RIP George Martin

Tough to argue: without George Martin there would be no Beatles:

When he first heard the band's demo he was unimpressed. But he liked their manager Brian Epstein, he really liked the lads, and he was on the look out for a band for his Parlophone label, which at that point was mainly producing comedy LPs.

So, he needed them. But they needed him a whole lot more. They were like an orchestra without a conductor: a group of individuals, not a band greater than the sum of its parts.

Sir George sorted that out. He was their creative inspiration, the person who shaped their sound and turned what was tantamount to a skiffle group into the most famous rock-n-roll band in the world.