Mark Wirtz
| Mark Wirtz | |
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Mark Wirtz: Savannah, Georgia, United States, 2007
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| Born |
3 September 1943 Strasbourg, France |
| Residence | Georgia, United States |
| Spouse(s) | Amanda Wirtz |
| Partner(s) | Jeff Janning |
| Website | www |
Mark P. Wirtz (born 3 September 1943 in Strasbourg, France) is an Alsatian pop music record producer, composer, singer, musician, author, and comedian. As a producer, Wirtz's most famous output is from the mid to late 1960s, when he worked at Abbey Road Studios with Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick, under contract to EMI. Wirtz is chiefly known for the never-completed A Teenage Opera concept album. Another track by Wirtz, the 1966 "A Touch of Velvet, A Sting of Brass" under the name Mood Mosaic, with The Ladybirds as backing singers, became well known in Germany as the theme tune for the Radio Bremen show Musikladen and was used by some radio stations and DJs in the United Kingdom as ident, notably Dave Lee Travis on Radio Caroline.
His signature style has been described by Mojo magazine as "Phil Spector scoring Camberwick Green", a sound most perfectly encapsulated on Wirtz's masterpiece, "Grocer Jack (Excerpt from A Teenage Opera)". This 1967 hit single is a densely orchestrated psychedelic marvel, which tells the whimsical and sad tale of an old man ("Grocer Jack"), who dies unappreciated, except by the children who loved him and miss him.
Mark Wirtz began his music career while studying art at London's Fairfield College of Arts and Sciences. A friend, with whom he was sharing a flat in neighbouring Wallington, recalls those days: "Three things already stood out in him at the age of seventeen: his prodigious talent as an artist – he could paint original work in the style of any of the grand masters; his natural ability as a musician – he could pick out any tune on the piano by ear; and his zany sense of humour – he idolized the comedian Jerry Lewis."
He studied drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, when his college rock band, The Beatcrackers, were signed to a recording contract in 1963 as Mark Rogers and the Marksmen by EMI producer Norman Newell. By 1965 Wirtz had started his first independent production company, releasing records that have since become enduring classics.
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Wikipedia