A new book from Velocity Press explores the history of early British electronic music, shining a light on hitherto unrecognised pioneers and covering more famous names such as Brian Eno, Joe Meek, Daphne Oram and more.
Tape Leaders: A Compendium Of Early British Electronic Music Composers is an illustrated A-Z guide to the work of over 100 composers working with electronics and tape in the analogue era of the '50s, '60s and '70s. Uncovering many sonic adventurers previously unacknowledged in the history of this period, the book also features entries on widely celebrated pioneers and groups known for experimenting with electronics, such as The Beatles and Hawkwind.
Tape Leaders' author, Ian Helliwell, said that the objective in writing the book was to produce "a compendium to cover not just the acknowledged figures, but also those that never get a mention [...] so that famous names sit alongside the unknowns, and the reader gets a sense of the vast amount of electronic music activity that was going on, which has since been ignored or forgotten about."
Tape Leaders is out now in all good book shops and record shops and can be purchased via the Velocity Press website.
