1 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:12,560 Speaker 1: Welcome, Welcome, Welcome back to the Bob Left SATs podcast. 2 00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:19,160 Speaker 1: My guest today is manager agent drummer Ed mcnell ed. 3 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:21,920 Speaker 1: Tell me about the first time you saw a dire street. 4 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:30,120 Speaker 2: That was on December the thirteenth, nineteen seventy seven. It 5 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:32,360 Speaker 2: was just a small club in North London, in a 6 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 2: part of town called Camden, at a club called Dingwalls. 7 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:42,040 Speaker 2: I had been I was at the time. I was 8 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:47,159 Speaker 2: an agent. I was representing, amongst others, all of Seymour 9 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:52,240 Speaker 2: Stein's acts bless him. And I had a Talking Heads 10 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 2: tour coming up in January seventy eight for which I 11 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 2: needed an opening act. I had fifty English pounds to 12 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:06,400 Speaker 2: ben and which in current money would be about fifty 13 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 2: one pounds. And I had had a phone call from 14 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:17,680 Speaker 2: a guy called John Stains, who was the A and 15 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 2: R guy at Phonogram in the UK, who I knew 16 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 2: just through you know, being in the agency business and 17 00:01:25,959 --> 00:01:27,959 Speaker 2: so on. And he called me up and he said 18 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:33,480 Speaker 2: I've just signed a band called Diastraits, to which my 19 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 2: first reaction, instantly, spontaneously was what a terrible name. And 20 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:44,080 Speaker 2: he says, how fucking hell be serious? I said, I 21 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:49,520 Speaker 2: am being serious. It's a terrible name, but he's pushed. 22 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:51,760 Speaker 2: He pushed me like a good an R guy should, 23 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:56,000 Speaker 2: and long story shot, I ended up going with him 24 00:01:56,480 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 2: to an incredibly cheap and greasy kibab how in North London, 25 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 2: followed by walking across the road to ding Walls. I 26 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:12,080 Speaker 2: walked into the venue, which was maybe a third full, 27 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,919 Speaker 2: and they were playing down to the Waterline, which ended 28 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 2: up on the first album. And I the first thing, 29 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 2: I was able to stand quite close to them because 30 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:29,520 Speaker 2: they were not very loud. At the time. I was booking, 31 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 2: amongst other acts, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, and I 32 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:39,320 Speaker 2: was used to Black Sabbath and Deep Purple volume levels 33 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:44,640 Speaker 2: and Dastrets were pretty quiet. And the second thing I 34 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:48,920 Speaker 2: noticed was that Martinoffler was playing a red Fender stratocastic guitar. 35 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:54,359 Speaker 2: The same guitar had been played by a guitarist called 36 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:57,359 Speaker 2: Hank Marvin who'd been in a band called The Shadows. 37 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 2: They were Cliff Richard's backing band and then they became 38 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 2: a band on their own. They had a whole string 39 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:10,120 Speaker 2: of hits with instrumentals. I've always been very fond of 40 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:18,000 Speaker 2: instrumentals for some reason, and a combination of that guitar, 41 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:23,359 Speaker 2: the and the what what they were what they were performing, 42 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 2: I mean the songs basically almost immediately kind of got 43 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 2: me hooked. And remember I was looking for a support 44 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:38,280 Speaker 2: band for the Talking Heads. I was not considering getting 45 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 2: into management, although I was dealing with a large number 46 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 2: of managers who were completely incompetent. So I thought, well, 47 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 2: if they can do it, I can do this. So 48 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:55,800 Speaker 2: I went. I met them after the show, asked them 49 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 2: if they'd like to come into my office the next day. 50 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:01,280 Speaker 2: I was sharing my office with another agent. I got 51 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:04,840 Speaker 2: him to move out of the office. He thought I 52 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:07,840 Speaker 2: just meant him. I didn't. I met his desk, his chairs, 53 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 2: filing cabinets and everything, and I arranged my rearrange my 54 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 2: office to make it look like it was extremely large 55 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 2: and I was very, very, very important. And when the 56 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:27,000 Speaker 2: guys came in, I got the receptionist to keep buzzing me, 57 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:30,159 Speaker 2: and I said, to whatever I say, you just keep 58 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:33,520 Speaker 2: buzzing me until I tell you to stop. So the 59 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,160 Speaker 2: three of them, because they picked the drummer, didn't come 60 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:39,120 Speaker 2: to meetings. So the three of them, the two and 61 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:42,800 Speaker 2: Offler brothers and John Illesley sat down on a kind 62 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:47,000 Speaker 2: of seating thing, and my phone went and I immediately 63 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:49,160 Speaker 2: grabbed it and I just there was nobody on the 64 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:51,279 Speaker 2: other end, and I just said, tell him I want 65 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:56,240 Speaker 2: ten grand and slammed it down. Oh. I should say 66 00:04:56,279 --> 00:04:59,720 Speaker 2: also that I was working at a company called NAMS, 67 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:07,480 Speaker 2: which was Brian Epstein's old company he had long since past, unfortunately, 68 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 2: but it did mean that we had a lot of 69 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:13,719 Speaker 2: Beetles and other type of golden platinum records in the basement. 70 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 2: So in the intermediate period, I'd gone downstairs and I've 71 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 2: got a whole load of these and put them up 72 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:24,000 Speaker 2: on my wall, added a couple of purple discs and 73 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:26,360 Speaker 2: some of the people we were representing to make it 74 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 2: look like I had something to do with them, when 75 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:35,040 Speaker 2: in fact I didn't. And every time I took one 76 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:37,279 Speaker 2: of these phone calls, I could see the guys looking 77 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 2: at these records and pointing to you know, a gold 78 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:43,039 Speaker 2: disc for I want to hold your hand or something, 79 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:49,360 Speaker 2: and whispering to each other. And I basically went through 80 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:53,479 Speaker 2: series of questions, have you got any money? No? Have 81 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,800 Speaker 2: you got a van? No? Have you got any gear? No? 82 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:04,280 Speaker 2: Have you got a roadie? Kind of okay, talking Heads 83 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:08,440 Speaker 2: tour fifty pounds a night, twenty three shows January next year. 84 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 2: Do you want to do it? And Mark, quite I 85 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:21,800 Speaker 2: thought intelligently, did not immediately go yes and jump into it. 86 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:24,560 Speaker 2: He asked if he could hear some of their music, 87 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:28,919 Speaker 2: because at that point they had done one tour of 88 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:34,360 Speaker 2: the UK and Europe, which I'd set up the previous June. 89 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:41,680 Speaker 2: Excuse me and the talk with the Ramones. That's right, 90 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 2: So the Talking Heads were not known. They were known 91 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:49,520 Speaker 2: to the people who were into the kind of new 92 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:53,120 Speaker 2: wave thing, but that was really only starting. That would 93 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:57,320 Speaker 2: have been seventy six, so this was late seventy seven. Anyway, 94 00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:00,960 Speaker 2: they took the record away. He called me up that 95 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:03,200 Speaker 2: evening and he said, yeah, we'd like to do it, 96 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:06,360 Speaker 2: and so I put them on that tour. I got 97 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:12,000 Speaker 2: them guessed billing I had. I paid the Talking Head 98 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:14,760 Speaker 2: sound man, who I'd hired anyway, for an extra five 99 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:20,720 Speaker 2: pounds to do their sound. I we didn't have any lights. 100 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:23,640 Speaker 2: We just had white light, which was what the Talking 101 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:28,600 Speaker 2: Heads wanted anyway, and it was everybody rode in the 102 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:33,040 Speaker 2: same van. They all met outside the hotel in London 103 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:36,960 Speaker 2: on the first day and both bands got on really well, 104 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:41,480 Speaker 2: and it worked musically really really well. That might not 105 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:45,400 Speaker 2: be obvious to some of your listeners, but it did 106 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:50,280 Speaker 2: blend together. And they're talking Airs of course weren't a 107 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:56,640 Speaker 2: punk band. They'd been kind of thrown into that box 108 00:07:56,800 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 2: because they were on Sire Records, but they weren't really 109 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 2: they want thought of as a punk band, and we 110 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:06,280 Speaker 2: hadn't really invented the words new wave at that point. 111 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 2: So they did twenty three shows in twenty four days, 112 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:18,280 Speaker 2: which is how I always toured bands. They were still 113 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:21,400 Speaker 2: doing twenty three in twenty four when they broke up. 114 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:26,080 Speaker 2: Why they broke up? Had they got an on call 115 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:30,360 Speaker 2: us every night? They got great press. The two bands 116 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:33,280 Speaker 2: got on really great. They used to do a jam 117 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:35,840 Speaker 2: on take Me to the River, the Al Green's song 118 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:39,839 Speaker 2: at the end. And while they were on that tour 119 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:46,680 Speaker 2: Phonogram John Stains, the A and R guy I mentioned 120 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:51,320 Speaker 2: he'd set about trying to find a record producer for 121 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:54,920 Speaker 2: the first Stars Traits album, and of course Darstrets were 122 00:08:54,920 --> 00:09:00,840 Speaker 2: completely unknown. There were two people who were interested. One 123 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:04,520 Speaker 2: was a guitar player called Pete Gage who'd been with 124 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:08,679 Speaker 2: a sol band, British sol band called Gina Washington and 125 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:13,760 Speaker 2: the Ramjam Band, and the other was Muff Windward, brother 126 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:17,760 Speaker 2: of Steve, as he would tell every girl who came 127 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:26,600 Speaker 2: into the control room. And there was a funny little 128 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:30,680 Speaker 2: thing went on. The way that the record deal was 129 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:33,199 Speaker 2: set up, because it had been done before I came 130 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 2: into the picture by the band's then lawyer, was that 131 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:44,680 Speaker 2: they got on advance, which was okay, nothing spectacular. The 132 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:47,400 Speaker 2: rules is were not very good. They got seven and 133 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 2: a half percent in what were called the major markets, 134 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:57,000 Speaker 2: and they got six percent in the minor markets. And 135 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:01,720 Speaker 2: Phonogram paid the record producer. And I'll tell you a 136 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:04,959 Speaker 2: short story which will embarrass Muff if he's watching this. 137 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:14,680 Speaker 2: Muff did a deal with business affairs Phonogram for a 138 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:22,600 Speaker 2: two percent royalty and twenty five hundred pounds advance. And 139 00:10:22,679 --> 00:10:25,360 Speaker 2: about two days before the record started, he called me 140 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:28,720 Speaker 2: up and he said, I'm not very happy about my deal, 141 00:10:29,679 --> 00:10:33,080 Speaker 2: and I went, really, just you know, and he said, 142 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:37,120 Speaker 2: I said, how can I make you happy? Muff? And 143 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:41,120 Speaker 2: he said, well, you know, I'd like some kind of 144 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:45,280 Speaker 2: an increase. I said, well, actually that's the responsibility of 145 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:47,240 Speaker 2: the record company, but let me see what I can do. 146 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:49,360 Speaker 2: So I put the phone down and without ringing the 147 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:52,920 Speaker 2: record company. I waited for about ten minutes and I 148 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:56,280 Speaker 2: called him back and I said, okay, you can have 149 00:10:56,559 --> 00:10:59,720 Speaker 2: I could get you either an extra half a percent 150 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:04,920 Speaker 2: or five hundred pounds, and he took the five hundred 151 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:11,920 Speaker 2: pounds and the record sold fifteen million. But I have 152 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:19,520 Speaker 2: to say he was very gentlemanly about it. In fact, 153 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 2: he was actually on a two week break. He was 154 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:25,400 Speaker 2: leaving Island Records, where it was running A and R 155 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:29,120 Speaker 2: to move over to what was then CBS where he 156 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:31,560 Speaker 2: was going to be running A and R there, and 157 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:34,400 Speaker 2: he managed in that two weeks he did the whole 158 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:37,600 Speaker 2: of the Dastrets record and half of an album for 159 00:11:37,679 --> 00:11:38,360 Speaker 2: somebody else. 160 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:44,360 Speaker 1: Okay, when you go to see Dire Streets to decide 161 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:47,240 Speaker 1: whether they're going to be on the Talking Heads tour? A, 162 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:51,520 Speaker 1: do they have a manager? B? How do you become 163 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:52,240 Speaker 1: the manager? 