The Carlton Club is a gentlemen's club in London which describes itself as the "oldest, most elite, and most important of all Conservative clubs." Membership of the club is by nomination and election only.

The club was founded in 1832, by Tory peers, MPs and gentlemen, as a place to coordinate party activity after the party's defeat over the First Reform Act. It later played a major role in the transformation of the Tory party into its modern form as the Conservative Party. The club lost its role as a central party office with the widening of the franchise after the Reform Act 1867, but remained the principal venue for key political discussions between Conservative ministers, MPs and party managers.

The club was formed at the Thatched House Tavern in 1832 and its first premises were in Carlton Terrace (provided by Lord Kensington), from which it drew its name. These premises quickly became too small. The second club house was situated next to the Reform Club in Pall Mall, London, and was purpose-built in 1835. It was replaced by a third club house on the same site in 1856.

Larry Carlton (born March 2, 1948, Torrance, California) is an American jazz, smooth jazz, jazz fusion, pop, and rock guitarist. He has divided his recording time between solo recordings and session appearances with various well-known bands. Over his career, Carlton has won four Grammy Awards for his performances and compositions, including performing on the theme song for the hit television series, Hill Street Blues (1981).

Carlton started learning to play guitar when he was six years old, studying under Slim Edwards near his Torrance home. Taking an interest in jazz while at high school, his playing style was influenced by Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery, Barney Kessel, and B.B. King. Saxophonist John Coltrane has also made a notable impression on Carlton, and Carlton's live albums have featured cuts from Miles Davis' Kind of Blue.

During the 1970s and early 1980s, Carlton was a session musician in Los Angeles, making up to five hundred recordings a year, including albums by Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, The Four Tops, Christopher Cross, Barbra Streisand, the Partridge Family, and Charly García's Clics Modernos. His guitar work on Steely Dan's "Kid Charlemagne" from their 1976 LP The Royal Scam has been listed as the third best guitar solo on record by Rolling Stone Magazine. From 1971 to 1976 he played with the jazz-rock group The Crusaders. In 1977 he signed with Warner Bros. Records for a solo career. In 1979 he played guitar on Michael Jackson's Off the Wall. Although still relatively unknown outside his fan-base, Carlton produced six albums from 1978 to 1984, during which his adaptation of Santo Farina's "Sleepwalk" climbed the pop and adult contemporary charts and his 1983 LP Friends garnered a Grammy nomination. In 1979, Carlton appeared on the Grammy award winning, self titled, debut album by Christopher Cross. Guitar great Eric Johnson also played on that same album.

Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 13, 2009)—known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was the inventor of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations. Although he was not the first to use the technique, his early experiments with overdubbing (also known as sound on sound),delay effects such as tape delay, phasing effects and multitrack recording were among the first to attract widespread attention.

His innovative talents extended into his playing style, including licks, trills, chording sequences, fretting techniques and timing, which set him apart from his contemporaries and inspired many guitarists of the present day. He recorded with his wife Mary Ford in the 1950s, and they sold millions of records.

Among his many honors, Paul is one of a handful of artists with a permanent, stand-alone exhibit in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is prominently named by the music museum on its website as an "architect" and a "key inductee" along with Sam Phillips and Alan Freed.

Peter McKenna (born 27 August 1946) is a former Australian rules footballer, who played 180 games and kicked 838 goals with the Collingwood Football Club between 1965 and 1975, where he spent the majority of his career. He continued to play in top senior leagues until 1980, with short stints at Devonport in the NWFU, Carlton in the VFL (where he played 11 games and scored 36 goals), and with Northcote and Geelong West in the VFA.

One of the best full-forwards ever, he holds the record for the longest sequence of matches in which he scored at least one goal: 120 matches. A mop-top hairstyle, genial grin and a gift for taking chest high marks won McKenna adulation in the 1960s and '70s as the game's first multimedia star. He continued a commentary role in the 1990s with Channel Seven.

Despite displaying an early preference for soccer over football, Peter McKenna ultimately developed into one of the greatest full forwards in the Australian code's history. Indeed, his youthful interest with the round ball game may actually have aided him in certain ways. Other champion goalkickers Ken Farmer, Frank Golding and Tony Modra, for instance, all shared McKenna's early passion — a comparative analysis of the sorts of skills required in the apparently dichotomous two activities might be instructive.

John William Crosbie Goold (born 27 June 1941) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Carlton in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s.

Goold was as a half back and played in two Carlton premiership sides. The first in 1968 saw him line up at centre half back and the second game two years later in the 1970 VFL Grand Final which would be his last league game. He represented Victoria at interstate football during his career, including 1966 when he wore the Big V at the Hobart Carnival and earned All-Australian selection as well as finishing second in the Tassie Medal voting. He also polled well in that year's Brownlow Medal, finishing in eighth place.