Mark Wirtz

Producer, arranger, songwriter, and vocalist Mark Wirtz was one of the more underrated behind-the-scenes characters of the U.K. music scene in the 1960s. He was responsible for a number of classic psychedelic pop records, and his musical influence spread far beyond its commercial prospects. His recordings with Tomorrow on their 1967 self-titled album helped invent psychedelic pop, and his never-finished A Teenage Opera album inspired musicians like Pete Townshend and Paul McCartney to look beyond the three-minute pop songs and into more conceptual work. Wirtz was also a fine producer of girl group sounds, mainstream pop, and, under the Mood Mosaic moniker, a first-rate creator of groovy easy listening music. His career petered out in the late '70s, but as his music was rediscovered in the '90s and 2000s, he took a well-deserved victory lap, writing and producing music until his death in 2020.