Born Michael Emile Telford Miller, the artist/scientist was taken to England in his late teens with the resolve of mastering the science of sound-engineering production, the Los Angeles Sentinel reports. But, as fate would have it, to validate his technical discoveries to his doubting college professors, in the early sixties he decided to produce his very first recording, “What do you want to make those eyes at me for?”
This record not only catapulted him into instant stardom – requiring the shortening of his name to “Emile Ford” – but it also quickly broke all kinds of records, including being entered into the “Guinness Book of Records” the same year it was released; and shortly afterwards, he was also awarded a Platinum disc.
Despite his extraordinary popularity as a performer, in later years, Emile returned to his first love: his relentless pursuit of finding the most correct technology essential for producing the ‘perfect sound.’ Through the years, names such as Pink Floyd, Michael Jackson, and many other well-known musicians also made use of his cutting-edge technology.
Ford was born in St Lucia on October 16, 1937: the son of Frederick Edward Miller (a politician of distinction in the Health and Social Services from 1956 to 1961) and Madge Murray (a concert and opera soprano). He was educated at St Mary’s College, Castries, St Lucia and came from a privileged family with earnest interests in music and all the arts; this was true of both his immediate-and-grandparents. On his mother’s side, his grandfather (Louie M. Murray) was a renaissance man and founder of St. Lucia’s first Philharmonic group; he was also its executive director and conductor between the years of 1902-1904. Similarly, Emile’s mother (the concert soprano) performed throughout the West Indies and Guyana, both live and on the air; and in 1954 she created a cultural organization and presented St Lucia’s first music talent-show at Clark’s Theatre. Madge Murray specifically founded this organization to help encourage St Lucia’s youth to be actively involved in all the arts. Prophetically, the show was entitled “Musicians of the Future.”
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