164 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:56,320 Speaker 2: Answered the first half of that question. No, they didn't. 165 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:01,040 Speaker 2: Robert Allen, who was the lawyer that they had at 166 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:08,439 Speaker 2: the time, had approached the big name managers, Steve A. 167 00:12:08,559 --> 00:12:10,720 Speaker 2: Rock for instance, the late Steve A. Rook who was 168 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:15,400 Speaker 2: managing Pink Floyd. I can't remember who the others were 169 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:19,320 Speaker 2: and of course they all said, because anybody who approaches 170 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 2: a big name manager, the big name manager is a 171 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:25,479 Speaker 2: big name manager because he has a big name act. 172 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:29,160 Speaker 2: But that also means that he probably doesn't have very 173 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:34,439 Speaker 2: much time, or he's got other baby acts that he's 174 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:37,760 Speaker 2: trying to bring through. And that was the case with everybody, 175 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:41,440 Speaker 2: and they all basically said to Robert, you know, bog Off, Robert, 176 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:45,440 Speaker 2: we don't want your POxy little group. Because of their name, 177 00:12:45,559 --> 00:12:47,880 Speaker 2: because of the name Darstras, everybody thought they were a 178 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:54,680 Speaker 2: punk group. They had done a demo of four songs 179 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:59,760 Speaker 2: with a London DJ called Charlie Gillert. Sorry, they've done 180 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:04,120 Speaker 2: the the demo themselves and Charlie had played it on 181 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:11,080 Speaker 2: his London radio show. That was the only exposure they'd had. So, no, 182 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:13,959 Speaker 2: they didn't have a manager. They were at the point 183 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:17,480 Speaker 2: where they needed one. I mean they kind of in fact, 184 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:19,280 Speaker 2: in some ways they could have. It would have been 185 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:22,000 Speaker 2: better off if I got involved a bit earlier, but 186 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:29,880 Speaker 2: that wasn't the way it worked. And they No, they 187 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:34,400 Speaker 2: didn't have a manager and they were but the good 188 00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:37,200 Speaker 2: thing about them was that they everything was kind of 189 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 2: in place. They had a publishing deal with Almo Irving 190 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:45,960 Speaker 2: or Rondo music as it's called over here, which although everybody, 191 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 2: all four of them, Robert had got them a published, 192 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:51,600 Speaker 2: each one of them a publishing thing to keep the 193 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:57,600 Speaker 2: politics good happy between them, but that really only meant 194 00:13:57,640 --> 00:14:02,880 Speaker 2: mark in practice. They had this record deal. They didn't 195 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:07,240 Speaker 2: have a record deal for North America, which was quite important. 196 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:12,079 Speaker 1: Hey, what motivated the record deal? This is a band 197 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:14,520 Speaker 1: with no manager, no thing. How did they get the 198 00:14:14,559 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 1: record deal? And why was Warner Brothers not included in 199 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:19,120 Speaker 1: the Phonogram deal? 200 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:25,600 Speaker 2: Okay, the record deal came about because the four track demo. 201 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:27,880 Speaker 2: What happened was they made this four track demo in 202 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:31,440 Speaker 2: a little studio in North London with an engineer called 203 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:35,640 Speaker 2: Chas Herrington, who I later asked to become our lighting director, 204 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:39,280 Speaker 2: and he became a lighting man and he's a fantastic 205 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:45,720 Speaker 2: lighting guy. And John Illsley, the bass player, who was 206 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:48,880 Speaker 2: very much the organizer of the band at that point, 207 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:55,280 Speaker 2: he took that demo round to Charlie's house and delivered 208 00:14:55,320 --> 00:15:01,680 Speaker 2: it one morning and Charlie played it at home, thought 209 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:04,200 Speaker 2: it was great. The songs on it were saltless, a 210 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:08,160 Speaker 2: swing down to the waterline, wild West End, and a 211 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:11,440 Speaker 2: song called Sacred Loving that they didn't record in the end, 212 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:18,280 Speaker 2: and Charlie played it on his radio show. And Charlie's 213 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:21,880 Speaker 2: radio show was a kind of arbiter of taste if 214 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 2: you like. It wasn't like Radio one, BBC or anything 215 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:29,440 Speaker 2: like that. So a lot of people in the business 216 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:34,360 Speaker 2: who were music fans, including John Stains, would listen to this, 217 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:39,120 Speaker 2: and John heard it. Several other people did and on 218 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:41,920 Speaker 2: the Monday we went out on a Saturday, and on 219 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:44,880 Speaker 2: the Monday morning, Rob Allen starts getting phone calls from 220 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:49,000 Speaker 2: A and R guys saying, who's this band you just played? 221 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:54,360 Speaker 2: Everybody thought they were American. Nobody knew anything about them, 222 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:58,800 Speaker 2: and it kind of got into something that I never 223 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:02,440 Speaker 2: did as part of my practice, but it became a 224 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:06,880 Speaker 2: bit of a bidding war. Chris Blackwell, who's quite a 225 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:09,440 Speaker 2: good friend of mine, told me a great story about 226 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:12,520 Speaker 2: how he was invited to see them because his A 227 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:15,080 Speaker 2: and R guy was Chap called at Howard Thompson wanted 228 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:19,560 Speaker 2: to sign them very badly. So Chris went to see 229 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:23,040 Speaker 2: them at some other pub gig in London and halfway 230 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:26,760 Speaker 2: down the staircase into the basement, he was stopped by 231 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:30,080 Speaker 2: somebody he knew who dragged him to the bar, and 232 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:34,960 Speaker 2: he never saw them and he missed out. Richard Branson 233 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:39,760 Speaker 2: invited them to lunch, and during the kind of the 234 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:46,040 Speaker 2: coffee and dessert bit, various personnel from Virgin came out 235 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:49,880 Speaker 2: in this restaurant and presented the group with plates of 236 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:56,080 Speaker 2: ready roll joints. And none of them smoked weed, and 237 00:16:56,160 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 2: in fact they were quite anti So that screwed it 238 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:06,359 Speaker 2: for Vergin. It's amazing how little things like that and 239 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:11,880 Speaker 2: what's happened at the time as the Phonogram once they 240 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:16,960 Speaker 2: decided to go. The band had decided to go with Phonogram, 241 00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:25,520 Speaker 2: and Robert was brokering the financial details. Everybody, well not 242 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:28,680 Speaker 2: the group guys because they didn't know, but everybody else 243 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:35,120 Speaker 2: decided that the American the PolyGram operation in America was 244 00:17:35,359 --> 00:17:40,359 Speaker 2: not really happening, and a clause was put in of 245 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:48,640 Speaker 2: which I was to make enormous play that if RSO 246 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:54,119 Speaker 2: passed on the group, the rights to place the American 247 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:59,280 Speaker 2: deal would revert to the band, which went me, who 248 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:03,400 Speaker 2: had never read record agreement, done alone, done a record deal. 249 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:08,399 Speaker 2: And RSO passed Because this was nineteen seventy seven and 250 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:13,320 Speaker 2: they were right on the cusp of Robert Stigwood's you 251 00:18:13,359 --> 00:18:21,000 Speaker 2: know all of that, and thank goodness, that's what That's 252 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:21,600 Speaker 2: what happened. 253 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:21,960 Speaker 1: I did. 254 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:27,560 Speaker 2: I was subjected some time later, before the Wallers deal 255 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:31,600 Speaker 2: was actually signed. I was somebody dead attempt to bribe 256 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:35,159 Speaker 2: me who had been sent by PolyGram, who took me 257 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:37,720 Speaker 2: into a jacuzzie in Los Angeles and offered me one 258 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:43,040 Speaker 2: hundred thousand dollars if the band would quote forget about 259 00:18:43,119 --> 00:18:47,080 Speaker 2: that clause, and I just fled. 260 00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:59,000 Speaker 1: Okay, So one thing at one time, RSO passes. How 261 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:01,359 Speaker 1: do you end up at Warner Brothers as opposed to 262 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:02,760 Speaker 1: Columbia or anything else? 263 00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:07,200 Speaker 2: Well, well you're very close because the other competing label 264 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:14,000 Speaker 2: was Columbia. What happened to this is such a long story. 265 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:19,960 Speaker 2: There were two ladies, sadly both gone deceased now at 266 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:24,400 Speaker 2: Warner Brothers, Karen Berg on the East coast and ROBERTA. 267 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:29,840 Speaker 2: Peterson on the West coast. An unbeknownst to anybody, including 268 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:36,760 Speaker 2: both of them, each of those girls heard this record 269 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:40,760 Speaker 2: or heard about this band. Karen came over to London, 270 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:45,440 Speaker 2: went to see them at a club we had here 271 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:54,240 Speaker 2: called the Nashville and Roberta. I think Roberta. I don't 272 00:19:54,240 --> 00:20:01,520 Speaker 2: remember how Roberta got onto it, but they I didn't 273 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:04,000 Speaker 2: know either of these people, and I didn't know that 274 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:09,280 Speaker 2: they were interested. At that particular moment we started getting 275 00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:15,800 Speaker 2: interest from Columbia. I don't remember who the A and 276 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:19,480 Speaker 2: R person was, and I think there might have been 277 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:21,840 Speaker 2: some other labels for some reason. I've got A and 278 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:24,200 Speaker 2: M in my mind, and they would have been a 279 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:26,920 Speaker 2: very kind of A and M type of act, and 280 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:29,320 Speaker 2: of course A and M. But I remember A and 281 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:31,520 Speaker 2: M have of course had got picked up the publishing 282 00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:34,640 Speaker 2: or Jerry Boss knew of them through that. 283 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:36,840 Speaker 1: And. 284 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:47,720 Speaker 2: Mark and I flew over to Los Angeles in the summer, 285 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:53,320 Speaker 2: must have been about they had after the Talking Heads tour. 286 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:57,000 Speaker 2: I just kept them working for two reasons. One they 287 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:01,200 Speaker 2: had no money and secondly, they need to play. They 288 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:05,639 Speaker 2: needed to play live. So I had them doing stuff 289 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:08,719 Speaker 2: that was ridiculous. I mean they opened for Sticks of 290 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:12,560 Speaker 2: all People, which was just ridiculous, but didn't matter. They 291 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:16,120 Speaker 2: got to play for an hour, and they started doing 292 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:19,120 Speaker 2: their own shows, and in June of nineteen seventy eight 293 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:22,720 Speaker 2: they did their first headlining tour of Britain, which was 294 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:26,640 Speaker 2: college's kind of town halls, which held about two thousand people. 