), 1995.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''Guinness Who's Who of Heavy Metal'' (2nd Edition), Guinness Publishing (UK), 1995.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', Concise Edition, Virgin Books (UK), 1997.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Seventies Music'', Virgin Books (UK), 1997.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music,'' Virgin Books (UK), 1997.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music'', Virgin Books (UK), 1997.
* Larkin, Colin, (ed), ''The Virgin Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock'', Virgin Books (UK), 1998, (also published in the US as ''The Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock''. US, 1998)
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music'', Virgin Books (UK), 1998.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Indie & New Wave'', Virgin Books (UK), 1998.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of R&B and Soul'', Virgin Books (UK), 1998.
* Larkin, Colin, ''The Virgin All-Time Top 1000 Albums'' (2nd Edition), Virgin Books (UK), 1998.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Country Music'', Virgin Books (UK), 1998.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books (UK), 1998.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Stage & Film Musicals'', Virgin Books (UK), 1999.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Heavy Rock'', Virgin Books (UK), 1999.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz'' (3rd Edition), Virgin Books (UK), 1999.
* Larkin, Colin, ''The Virgin All-Time Top 1000 Albums'' (Pocket Edition), Virgin Books (UK), 1999.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Dance Music'', Virgin Books (UK), 1999.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Stage & Film Musicals'', Virgin Books (UK), 1999.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', Concise (3rd Edition), Virgin Books (UK), 1999.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' (3rd Edition, 8 vols). Macmillan (UK/US) 1999
* Larkin, Colin, ''All-Time Top 1000 Albums'' (3rd Edition), Virgin Books (UK), 2000.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music'', Virgin Books (UK), 2000.
* Larkin, Colin, (ed), ''The Virgin Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pop & Rock'', Virgin Books (UK), 2002, (also published in the US as ''The Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pop & Rock''. US, 2002).
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of 60s Music'',(3rd Edition), Virgin Books (UK), 2002.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of 50s Music'', (3rd Edition), Virgin Books (UK), 2002.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music'', (3rd Edition), Virgin Books (UK), 2002.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', Concise (4th Edition), Virgin Books (UK), 2002.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of 80s Music'', (3rd Edition), Virgin Books (UK), 2003.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz'' (4th Edition), Virgin Books (UK), 2004.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' (4th Edition 10 vols) Oxford University Press (UK/US) 2006.
* Larkin, Colin (ed.), ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music: Concise 5th Edition'', Omnibus Press 2007.
* Larkin, Colin, ''Cover Me – The Vintage Art of Pan Books: 1950-1965'', Telos Publishing, 2020.
References
External links
*
Founder, Editor & Writer of the World's Greatest Reference Book on Popular Music Comes to goNORTH!
Shoot the Designer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larkin, Colin (Writer)
1949 births
Living people
Alumni of the London College of Printing
British writers about music
People from Dagenham
Writers from the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
British editors