July 1958: Number 5 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of pop music
The secret history of pop? That of its producers, of whom arguably the greatest was Phil Spector, the originator of the layered Wall of Sound production style and the man dubbed the "first tycoon of teen" by Tom Wolfe.
Fresh out of Fairfax high school, the nerdy 18-year-old scraped together $40 to record a one-song demo with three friends at Gold Star studios in Los Angeles. The result (Don't You Worry My Little Pet) was pretty terrible but secured them a second session, at which Spector pulled out a song he'd been polishing in his bedroom ? a paean to his father (who had killed himself).
Up to this point, Spector was sure he'd become a performer, but this new track, To Know Him is to Love Him (the words inscribed on his dad's gravestone), went on to sell a million when his group, the Teddy Bears, released it in September 1958 ? and the troubled teenager became convinced that his future lay behind the mixing desk. It just never quite could be said that Spector kept himself in the shadows.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jun/11/phil-spector-wall-of-sound
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