295 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:31,920 Speaker 2: The Marquee Club in London got them a residency there 296 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:36,960 Speaker 2: and they got a really good buzz going. In June 297 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:40,520 Speaker 2: of seventy eight, that first album was released in the 298 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:46,119 Speaker 2: UK and not at that point in the rest of 299 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:50,760 Speaker 2: the world territories, and Mark and I came over to 300 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:55,840 Speaker 2: the States in I think it was July seventy eight 301 00:21:55,920 --> 00:22:01,159 Speaker 2: to meet This whole thing was out of time with itself, 302 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:06,320 Speaker 2: because by July seventy eight we were already looking at 303 00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:11,400 Speaker 2: album number two, because he'd already written a bunch of songs, 304 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:14,000 Speaker 2: and there were one or two songs which had not 305 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:24,119 Speaker 2: made it onto the first record. And Karen Berg was 306 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:27,400 Speaker 2: working on the in the East Coast office of Warner Brothers. 307 00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:33,040 Speaker 2: And the person who, at least in his own mind, 308 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:35,680 Speaker 2: was running the East Coast office, but he wasn't really 309 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:41,040 Speaker 2: was Jerry Wexler. And Jerry Wexler heard this record being 310 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:44,200 Speaker 2: played in the offices. And one thing I'll say about 311 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:51,240 Speaker 2: Jerry Wexler is he could spot a dime at five 312 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:56,240 Speaker 2: miles and he very quickly jumped onto this and Mark 313 00:22:56,280 --> 00:23:02,320 Speaker 2: and I went to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, for what for 314 00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:06,160 Speaker 2: us was an absolutely thrilling trip. I mean, we get 315 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:09,800 Speaker 2: there and Wexler, we had not met, we meet him. 316 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:13,760 Speaker 2: He comes and we're putt in a we're put in 317 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:17,640 Speaker 2: a We're put in a motel that must have cost 318 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:21,840 Speaker 2: one dollar fifty a night. I remember my bed was 319 00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:26,800 Speaker 2: padlocked to the floor. Each leg of the bed had 320 00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:29,960 Speaker 2: a padlock chained to a lump of concrete to stop 321 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:36,320 Speaker 2: anybody pinching the bed. Wexler arrived the following morning, met 322 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:40,360 Speaker 2: us immediately took us off to a southern road stop 323 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:44,919 Speaker 2: where I remember that the waitress was wearing takeaway bags 324 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:53,000 Speaker 2: on her feet, and he he took us off to 325 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:57,320 Speaker 2: the studio and he was recording Mavis Staples and we 326 00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:03,480 Speaker 2: are like, holy shit shit, And of course the guys, 327 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:11,400 Speaker 2: the musicians were the swampers. There was David Hurd, Barry Beckett, 328 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:21,280 Speaker 2: Jimmy Johnson, and the next day Pop Staples flew down 329 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:26,119 Speaker 2: from Chicago, and I remember going out to pick up 330 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:33,320 Speaker 2: Pops at the airport with Wexler and Mark and we 331 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:36,760 Speaker 2: went back to the studio and they were recording J. J. 332 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:44,160 Speaker 2: Kale's Lies and Wexler, ever the opportunist bless him, invited 333 00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:46,399 Speaker 2: Mark to play with these guys. Mark had never done 334 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:48,960 Speaker 2: a session in his life. I mean, he was completely, like, 335 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:56,560 Speaker 2: totally gibbering with terror. And they didn't use court notes. 336 00:24:56,760 --> 00:24:59,480 Speaker 2: They had this numbers system, whether you know what that 337 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:03,919 Speaker 2: is in muscle. In that studio, a number represented a chord, 338 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:09,679 Speaker 2: So you might have six, five, eleven, twelve nine written 339 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:12,639 Speaker 2: on the sheet of paper and given to you. And 340 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:14,680 Speaker 2: Mark's looking at a set of numbers. He just look 341 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:20,320 Speaker 2: what they are. But he knew the song obviously. And 342 00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:23,640 Speaker 2: I remember thereafter the couple of takes, Pops walked out 343 00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:28,040 Speaker 2: into the studio and he actually put his face within 344 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:32,800 Speaker 2: about two inches from Mark's face and just stared at him. 345 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:36,679 Speaker 2: And I said to Wexler, what's what's going on? And 346 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:44,000 Speaker 2: Wesley goes, he likes him. So we did that record Mayvi. 347 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:47,520 Speaker 2: This was great. Unfortunately Mayvis had a bit of a complaint. 348 00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:50,520 Speaker 2: She had a weak bladder, so she kept going to 349 00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:54,600 Speaker 2: the bathroom, and of course, being English, we assumed that 350 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:57,760 Speaker 2: she had a massive cocaine problem, when in fact, as 351 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:02,520 Speaker 2: she explained to the two of us, the law the 352 00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:07,080 Speaker 2: Lord gave me a problem in that department but we 353 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:10,720 Speaker 2: did that record. I can't even remember if Mark's credited 354 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:14,359 Speaker 2: on it. And we hung out with everybody for about 355 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:22,479 Speaker 2: ten days. Fantastic fun. I remember Bobby Womac showed up. 356 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:24,960 Speaker 2: I had done a tour with Bobby Womack about two 357 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:29,480 Speaker 2: years previously of Europe, and he showed up with his 358 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:33,520 Speaker 2: new wife, whose name was well, the way he pronounced 359 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:40,600 Speaker 2: it was Vagina, and he meant Virginia, but he didn't pronounce. 360 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:44,640 Speaker 2: He kept calling this as my new watch, She's called Vagina, 361 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:49,200 Speaker 2: and everybody in the room was just it was everything 362 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:53,760 Speaker 2: was a laugh. We were staying at a crap motel. 363 00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:56,879 Speaker 2: The swimming pool was empty and it was full of 364 00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:03,560 Speaker 2: shopping baskets had been thrown in there. But we love 365 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:06,760 Speaker 2: the South, loved that part of the country, loved the people. 366 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:16,439 Speaker 2: We got very friendly with Barry Beckett, and we flew 367 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:22,399 Speaker 2: on to Los Angeles, stayed stayed at the Riot House, 368 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:28,960 Speaker 2: and I Mark wasn't really he had he didn't have 369 00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:35,160 Speaker 2: much to do, but I was having meetings principally with Warners, 370 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:39,480 Speaker 2: and I can remember going up there with one copy 371 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:44,800 Speaker 2: of the album in the vinyl copy under my arm, 372 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:49,800 Speaker 2: and I had bullshitted my way in to see ma Austin. 373 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:53,080 Speaker 2: I'd never met Mo in my life, and I just 374 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:58,000 Speaker 2: bbbbbing got in and he said to me, I'll never 375 00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:01,719 Speaker 2: forget it, and he was so I grew to really 376 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:07,080 Speaker 2: have huge respect for great liking. He said, I don't 377 00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:10,040 Speaker 2: know anything about music, Go and see THEA and R Department, 378 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:14,199 Speaker 2: which of course he definitely did know about music, but 379 00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:19,200 Speaker 2: it was probably a bit more Frank Sinatra and Dean 380 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:23,040 Speaker 2: than it was, you know, although he'd been involved in 381 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:26,600 Speaker 2: signing those acts from the Monterey Festival, like Jimi Hendrix 382 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:30,680 Speaker 2: and some And he picked up the phone and he 383 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:33,800 Speaker 2: rang somebody and that turned out to be Roberta. So 384 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:37,199 Speaker 2: I was sent down to see Roberta. And there was 385 00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:43,120 Speaker 2: this little blonde girl sitting in an office which had 386 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:48,400 Speaker 2: more palm trees and plants than I'd ever seen in 387 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:53,960 Speaker 2: my life. She's got the requisite California tan. I give 388 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:57,920 Speaker 2: her a record and it was kind of a bit 389 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:00,600 Speaker 2: spinal tap because she put it on and cranked the 390 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:05,280 Speaker 2: volume up to eleven and I'm sitting there and my 391 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:09,880 Speaker 2: hair is kind of the wind and she played the 392 00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:13,000 Speaker 2: whole of the first side, flipped it over and played 393 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:15,640 Speaker 2: the whole of the second side, and she told me 394 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:20,440 Speaker 2: later that she was so excited by it, but she 395 00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:23,280 Speaker 2: didn't want to let on to me because she didn't 396 00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:28,240 Speaker 2: know anything about the deal or the politics or anything. 397 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:31,440 Speaker 2: But the one thing that she forgot was that she 398 00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:34,440 Speaker 2: was tapping. I could see her feet tapping like mad 399 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:40,000 Speaker 2: under her desk. And she said to me, where are 400 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:42,880 Speaker 2: you staying? And I said, we're staying at the Hiat 401 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:48,960 Speaker 2: and that caused a huge smile to appear, and then 402 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:52,320 Speaker 2: she said, can I keep this copy? I'd like to 403 00:29:52,360 --> 00:29:56,760 Speaker 2: play it to some other people. I should point out 404 00:29:56,760 --> 00:30:01,280 Speaker 2: at this point that she didn't know that Karen Berg 405 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:08,800 Speaker 2: was already onto this, and I didn't know that, so 406 00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:13,320 Speaker 2: I'm thinking, yeah, sure, of course you could keep it. 407 00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:16,200 Speaker 2: And I said, she said, how long are you in 408 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:20,160 Speaker 2: town for? I said, how long do you need? You know, whatever? 409 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:24,840 Speaker 2: And I went back to the hotel and Mark and 410 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:30,200 Speaker 2: I went and celebrated in the Highat coffee shop, and 411 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:37,959 Speaker 2: very quickly after that, it was like the snowball coming 412 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:44,920 Speaker 2: down the mountain picking up snow. And all musicians are effected. 413 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:48,160 Speaker 2: Anybody who plays an instrument is by definition to me 414 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:54,200 Speaker 2: a musical snob. And we were musical snobs. Warner Brothers 415 00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:58,480 Speaker 2: had Van Morrison, they were just about to release that 416 00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:04,040 Speaker 2: first Ricky Lee Jones good. They just signed Van Halen. 417 00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:08,760 Speaker 2: I can't remember the other kinds of acts you were, 418 00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:11,200 Speaker 2: the kind of acts that Lenny Warneker would work with 419 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:14,080 Speaker 2: or people like that. They were kind of like our 420 00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:20,160 Speaker 2: kind of thing. And Columbia, well, first of all, they 421 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:22,600 Speaker 2: were based in New York and we didn't know any 422 00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:25,760 Speaker 2: plans to go to New York. And I had had 423 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:30,560 Speaker 2: dealings with Columbia in the UK and this is back then, 424 00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:34,640 Speaker 2: and they were a pain in the arse. They were bureaucratic. 425 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:42,920 Speaker 2: They were just difficult to deal with. Everything was signing 426 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:45,760 Speaker 2: a bit of paper, getting a memo, doing all of 427 00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:54,200 Speaker 2: that kind of stuff. And the band. We had to 428 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:56,680 Speaker 2: get back to England because the band were doing their 429 00:31:56,800 --> 00:32:01,840 Speaker 2: first trip to Europe, which turned out to be a 430 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:07,200 Speaker 2: seminal event because we went to Holland. What how was 431 00:32:07,240 --> 00:32:09,080 Speaker 2: I got back And this is back in the days 432 00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:14,880 Speaker 2: of telex. I get telex in about September of that year, 433 00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:19,400 Speaker 2: seventy eight from the company in Holland who I'd never 434 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:24,320 Speaker 2: spoken to, and it said album has entered chart at 435 00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:28,280 Speaker 2: forty three and I just looked at it, crumpled it 436 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:31,280 Speaker 2: up and I threw it in the bin. The next 437 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:33,280 Speaker 2: week I got another one. It said album has gone 438 00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:39,520 Speaker 2: up to seventeen, and I went wow, through that one 439 00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:43,640 Speaker 2: in the bin. The next week album has gone up 440 00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:47,719 Speaker 2: to eleven. They had released Songs of Swing as a single. 