Sounds Visual Radio
Sounds Visual Radio
Episode 75: Alan Shacklock of Babe Ruth
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London born Alan Shacklock is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, and producer. He played guitar since he was a child: his first band, the Juniors, also included future Rolling Stone Mick Taylor and future Jethro Tull bassist John Glascock. He then went on to play with Chris Farlowe’s backing band (whose drummers at one point included future Emerson, Lake, & Palmer member Carl Palmer and a kid named John Bonham), and studied classical guitar and lute at the Royal Academy Of Music.

Shacklock later went on to form the band Babe Ruth, where he served as the band’s chief songwriter and producer from 1971 to 1975. Their 1972 debut album “First Base” featured the classic song/breakbeat “The Mexican,” which would become widely influential in the early development of DJ’ing, b-boying , sampling, and hip-hop culture.

After leaving the band in 1975, he has received four Grammy Award nominations, and has produced a number of silver, gold and platinum recordings for artists, including Mike Oldfield, Bonnie Tyler, Jeff Beck, Meat Loaf, The Alarm, The Look, Roger Daltrey (of The Who), JoBoxers and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber.

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