Mark Wirtz

Born in 1943 in Strasbourg, Alsace (France).
Wirtz will always be remembered as the creator of the infamous [iTeenage Opera[/i which catapulted Keith West into momentary fame. Prior to this, he was a successful producer at EMI principally for his work on the stereo-only [iStudio 2[/i series.
Wirtz was already producing the (pre Tomorrow (2)) [i In Crowd[/i, had used Steve Howe as a session guitarist on various projects, and subsequently asked Keith West to assist him on the "Teenage Opera". Although the relative failure of [i Sam [/i, the second single, doomed its progress, he used Abbey Road down-time to assemble more "Opera" material, notably the highly complex [i (He's Our) Dear Old Weatherman[/i. It bore all of the producer's distinctive trademarks - swirling strings, child singers and a sumptuous melody - and the result was an artistic masterpiece. Sadly, it was not a commercial success and all remaining Opera music was shelved. Wirtz remained very active in the music world, recording a variety of albums and singles during the seventies.