441 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:52,800 Speaker 2: Would we go over to Holland and play their weekly 442 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:58,080 Speaker 2: popsher called Top Pop very much like Top of the 443 00:32:58,120 --> 00:33:01,760 Speaker 2: Pops in the UK. It was a singles show, so 444 00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:07,880 Speaker 2: we went over. This was the original four piece and 445 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:12,680 Speaker 2: during the show they represented with a gold album, which 446 00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:16,360 Speaker 2: none of us, including me, had any idea about. I 447 00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:21,640 Speaker 2: hadn't at that point got a handle on how to 448 00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:25,800 Speaker 2: use the record company. I wasn't. 449 00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:27,800 Speaker 1: I was. 450 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:36,640 Speaker 2: Not totally inexperienced, but I didn't know the vagaries of 451 00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:39,200 Speaker 2: how it all worked. We ended up doing or the 452 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:45,000 Speaker 2: guys ended up doing interviews from ten in the morning 453 00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:47,960 Speaker 2: till ten o'clock at night for two days, and they 454 00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:52,960 Speaker 2: were completely exhausted by it and I had to get 455 00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:56,800 Speaker 2: control of that. But having said that, it worked because 456 00:33:56,840 --> 00:34:01,520 Speaker 2: that record and appear us on that TV show got 457 00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:03,840 Speaker 2: us to number one. So we had our first number 458 00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:07,480 Speaker 2: one and Holland is quite interesting from a geographical point 459 00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:10,120 Speaker 2: of view because it's in right. The radio stations in 460 00:34:10,239 --> 00:34:13,840 Speaker 2: Holland could be heard in Germany, especially in North Germany, 461 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:18,680 Speaker 2: in Belgium and in northern France. So it was a 462 00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:21,520 Speaker 2: bit like dropping a pebble in a pond and the 463 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:28,319 Speaker 2: ripples went out and suddenly I'm getting similar tech tallexis 464 00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:31,320 Speaker 2: from Germany, this, that and the other. And we started 465 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:36,520 Speaker 2: working those territories, by which I mean doing every possible 466 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:41,520 Speaker 2: television show and every possible interview we could do. My 467 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:44,160 Speaker 2: attitude to television and it's still the same is that 468 00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:48,000 Speaker 2: all popular music television is rubbish, so you might as 469 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:54,720 Speaker 2: well do all of it. So we're starting to become 470 00:34:55,920 --> 00:35:00,319 Speaker 2: a bit of a we were getting hot and and 471 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:03,319 Speaker 2: I was playing we were playing dates. The one thing 472 00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:07,360 Speaker 2: about dar Straits throughout their entire career, but certainly in 473 00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:11,040 Speaker 2: that first two or three years, was their their work 474 00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:14,959 Speaker 2: ethic was unbelievable. I mean you laugh every time I say, 475 00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:17,439 Speaker 2: you know, I put in twenty gigs without a day off. 476 00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:24,279 Speaker 2: That was absolutely common. I days off to me are 477 00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:26,240 Speaker 2: something you do for for Roady's. 478 00:35:27,560 --> 00:35:30,000 Speaker 1: Okay, let's just go back. Got a couple of eyes. 479 00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:32,360 Speaker 1: How did you become the manager? 480 00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:42,160 Speaker 2: Bullshit? Do you know? I don't really know. They came 481 00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:46,040 Speaker 2: into the office that time I was talking about I 482 00:35:46,040 --> 00:35:50,600 Speaker 2: did this whole act because that's what it was, sticking 483 00:35:50,680 --> 00:35:54,200 Speaker 2: up Beatles records on my wall, making the girl phone me, 484 00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:57,480 Speaker 2: all of this sort of stuff. And I think they've 485 00:35:57,600 --> 00:36:02,240 Speaker 2: they told me since when they were left the office 486 00:36:02,239 --> 00:36:06,360 Speaker 2: and they were walking up the road. David Knopfler, younger 487 00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:11,880 Speaker 2: Mark's younger brother, David and Martinofler never agreed about anything. 488 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:17,200 Speaker 2: If Mark said the sun will come up tomorrow, David 489 00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:22,080 Speaker 2: would say, Nah, it's not going to happen. No. Mark 490 00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:25,920 Speaker 2: and John said, we like that guy. I mean, he's 491 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:28,919 Speaker 2: a bit off the wall, but he knows what he's 492 00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:33,319 Speaker 2: talking about. And the thing I think that worked was 493 00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:37,040 Speaker 2: that we came from very similar backgrounds. We were the 494 00:36:37,120 --> 00:36:41,000 Speaker 2: same age, we had grown up listening to the same 495 00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:46,160 Speaker 2: kind of music, and we had most importantly the same 496 00:36:46,239 --> 00:36:52,480 Speaker 2: kind of humor. When I was going for drum lessons 497 00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:57,160 Speaker 2: in Leeds in my teens, Mark Knopfler was going to 498 00:36:57,239 --> 00:37:02,520 Speaker 2: the same music shop. At the same time. He would 499 00:37:02,600 --> 00:37:08,359 Speaker 2: turn left into guitars. Woodwinds were on the right, and 500 00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:13,000 Speaker 2: as always, the drum department was in the basement. But 501 00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:16,600 Speaker 2: when we got to know each other because we came 502 00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:20,720 Speaker 2: from within twelve miles of each other. He was actually 503 00:37:20,719 --> 00:37:23,680 Speaker 2: born in Glasgow, grew up in Newcastle on Tyne, and 504 00:37:23,719 --> 00:37:25,680 Speaker 2: then he moved down to Leeds when he was at college. 505 00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:30,359 Speaker 2: And I remember he said to me one day, he said, 506 00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:33,279 Speaker 2: did you used to go to the kitchens of Leeds? No? Yeah, yeah, 507 00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:34,879 Speaker 2: I said, I got my drums done and that's where 508 00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:37,560 Speaker 2: I had lessons. And he said, when I said about 509 00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:41,279 Speaker 2: nineteen sixty three, four or five, he said, that's so weird, 510 00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:43,200 Speaker 2: is is that I was going there at the same time. 511 00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:49,840 Speaker 2: So you have these kind of cosmic connections, I suppose. 512 00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:50,880 Speaker 1: And. 513 00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:57,799 Speaker 2: I think that it was a it was just a 514 00:37:57,840 --> 00:38:01,760 Speaker 2: feeling and I and it was exactly the right time 515 00:38:01,920 --> 00:38:04,480 Speaker 2: for me. I'd been an agent at that point for 516 00:38:04,480 --> 00:38:10,080 Speaker 2: about seven years. I'd represented some very big acts and 517 00:38:10,160 --> 00:38:13,799 Speaker 2: I was kind of I wanted to move on. I 518 00:38:13,800 --> 00:38:17,600 Speaker 2: wanted to get out of it. It was too it 519 00:38:17,640 --> 00:38:19,680 Speaker 2: wasn't like it is now. I mean there was no 520 00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:23,759 Speaker 2: Live Nations AG's nothing like that. And the promoters you 521 00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:26,000 Speaker 2: tended to be dealing with it was all a bit 522 00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:28,680 Speaker 2: crushy fingers and hope that they don't run off to 523 00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:33,759 Speaker 2: Brazil kind of thing. A Back then, a promoter was 524 00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:37,080 Speaker 2: anybody who walked into the office and said I'm a promoter. 525 00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:41,600 Speaker 2: People would walk in and I'd be selling the deep 526 00:38:41,600 --> 00:38:45,000 Speaker 2: purple dates within five minutes, just hoping that they'd have 527 00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:49,960 Speaker 2: enough money to pay the deposit. It was completely chaotic 528 00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:53,880 Speaker 2: and incredible fun, I mean ridiculously fun. 529 00:38:54,800 --> 00:38:59,279 Speaker 1: Okay, you ultimately become the manager. Do you discuss percentage? 530 00:38:59,320 --> 00:39:02,720 Speaker 1: Do you sign a contract? Who just move forward? 531 00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:08,439 Speaker 2: Well, this is where Robert Allen, the lawyer comes back 532 00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:11,880 Speaker 2: into play, because he's busily bringing up Steve A. Rook 533 00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:15,759 Speaker 2: and Steve A. Roake doesn't take collect calls, so we 534 00:39:15,880 --> 00:39:19,359 Speaker 2: can't find them a manager. And they said to him, 535 00:39:19,680 --> 00:39:22,240 Speaker 2: we've met this guy. We want him to be our manager. 536 00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:26,440 Speaker 2: And Robert had never heard of me, and he dragged 537 00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:32,160 Speaker 2: his feet, and one day, I don't remember who it was, 538 00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:35,759 Speaker 2: it probably would have been Mark, rang him up and 539 00:39:35,800 --> 00:39:40,759 Speaker 2: said Mark, Robert, go on with it. We're going to 540 00:39:40,800 --> 00:39:44,680 Speaker 2: have this guy. Either you do this or we'll get 541 00:39:44,680 --> 00:39:46,920 Speaker 2: somebody else to do it, or however it was phrased 542 00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:53,279 Speaker 2: so Suddenly Robert's attitude changes quite a bit and he 543 00:39:53,360 --> 00:39:54,920 Speaker 2: comes up with a deal, and I can tell you 544 00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:58,040 Speaker 2: what the terms were. It was ten percent of the 545 00:39:58,080 --> 00:39:59,279 Speaker 2: gross of publishing. 546 00:40:00,560 --> 00:40:01,040 Speaker 1: It was. 547 00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:07,600 Speaker 2: Fifteen percent of the gross of records. There was nothing 548 00:40:07,640 --> 00:40:11,760 Speaker 2: in it about soundtracks, there was nothing in it about 549 00:40:12,520 --> 00:40:23,880 Speaker 2: producer work. And the publishing was fifteen. That was the start. 550 00:40:24,560 --> 00:40:26,760 Speaker 1: But you said the publishing was ten. In the publishing 551 00:40:26,880 --> 00:40:27,320 Speaker 1: was fifteen. 552 00:40:27,840 --> 00:40:31,760 Speaker 2: I beg your pardon. The publishing started off at ten, 553 00:40:33,160 --> 00:40:39,960 Speaker 2: that's right. What was live live was fifteen. Now in 554 00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:44,960 Speaker 2: my head, I immediately saw a problem because if I 555 00:40:45,120 --> 00:40:49,640 Speaker 2: used an agent, if I switched hats and I became 556 00:40:49,719 --> 00:40:54,319 Speaker 2: their manager and I used a third party agent, that 557 00:40:54,440 --> 00:40:56,839 Speaker 2: was probably going to be another ten. So twenty five 558 00:40:56,880 --> 00:41:01,680 Speaker 2: percent off the top of live work was probably going 559 00:41:01,719 --> 00:41:05,160 Speaker 2: to push that live work into a loss if it 560 00:41:05,200 --> 00:41:08,960 Speaker 2: wasn't already in a loss. And if you've got a 561 00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:16,000 Speaker 2: loss going on, you've got a potential problem. I got 562 00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:19,000 Speaker 2: around the problem in a way by I didn't leave NAMS, 563 00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:26,600 Speaker 2: so I was using their phones, their staff, secretarial, their infrastructure, 564 00:41:26,680 --> 00:41:28,759 Speaker 2: and EMS was a big agency. They would be the 565 00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:31,760 Speaker 2: equivalent of back then, they would have been the William 566 00:41:31,800 --> 00:41:35,879 Speaker 2: Morris or CIA of London, and I was a big 567 00:41:35,880 --> 00:41:42,120 Speaker 2: shit there. So we started on that deal because I 568 00:41:42,120 --> 00:41:47,080 Speaker 2: didn't really he wasn't giving me a choice. I had 569 00:41:47,120 --> 00:41:50,560 Speaker 2: a lawyer do my end of it. But that was 570 00:41:50,640 --> 00:41:56,360 Speaker 2: really just crossing t's and dotting eyes when I as 571 00:41:56,480 --> 00:41:58,960 Speaker 2: time progressed, I'm just going to get ahead of myself 572 00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:06,959 Speaker 2: slightly in this ology. That deal changed and I did. 573 00:42:07,560 --> 00:42:10,759 Speaker 2: I did all the record deals myself, I did all 574 00:42:10,800 --> 00:42:16,279 Speaker 2: the publishing deals myself. I booked every show everywhere myself 575 00:42:16,520 --> 00:42:23,440 Speaker 2: except for the USA, and I did every merchandising deal myself. 576 00:42:23,880 --> 00:42:29,640 Speaker 2: I did every film soundtrack deal myself, on the basis 577 00:42:29,719 --> 00:42:39,480 Speaker 2: that nobody knows anything, so why not. And the deal 578 00:42:39,800 --> 00:42:43,320 Speaker 2: over the next couple of years changed so that the 579 00:42:43,440 --> 00:42:56,880 Speaker 2: publishing became twenty percent. Yes, yes, oh yes. The records 580 00:42:58,160 --> 00:43:02,440 Speaker 2: stayed at fifteen, but Mark started getting a producer chunk 581 00:43:02,480 --> 00:43:03,719 Speaker 2: and I got twenty of that. 582 00:43:06,680 --> 00:43:07,840 Speaker 1: And the live. 583 00:43:09,360 --> 00:43:12,600 Speaker 2: Kind of wobbled up and down according to how profitable 584 00:43:12,640 --> 00:43:15,840 Speaker 2: the tours had been. But just before the Brothers in 585 00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:18,200 Speaker 2: Arms tour, which I'm sure you're going to get to, 586 00:43:21,520 --> 00:43:24,279 Speaker 2: Mark and John called me over to the rehearsal room 587 00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:29,040 Speaker 2: and Mark said to me, he said, you book all 588 00:43:29,080 --> 00:43:32,400 Speaker 2: our dates, don't you? And I'm thinking, God, is he 589 00:43:32,440 --> 00:43:36,239 Speaker 2: only just noticed? And I went yeah, and he said, 590 00:43:36,239 --> 00:43:38,839 Speaker 2: and we don't pay for it, do we? And I went, well, 591 00:43:38,880 --> 00:43:41,880 Speaker 2: it's just part of the package. He said, well, we 592 00:43:41,960 --> 00:43:45,600 Speaker 2: think you should get an extra five percent and I 593 00:43:45,640 --> 00:43:50,920 Speaker 2: went done. And that was the deal I ended up on. 594 00:43:58,440 --> 00:44:01,880 Speaker 1: Okay, a couple of questions. When you were in Los Angeles, 595 00:44:01,920 --> 00:44:04,359 Speaker 1: did you finalize the deal with Warner Brothers? 596 00:44:04,719 --> 00:44:06,520 Speaker 2: Pretty much? Yeah, pretty much? 597 00:44:06,520 --> 00:44:10,560 Speaker 1: Okay, And in this agreement hang on. 598 00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:13,960 Speaker 2: Sorry to intruct you, we didn't finalize the commercial terms, 599 00:44:15,920 --> 00:44:18,279 Speaker 2: and we ended up with a better royalty rate than 600 00:44:18,400 --> 00:44:21,360 Speaker 2: we got we're getting from a phonograph. Because I was, 601 00:44:22,239 --> 00:44:27,600 Speaker 2: I was involved. This all sounds very grandiose, but I mean, 602 00:44:27,760 --> 00:44:31,000 Speaker 2: I just I mean, I came back to the what 603 00:44:31,040 --> 00:44:34,880 Speaker 2: I said to you a few seconds ago. Back then, No, 604 00:44:35,080 --> 00:44:41,080 Speaker 2: Don Passman hadn't written his book, bless him, so you 605 00:44:41,320 --> 00:44:44,040 Speaker 2: just could kind of make it up as you went along. 606 00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:48,640 Speaker 2: And what and I do. And for a manager, leverage 607 00:44:48,840 --> 00:44:53,480 Speaker 2: is everything, but leverage in part it is not just commercial. 