Khalil Turk and
Barrie Kirtley found common ground in
the early eighties through a love of melodic rock. When they first spoke to each other on
the telephone it was only a short while into the conversation when it became very obvious
that their taste in music was identical and that there was a lot they could learn from
each other. Since that day the two regularly kept in touch and a strong bond of loyalty
ensued, the partnership of trust and respect had already begun.
Throughout the course of the eighties and into the early nineties
Khalil
and
Barrie regularly contributed to the melodic rock scene. When it lost
it's way in the late eighties to give way to grunge and such other forms of rock music,
they made sure that they made a massive contribution to keep it alive.
Barrie co-wrote
a fanzine called "
AOR Basement" in the late eighties and then
"
AOR Classics" in the early to mid nineties, both of which were
highly respected publications. He also made contributions to bigger magazines like "
Raw"
and "
Kerrang!" and helped unsigned artists gain recognition
through compilation albums.
On the other hand,
Khalil was very good at finding new talent and
bringing them to the attention of the melodic rock fraternity, regularly discovering new
bands that no-one
... read more
Khalil Turk and
Barrie Kirtley found common ground in
the early eighties through a love of melodic rock. When they first spoke to each other on
the telephone it was only a short while into the conversation when it became very obvious
that their taste in music was identical and that there was a lot they could learn from
each other. Since that day the two regularly kept in touch and a strong bond of loyalty
ensued, the partnership of trust and respect had already begun.
Throughout the course of the eighties and into the early nineties
Khalil
and
Barrie regularly contributed to the melodic rock scene. When it lost
it's way in the late eighties to give way to grunge and such other forms of rock music,
they made sure that they made a massive contribution to keep it alive.
Barrie co-wrote
a fanzine called "
AOR Basement" in the late eighties and then
"
AOR Classics" in the early to mid nineties, both of which were
highly respected publications. He also made contributions to bigger magazines like "
Raw"
and "
Kerrang!" and helped unsigned artists gain recognition
through compilation albums.
On the other hand,
Khalil was very good at finding new talent and
bringing them to the attention of the melodic rock fraternity, regularly discovering new
bands that no-one had previously been familiar with. His ability to find such new talent
became a strong talking point with many magazines and labels alike. So much so, that he
was recruited by German based
Long Island Records as an A & R
representative. He went on to secure the label's most successful signings, such as the
debut by Message (With
Richie Sambora
and
Alec Jon Such of
Bon Jovi), "Wide Open" by Heartland,
"Tormented" by
Marcie aka
Mark Free (King Kobra, Signal and Uruly Child)
,"Takin' It Back" by Robert Berry, the debut
by Phantom's Opera and "World on Fire" by Tour De Force.The
contact for Tour De Force was given to him by
Barrie, who had just
finished an exclusive interview with lead singer
Chali Cayte a few days
earlier.
Khalil also arranged the re-issue of the classic Paul Laine CD with bonus tracks and two albums by
favourites Bystander.
It became more and more obvious that there was a growing need for a record label to be
based in England, and so
Khalil and
Barrie decided to
start
Escape Music as a partnership. In 1994 the partnership agreement
was signed and, at first, the company imported and distributed independently produced
compact discs that were new to the record buying public. In particular the company won the
exclusive right to import CD's by Kansas member
Kerry Livgren and a Puerto Rican
group called Mattador. However, the two realised that the need for actually having
bands signed and arranging the recording of the music was their ultimate goal. The first
Escape
project was the recording of the third album by Heartland,
who have since released another two CD's on the label.
Escape Music Ltd was founded in August, 1996, and was a natural
progression from a successful partnership. The limited company is going from strength to
strength and the result of this success is reflected on these pages.
Khalil
and
Barrie are committed to quality and will settle for nothing less than
pure excellence. Their involvement with the recording of the CD's has become more than
just financial,
Khalil now oversees most recordings and acts as executive
producer, whilst
Barrie takes care of the smooth running of the company,
using his accountancy background to the full.
With this web site you can hear and see for yourself..........enjoy!
Khalil & Barrie
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