Martin Charles Strong (born 1960 in Musselburgh) is a Scottish music historian known for compiling discographies of popular music including The Great Rock Discography. Strong has been described in broadsheet newspaper profiles as a "compiler of acclaimed mammoth discographies"[1] and "a man who knows more about rock music than is healthy for one individual".[2]
Strong has researched music extensively since the early 1980s, dedicating 70 hours per week to his craft as of 2004.[3]
He is perhaps best known for The Great Rock Discography, with the 7th edition being published in 2004; the foreword was penned by disc jockey John Peel.[4] The book has garnered acclaim,[5] with United States music critic Robert Christgau recommending it as one of the three best rock music encyclopaedias, and the one with the "maddest completism".[6] Author Ian Rankin named it as one of the "5 Books Every Man Should Read", calling it "a great book" that "would keep [him] happy on any desert island".[7] It was re-released as The Essential Rock Discography, a condensed version, in 2006.[8]
Strong has also authored The Great Metal Discography (2 editions), The Great Psychedelic, The Great Alternative & Indie (2 volumes) and Lights, Camera, Soundtracks (with Brendon Griffin). Along with The Great/Essential Rock Discography – on which Griffin also worked sporadically[5] – these titles have been published by Canongate Books.[9] Mercat Press published a history of Scottish contemporary music, The Great Scots Musicography, in 2002.[10] Strong's final tomes were two volumes of The Great Folk Discography, published by Birlinn in 2010 and 2011; a third part of the trilogy, The Great Folk Discography: The Celtic Connections, has been shelved.
Aside from his books, Strong has written for The List,[11] Record Collector, Songlines, HMV Choice and the Rough Guides series.[5] He served as researcher for Jimmy Cliff's 2003 Anthology release.[12]
