Martin Charles Strong (born 1960 in

Musselburgh Musselburgh (; ; ) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It had a population of as of . History The name Musselburgh is Old English language, Old English in ...

) is a Scottish

music historian Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is a highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies music from a historical point of view. In theory, "music history" could refer to the study of the history of ...

known for compiling

discographies Discography is the study and cataloging of published sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified music genres. The exact information included varies depending on the type and scope of the discography, but a discography entry ...

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 personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

. 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 influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

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 and philanthropist, 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 ...

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 Prize winning novel '' Life of Pi'' (2001 ...

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 ...

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 () 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 Scots language, Lowland Scots inc ...

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

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine focussing on rare and collectable records, and the bands who recorded them. It was founded in September 1979 and distributes worldwide. It is promoted as "the world’s leading authority o ...

'', ''

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. They mark the route followed by localised "creator-beings" in the Dr ...

'', '' HMV Choice'' and the

Rough Guides Rough Guides is a travel company that offers tailor-made trips planned and arranged by local travel experts based in destinations around the world. Originally established as a guidebook publisher in 1982, Rough Guides expanded into customized t ...

series. He served as researcher for

Jimmy Cliff James Chambers, Jamaican Order of Merit, 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 hol ...

's 2003 ''Anthology'' release.

Personal life

Strong lives in

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a 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 a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

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