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Martin Orkin, who is a writer on the subject of The Beatles and 1960s music. He is a big fan of The Beatles, whom he was privileged to see live in concert in December 1964 at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.

Martin began listening to pop music at the age of 12 in 1962, when the charts were ruled by the likes of Elvis Presley, Neil Sedaka and Cliff Richard and The Shadows. Then The Beatles arrived at the start of 1963 and turned everything upside down! It was an amazing time for music!

Martin then followed the progress of The Beatles and their main competitors, such as The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys, throughout the 1960s and beyond.

During the late 60s and into the 70s, Martin aimed at a career in songwriting. The closest he got to success was with his song ‘Nancy’ which was released by a London group called Three’s Company in 1968, and was published by The Beatles’ publishing company Apple.Martin received a cheque for a (tiny!) amount he had earned in songwriting royalties for ‘Nancy’ – it was signed by George Harrison! Martin still has the cheque!

After retiring in 2010, Martin returned to his first love: 1960s music. In April 2021 he published his first book, Rivals Of The Beatles where he discussed 20 of the bands who competed with The Beatles during the 60s; such as The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, The Dave Clark Five and the Monkees. As well as telling their stories and analysing their records, Martin also explained the influence that The Beatles had on each of them.

In December 2023, Martin published his second book, Rivals Of The Beatles 2, in which he covered 10 more groups including The Animals, Simon & Garfunkel, The Who and Queen!

During the past few years, Martin has given many talks on 60s music to live audiences ranging from 50 – 300 people. His talks on The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel and Queen have proved especially popular! Also his seasonal ‘Christmas Hits’ talk!

He has also had articles published in UK music magazine Shindig! and in the Liverpool Echo newspaper And he has presented several music shows with host Trevor Richards on internet radio station, AJK Radio.

Martin’s new books: The Beatles’ Hit Singles Parts 1 and 2. During the past year Martin has been working on Part 1 of two exciting new books he is currently writing, called The Beatles’ Hit Singles. These will examine in depth each of The Beatles’ singles in the order they came out in Britain and America, from My Bonnie and Love Me Do through to Let It Be and The Long And Winding Road. He will also be including a special chapter at the end of Part 2 on the Beatles’ final three singles: Free As A Bird, Real Love, and Now And Then.

If anyone would like to know more about The Beatles’ Hit Singles and Martin’s other music-related books, they can look on his dedicated website: rivalsofthebeatles.com.

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