There is a widespread view that people who work for record labels don’t care about music. But actually, people here at Legacy are obsessed with music! So here is Sony Spotlight – an inside look at the people working within our label plus details about their stories, souvenirs and more!

Today we have Terry Summberbell who works in the Digital Creative Team…

WHAT WAS THE FIRST RECORD YOU EVER BOUGHT?

The first record I remember buying was the 1986 single ‘I Want To Wake Up With You’ by Boris Gardiner, at the age of 6, which I loved at the time but isn’t one I’ve returned to much over the last 30 years. The following year I received my first album, Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’, which I definitely have listened to many times since. All my records until about 1988 were on vinyl, after which cassette took over as my format of choice until 1994 when I bought my first CD: Pearl Jam’s ‘Vs.’

WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE SONY ARTIST AND WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SONG/ALBUM BY THEM?

My absolute favourite Sony Music artist is David Bowie. One of the first ever songs I remember hearing on the radio was ‘Let’s Dance’ when I was about 3 years old, and I recall dancing and singing to it using a plastic spoon as a mic. Bowie produced so much great material, but the albums Heroes, Station To Station and Hunky Dory are favourites. Two years ago my girlfriend and I did a David Bowie tour of Berlin, which I’d highly recommend.

WHAT’S THE FIRST AND BEST GIG YOU’VE BEEN TO?

The first ever gig I went to was Weezer at De Montfort University in Leicester, when I was about 15. The first major gig I went to was R.E.M at Milton Keynes Bowl in 1996, supported by Radiohead, which was amazing. Nine Inch Nails and Jane’s Addiction at the 02 a few years ago was fantastic. Spinal Tap at Wembley Arena was so good, I’ve probably seen the film about 50 times! Pearl Jam are great live, I’ve seen them twice but should have really seen them more.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE ALBUM?

It’s a very hard question, but there are a few that come to mind. Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ defined my early-mid teen years and really opened me up to a new raw emotional sound. Once I’d discovered Nirvana my tastes generally became heavier, which defined the music I listened to throughout my teens and twenties. Plus it influenced me to pick up the guitar seriously again after I’d let my earlier enthusiasm for playing wain a few years earlier.

Led Zeppelin ‘I’, ‘II’, ‘II’ and ‘IV’ would also be up there, and Pixies’ ‘Doolittle’ is another album I can’t live without. ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ is a fairly unoriginal choice, but is nevertheless up there too. In fact it was watching David Gilmore play live on TV when I was 10 years old that first got me into the guitar.

ANY STORIES YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE?

I’ve had a lot of fun and interesting experiences playing out live and touring with bands, and that’s really the bones of music – getting out there on the front line. Working at a label has been awesome too though because you turn up to work every day to contribute to an artist’s development and reward fans for their support. And there are so many great people working at Sony Music who love music, it’s a good environment to be in.

Oh, and Little Mix stole my biscuits. That will live with me forever.