Martyn Ford
Before entering the UK Top 40 in spring 1977 as an orchestra conductor, Ford led an increasingly fuller life throughout the '70s as an arranger and session musician. Among his responsibilities were supervising horn sections on albums by Shawn Phillips, Suntreader and Nasty Pop, and plucking mandolin for Sharon Forrester and the Spencer Davis Group (on 1974's LIVING IN A BACK STREET). Signed to Mountain Records, the Martyn Ford Orchestra's timely Let Your Body Go Downtown sashayed to number 38 at the height of disco fever. Album spin-offs were notable for suggestive buzz-word song titles (eg Horny) and duplication of previously-issued tracks. However, none spawned a follow-up hit, and the versatile Ford returned to comparative anonymity.