HUGH MENDLMusic producer Hugh Mendl - the man responsible for signing Genesis, Tommy Steele and David Bowie to Decca Records - died aged 88 on 7 July, 2008.In a career spanning 40 years, Mr Mendl made a massive but largely unsung contribution to the British music industry. As a producer, A&R man and label manager at Decca Records there was almost no area of the label’s work in which he was not involved.Born in London on 6 August, 1919, he was educated at University College, Oxford, but abandoned a planned career in the diplomatic service after falling in love with music. Instead, he started work in the post room at Decca Records - where his grandfather was Chairman - and then became assistant to the company secretary.The war intervened and Mr Mendl became known as 'The Voice of the Mediterranean' on British Armed Forces Radio, based in Palestine throughout World War Two.In 1945 he returned to Decca and by the 1950s he was the label's house producer.A big fan of jazz, Mr Mendl was a regular at the 100 Club in Oxford Street - centre of the young British jazz scene at that time. There he came across Chris Barber and his band, which included banjo player and singer Lonnie Donegan. He took them into the Decca studio in July 1954, and in the final half hour of the session they recorded Donegan singing Rock Island Line.It was more than a year before Rock Island Line was released as a single but when it was, the skiffle craze was born which in turn led to the birth of British rock’n’roll.Mr Mendl's next big signing was Tommy Steele - who he discovered singing in a Soho coffeee bar.His son Julian, from his first marriage, said: "It was once described to me that dad was to Decca what George Martin was to EMI."During the 1960s Mr Mendl was instrumental in signing up David Bowie, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers - who for a time included Eric Clapton - and Genesis.He also acted as executive producer on Days of Future Passed (1967) by the Moody Blues.In 1979 Mr Mendl, still a powerful figure at Decca, suffered a heart attack and after retiring, he moved to Devon and opened up an antique shop.Julian Mendl added: "He may have had an incredibly colourful life but the past 25 years, being married to Beverley, having their daughter Rebecca, now 16, and running his little antique shop were the happiest of his life. He used to spend his summers here in South Devon in the 1920s and always talked about retiring back to Devon. He loved it here, particularly the South Hams."He died in Torbay Hospital. He was also survived by two other children from his first marriage - Ginia and Charles Mendl.
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