608 00:44:53,880 --> 00:44:58,080 Speaker 2: It's your personality. It's the way you approach things. It's 609 00:44:58,160 --> 00:45:02,120 Speaker 2: knowing when to say no, went to say yes, my 610 00:45:02,239 --> 00:45:05,080 Speaker 2: Austin once said, not my Austin David Berman, who was 611 00:45:05,080 --> 00:45:07,880 Speaker 2: the head of his business affairs for many years. David 612 00:45:07,920 --> 00:45:11,080 Speaker 2: said to me, I'll tell you. I'll tell you this 613 00:45:11,440 --> 00:45:13,840 Speaker 2: to my own benefit. He said, you know your most 614 00:45:13,880 --> 00:45:18,799 Speaker 2: favorite manager. Well, well I am. That's very nice, I said, 615 00:45:18,840 --> 00:45:21,719 Speaker 2: any particular reason. He said, because whenever you ask us 616 00:45:21,719 --> 00:45:25,719 Speaker 2: for something, you give us something in return. He said. 617 00:45:25,840 --> 00:45:28,880 Speaker 2: There are people in this town, meaning Los Angeles, and 618 00:45:28,880 --> 00:45:32,000 Speaker 2: he said that I'm having a couple of lawyers, attorneys 619 00:45:32,040 --> 00:45:36,520 Speaker 2: in mind, who's who think that the best deal that 620 00:45:36,560 --> 00:45:39,400 Speaker 2: they can get for their artist means that we're making 621 00:45:39,440 --> 00:45:45,000 Speaker 2: a loss on every unit we sell. And I said, 622 00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:49,239 Speaker 2: but that's ridiculous, that's just stupid. You have to let 623 00:45:49,280 --> 00:45:53,600 Speaker 2: the other person have a fair crack. Some of the 624 00:45:53,600 --> 00:45:56,319 Speaker 2: big record companies don't believe in that philosophy. But I've 625 00:45:56,360 --> 00:45:59,759 Speaker 2: always believed in that philosophy. I've given promoters money back. 626 00:46:02,239 --> 00:46:05,919 Speaker 2: I actually I cut a merchant I readd a merchandising 627 00:46:05,920 --> 00:46:09,919 Speaker 2: deal with somebody. When the vat the sales tax rate 628 00:46:09,960 --> 00:46:12,040 Speaker 2: went up in this country by two and a half percent. 629 00:46:12,320 --> 00:46:14,080 Speaker 2: I rang the guy up and I said I'm dropping 630 00:46:14,160 --> 00:46:17,040 Speaker 2: your deal by two and a half percent. And when 631 00:46:17,040 --> 00:46:19,680 Speaker 2: he got off the floor, he said why, I said, 632 00:46:19,719 --> 00:46:21,680 Speaker 2: I don't want that to be passed on to the public. 633 00:46:23,440 --> 00:46:28,080 Speaker 1: Okay, you made these deals at low royalty rates? Did 634 00:46:28,120 --> 00:46:30,000 Speaker 1: you renegotiate and when. 635 00:46:31,200 --> 00:46:34,080 Speaker 2: Well, the Warner's deal wasn't that lower rule too rate. 636 00:46:34,560 --> 00:46:38,600 Speaker 2: But the original Phonogram deal, which I hadn't done, which 637 00:46:38,680 --> 00:46:41,200 Speaker 2: I told you about at the beginning, that was pretty low. 638 00:46:42,360 --> 00:46:44,360 Speaker 2: Although you know you have to put all this in 639 00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:49,480 Speaker 2: the context of the time. You can't in twenty twenty 640 00:46:49,480 --> 00:46:51,839 Speaker 2: four look back and say, well, Elvis Presley had a 641 00:46:51,840 --> 00:46:56,960 Speaker 2: crap record deal. Yeah, because I mean, I remember Wexler 642 00:46:57,040 --> 00:46:59,440 Speaker 2: saying to me, because Wexley was very proud in a 643 00:46:59,480 --> 00:47:03,800 Speaker 2: strange sort of way of the way that they exploited 644 00:47:04,400 --> 00:47:08,520 Speaker 2: the artists on Atlantic, particularly the black artists, and they 645 00:47:08,560 --> 00:47:10,680 Speaker 2: paid He said to me, I don't know how true 646 00:47:10,680 --> 00:47:12,680 Speaker 2: this is. He said to me one day that they 647 00:47:12,719 --> 00:47:16,239 Speaker 2: had paid Ray Charles thirty dollars flat to record. What 648 00:47:16,320 --> 00:47:22,480 Speaker 2: did I say? And then you look at they sold 649 00:47:22,640 --> 00:47:27,560 Speaker 2: Atlantic to Wea for I think seventeen million dollars, and 650 00:47:27,640 --> 00:47:32,279 Speaker 2: I was just astonished that it was so low and 651 00:47:32,320 --> 00:47:40,360 Speaker 2: Western's response was capital Games, Capital Games rubbish. So in 652 00:47:40,480 --> 00:47:46,960 Speaker 2: answer to your question, I reegotiated the record side with 653 00:47:48,280 --> 00:47:53,400 Speaker 2: the PolyGram countries the Phonogram deal every single time we 654 00:47:53,480 --> 00:47:58,319 Speaker 2: put a record out. Every time. I did not do 655 00:47:58,400 --> 00:48:02,239 Speaker 2: that with Warner Brothers. I waited. I just had a 656 00:48:02,360 --> 00:48:06,560 Speaker 2: sense that we were going to have one day a 657 00:48:06,680 --> 00:48:11,359 Speaker 2: humongous record in America, and since we weren't on a 658 00:48:11,360 --> 00:48:14,560 Speaker 2: bad deal, we were on sixteen percent. I think it 659 00:48:14,680 --> 00:48:25,360 Speaker 2: was I didn't feel the kind of almost sounds sounds 660 00:48:25,400 --> 00:48:28,000 Speaker 2: a bit pretentiousness. I didn't feel a kind of moral 661 00:48:28,120 --> 00:48:31,480 Speaker 2: pressure to be pushing them. And I have to say, 662 00:48:33,360 --> 00:48:35,200 Speaker 2: sort of the listeners to this may think this is 663 00:48:35,239 --> 00:48:38,400 Speaker 2: a very strange motivation. I really liked the people at 664 00:48:38,440 --> 00:48:44,879 Speaker 2: Warner Brothers, and somehow that crept into my I would can't. 665 00:48:44,960 --> 00:48:47,200 Speaker 2: I mean, they were a big corporation, et cetera. But 666 00:48:47,239 --> 00:48:51,000 Speaker 2: I really like mo. I love Lenny. I mean, he's 667 00:48:51,080 --> 00:48:54,960 Speaker 2: just he's just adorable, used to used to play some 668 00:48:55,080 --> 00:48:58,480 Speaker 2: terrible jokes on it. But and and all all the 669 00:48:58,480 --> 00:49:02,960 Speaker 2: people I dealt with, and one person in particular, Carl Scott, 670 00:49:03,520 --> 00:49:05,880 Speaker 2: who at the time was head of artist relations there. 671 00:49:06,680 --> 00:49:10,960 Speaker 2: He was a huge supporter of the band and of 672 00:49:11,000 --> 00:49:17,239 Speaker 2: me personally, and he and people in his department. Girl 673 00:49:17,280 --> 00:49:20,960 Speaker 2: called Ellen Darst, another girl called Karen Kaplan who went 674 00:49:21,040 --> 00:49:23,800 Speaker 2: on to She left and she worked for Paul McGuinness 675 00:49:23,840 --> 00:49:28,960 Speaker 2: and you too for many years. They were incredibly supportive 676 00:49:30,640 --> 00:49:32,719 Speaker 2: and I can't remember his name, but the guy was 677 00:49:32,760 --> 00:49:35,440 Speaker 2: head of merchandising had the best split in town. 678 00:49:37,440 --> 00:49:42,400 Speaker 1: Okay, you talk about giving to get when you renegotiated 679 00:49:42,440 --> 00:49:46,359 Speaker 1: with Phonogram, what'd you give them for a higher royalty rate? 680 00:49:46,960 --> 00:49:51,960 Speaker 2: Well, the only thing you can give them is extra records. 681 00:49:53,239 --> 00:49:57,680 Speaker 2: That's all they're I mean, you can say, oh, you know, 682 00:49:57,840 --> 00:49:59,840 Speaker 2: we'll do I won't, I won't be nasty to the 683 00:50:01,200 --> 00:50:04,000 Speaker 2: but it's basically you give them more product. So it's 684 00:50:04,120 --> 00:50:07,920 Speaker 2: very important when you're an at starting out that you 685 00:50:08,080 --> 00:50:11,399 Speaker 2: end up by chance or if you want to call it, 686 00:50:11,440 --> 00:50:16,360 Speaker 2: with the label that is right for you, because whatever happens, 687 00:50:16,400 --> 00:50:20,680 Speaker 2: and certainly now since nearly all record companies are essentially 688 00:50:20,880 --> 00:50:28,120 Speaker 2: corporate unless they're specialized specialty labels, the turnover in personnel 689 00:50:29,360 --> 00:50:34,520 Speaker 2: is an issue I got through in twenty five years 690 00:50:34,760 --> 00:50:40,560 Speaker 2: over twelve managing directors in the UK Phonogram Company, which 691 00:50:40,600 --> 00:50:45,799 Speaker 2: is a terrible way to run a business in the 692 00:50:45,960 --> 00:50:52,200 Speaker 2: States until the time Warner merger and the fallout from that. 693 00:50:54,640 --> 00:50:59,799 Speaker 2: It was basically Moe Austin's company, and he ran it 694 00:50:59,840 --> 00:51:04,000 Speaker 2: in a very particular way, and he was incredibly accessible. 695 00:51:05,760 --> 00:51:09,560 Speaker 2: His staff loved him. I mean most of his staff 696 00:51:09,600 --> 00:51:13,640 Speaker 2: would have crawled over broken glass, you know, Romoe. And 697 00:51:14,000 --> 00:51:20,000 Speaker 2: he was an infinitely interesting person to spend time with 698 00:51:20,920 --> 00:51:25,719 Speaker 2: if I got him on Frank Sinatra anecdotes, Wow, fantastic. 699 00:51:26,880 --> 00:51:30,880 Speaker 2: So I had a different philosophy with the American company 700 00:51:31,080 --> 00:51:33,960 Speaker 2: than I did with the rest of the world. Now 701 00:51:35,320 --> 00:51:39,719 Speaker 2: I should just explain that we were signed to Phonogram UK. 702 00:51:42,480 --> 00:51:46,200 Speaker 2: Phonogram was part of PolyGram, which at the time was 703 00:51:46,200 --> 00:51:49,839 Speaker 2: owned by Phillips and Semens until Phillips bought Semens out, 704 00:51:51,120 --> 00:51:55,120 Speaker 2: and Phillips being a Dutch company, they were based in Eindhoven. 705 00:51:56,000 --> 00:51:59,960 Speaker 2: They had an operation in a place in Holland call 706 00:52:00,239 --> 00:52:06,720 Speaker 2: barn baa Rn, which was a bit like going to prison, 707 00:52:06,960 --> 00:52:09,879 Speaker 2: a prisoner of war camp in the Second World War. 708 00:52:10,000 --> 00:52:14,239 Speaker 2: This was the worst atmosphere. It was a whole lot 709 00:52:14,280 --> 00:52:19,680 Speaker 2: of buildings connected by tunnels underneath, except it wasn't Las Vegas, 710 00:52:20,600 --> 00:52:27,000 Speaker 2: and they were supposed to coordinate, coordinate all of their territories. 711 00:52:29,640 --> 00:52:35,360 Speaker 2: They had companies in most parts of the world, but 712 00:52:35,680 --> 00:52:39,600 Speaker 2: not everywhere. For instance, they didn't have a company in 713 00:52:39,719 --> 00:52:44,719 Speaker 2: South Africa. They had a licensee. They were so totally 714 00:52:44,840 --> 00:52:50,080 Speaker 2: hopeless at coordinating these people. I couldn't even get sales figures. 715 00:52:50,960 --> 00:52:55,080 Speaker 2: So I started dealing with all of these companies direct. 716 00:52:56,239 --> 00:53:02,239 Speaker 2: I just went round this operation in. Of course, the 717 00:53:02,280 --> 00:53:05,840 Speaker 2: people in Holland were extremely ticked off, but the managing 718 00:53:05,880 --> 00:53:09,759 Speaker 2: directors and marketing heads of all of the other companies 719 00:53:11,480 --> 00:53:15,759 Speaker 2: just thought this, Wow, this is great. Why because politically 720 00:53:15,840 --> 00:53:18,920 Speaker 2: within that setup, the fact that they were dealing direct 721 00:53:18,960 --> 00:53:21,240 Speaker 2: with the manager of one of the biggest acts, which 722 00:53:21,280 --> 00:53:27,480 Speaker 2: became the biggest act, and they became my friends, you know, 723 00:53:28,160 --> 00:53:32,480 Speaker 2: so they would It was almost like I was giving 724 00:53:32,480 --> 00:53:37,640 Speaker 2: them political ammunition for their own personal ambition. But he 725 00:53:37,719 --> 00:53:40,000 Speaker 2: got the job done. That was all I was concerned about. 726 00:53:40,120 --> 00:53:44,560 Speaker 2: I wanted to know what I used to make them 727 00:53:44,640 --> 00:53:49,400 Speaker 2: give me. Marketing plans, sales projections, weekly sales figures, the 728 00:53:49,440 --> 00:53:53,439 Speaker 2: whole lot. Not so much because I'm sitting at home 729 00:53:53,480 --> 00:53:59,680 Speaker 2: every weekend reading all this stuff, but because many many 730 00:53:59,840 --> 00:54:01,640 Speaker 2: this She's got nothing to do with what we're talking about, 731 00:54:01,719 --> 00:54:04,439 Speaker 2: but really a really quick story. I did a deal 732 00:54:04,680 --> 00:54:06,839 Speaker 2: many many years later for Mark to do a piece 733 00:54:06,840 --> 00:54:09,799 Speaker 2: of music for a film called Color of Money that 734 00:54:10,040 --> 00:54:14,320 Speaker 2: was Martin Scorsese film that was being distributed by Disney. 735 00:54:15,239 --> 00:54:17,640 Speaker 2: And I got into a huge row with the lawyer 736 00:54:17,680 --> 00:54:21,000 Speaker 2: at Disney because their attitude was we will own everything 737 00:54:21,000 --> 00:54:23,799 Speaker 2: and you will own nothing, and my attitude was, no, 738 00:54:24,080 --> 00:54:26,680 Speaker 2: you will own nothing and we will own everything, which 739 00:54:26,680 --> 00:54:32,440 Speaker 2: is how it ended up. And somebody there who was 740 00:54:32,520 --> 00:54:34,799 Speaker 2: head of script development who I happened to know go 741 00:54:34,920 --> 00:54:39,600 Speaker 2: called Jane Rosenthal. She works, She's run some Tribeca studios 742 00:54:39,640 --> 00:54:42,800 Speaker 2: for Robert de Niro now it has for many years. 743 00:54:44,520 --> 00:54:50,640 Speaker 2: She called me up after a particularly how can I 744 00:54:50,680 --> 00:54:56,440 Speaker 2: put it vicious email to this guy in the legal 745 00:54:56,440 --> 00:54:59,840 Speaker 2: department and she said, are you having a problem with sounds? 746 00:55:00,480 --> 00:55:05,239 Speaker 2: And I went, no, nothing I can't handle. And I said, 747 00:55:05,239 --> 00:55:08,680 Speaker 2: how do you know about that? She said no, At Disney, 748 00:55:10,200 --> 00:55:14,719 Speaker 2: every head of department is copying in on every ingoing 749 00:55:14,880 --> 00:55:21,759 Speaker 2: and outgoing communication every day. And Michael remind me of 750 00:55:21,800 --> 00:55:26,560 Speaker 2: his name, head of Disney, Eisner, Right, Michael Eisler is 751 00:55:26,680 --> 00:55:32,960 Speaker 2: copying in on everything. And I just started laughing. I said, 752 00:55:33,600 --> 00:55:38,200 Speaker 2: Michael Eisner can't possibly read everything that's going in and 753 00:55:38,239 --> 00:55:41,799 Speaker 2: out every day, and she said no, but nobody knows 754 00:55:41,880 --> 00:55:46,120 Speaker 2: what he does read, so it has the same effect. 755 00:55:47,560 --> 00:55:52,520 Speaker 2: So anyway, I was basically but this is by album two, 756 00:55:52,680 --> 00:55:56,080 Speaker 2: certainly by album. By making movies, I was dealing with 757 00:55:56,120 --> 00:56:00,640 Speaker 2: all the Phonogram companies direct everywhere. And when I say everywhere, 758 00:56:01,200 --> 00:56:08,200 Speaker 2: I dealt with the company in Israel, say, or a 759 00:56:08,239 --> 00:56:14,720 Speaker 2: company in Malta or New Zealand. To me, every country 760 00:56:14,840 --> 00:56:18,759 Speaker 2: was as important as every other one. And Brothers in 761 00:56:18,920 --> 00:56:22,719 Speaker 2: Arms sold over four hundred and fifty thousand copies in 762 00:56:22,760 --> 00:56:28,879 Speaker 2: New Zealand. The soundtrack to Last Exit to Brooklyn, one 763 00:56:28,880 --> 00:56:32,239 Speaker 2: of our more obscure items, sold over one hundred and 764 00:56:32,280 --> 00:56:41,759 Speaker 2: fifty thousand in South Korea, So don't overlook everywhere. My 765 00:56:41,840 --> 00:56:45,719 Speaker 2: philosophy was, I'm going to make this act huge and 766 00:56:45,760 --> 00:56:48,239 Speaker 2: they're going to be huge worldwide, and they're going to 767 00:56:48,239 --> 00:56:52,080 Speaker 2: have a long career because I considered myself to be 768 00:56:52,200 --> 00:56:56,719 Speaker 2: one of them, and in fairness, they felt the same 769 00:56:56,760 --> 00:56:57,160 Speaker 2: about me. 770 00:56:59,120 --> 00:57:03,680 Speaker 1: Okay, now it comes time for the second album. How 771 00:57:03,680 --> 00:57:07,600 Speaker 1: do you cut it in the South? And you know, 772 00:57:07,680 --> 00:57:11,000 Speaker 1: in America, the albums came out almost back to back. Yes, 773 00:57:11,200 --> 00:57:13,920 Speaker 1: So what was the experience of the second record from 774 00:57:13,920 --> 00:57:15,320 Speaker 1: the inside? 775 00:57:17,240 --> 00:57:26,560 Speaker 2: Very good question. Because of this split record deal, by accident, 776 00:57:27,840 --> 00:57:32,480 Speaker 2: we ended up with a situation where the second record 777 00:57:32,880 --> 00:57:39,440 Speaker 2: was recorded with Wexler and Barry Beckett at Compass Points 778 00:57:39,480 --> 00:57:45,880 Speaker 2: Studios in Nasaw Chris Blackwell's place, before the first record 779 00:57:46,360 --> 00:57:52,040 Speaker 2: had come out in the US. So we were in 780 00:57:52,080 --> 00:57:57,640 Speaker 2: this time lag as far as the US was concerned, 781 00:58:00,080 --> 00:58:05,880 Speaker 2: and having had an album that was very, very hot. 782 00:58:06,520 --> 00:58:10,000 Speaker 2: The problem, the problem with all first releases by any 783 00:58:10,080 --> 00:58:14,360 Speaker 2: act is if you get your first record away, it 784 00:58:14,440 --> 00:58:17,080 Speaker 2: might seem fantastic at the time, and it is, and 785 00:58:17,200 --> 00:58:21,440 Speaker 2: it jumps a lot of barriers in one go. But 786 00:58:21,560 --> 00:58:25,600 Speaker 2: then you've got this situation that you're alluding to, which 787 00:58:25,680 --> 00:58:28,440 Speaker 2: is the second one. I have Alanis Morrissette in mind 788 00:58:28,880 --> 00:58:36,760 Speaker 2: actually at this point, so we had Wexler, had got 789 00:58:36,760 --> 00:58:41,160 Speaker 2: his claws in. We go off to and he and 790 00:58:41,200 --> 00:58:44,560 Speaker 2: he's set, you know, he's laying out. We're going to 791 00:58:44,680 --> 00:58:46,880 Speaker 2: go to the Bahamas. I mean, none of us have 792 00:58:47,000 --> 00:58:48,040 Speaker 2: been to the Caribbean. 793 00:58:48,920 --> 00:58:49,360 Speaker 1: We hadn't. 794 00:58:49,400 --> 00:58:52,120 Speaker 2: We hadn't we hadn't been to the south coast of England. 795 00:58:53,000 --> 00:58:55,160 Speaker 2: We're going to be there, you're going to live here, 796 00:58:55,200 --> 00:58:57,240 Speaker 2: You're going to be We're going to brew on the 797 00:58:57,280 --> 00:59:00,600 Speaker 2: whole thing. And we fell for it hookline, and so 798 00:59:00,640 --> 00:59:06,880 Speaker 2: we went off to Compass Point and we made that. 799 00:59:07,200 --> 00:59:09,680 Speaker 2: You see, the Dye Strikes records were made very quickly. 