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Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British entrepreneur and writer. He was the editor in chief and founder of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'',〔Larkin, Colin (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th Edition 10 vols) Oxford University Press (UK/US) 2006〕 described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged".〔This information was obtained from (Hi-Arts.co.uk )〕 He is the CEO and editor-in-chief of 'Best Things on Earth' an online multi-media rating site. Along with the ten-volume encyclopaedia, Larkin also wrote the All Time Top 1000 Albums,〔Larkin, Colin, All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd Edition), Virgin Books (UK), 2000.〕 and edited the ''Guinness Who's Who Of Jazz'',〔Larkin, Colin (ed.), the Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (2nd Edition), Guinness Publishing (UK), 1995〕 the ''Guinness Who's Who Of Blues'',〔Larkin, Colin (ed.), the Guinness Who's Who of Blues (2nd Edition), Guinness Publishing (UK), 1995〕 and the ''Virgin Encyclopedia Of Heavy Rock''〔Larkin, Colin (ed.), Virgin Encyclopedia of Heavy Rock, The, Virgin Books (UK), 1999.〕 The compiler of the most extensive database of popular music in Europe and the US, a writer and book designer by trade, Larkin has over 650,000 copies in print to date.〔(OUP Online )〕 As an expert in the field of popular music, Larkin has often been interviewed on radio, and had a regular slot on BBC GLR for two years in the 1990s. ==Background and education== Colin Larkin was born in Dagenham in 1949 in an area of Essex that was largely populated by workers in the car industry. Although the post-war years proved lucrative for the Ford motor company,〔The number of workers on the Dagenham site increased from 12,000 to 35,000 as Ford met the demand of 360,000 military vehicles, vans and army trucks. (History of Ford in Britain )〕 Larkin was raised in relative poverty in the largest area of council housing in the United Kingdom, in the suburbs that surrounded the Ford plant. The Becontree estate in Dagenham began as a conglomeration of 27,000 "homes for heroes", and had no recognisable town centre. Larkin 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 on the wind-up 78 rpm turntables, that Larkin acquired his passion for the world of popular music,〔"Who'd Put The Everly Brothers Above Elvis", ''Evening Standard'' 20 December 2006.〕 and a taste for exotic pattern and vivid colour, which would re-surface in later years in books on Islamic art and architecture, and oriental rugs. In the 1950s Larkin attended the South East Essex County Technical High School following which, under his own initiative he obtained an apprenticeship as a commercial artist, enabling him to take a sandwich course at the London College of Printing (now the London College of Communication). There he studied typography and book design.〔All about the guru of groove, Colin Larkin, editor of ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' (Oxford University Press online )〕 and was influenced by the typeface designer Eric Gill, who is associated with the arts and crafts movement. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Colin Larkin (writer)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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