Timothy Charles Smith (3 July 196121 July 2020) was an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and music video director. Smith rose to prominence as the frontman of the rock band Cardiacs, which he co-founded with his brother Jim. Besides the Cardiacs discography, Smith also produced several records including The Sea Nymphs' debut album, his first solo LP Tim Smith's Extra Special OceanLandWorld, and the album Pony with Spratleys Japs. After having a cardiac arrest and multiple strokes in 2008, Smith was diagnosed with dystonia, putting Cardiacs on an indefinite hiatus. He slowly recovered with help of a JustGiving fundraising campaign, and in 2016 he released the Sea Nymphs' On the Dry Land. In 2018, Smith was honoured with the Doctor of Music degree from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, two years before his death in 2020. Early years: 1961–1977 Smith was born on 3 July 1961 in Carshalton, Surrey, England. He and his older brother Jim acquired an interest in music around 1972 from their neighbourhood friend Geoff Shelton buying an electric guitar. Jim Smith bought a bass guitar so that he and Geoff could play a blues riff together, while Smith owned a snare drum and would drum with them. The next year, Shelton lent Smith an LP on how to play the guitar, teaching him to play the G chord during a visit. Smith learnt the song "Frankie and Johnny", and played it whilst his mum sang. Around the same time, he heard a section on a record that "[made] his stomach go funny and [gave] him goosebumps". It changed his perception of music, and may have inspired the sound of his compositions. After that, Jim stopped playing bass until 1977. Some songs written by Smith at around age 13, notably "Interlude" from their debut album and "Billion" from Sing to God, would later be made into Cardiacs tracks. In an interview, Smith commented about his songs written at a young age: Smith attended Fleetwood Secondary School in Chessington with his friend Colvin Mayers. There, he met Mark Cawthra and Peter Tagg, who would later play in Cardiacs. In 1975, Smith and Cawthra formed an unnamed group with organist David Philpot. They played instrumentals inspired by Egg. The band never played live and Dave Philpot died a few years later. His miniKORG synthesiser was later inherited by Cardiacs. Cawthra was suspended from school and, after staying at the