800 00:59:10,360 --> 00:59:14,280 Speaker 2: First one twelve days including mixing, second one three weeks 801 00:59:14,320 --> 00:59:18,120 Speaker 2: including mixing. So we had a record ready to go 802 00:59:18,320 --> 00:59:24,240 Speaker 2: and the PolyGram territories were gagging for this record. Meanwhile, 803 00:59:24,600 --> 00:59:30,960 Speaker 2: the Warners people were not gagging for it. They wanted 804 00:59:31,000 --> 00:59:35,760 Speaker 2: to release at least they wanted to release Down to 805 00:59:35,840 --> 00:59:39,720 Speaker 2: the Waterline as an aside single and probably another track. 806 00:59:40,560 --> 00:59:47,240 Speaker 2: And it all led to a very embarrassing meeting in London. 807 00:59:48,240 --> 00:59:53,320 Speaker 2: Moe was there, rush Thyret was there, the Polyglots were there, 808 00:59:53,520 --> 00:59:58,080 Speaker 2: I don't remember which, and myself, And as this meeting 809 00:59:58,160 --> 01:00:01,320 Speaker 2: was progressing, I suddenly realized that the casting vote was 810 01:00:01,320 --> 01:00:04,480 Speaker 2: coming down to me. And of course I had the band. 811 01:00:04,520 --> 01:00:06,680 Speaker 2: When a band's made a record, they want the record out. 812 01:00:07,800 --> 01:00:10,760 Speaker 2: Well not in Brian Ferry's case, but everybody else wants 813 01:00:10,840 --> 01:00:16,680 Speaker 2: it out. And I could see both sides of the equation. 814 01:00:16,920 --> 01:00:20,520 Speaker 2: I'd already booked or put in place, or I could 815 01:00:20,600 --> 01:00:24,480 Speaker 2: have changed it all a whole British and European tour 816 01:00:25,480 --> 01:00:32,200 Speaker 2: to push this second record, you know, off along and 817 01:00:33,960 --> 01:00:38,640 Speaker 2: that meeting we made a mistake and I absolutely take 818 01:00:38,680 --> 01:00:42,440 Speaker 2: responsibility for it. It doesn't matter now, but we should have waited. 819 01:00:43,720 --> 01:00:46,000 Speaker 2: But the band now now we have to have it out. 820 01:00:46,080 --> 01:00:48,560 Speaker 2: They were already playing most of the songs on it. 821 01:00:49,240 --> 01:00:51,240 Speaker 2: A good number of the songs on the second record 822 01:00:51,240 --> 01:00:55,600 Speaker 2: were played on the first American tour because interesting thing 823 01:00:55,640 --> 01:00:58,280 Speaker 2: about America, I don't know if it's still true, but 824 01:00:58,400 --> 01:01:02,720 Speaker 2: the audiences were completely to do stuff that they'd never heard. 825 01:01:04,080 --> 01:01:08,000 Speaker 2: You know, in Manchester they want to hear the hits, 826 01:01:08,800 --> 01:01:14,920 Speaker 2: but they didn't care about that in Chicago. And we 827 01:01:15,080 --> 01:01:21,200 Speaker 2: decided to go with that second record in the autumn 828 01:01:21,280 --> 01:01:22,480 Speaker 2: of seventeen. 829 01:01:23,200 --> 01:01:23,360 Speaker 1: Was it. 830 01:01:23,400 --> 01:01:26,480 Speaker 2: I can't remember when it came out, yes, late seventy nine, 831 01:01:28,120 --> 01:01:30,760 Speaker 2: which and we had to do it worldwide because of 832 01:01:31,200 --> 01:01:37,200 Speaker 2: what we're called parallel imports. Back then, the Europeans would 833 01:01:37,240 --> 01:01:43,480 Speaker 2: deliberately try and import records into the US and I 834 01:01:43,760 --> 01:01:47,600 Speaker 2: just wish we hadn't done that. It just it created 835 01:01:47,640 --> 01:01:54,240 Speaker 2: a bad atmosphere with the senior management owners, which took 836 01:01:54,320 --> 01:01:59,600 Speaker 2: quite a bit of recovering, and I just instinctively was 837 01:01:59,640 --> 01:02:04,919 Speaker 2: thinking this is wrong. But I didn't really have enough 838 01:02:04,960 --> 01:02:12,200 Speaker 2: experience at the time. I didn't I had never worked 839 01:02:12,200 --> 01:02:14,960 Speaker 2: with an act or a record that had been a 840 01:02:15,160 --> 01:02:21,160 Speaker 2: multiple singles record. In the UK, if you put out 841 01:02:21,200 --> 01:02:25,200 Speaker 2: an album, if you got one hit off it, you 842 01:02:25,240 --> 01:02:28,080 Speaker 2: were doing really well, and if you got two, that 843 01:02:28,240 --> 01:02:34,080 Speaker 2: was a miracle. Most acts didn't. Everybody was recording much 844 01:02:34,080 --> 01:02:37,720 Speaker 2: more quickly than they are now, and stuff was coming 845 01:02:37,760 --> 01:02:40,720 Speaker 2: out faster in this marketplace. 846 01:02:41,720 --> 01:02:48,320 Speaker 1: Okay, from my personal experience, I didn't like the second 847 01:02:48,360 --> 01:02:51,560 Speaker 1: record as much as the first. Not that it was bad. 848 01:02:52,120 --> 01:02:55,960 Speaker 1: You had this release thing. It wasn't really like a 849 01:02:56,280 --> 01:03:01,200 Speaker 1: downhill slide, but there wasn't any increase in career momentum. 850 01:03:01,240 --> 01:03:01,680 Speaker 2: Correct. 851 01:03:01,960 --> 01:03:04,480 Speaker 1: What was it like from on the inside. 852 01:03:04,120 --> 01:03:07,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, well you've yeah, that's the that's the nail that 853 01:03:07,280 --> 01:03:13,040 Speaker 2: you've squarely hit. Like many second albums by acts that 854 01:03:13,120 --> 01:03:23,120 Speaker 2: have big first albums, there was a I can't speak 855 01:03:23,160 --> 01:03:28,480 Speaker 2: for Mark personally, but he was using material that he 856 01:03:28,600 --> 01:03:33,720 Speaker 2: had rejected for the first one. He was being forced 857 01:03:35,800 --> 01:03:38,360 Speaker 2: not the right word, but he had He was having 858 01:03:38,400 --> 01:03:43,480 Speaker 2: to write on the tour bus in the hotel room, 859 01:03:44,560 --> 01:03:49,160 Speaker 2: the hour, the amount of time. You know, this is 860 01:03:49,200 --> 01:03:55,120 Speaker 2: all boxed in with shows, rehearsals, It's boxed in by interviews, 861 01:03:55,560 --> 01:04:00,480 Speaker 2: Telly's videos, and it was very much boxed in by 862 01:04:00,880 --> 01:04:04,680 Speaker 2: the personal relationship situation that was going on in the 863 01:04:04,720 --> 01:04:09,520 Speaker 2: group off the back of this huge first record. Because 864 01:04:09,560 --> 01:04:19,040 Speaker 2: that record, that first one, none of us quite knew 865 01:04:19,080 --> 01:04:23,080 Speaker 2: how to deal with it. It was and the way 866 01:04:23,120 --> 01:04:29,320 Speaker 2: it led to the issues between Mark and his younger brother, 867 01:04:29,400 --> 01:04:36,200 Speaker 2: which were already pretty fragile, really became quite difficult during 868 01:04:36,240 --> 01:04:36,920 Speaker 2: that period. 869 01:04:38,840 --> 01:04:39,160 Speaker 1: And I. 870 01:04:41,400 --> 01:04:44,720 Speaker 2: So so that record, and that record was when we 871 01:04:44,800 --> 01:04:47,160 Speaker 2: got there was quite an interesting little thing which might 872 01:04:49,520 --> 01:04:53,680 Speaker 2: address what you just asked me. When we got out 873 01:04:53,720 --> 01:05:03,840 Speaker 2: to Compass point, Uh, Distraits did not generally do demos, 874 01:05:05,040 --> 01:05:10,440 Speaker 2: so Jerry Wexler didn't know what the songs were. So 875 01:05:10,600 --> 01:05:14,800 Speaker 2: when we got there, I remember Mark and Jerry and 876 01:05:14,840 --> 01:05:17,920 Speaker 2: I must have been there, Mark kind of running the 877 01:05:17,960 --> 01:05:20,760 Speaker 2: songs down, just plunk in on a guitar, acoustic guitar 878 01:05:20,880 --> 01:05:24,440 Speaker 2: or whatever. And the next day was quite interesting to 879 01:05:24,520 --> 01:05:28,040 Speaker 2: us because we had never been worked with an American 880 01:05:28,400 --> 01:05:33,640 Speaker 2: record company person, let alone a you know, famed legendary 881 01:05:33,760 --> 01:05:37,280 Speaker 2: producer and where's the saying to Mark, what strings did 882 01:05:37,320 --> 01:05:40,479 Speaker 2: you use on the first album? How tar did you use? 883 01:05:40,920 --> 01:05:45,960 Speaker 2: What amplifier, what amplifier settings? All of this kind of stuff, 884 01:05:47,560 --> 01:05:50,200 Speaker 2: And it suddenly occurred, I think, to most of it, well, 885 01:05:50,240 --> 01:05:53,120 Speaker 2: certainly to Mark and I that he was trying to 886 01:05:53,240 --> 01:05:58,480 Speaker 2: copy the first one, but he wanted the sound to be, 887 01:05:58,520 --> 01:06:00,680 Speaker 2: as he put it, we're going to make a record 888 01:06:00,720 --> 01:06:06,800 Speaker 2: that's you know, good for American radio. So what he 889 01:06:06,840 --> 01:06:12,520 Speaker 2: was trying to do was kind of chip off the 890 01:06:12,520 --> 01:06:16,640 Speaker 2: the rougher edges and that's how it sounded. Yeah, which 891 01:06:16,680 --> 01:06:25,919 Speaker 2: gave the first one it's kind of spirit. And that's 892 01:06:26,040 --> 01:06:26,640 Speaker 2: what happened. 893 01:06:34,880 --> 01:06:38,760 Speaker 1: Okay, So before the next album, David is no longer 894 01:06:38,760 --> 01:06:39,360 Speaker 1: in the band. 895 01:06:40,400 --> 01:06:45,120 Speaker 2: No, no, sorry, you're wrong. He left during the recording 896 01:06:45,160 --> 01:06:46,120 Speaker 2: of the third one. 897 01:06:46,600 --> 01:06:48,280 Speaker 1: Okay, how does that happen? 898 01:06:50,680 --> 01:06:53,760 Speaker 2: Well, the momentum of this thing, I mean, notwithstanding what 899 01:06:53,800 --> 01:06:56,480 Speaker 2: you made your comment about the if you like the 900 01:06:56,600 --> 01:07:00,920 Speaker 2: artistry of the second record, the second record just certainly 901 01:07:00,960 --> 01:07:04,240 Speaker 2: over here and in Europe and Australasia and so on, 902 01:07:04,960 --> 01:07:08,120 Speaker 2: just came out of the you know, like a shot 903 01:07:08,160 --> 01:07:11,320 Speaker 2: out of a cannon. I mean, we had that record 904 01:07:11,360 --> 01:07:13,920 Speaker 2: went straight in at number one in Germany and the 905 01:07:13,960 --> 01:07:17,920 Speaker 2: first album was at number two. That kind of thing. 906 01:07:19,000 --> 01:07:28,040 Speaker 2: So the Communicate record was successful, not as successful as 907 01:07:28,040 --> 01:07:32,080 Speaker 2: the first one, but it was. It sold in its 908 01:07:32,400 --> 01:07:37,760 Speaker 2: lifestyme lifetime eight eight million copies, first one in its 909 01:07:37,840 --> 01:07:46,280 Speaker 2: lifetime fifteen, so about half. And within the band myself, 910 01:07:46,960 --> 01:07:54,080 Speaker 2: we all understood that there was a danger of being 911 01:07:54,080 --> 01:07:58,600 Speaker 2: a one hit wonder kind of thing, and that record, 912 01:07:58,600 --> 01:08:02,280 Speaker 2: the second record, didn't have have a hit single on it, 913 01:08:02,320 --> 01:08:06,360 Speaker 2: and back then, hit singles were what you needed, so 914 01:08:07,440 --> 01:08:11,680 Speaker 2: we didn't have a songs of swing on it. I 915 01:08:11,680 --> 01:08:13,880 Speaker 2: can't even remember what the single was that came off. 916 01:08:13,920 --> 01:08:15,480 Speaker 2: It was it Once upon a Time in the West, 917 01:08:15,640 --> 01:08:24,200 Speaker 2: I can't remember, and it kind of I mean, we 918 01:08:24,240 --> 01:08:29,240 Speaker 2: were touring it and we were selling out shows, partly 919 01:08:29,280 --> 01:08:31,880 Speaker 2: because I always tried to keep the shows at the 920 01:08:32,000 --> 01:08:35,599 Speaker 2: right level for the time. So by that time we 921 01:08:35,600 --> 01:08:39,400 Speaker 2: were starting to do arenas, we were up from doing 922 01:08:39,720 --> 01:08:49,720 Speaker 2: big theaters. If you like David Knopfler, I'm picking this 923 01:08:49,880 --> 01:08:58,960 Speaker 2: up from interviews i've seen him do since he said 924 01:08:58,960 --> 01:09:01,439 Speaker 2: to John Ellslie one day, I remember this. He said 925 01:09:01,479 --> 01:09:05,479 Speaker 2: something like, it wasn't supposed to be like this, and 926 01:09:05,560 --> 01:09:08,200 Speaker 2: what he meant by that was he wasn't supposed to 927 01:09:08,240 --> 01:09:13,160 Speaker 2: be as successful. And I remember getting into a bit 928 01:09:13,160 --> 01:09:15,360 Speaker 2: of a fight with him about this. I said, well, 929 01:09:15,360 --> 01:09:16,880 Speaker 2: what the fuck do you want? You want me to 930 01:09:16,920 --> 01:09:20,920 Speaker 2: make it less successful. He got really pissed off about 931 01:09:21,000 --> 01:09:23,920 Speaker 2: the amount of money that Warner Brothers were spending on 932 01:09:24,000 --> 01:09:27,880 Speaker 2: independent promotion, and he's saying stuff to me, like in 933 01:09:27,880 --> 01:09:32,599 Speaker 2: front of the others, like they're criminals. And I went, yeah, 934 01:09:32,640 --> 01:09:36,160 Speaker 2: So he says, you should be trying to stop you 935 01:09:36,160 --> 01:09:38,599 Speaker 2: should stop it. I said, I'm trying to get them 936 01:09:38,600 --> 01:09:42,519 Speaker 2: to spend more. And we got into a really and 937 01:09:42,960 --> 01:09:45,679 Speaker 2: in the background I can hear Mark going shut up, 938 01:09:46,520 --> 01:09:54,720 Speaker 2: shut the shut up. So David's philosophy about what dire 939 01:09:54,760 --> 01:10:00,599 Speaker 2: straits could would and could and should be, we actually 940 01:10:00,640 --> 01:10:05,600 Speaker 2: defined what that was. What it wasn't was to be successful, 941 01:10:05,880 --> 01:10:10,400 Speaker 2: to have chart records, to be on the David Letterman Show, 942 01:10:10,479 --> 01:10:14,800 Speaker 2: or whoever it was at the time, that kind of thing. 943 01:10:15,880 --> 01:10:20,640 Speaker 2: And the two brothers. Some people in families get on 944 01:10:20,720 --> 01:10:26,439 Speaker 2: great and some don't. And they didn't and don't as 945 01:10:26,439 --> 01:10:28,280 Speaker 2: far as I know, they have not spoken to each 946 01:10:28,280 --> 01:10:34,240 Speaker 2: other in thirty years. Wow, which is a shame. It's silly. 947 01:10:35,400 --> 01:10:38,479 Speaker 1: Was David pushed or did he jump? And if he 948 01:10:38,600 --> 01:10:45,560 Speaker 1: was pushed, who told them? 949 01:10:46,080 --> 01:10:48,320 Speaker 2: You did say this was going to be deep, right, 950 01:10:49,000 --> 01:10:58,120 Speaker 2: So we go into the making movies record and I 951 01:10:59,120 --> 01:11:05,360 Speaker 2: one very single thing happened Mark Mark expanded the lineup 952 01:11:05,439 --> 01:11:11,759 Speaker 2: of the group to include keyboards. Now in the first instance, well, 953 01:11:12,800 --> 01:11:16,080 Speaker 2: he and I went to New York in January of 954 01:11:16,160 --> 01:11:20,200 Speaker 2: nineteen eighty and we were going to meet with John 955 01:11:20,320 --> 01:11:27,360 Speaker 2: Landaut to produce that third record. And John, who I 956 01:11:27,400 --> 01:11:30,920 Speaker 2: have to say I really like, showed up for the 957 01:11:31,000 --> 01:11:35,040 Speaker 2: meeting on the wrong day, which did not auger well 958 01:11:35,880 --> 01:11:39,280 Speaker 2: because his pa had put the diary entry in wrong, 959 01:11:39,400 --> 01:11:43,400 Speaker 2: which apparently she regularly did. I guess she's not working 960 01:11:43,400 --> 01:11:47,080 Speaker 2: for him now. So he shows So we sit and wait. 961 01:11:47,400 --> 01:11:51,200 Speaker 2: We were staying at the Mayflower Hotel upon the Central 962 01:11:51,240 --> 01:11:55,160 Speaker 2: Park West, and we sit and we wait. No John, 963 01:11:55,280 --> 01:11:57,920 Speaker 2: So I ring the office and he comes on the 964 01:11:57,960 --> 01:12:00,439 Speaker 2: phone and I said, John, we've got a meeting with you. 965 01:12:00,720 --> 01:12:04,280 Speaker 2: There's a silence, and then I hear a shit, she's 966 01:12:04,400 --> 01:12:10,040 Speaker 2: done it again. He came the next day and he 967 01:12:10,200 --> 01:12:14,160 Speaker 2: was making The River with Bruce and Chuck Blockin and 968 01:12:14,439 --> 01:12:21,200 Speaker 2: twenty seven other producers and he was shattered. I mean 969 01:12:21,240 --> 01:12:25,280 Speaker 2: he looked on he looked unwell, and we got him 970 01:12:25,320 --> 01:12:27,840 Speaker 2: a cup of tea and a bun and I said 971 01:12:27,880 --> 01:12:30,120 Speaker 2: to him, are you all right? Went I didn't get 972 01:12:30,120 --> 01:12:34,720 Speaker 2: into I didn't get home till five am, and we 973 01:12:34,800 --> 01:12:39,519 Speaker 2: had this conversation and basically he could not fit our 974 01:12:39,640 --> 01:12:43,439 Speaker 2: record well. He didn't have a schedule, he had no 975 01:12:43,560 --> 01:12:45,960 Speaker 2: idea when the River was going to be finished. They'd 976 01:12:46,000 --> 01:12:49,720 Speaker 2: already been working on it for about a year. And 977 01:12:49,760 --> 01:12:52,160 Speaker 2: if I remember correctly, it's a double album. I think 978 01:12:52,160 --> 01:12:55,720 Speaker 2: it was a double album. Yeah. So, and they were 979 01:12:55,800 --> 01:12:57,760 Speaker 2: up at the power station, which is where we used 980 01:12:57,800 --> 01:13:09,280 Speaker 2: to work. So he mentioned Jimmy Iven and when we 981 01:13:09,280 --> 01:13:13,840 Speaker 2: were doing the Communicator, the play on music that the 982 01:13:13,840 --> 01:13:18,080 Speaker 2: band used to bring them on stage was because the 983 01:13:18,200 --> 01:13:24,799 Speaker 2: night which Jimmy of course had produced with Patti Smith. 984 01:13:27,040 --> 01:13:31,960 Speaker 2: And we're sitting there and so again, long story short, 985 01:13:32,360 --> 01:13:37,360 Speaker 2: I got hold of Jimmy on John's recommendation, and a 986 01:13:37,439 --> 01:13:42,200 Speaker 2: small man dressed entirely in yellow with a yellow cap 987 01:13:42,320 --> 01:13:48,679 Speaker 2: and yellow shades in a yellow car arrives and hops 988 01:13:48,720 --> 01:13:53,479 Speaker 2: out and starts talking like he's been swimming in shark 989 01:13:53,560 --> 01:13:57,599 Speaker 2: infested waters. And one of them's got his balls. Hi, 990 01:13:57,800 --> 01:14:04,760 Speaker 2: how you doing, Jimmy, And he's like, I mean, I 991 01:14:04,760 --> 01:14:05,799 Speaker 2: thought he was on speed. 