Music producer Phil Spector appears in court during his murder trial in Los Angeles. Photo: ReutersRock producer Phil Spector, who changed the sound of pop music in the 1960s with his "Wall of Sound" recordings and was convicted of murder for the 2003 murder of a Hollywood actress, has died at age 81 of Covid-19, according to authorities and media reports. Spector was convicted of second-degree murder in a second trial, after the first trial deadlocked in 2007. His signature production technique was the "Wall of Sound," which layered pop and even classical instruments into a full, lush sound that was new to pop records. They scored a hit single in 1958 with a song titled after the inscription on his father's headstone: "To Know Him Is to Love Him."

Source: Otago Daily Times January 17, 2021 19:07 UTC