Brian Southall began writing about pop music in the 1960s for a local newspaper before graduating to the likes of Melody Maker and Disc. He then pursued a 30-year career in the record business working for A&M, Tamla Motown, EMI, and Warner Music. His first book, Abbey Road: The Story of the World's Most Famous Recording Studios, was published in 1982, and he has also written The A-Z of Record Labels; the Sex Pistols 90 Days at EMI; Northern Songs (the story of The Beatles' music publishing); If You Don't Know Me By Now, the authorized story of Simply Red; Pop Goes to Court; The Rise & Fall of EMI, and more recently Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.