992 01:14:06,120 --> 01:14:06,559 Speaker 1: It wasn't. 993 01:14:06,600 --> 01:14:11,360 Speaker 2: That's just his personality to Blessing and the two of them, 994 01:14:11,920 --> 01:14:15,960 Speaker 2: we all got on. He recommended the power station. We 995 01:14:16,000 --> 01:14:18,040 Speaker 2: went up to the power station to have to check 996 01:14:18,080 --> 01:14:20,960 Speaker 2: it out, which ironically was where Mark met his wife, 997 01:14:21,520 --> 01:14:24,479 Speaker 2: his first wife Lords And it was funny because when 998 01:14:24,479 --> 01:14:26,120 Speaker 2: we got there, I just told me later that she 999 01:14:26,280 --> 01:14:29,160 Speaker 2: thought that I was Mark and Mark was me, and 1000 01:14:29,200 --> 01:14:32,960 Speaker 2: I was going, how how could that be? Anyway, we 1001 01:14:33,080 --> 01:14:37,040 Speaker 2: liked the studio, Jimmy was available. I managed to do 1002 01:14:37,120 --> 01:14:39,920 Speaker 2: a deal with a manager who I'm not going to mention, 1003 01:14:40,240 --> 01:14:46,599 Speaker 2: who was a complete chump. And it was Jimmy who 1004 01:14:46,760 --> 01:14:51,759 Speaker 2: recommended Roy Bitten from the Eas Street Band, who couldn't 1005 01:14:51,800 --> 01:14:55,519 Speaker 2: have been better. It was absolutely ideal and he was 1006 01:14:55,720 --> 01:15:00,599 Speaker 2: fast and he got it straight away. He understand exactly. 1007 01:15:00,800 --> 01:15:06,360 Speaker 2: Roy understood exactly what was needed. He had he wasn't. 1008 01:15:06,960 --> 01:15:09,160 Speaker 2: He had a break that was sufficiently long to do 1009 01:15:09,200 --> 01:15:13,599 Speaker 2: the tracking and so on. So we started. We booked 1010 01:15:13,640 --> 01:15:17,880 Speaker 2: in there in That was January. We booked in there 1011 01:15:17,880 --> 01:15:20,799 Speaker 2: and I think it was something like April, May, June, 1012 01:15:20,920 --> 01:15:23,719 Speaker 2: something like that. And when I got back to England, 1013 01:15:23,720 --> 01:15:26,559 Speaker 2: the guys got together and started rehearsing up the songs 1014 01:15:26,600 --> 01:15:30,799 Speaker 2: that became the Making Movies record, which and I generally 1015 01:15:30,840 --> 01:15:35,480 Speaker 2: did not attend rehearsals because why you know, that's a rehearsal. 1016 01:15:36,320 --> 01:15:39,160 Speaker 2: And I remember very clearly John Elsey rand mid day 1017 01:15:39,320 --> 01:15:42,000 Speaker 2: one day and he said, right, we're ready for you, 1018 01:15:43,080 --> 01:15:45,600 Speaker 2: which was me being summoned. And I went down to 1019 01:15:45,640 --> 01:15:50,200 Speaker 2: this tiny rehearsal studio in by the Cutty Sark the 1020 01:15:50,240 --> 01:15:55,280 Speaker 2: ship on the Thames place called the wood Wharf, which 1021 01:15:55,360 --> 01:16:00,599 Speaker 2: probably wasn't twenty foot square, and they played Tunnel Love 1022 01:16:00,640 --> 01:16:05,759 Speaker 2: Love and Romeo and Juliet with another keyboard player, Alan Clark, 1023 01:16:06,280 --> 01:16:09,040 Speaker 2: who we'd found somebody in my office had found and 1024 01:16:09,120 --> 01:16:12,080 Speaker 2: he'd come in and they played it like there were 1025 01:16:12,080 --> 01:16:15,760 Speaker 2: ten thousand people in the room and we when he 1026 01:16:15,800 --> 01:16:19,439 Speaker 2: got to the end of Romeo and Juliet, I knew 1027 01:16:19,760 --> 01:16:26,799 Speaker 2: that we were back, artistically speaking, and I was totally 1028 01:16:26,840 --> 01:16:31,639 Speaker 2: blown away by it. I thought that I thought Romeo 1029 01:16:31,680 --> 01:16:36,120 Speaker 2: and Juliet was just fantastic lyric. There's a line in 1030 01:16:36,160 --> 01:16:38,439 Speaker 2: that song you and me babe, how about it? 1031 01:16:38,920 --> 01:16:39,120 Speaker 1: Right? 1032 01:16:39,760 --> 01:16:43,080 Speaker 2: A great, great line, how many times have we all 1033 01:16:43,120 --> 01:16:46,680 Speaker 2: said that and all been told now fuck off? So 1034 01:16:47,800 --> 01:16:52,479 Speaker 2: we made we went off to New York made that 1035 01:16:52,560 --> 01:16:57,880 Speaker 2: record with Roy. I did have a bit of a 1036 01:16:57,960 --> 01:17:00,679 Speaker 2: problem with Jimmy because I had to have the phones 1037 01:17:00,720 --> 01:17:04,800 Speaker 2: cut off into the studio because Jimmy would produce in 1038 01:17:04,960 --> 01:17:08,720 Speaker 2: between the phone calls. So he was trying. He had, 1039 01:17:08,760 --> 01:17:10,920 Speaker 2: he had, he had this, he had, he was spending 1040 01:17:11,000 --> 01:17:19,120 Speaker 2: these plates he'd got Stevie NICKX was one plate. Bob Seger. 1041 01:17:19,200 --> 01:17:23,200 Speaker 2: I think he was sort of checking in discussions with 1042 01:17:24,640 --> 01:17:29,240 Speaker 2: of course Bruce. I can't remember who else, but he was. 1043 01:17:29,720 --> 01:17:33,160 Speaker 2: He was. He was always worried Jimmy. I hope he 1044 01:17:33,240 --> 01:17:35,800 Speaker 2: isn't now because he's got so much money and a 1045 01:17:35,920 --> 01:17:40,920 Speaker 2: very beautiful wife. But then he was desperately insecure, desperately 1046 01:17:41,920 --> 01:17:44,600 Speaker 2: and every night he would we would walk up the 1047 01:17:44,640 --> 01:17:47,280 Speaker 2: street and he would ask me the same question, what's 1048 01:17:47,360 --> 01:17:51,360 Speaker 2: going to happen to me? And I used to use 1049 01:17:51,439 --> 01:17:56,240 Speaker 2: that line, Charles Dickens line from mister Micawber. I said, 1050 01:17:56,280 --> 01:18:01,519 Speaker 2: now something will turn up. Something did turn up. But 1051 01:18:01,680 --> 01:18:06,680 Speaker 2: he was He and Shelley Yakas, who did the engineering 1052 01:18:06,720 --> 01:18:10,280 Speaker 2: on that, were great, But the problem was that they 1053 01:18:10,640 --> 01:18:16,120 Speaker 2: approached it from the perspective of the American hit record producers. So, 1054 01:18:16,160 --> 01:18:19,599 Speaker 2: for instance, we had a drum kit in there made 1055 01:18:19,680 --> 01:18:23,880 Speaker 2: up of other people's drum kit. We had Max Weinberg's 1056 01:18:23,880 --> 01:18:27,679 Speaker 2: snare drum, and we had Steve Gadd's floor tom tom, 1057 01:18:28,280 --> 01:18:32,160 Speaker 2: and we had somebody else's whatever and so and so, 1058 01:18:32,280 --> 01:18:34,720 Speaker 2: and picked with us was getting that. Our drummer was 1059 01:18:35,160 --> 01:18:40,840 Speaker 2: really ticked off with this. And we spent eight days 1060 01:18:40,880 --> 01:18:44,880 Speaker 2: doing the drum sound. And on the ninth day we 1061 01:18:44,880 --> 01:18:47,760 Speaker 2: took a lunch break and Pitch stayed behind and he 1062 01:18:48,000 --> 01:18:52,400 Speaker 2: retuned and reset every piece of that drum kit, and 1063 01:18:52,439 --> 01:18:57,479 Speaker 2: we came back and Iven literally produced an austri egg. 1064 01:18:58,520 --> 01:19:04,040 Speaker 2: He went absolutely nuts. The funny thing about those two 1065 01:19:04,080 --> 01:19:08,439 Speaker 2: guys was that every day they would they had two 1066 01:19:10,760 --> 01:19:13,479 Speaker 2: dog dog bowls that you would feed a dog, your 1067 01:19:13,479 --> 01:19:18,280 Speaker 2: pet dog with, and Shelley would empty an entire bottle 1068 01:19:18,640 --> 01:19:23,400 Speaker 2: of bee pollen tablets into each one, and then he'd 1069 01:19:23,439 --> 01:19:26,800 Speaker 2: mix it up with some alfalfa sprouts and they'd eat 1070 01:19:26,840 --> 01:19:30,320 Speaker 2: the whole lot. Now, bee pollen is a very very 1071 01:19:30,320 --> 01:19:33,599 Speaker 2: effective but very powerful vitimin, and you're supposed to take 1072 01:19:33,720 --> 01:19:37,960 Speaker 2: one or two a day, and they were taking bottles 1073 01:19:38,960 --> 01:19:41,720 Speaker 2: so and it had the effect, the speed effect, but 1074 01:19:41,800 --> 01:19:44,360 Speaker 2: it wasn't speed, it was out. It was bee pollen. 1075 01:19:45,200 --> 01:19:49,760 Speaker 2: And the two of them were like And in the 1076 01:19:49,880 --> 01:19:54,280 Speaker 2: end I just had to disconnect the phone because we could. 1077 01:19:54,439 --> 01:19:57,120 Speaker 2: We didn't have that much money then it hadn't flowed through. 1078 01:19:57,160 --> 01:20:03,120 Speaker 2: And you know, the pastage was expensive. Jimmy was fairly expensive. 1079 01:20:04,640 --> 01:20:10,640 Speaker 2: And they went the way they went about. Everything was 1080 01:20:11,200 --> 01:20:14,479 Speaker 2: full on. You know, it's like this, We've got to 1081 01:20:14,520 --> 01:20:18,600 Speaker 2: get this done. There's no fucking about, you know, you 1082 01:20:18,640 --> 01:20:21,519 Speaker 2: can't go and have a break now all this, and 1083 01:20:25,200 --> 01:20:31,800 Speaker 2: Jimmy got very frustrated with David Nofler. David was arguing constantly, 1084 01:20:32,960 --> 01:20:36,479 Speaker 2: this is not the way it's supposed to be and 1085 01:20:36,560 --> 01:20:39,519 Speaker 2: all this kind of stuff. Why are we staying at 1086 01:20:39,560 --> 01:20:43,280 Speaker 2: the Mayflower? We should be staying at Missus Miggins's guesthouse 1087 01:20:43,360 --> 01:20:48,599 Speaker 2: down the street. We're spending too much money. And this 1088 01:20:48,800 --> 01:20:52,680 Speaker 2: was really starting to get on everybody else's you know, 1089 01:20:53,439 --> 01:20:57,080 Speaker 2: as we say in England, everybody else's tits, and in 1090 01:20:57,120 --> 01:21:03,080 Speaker 2: particular it was really starting to bug Mark. I mean, 1091 01:21:03,360 --> 01:21:09,400 Speaker 2: it was already pretty the relationship was just not working. 1092 01:21:10,080 --> 01:21:13,880 Speaker 2: And there came the famous occasion or infamous occasion where 1093 01:21:14,040 --> 01:21:17,120 Speaker 2: Mark said to him, I wasn't there for this particular episode. 1094 01:21:17,200 --> 01:21:20,720 Speaker 2: Thank god. Mark said to him, right, he said, I 1095 01:21:20,760 --> 01:21:23,679 Speaker 2: want you to go back to the hotel. I want 1096 01:21:23,720 --> 01:21:27,720 Speaker 2: you to rehearse your part on Romeo and Juliet and 1097 01:21:27,760 --> 01:21:31,760 Speaker 2: come in tomorrow and we'll do it. And David just 1098 01:21:31,840 --> 01:21:34,720 Speaker 2: rolled his eyes, and then we all went off for 1099 01:21:34,760 --> 01:21:37,599 Speaker 2: the evening to do whatever we were doing, which might 1100 01:21:37,600 --> 01:21:39,400 Speaker 2: be just having a meal or going to a club, 1101 01:21:39,479 --> 01:21:43,640 Speaker 2: or I'll tell you a short aside. It might be 1102 01:21:43,640 --> 01:21:48,640 Speaker 2: interesting to you just going back to communicate because it 1103 01:21:48,680 --> 01:21:54,920 Speaker 2: just came into my mind. Jerry Wexler took Mark and 1104 01:21:54,920 --> 01:21:59,240 Speaker 2: I out one night clubbing, but I don't mean disco clubbing, 1105 01:21:59,320 --> 01:22:03,120 Speaker 2: I mean music clubbing. And we went and we saw 1106 01:22:03,360 --> 01:22:09,559 Speaker 2: James Blood, Olma and Cindy Lauper, and Cindy was singing 1107 01:22:09,560 --> 01:22:15,519 Speaker 2: with a group I think they were called Blue. 1108 01:22:16,160 --> 01:22:18,880 Speaker 1: Yeah. That was when she had her deal with PolyGram. 1109 01:22:18,760 --> 01:22:23,679 Speaker 2: And she did a fantastic version of a Gene Pitney 1110 01:22:23,760 --> 01:22:27,880 Speaker 2: song called I Want to Be Strong. Absolutely blew us 1111 01:22:27,920 --> 01:22:33,280 Speaker 2: out of our chairs. And we went back to Wexler's 1112 01:22:33,280 --> 01:22:36,439 Speaker 2: apartment and he said, which one of those do you 1113 01:22:36,640 --> 01:22:39,240 Speaker 2: think I should sign and Mark and I both went, 1114 01:22:39,640 --> 01:22:43,320 Speaker 2: you gotta sign that girl. That girl is ridiculous singer. 1115 01:22:43,720 --> 01:22:46,479 Speaker 2: And he goes, no, No, I'm going to sign James 1116 01:22:46,479 --> 01:22:52,200 Speaker 2: blood Olma, which he did, so Cindy got to go 1117 01:22:52,320 --> 01:22:54,920 Speaker 2: with whoever it was anyway, Sorry, So coming back to 1118 01:22:54,960 --> 01:22:55,879 Speaker 2: what you were asking. 1119 01:22:55,640 --> 01:22:57,320 Speaker 1: The name of the band was Blue Angel. 1120 01:22:57,600 --> 01:23:04,120 Speaker 2: Thank you Blue Angel. Yes. So the next day arrives 1121 01:23:04,280 --> 01:23:07,320 Speaker 2: and Mark David shows up and Mark says to him, 1122 01:23:07,439 --> 01:23:10,000 Speaker 2: did you practice your part like I told you? And 1123 01:23:10,080 --> 01:23:17,559 Speaker 2: David goes no, and everybody in the room went So 1124 01:23:17,600 --> 01:23:20,719 Speaker 2: he goes into the studio and he starts tuning his guitar, 1125 01:23:21,520 --> 01:23:26,519 Speaker 2: or rather he doesn't tune his guitar. And this has 1126 01:23:26,600 --> 01:23:28,840 Speaker 2: gone on for about half an hour. I got all 1127 01:23:29,120 --> 01:23:35,240 Speaker 2: from John later on, and finally Mark hit the talk 1128 01:23:35,320 --> 01:23:38,080 Speaker 2: back and he said to him, David, shit, I'll get 1129 01:23:38,080 --> 01:23:41,160 Speaker 2: off the pot. And David turned round and used a 1130 01:23:41,240 --> 01:23:45,439 Speaker 2: word I can't say on your podcast, and Mark just 1131 01:23:45,520 --> 01:23:48,160 Speaker 2: stood up, took his coat off the hook on the 1132 01:23:48,200 --> 01:23:51,320 Speaker 2: back of the door, put his coat on, and turned 1133 01:23:51,400 --> 01:23:53,559 Speaker 2: round to this room of people who had their mouth 1134 01:23:53,840 --> 01:23:57,719 Speaker 2: literally open, and said, I'm not working with him anymore. 1135 01:23:57,960 --> 01:24:03,280 Speaker 2: I'm going back to the hotel and walked out, so 1136 01:24:03,520 --> 01:24:09,720 Speaker 2: everybody Ivan laid another egg. Everybody went back to the 1137 01:24:09,720 --> 01:24:17,679 Speaker 2: hotel and Mark sorry, David and John Illslie had a 1138 01:24:17,720 --> 01:24:21,320 Speaker 2: conversation and basically John said, look, you got a choice. 1139 01:24:21,439 --> 01:24:24,800 Speaker 2: You can either make up with Mark and stay or 1140 01:24:24,920 --> 01:24:31,559 Speaker 2: leave and because and David said, I'll leave. And that 1141 01:24:31,640 --> 01:24:33,080 Speaker 2: was when I got on the phone call. I was 1142 01:24:33,120 --> 01:24:35,479 Speaker 2: on the West coast at that point, David's leaving the 1143 01:24:35,520 --> 01:24:40,760 Speaker 2: group and actually I just went, oh, great, thank god 1144 01:24:40,800 --> 01:24:44,160 Speaker 2: for that, because I knew that if he had stayed, 1145 01:24:44,960 --> 01:24:47,960 Speaker 2: it would have fallen to bits. I'm not saying it 1146 01:24:48,000 --> 01:24:51,040 Speaker 2: wouldn't have reconstructed, but at that moment it was very 1147 01:24:51,040 --> 01:24:55,599 Speaker 2: close to just collapsing because Pink our Drama was ready 1148 01:24:55,600 --> 01:24:57,000 Speaker 2: to go because of David. 1149 01:24:57,720 --> 01:25:11,600 Speaker 1: Absolutely, Okay, that album comes out with not gigantic expectations 1150 01:25:11,640 --> 01:25:14,280 Speaker 1: in the US. Once again, the Europe is a different market. 1151 01:25:15,160 --> 01:25:21,320 Speaker 1: It's got a more vibrant, impactful, direct sound. If you 1152 01:25:21,400 --> 01:25:25,320 Speaker 1: bought the record when it came out, you were quite stunned, 1153 01:25:25,960 --> 01:25:29,040 Speaker 1: especially with Romeo and Juliet, and from my perspective, it 1154 01:25:29,280 --> 01:25:32,920 Speaker 1: percolated slowly to become bigger and bigger and bigger. What 1155 01:25:33,160 --> 01:25:35,160 Speaker 1: was your perspective on the inside. 1156 01:25:35,439 --> 01:25:39,200 Speaker 2: You pretty much described it. I mean, we didn't have 1157 01:25:40,760 --> 01:25:44,600 Speaker 2: the Communicate setback in the rest of the world territories. 1158 01:25:45,400 --> 01:25:47,680 Speaker 2: And when do you talk about Europe, I don't want to. 1159 01:25:47,760 --> 01:25:49,640 Speaker 2: I'm not trying to correct you, but I only I 1160 01:25:49,680 --> 01:25:51,920 Speaker 2: think of the rest of the world, because it wasn't 1161 01:25:51,960 --> 01:25:55,879 Speaker 2: just Europe. It was Australasia, it was Japan, it was Canada, 1162 01:25:56,160 --> 01:26:01,320 Speaker 2: all of these territories, parts of South America were always 1163 01:26:01,479 --> 01:26:05,840 Speaker 2: going great guns for us. So the Communicate record and 1164 01:26:05,960 --> 01:26:08,439 Speaker 2: because of the touring off the back of it and 1165 01:26:08,560 --> 01:26:12,360 Speaker 2: keeping them in front of their fan base which was growing. 1166 01:26:15,000 --> 01:26:21,559 Speaker 2: When the third one came out, the decision was made 1167 01:26:21,640 --> 01:26:25,960 Speaker 2: the record companies. I never tried to impose singles on 1168 01:26:26,120 --> 01:26:29,240 Speaker 2: record companies because they have to do the work. I 1169 01:26:29,320 --> 01:26:31,519 Speaker 2: only did that once, and we're going to come to that. 1170 01:26:33,560 --> 01:26:40,000 Speaker 2: But I thought Romeo and Juliet as a song was 1171 01:26:40,200 --> 01:26:45,280 Speaker 2: utterly brilliant, and I did kind of push for that 1172 01:26:45,400 --> 01:26:48,479 Speaker 2: to be the single. And it was one of those things. 1173 01:26:48,479 --> 01:26:50,640 Speaker 2: And I'm going to tell you something which even the 1174 01:26:50,720 --> 01:26:54,759 Speaker 2: band members don't know. Of course, the record company wanted 1175 01:26:54,760 --> 01:27:00,720 Speaker 2: an edit, and I said to the guy from Phonogram 1176 01:27:00,760 --> 01:27:05,639 Speaker 2: in London. I said, we didn't have this conversation. If 1177 01:27:05,640 --> 01:27:08,280 Speaker 2: I ever hear about it, I will deny you and 1178 01:27:08,360 --> 01:27:12,360 Speaker 2: I spoke about it. Do you have you got the message? 