Charlie Gillett
b. 20 February 1942, Morecambe, Lancashire, England. Gillett was successively a historian of rock ‘n’ roll, an influential disc jockey and head of an independent record label. While studying for a master's degree in New York in 1966, Gillett researched the history of rock ‘n’ roll to 1964, publishing his work as THE SOUND OF THE CITY (1970). With its careful delineation of ‘five styles of rock ‘n’ roll’ and its acknowledgement of the role of independently-owned labels, the book remains the best summary of rock's development. A second edition, published in 1983, took the story up to 1971. During the late '60s Gillett was a columnist for London music paper RECORD MIRROR and was a guiding light on early UK rock magazines CREEM and LET IT ROCK. He co-edited the ROCK FILE series of annuals with Simon Frith from 1972-78 and in 1974 he published MAKING TRACKS, a study of Atlantic Records. 
In 1972, Gillett began broadcasting on BBC Radio London, giving opportunities to artists such as Dire Straits, Elvis Costello and Graham Parker. Each had tracks on HONKY TONK DEMOS, an album of material from Gillett's Sunday morning show. The album was issued in 1982 on Oval, a label Gillett had set up in 1974 to pursue an eclectic path, issuing cajun (Johnny Allan), jazz ( Helen Shapiro) and left-field rock (Local Heroes). Oval also managed Kilburn And the High Roads (featuring Ian Dury ) and published hits by Lene Lovich and Paul Hardcastle. In the '80s Gillett became a champion of African music as a club disc jockey through radio shows on Capital and GLR, and by releasing albums by George Darko and Jali Musa Jawara on Oval. Never a supporter of progressive rock or punk, he saw in African music many of the same qualities which American black music had embodied in the golden age of the '50s. After a period of hiatus, Oval was reactivated in 1991 under a new deal with East West Records. Among its first releases was an album by Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart.