Jill Sinclair (5 April 1952 – 22 March 2014) was an English businesswoman and former
record company
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produc ...
director, a founder of
ZTT Records
ZTT Records is a British record label founded in 1983 by record producer Trevor Horn, Horn's wife and businesswoman Jill Sinclair, and ''New Musical Express'' (NME) journalist Paul Morley. The label's name was also stylised as ZANG TUMB TUUM and ...
and one of the most influential women in
pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...
. She has been called "One of the most successful people in the British music business".
Career
In 1973, at the age of 21 Sinclair emerged as one of the founders of
Sarm Studios
Sarm Studios is an independent recording studio in London. Originally founded in east London in 1973, the studio's original location was renamed Sarm East Studios in 1982 when Jill Sinclair and Trevor Horn purchased Basing Street Studios from Isl ...
with her brother John Sinclair, and
sound engineers
An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...
Mike Stone and Gary Lyons.
Sarm soon evolved into one of the most technically advanced recording studios in London – essentially the first 24-track studio – and it attracted major artists, like
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
, who recorded ''
A Night at the Opera'' and ''
A Day at the Races'' partially at Sarm studios. Other artists who have recorded in Sarm East include
Yes
Yes or YES may refer to:
* An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no
Education
* YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US
* YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...
,
INXS
INXS (a word play, phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian Rock music, rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboar ...
,
The Clash
The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...
and
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
.
Sinclair first started her career as a mathematics teacher, but started working full-time in Sarm studios in 1977, at the age of 25.
In 1978, Sarm studios started a production company called Sarm Productions led by Sinclair, with records such as "Only Feel This Way" produced by her brother John Sinclair for his band Levinsky/Sinclair being one of their early productions. She also started as the manager of her husband
Trevor Horn
Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English music producer, label and recording studio owner, musician and composer. He is best known for his production work in the 1980s, and for being one half of the new wave band The Buggles (wit ...
during the time
The Buggles
The Buggles were an English new wave band formed in London in 1977 by singer and bassist Trevor Horn and keyboardist Geoff Downes. They are best known for their 1979 debut single "Video Killed the Radio Star", which topped the UK Singles Chart ...
split. She convinced Horn to concentrate on music production, and arranged his first production deals with
Dollar
Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, U ...
and
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
.
In 1982 Sinclair and Horn founded
Perfect Songs
Perfect Songs is an independent music publishing company with a catalogue containing songs of the past 25 years.
It is part of the SPZ Group of companies, which also includes Sarm Studios (recording studios), ZTT Records, Stiff Records (record ...
, a publishing company.
Next year, together with ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' writer
Paul Morley
Paul Robert Morley is an English music journalist. He wrote for the ''New Musical Express'' from 1977 to 1983 and has since written for a wide range of publications as well as writing his own books. He was a co-founder of the record label ZTT Re ...
they founded
ZTT Records
ZTT Records is a British record label founded in 1983 by record producer Trevor Horn, Horn's wife and businesswoman Jill Sinclair, and ''New Musical Express'' (NME) journalist Paul Morley. The label's name was also stylised as ZANG TUMB TUUM and ...
which soon boomed into success. Sinclair became ZTT's managing director, while Paul Morley concentrated on marketing duties.
In the same year Sinclair and Horn acquired Basing Street Studios from
Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...
in exchange for distributing the ZTT label. The studio was renamed
Sarm West Studios
Sarm Studios is an independent recording studio in London. Originally founded in east London in 1973, the studio's original location was renamed Sarm East Studios in 1982 when Jill Sinclair and Trevor Horn purchased Basing Street Studios from Isl ...
.
ZTT's first major signing was
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English synth-pop band formed in Liverpool in 1980. The group's best-known line-up comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Peter Gill (drums, percussion), Mark O'Toole (bass guit ...
, whose hits "
Relax
Relax may refer to:
Aviation
* Roland Z-120 Relax, a German ultralight aircraft design for the 120 kg class
Music Albums
* ''Relax'' (Blank & Jones album), 2003
* ''Relax'' (Das Racist album), 2011
Songs
* "Relax" (song), a 1983 song by Fran ...
" and "
Two Tribes
"Two Tribes" is an anti-war song by British band Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the UK by ZTT Records on 4 June 1984. The song was later included on the album ''Welcome to the Pleasuredome''. Presenting a nihilistic, gleeful lyric ex ...
" were among the most influential and best-selling singles of the decade. It was the label's second single, Relax, that became the label's first number one in January 1984. Relax stayed in the Top 75 for a full year and ZTT was well and truly established. During the 1980s also
Grace Jones
Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...
and
Art of Noise
Art of Noise (also The Art of Noise) were an English avant-garde synth-pop group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn, and music ...
were ZTT acts to chart. In the early days, the label also helped to shape the very structure and format of pop music (its 12" remixes getting chart positions of their own and its T-shirts becoming the uniform of the 80s) and turned every aspect of the business of pop into entertainment.
in 1984, the Horn-Sinclair family businesses were reorganised as
SPZ Group SPZ may refer to:
* sporadic permafrost zone, see Permafrost.
* subparaventricular zone, a region of the hypothalamus critically involved in sleep/wake regulation
*Silver Springs Airport, Nevada, USA - FID code SPZ
*Springdale Municipal Airport, ...
, which then consisted of Sarm studios, Perfect Songs and ZTT records.
The latter part of the decade was eclipsed by the bitter legal battle between ZTT and
Holly Johnson
William Holly Johnson (born 9 February 1960) is an English artist, musician, and writer, best known as the lead vocalist of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, who achieved huge commercial success in the mid-1980s. Prior to that, in the late 1970s he was ...
who fought his way out of the strict, long recording agreement. Similarly, in disagreement, a few other ZTT artists, like
Art of Noise
Art of Noise (also The Art of Noise) were an English avant-garde synth-pop group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn, and music ...
and
Propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
left the label.
In 1987 her brother John moved to Israel to become a
rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
and has not been involved in the Sinclair family's music business since the 1990s. That same year, ZTT purchased the bankrupt
Stiff records
Stiff Records is a British independent record label formed in London, England, by Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. Originally active from 1976 to 1986, the label was reactivated in 2007.
Established at the outset of the punk rock boom, Stiff ...
.
During this time ZTT refocused on the emerging dance music scene. Manchester group
808 State
808 State are an English electronic music group formed in 1987 in Manchester, taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine. They were formed by Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson. They released their debut album, '' New ...
would reach the top 10 with their anthemic song
Pacific State and three other singles and one album during early nineties.
Seal
Seal may refer to any of the following:
Common uses
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...
was the next major ZTT act to emerge in 1990.
Personal life
Sinclair was born in London to a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family.
She married music producer
Trevor Horn
Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English music producer, label and recording studio owner, musician and composer. He is best known for his production work in the 1980s, and for being one half of the new wave band The Buggles (wit ...
in 1980 and they had four children; two sons, Aaron and William and two daughters, Gabriella and Alexandra. Aaron (known in the industry as "Aaron Audio"), like his father, is a musician and producer. He was formerly a member of the band,
Sam and the Womp
Sam and the Womp is a British pop group consisting of trumpeter Sam Ritchie and Dutch-born vocalist Bloem de Ligny, also known as Lady Oo. The band's music mixes traditional elements of Balkan music with modern dub and drum 'n' bass elements. ...
and frequently DJs around London. Both Aaron and Ally Horn are co-directors of Sarm Studios.
Accident, coma and death
On 25 June 2006, while at home from Goldsmiths College, University of London, Aaron was practising with his
air rifle
An air gun or airgun is a gun that fires projectiles pneumatically with compressed air or other gases that are mechanically pressurized ''without'' involving any chemical reactions, in contrast to a firearm, which pressurizes gases ''chem ...
, not realising his mother was close by. A 4.5 mm (.17 calibre) air gun pellet accidentally hit Sinclair in the neck, severing an artery and causing irreversible brain damage from
hypoxia
Hypoxia means a lower than normal level of oxygen, and may refer to:
Reduced or insufficient oxygen
* Hypoxia (environmental), abnormally low oxygen content of the specific environment
* Hypoxia (medical), abnormally low level of oxygen in the tis ...
, leaving only her lower brain functions and no chance for recovery.
["The Day the Music Died", by Chrissy Iley, ''Sunday Times Magazine'', 17 June 2012] She was taken to the
Royal Berkshire Hospital
The Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH) is a large NHS hospital in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It provides acute hospital services to the residents of the western and central portions of Berkshire, and is managed by the Ro ...
intensive care unit where her condition was described as "critical but stable". Communication from ZTT Records confirmed on 1 September 2006 that Jill was in a natural coma and had been moved to a rehabilitation centre. In September 2009, Horn told The Times that he preferred not to answer questions about his wife, but confirmed that she was still in a coma.
[Hodgkinson, Will (26 September 2009]
"Can Trevor Horn weave magic for Robbie Williams?"
''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
''.
In June 2012, Horn told The Sunday Times that his wife was not in a coma, but, "She cannot speak, move, or smile. The only expression she can show is of discomfort."
Sinclair died of cancer on 22 March 2014, aged 61.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair, Jill
1952 births
2014 deaths
British music industry executives
English Jews
ZTT Records
Deaths from cancer in England
20th-century English businesspeople