British Music Industry
Jon Gold grew up playing in area bands and hanging out in local stores. He soon was able to answer customer's questions about guitars hanging on the walls and found he was offered a job. He later worked for the Fender Sound House in London and his love for the industry grew as did his knowledge...
Brian Nunney was born in Cheltenham, England, and served in the Royal Air Force for four years before he was hired by the Littlewoods Department store. The company purchased a small music store and asked Brian to run it –as a result he found himself in the music industry. After working in music...
Spencer Davis hit it big with a string of rock songs during the heyday of the British Invasion of the 1960s. His band, The Spencer Davis Group, started with a school mate named Muff Winwood and Muff’s brother Steve. Over the years the band recorded such hits as “Keep On Running” and “Gimme Some...
Bill Bruford was the original drummer for the British progressive rock band YES. He later played with King Crimson and formed his own noted jazz fusion band Bruford, which included the young Allan Holdsworth. Bill's style was unique and rooted in the jazz he heard from his parents’ records as a...
Bernard Michaelson was just a teenager when he began working for Frank Hessy. Hessy’s Music store in Liverpool was the hangout for all of the young musicians in the area at a time when bands seemed to be on every street corner. One such band Bernard recalls coming into the store were the Beatles....
Roger Bucknall is an instrument maker who formed Fylde Guitars, which is located in Penrith, England, not so far from the Scottish border. Roger’s long and well regarded career as a guitar builder began as a teenager, although he actually made his first guitar when he was just nine years old. Roger...
Sara Michaelson grew up in the music store her father, Frank Hessy, established in Liverpool, England in the late 1950s. Hessy’s Music was THE store in town to find all of the local bands and to learn of their scheduled gigs. All four members of the Beatles purchased instruments at Hessy’s Music...
Richard Elkin ran the England-based music publishing company his grandfather formed. Richard’s father, William, was a well liked publisher who brought English products to America. Elkin’s Publishing was sold to Music Sales, where Richard later worked for several years before opening his own music...
Big George Webley was a beloved voice over the BBC for many years who often included many of his own incredible musical experiences in his late night radio program. As a session bassist, George played for recordings, television and the movies. As a composer, he wrote for many BBC broadcasts in...
Neil Hauser took over the Allen & Heath business in the late 1960s at a time when a group of young engineers had an idea for a new product. The engineers, headed by Andy Bereza, created a small mixing board that could be used on the road as well as in the home. This new Portastudio...