1179 01:27:12,600 --> 01:27:15,920 Speaker 2: And he said I think so. So we put out 1180 01:27:15,960 --> 01:27:18,280 Speaker 2: an edited version because I knew radio was going to 1181 01:27:18,400 --> 01:27:25,479 Speaker 2: edit it anyway, and it became it went well in 1182 01:27:25,520 --> 01:27:31,519 Speaker 2: the UK. It got up to about number three, and 1183 01:27:31,520 --> 01:27:33,920 Speaker 2: and again we were off touring again. I mean, it 1184 01:27:33,960 --> 01:27:40,840 Speaker 2: was just the touring was relentless. And about a year later, 1185 01:27:40,960 --> 01:27:43,880 Speaker 2: John Nilsey said to me, took me aside somewhere, He said, 1186 01:27:44,080 --> 01:27:48,559 Speaker 2: did you tell Phonogram that they could edit Romeo and Juliet? 1187 01:27:48,920 --> 01:27:56,400 Speaker 2: And I went, He said, well, obviously you did. I said, 1188 01:27:56,439 --> 01:27:59,439 Speaker 2: have you mentioned that to Mark? He said no, and 1189 01:27:59,479 --> 01:28:03,000 Speaker 2: I'm not going he did exactly the right thing. So 1190 01:28:03,400 --> 01:28:07,200 Speaker 2: and the unlikely event Mark's watching this, that's why anyway, 1191 01:28:07,360 --> 01:28:12,880 Speaker 2: it didn't matter. So that became a hit. A Tunnel 1192 01:28:12,960 --> 01:28:16,000 Speaker 2: of Love became a hit as parts one and two. 1193 01:28:17,439 --> 01:28:21,559 Speaker 2: It's like Big Noise from Winnetka Part one kind of thing. 1194 01:28:22,640 --> 01:28:24,479 Speaker 2: There was a song on that album I thought was 1195 01:28:24,479 --> 01:28:26,600 Speaker 2: a hit song. It was not released, and that was 1196 01:28:26,640 --> 01:28:30,000 Speaker 2: a song called Hand in Hand. Had a good chorus. 1197 01:28:30,360 --> 01:28:33,280 Speaker 2: But anyway, that record got us back for sure. 1198 01:28:33,960 --> 01:28:39,200 Speaker 1: Before we go forward, let's go back. How did Knappler 1199 01:28:39,400 --> 01:28:42,120 Speaker 1: end Mark Knopfler end up working with Bob Dylan? And 1200 01:28:42,160 --> 01:28:43,639 Speaker 1: what was your experience there? 1201 01:28:47,240 --> 01:28:55,320 Speaker 2: Sorry, okay, this is welcome to Comedy Hour Central, Jerry Wexler. 1202 01:28:56,920 --> 01:29:01,280 Speaker 2: We are playing in at the Rocks See in La 1203 01:29:01,840 --> 01:29:05,880 Speaker 2: on the first American tour, which is packed wall to 1204 01:29:05,920 --> 01:29:11,640 Speaker 2: wall with faces I believe you call them. I remember 1205 01:29:11,840 --> 01:29:15,280 Speaker 2: Stevin Nix getting up and doing her Rihanna dance and 1206 01:29:15,360 --> 01:29:20,760 Speaker 2: being pelted with plastic cups and sit down, yes, silly cow, 1207 01:29:20,920 --> 01:29:24,360 Speaker 2: and all of this, and I remember all of the 1208 01:29:24,400 --> 01:29:28,679 Speaker 2: members of the band, Robbie and all of them been there, 1209 01:29:28,840 --> 01:29:32,840 Speaker 2: and all of these other characters. And we were doing 1210 01:29:32,840 --> 01:29:40,400 Speaker 2: two shows a night there. This was in end of 1211 01:29:40,400 --> 01:29:45,120 Speaker 2: March seventeen, end of March eighty. I think I got 1212 01:29:45,200 --> 01:29:46,760 Speaker 2: my caronology might be wrong. 1213 01:29:46,840 --> 01:29:48,160 Speaker 1: I think a little before that. 1214 01:29:48,160 --> 01:29:53,360 Speaker 2: I was seventy nine. Sorry, you're right. And we went 1215 01:29:53,439 --> 01:29:56,320 Speaker 2: up to on the Rocks upstairs for a drink in 1216 01:29:56,360 --> 01:30:00,840 Speaker 2: between the shows, and there was Bob or as we 1217 01:30:00,960 --> 01:30:06,320 Speaker 2: call him, rambling, and with wait. 1218 01:30:05,720 --> 01:30:08,919 Speaker 1: Wait, wait, wait, why do you call him rambling? 1219 01:30:09,720 --> 01:30:12,640 Speaker 2: In the sixties, anybody of my generation who listened to 1220 01:30:12,680 --> 01:30:16,160 Speaker 2: British radio would have listened to a satirical radio show 1221 01:30:16,200 --> 01:30:20,400 Speaker 2: on a Sunday called Round the Horn, which featured a 1222 01:30:20,640 --> 01:30:26,400 Speaker 2: spoof folks singer called Rambling sid Rumpole. You can find 1223 01:30:26,400 --> 01:30:31,080 Speaker 2: this stuff on YouTube or whatever, and Rambling sid Rumpole 1224 01:30:31,200 --> 01:30:34,280 Speaker 2: was played by a wonderful actor called Kenneth Williams, Who's 1225 01:30:34,760 --> 01:30:39,040 Speaker 2: Who's who would vocalize everything like a person from the 1226 01:30:39,080 --> 01:30:40,240 Speaker 2: West Country of England. 1227 01:30:40,960 --> 01:30:41,599 Speaker 1: So what are right? 1228 01:30:41,760 --> 01:30:43,479 Speaker 2: Or like that? You know, what are you mean? I'm 1229 01:30:43,479 --> 01:30:46,519 Speaker 2: going to sing you a song now. It's called the Toymes. 1230 01:30:46,840 --> 01:30:51,080 Speaker 2: They are a changing. He would do a spoof. So 1231 01:30:51,600 --> 01:30:56,040 Speaker 2: Mark and I just started calling Bob Rambling. Bob had 1232 01:30:56,040 --> 01:30:58,040 Speaker 2: no idea. He thought we were talking about rambling Jack 1233 01:30:58,080 --> 01:31:02,560 Speaker 2: Elliottly I bought him a box set of the cassettes 1234 01:31:03,040 --> 01:31:08,479 Speaker 2: of this show, but it just went straight over. So anyway, 1235 01:31:08,520 --> 01:31:12,120 Speaker 2: we go upstairs and Wexler's there with Bob, and of 1236 01:31:12,160 --> 01:31:17,559 Speaker 2: course Bob is Mark's biggest influence. Stroke call him an 1237 01:31:17,600 --> 01:31:22,320 Speaker 2: idol exactly, but you know, Bob to Mark was what 1238 01:31:22,400 --> 01:31:25,320 Speaker 2: Elvis was to be kind of thing or Buddy Rich 1239 01:31:25,400 --> 01:31:30,360 Speaker 2: to me. And they met and went for a huddle, 1240 01:31:31,320 --> 01:31:36,240 Speaker 2: and the next thing I know is that Dylan is 1241 01:31:36,320 --> 01:31:41,800 Speaker 2: doing an album in Muscle Shoals. Jerry's going to produce it. 1242 01:31:42,000 --> 01:31:46,679 Speaker 2: This is taking place in April May of seventy nine, 1243 01:31:47,560 --> 01:31:56,840 Speaker 2: and we conveniently had a gap in touring, and it's 1244 01:31:56,880 --> 01:31:59,760 Speaker 2: agreed that Mark's going to play on this record. And 1245 01:31:59,800 --> 01:32:05,360 Speaker 2: Mark recommends pick with us our drummer, quite rightly, absolutely 1246 01:32:06,080 --> 01:32:10,160 Speaker 2: ideal for that. I didn't go down there, I had 1247 01:32:10,240 --> 01:32:12,960 Speaker 2: I was also managing Jerry Rafferty at the time, who 1248 01:32:13,040 --> 01:32:14,760 Speaker 2: was pretty big, and I had quite a lot of 1249 01:32:14,880 --> 01:32:17,639 Speaker 2: stuff to do in La. So they went off down 1250 01:32:17,680 --> 01:32:28,000 Speaker 2: to two Muscle Shoals. Tim Drummond played bass, There were 1251 01:32:28,040 --> 01:32:31,160 Speaker 2: a couple of backing girls. I can't remember who else 1252 01:32:31,280 --> 01:32:34,880 Speaker 2: was on that record. It was oh and what happened 1253 01:32:35,000 --> 01:32:38,320 Speaker 2: was that's right. So I was in LA or New 1254 01:32:38,400 --> 01:32:41,439 Speaker 2: York wherever, and Mark called me he'd been there about 1255 01:32:41,479 --> 01:32:45,439 Speaker 2: three days. Nah, sorry, got this wrong. He went to 1256 01:32:45,479 --> 01:32:48,800 Speaker 2: Santa Monica to Bob's place to routine the songs, and 1257 01:32:48,880 --> 01:32:50,880 Speaker 2: I was in New York and he rang me and 1258 01:32:50,920 --> 01:32:55,000 Speaker 2: he said, he said, all these songs are about God. 1259 01:32:56,120 --> 01:33:02,320 Speaker 2: And I went what he said, They're about odd when 1260 01:33:03,120 --> 01:33:06,680 Speaker 2: but he's Jewish, isn't he? And Mark went, Mark's whispering 1261 01:33:06,720 --> 01:33:08,880 Speaker 2: to me like there's other and I said, why are 1262 01:33:08,880 --> 01:33:13,760 Speaker 2: you whispering? He went, oh, well, he said, he said yeah. 1263 01:33:14,120 --> 01:33:18,160 Speaker 2: And this was because Bob's Born Again record. So they 1264 01:33:18,160 --> 01:33:22,320 Speaker 2: went down there and I had arranged to go down 1265 01:33:22,560 --> 01:33:28,559 Speaker 2: to join them. And this was probably eight days, right Mark, 1266 01:33:28,600 --> 01:33:30,360 Speaker 2: I said, I'll be down tomorrow. He said, don't bother 1267 01:33:30,439 --> 01:33:33,639 Speaker 2: coming And I said, but why, He said, we're done, 1268 01:33:33,640 --> 01:33:36,400 Speaker 2: We're finished. I said, you've on him been there eight 1269 01:33:36,479 --> 01:33:40,200 Speaker 2: days and he said, Bob only plays a song twice. 1270 01:33:42,280 --> 01:33:52,120 Speaker 2: So they did that record in eight days. And I 1271 01:33:52,200 --> 01:33:55,840 Speaker 2: don't think. I don't think anybody got paid for it. 1272 01:33:55,880 --> 01:34:03,960 Speaker 2: Seemed utterly redundant to be seeking payment. And it came 1273 01:34:04,000 --> 01:34:08,000 Speaker 2: out and it did as Bob Dylan records do it 1274 01:34:08,040 --> 01:34:10,240 Speaker 2: for the time that it did pretty well, I think 1275 01:34:10,479 --> 01:34:14,320 Speaker 2: from what I recall. I mean, I've met Dylan several times, 1276 01:34:14,360 --> 01:34:16,040 Speaker 2: but if I you know, if I walked up to 1277 01:34:16,120 --> 01:34:18,280 Speaker 2: him now, he wouldn't have a clue who I am. 1278 01:34:18,320 --> 01:34:24,760 Speaker 2: And that's fine, no problem. And that was that was that, 1279 01:34:24,880 --> 01:34:28,280 Speaker 2: and then and then we were all. Mark had to 1280 01:34:28,320 --> 01:34:30,519 Speaker 2: come back to Europe because we were starting a German 1281 01:34:30,600 --> 01:34:33,960 Speaker 2: tour around about mid May, so they fitted it into 1282 01:34:34,000 --> 01:34:38,320 Speaker 2: that gap that they Of course, there was a different 1283 01:34:38,360 --> 01:34:41,360 Speaker 2: situation with the Infidels record, which came along later on. 1284 01:34:43,640 --> 01:34:46,120 Speaker 2: And Mark and Bob are good friends as far as 1285 01:34:46,120 --> 01:34:50,480 Speaker 2: I know, Yeah, well, I know they are, Yeah, they are, Okay. 1286 01:34:51,200 --> 01:34:55,720 Speaker 1: How does Mark end up as the sole producer of 1287 01:34:55,840 --> 01:34:59,320 Speaker 1: Love of Gold? And is there a pushback from the 1288 01:34:59,479 --> 01:35:03,559 Speaker 1: label over the length of the song? Certainly opening track 1289 01:35:03,680 --> 01:35:09,759 Speaker 1: Telegraph wrote. 1290 01:35:07,800 --> 01:35:10,599 Speaker 2: It became the sole producer because he said, I'm going 1291 01:35:10,640 --> 01:35:20,880 Speaker 2: to be the sole producer. That record was originally going 1292 01:35:20,960 --> 01:35:25,000 Speaker 2: to be a double album. There were a ton more 1293 01:35:25,080 --> 01:35:30,600 Speaker 2: songs that were recorded, and I can remember in the 1294 01:35:30,640 --> 01:35:35,440 Speaker 2: world sometimes you when you're a manager, you have to 1295 01:35:35,520 --> 01:35:40,400 Speaker 2: save the act from themselves. I'd say that's quite a 1296 01:35:40,439 --> 01:35:45,600 Speaker 2: prominent part of the job. I don't mean artistically, but 1297 01:35:45,760 --> 01:35:49,960 Speaker 2: in this case, there was a whole conversation that went on. 1298 01:35:50,880 --> 01:35:52,920 Speaker 2: I remember I was in the back of a car 1299 01:35:53,600 --> 01:35:55,760 Speaker 2: about the cost this is a ship that we had 1300 01:35:55,800 --> 01:35:59,360 Speaker 2: to deal with back then, the cost of cardboard for 1301 01:35:59,439 --> 01:36:05,080 Speaker 2: a double hours album, the cost of inner bags, lyric sheets, 1302 01:36:05,920 --> 01:36:12,400 Speaker 2: the pricing, retail pricing. I've always been very conscious of that. 1303 01:36:12,439 --> 01:36:19,200 Speaker 2: I always lean towards don't bleed people money wise. I mean, 1304 01:36:19,280 --> 01:36:22,439 Speaker 2: it's a separate subject. But the whole ticketing thing at 1305 01:36:22,439 --> 01:36:25,840 Speaker 2: the moment is I think it's completely bonkers. It's sort 1306 01:36:25,840 --> 01:36:29,679 Speaker 2: of it's sort of almost surreal, but the public seemed 1307 01:36:29,680 --> 01:36:30,680 Speaker 2: to put up with it. 1308 01:36:31,360 --> 01:36:35,240 Speaker 1: Okay, just go sideways for a second. Your take on ticketing, 1309 01:36:39,160 --> 01:36:39,919 Speaker 1: Arthur Fogel. 1310 01:36:40,160 --> 01:36:44,320 Speaker 2: I also do interviews like you, well, not like you. 1311 01:36:45,840 --> 01:36:50,280 Speaker 1: Arthur Fogel, who basically runs the international touring of big 1312 01:36:50,320 --> 01:36:51,280 Speaker 1: acts for Live Nation. 1313 01:36:51,720 --> 01:36:54,439 Speaker 2: Correct. Yeah, he said to eat something up beautifully. I 1314 01:36:54,479 --> 01:36:56,760 Speaker 2: interviewed him a few years ago. He said everything at 1315 01:36:56,800 --> 01:37:03,120 Speaker 2: the top is underpriced and everything else is overpriced, which 1316 01:37:03,160 --> 01:37:06,600 Speaker 2: I thought was quite a good thing. I think that 1317 01:37:06,720 --> 01:37:12,719 Speaker 2: ticketing is this is a this is a very long conversation, Bob. 1318 01:37:13,720 --> 01:37:16,360 Speaker 1: Okay, let's let's move on, because I want to get through. 1319 01:37:17,960 --> 01:37:19,919 Speaker 2: You were asked me about Love of a Golden Production. 1320 01:37:21,920 --> 01:37:27,439 Speaker 2: They by this time, we were we had basically become 1321 01:37:27,479 --> 01:37:31,519 Speaker 2: the biggest act as on the PolyGram label, certainly at 1322 01:37:31,560 --> 01:37:34,600 Speaker 2: that moment in time, or well on the way to 1323 01:37:34,640 --> 01:37:37,120 Speaker 2: becoming the only act I can think of who might 1324 01:37:37,160 --> 01:37:39,479 Speaker 2: have been a bigger record seller back then would have 1325 01:37:39,560 --> 01:37:44,080 Speaker 2: been Elton John who was a label mate of ours, 1326 01:37:46,000 --> 01:37:52,080 Speaker 2: and I just made the decision that he was going 1327 01:37:52,120 --> 01:37:55,679 Speaker 2: to produce it. He I can't remember how we met 1328 01:37:55,760 --> 01:38:00,720 Speaker 2: Neil Dorfsman. I think we met Neil Dorsman during the 1329 01:38:00,720 --> 01:38:05,800 Speaker 2: making of the Local Hero movie soundtrack, which just preceded 1330 01:38:06,400 --> 01:38:12,160 Speaker 2: the Love of a Gold record, and no sorry, Love 1331 01:38:12,200 --> 01:38:15,519 Speaker 2: of a Gold Sorry. Local Hero came after, just right after, 1332 01:38:18,400 --> 01:38:27,479 Speaker 2: and by this time David had left the group. I 1333 01:38:27,520 --> 01:38:30,120 Speaker 2: didn't know it at the time, but Pick had decided 1334 01:38:30,160 --> 01:38:32,680 Speaker 2: to do that record and leave the group, which he 1335 01:38:32,720 --> 01:38:37,400 Speaker 2: did immediately after he'd finished his parts. Quite a crafty 1336 01:38:37,439 --> 01:38:48,120 Speaker 2: little economic decision on his part, and they made a record, 1337 01:38:48,200 --> 01:38:51,160 Speaker 2: as I say, which had quite a number of more 1338 01:38:51,200 --> 01:38:54,000 Speaker 2: songs than the ones that finally ended up on it. 1339 01:38:57,200 --> 01:39:00,960 Speaker 2: And I had heard bits and pieces. The Telegraph Road 1340 01:39:01,840 --> 01:39:06,439 Speaker 2: first appeared on the first Australian tour we did. I 1341 01:39:06,439 --> 01:39:09,760 Speaker 2: remember being in the venue in Perth with just the 1342 01:39:09,920 --> 01:39:15,680 Speaker 2: crew guys, actually probably just the sound guy, and they 1343 01:39:15,720 --> 01:39:18,240 Speaker 2: played it the whole thing. I was just sitting in 1344 01:39:18,280 --> 01:39:21,600 Speaker 2: the stalls and I just ran onto the stage and 1345 01:39:21,600 --> 01:39:24,160 Speaker 2: I went, what on earth is that? And that was 1346 01:39:26,439 --> 01:39:29,439 Speaker 2: Telegraph Road incidentally, is in Detroit. It's the name of 1347 01:39:29,479 --> 01:39:32,519 Speaker 2: the Ring road that goes around Detroit. And I had 1348 01:39:32,520 --> 01:39:34,800 Speaker 2: been sitting next to Mark on the bus as we 1349 01:39:34,800 --> 01:39:37,280 Speaker 2: were making our way to a venue in the pouring rain, 1350 01:39:37,880 --> 01:39:40,320 Speaker 2: and we were stuck in a traffic jam, and he 1351 01:39:40,360 --> 01:39:43,120 Speaker 2: had a piece of paper and he wrote down on 1352 01:39:43,160 --> 01:39:46,799 Speaker 2: the piece of paper six lanes of traffic, three lanes 1353 01:39:46,840 --> 01:39:50,600 Speaker 2: moving slow, and folded it up and put it in 1354 01:39:50,640 --> 01:39:54,519 Speaker 2: his pocket. And I heard it coming back at me 1355 01:39:55,040 --> 01:40:02,439 Speaker 2: months later. So we did that record, and you would 1356 01:40:02,520 --> 01:40:07,120 Speaker 2: ask me about the length of things. By this time, 1357 01:40:09,240 --> 01:40:13,759 Speaker 2: the way that people dealt with me had markedly changed. 1358 01:40:15,680 --> 01:40:19,439 Speaker 2: I don't mean that I was I didn't. I wasn't 1359 01:40:19,479 --> 01:40:22,080 Speaker 2: one of these shouters and screamers and all of that. 1360 01:40:22,240 --> 01:40:26,080 Speaker 2: But the you know, this was a big thing for 1361 01:40:26,160 --> 01:40:33,280 Speaker 2: the phonogram companies, particularly Phonogram had a not Phonogram, PolyGram 1362 01:40:33,520 --> 01:40:39,640 Speaker 2: UK Phonegram is one of the labels, had a wonderful president, 1363 01:40:39,760 --> 01:40:44,880 Speaker 2: guy called Ramon Lopez, Spanish guy. And I took that 1364 01:40:44,960 --> 01:40:48,480 Speaker 2: record into play to Ramon, just me and him, and 1365 01:40:48,479 --> 01:40:51,360 Speaker 2: he put it on and he played the whole album through, 1366 01:40:52,439 --> 01:40:55,320 Speaker 2: and I'll never forget what he said to me. He said, 1367 01:40:55,479 --> 01:40:57,519 Speaker 2: I want to do a Spanish accent. He said, ed, 1368 01:40:58,720 --> 01:41:02,320 Speaker 2: this is not pop me sick, this is classical music. 1369 01:41:03,560 --> 01:41:08,800 Speaker 2: And I went and he said, we are going to 1370 01:41:08,960 --> 01:41:12,719 Speaker 2: make this the most successful record we have ever had. 1371 01:41:13,200 --> 01:41:17,760 Speaker 2: And I'm like because he fucking loved it and he 1372 01:41:17,840 --> 01:41:25,839 Speaker 2: could see that it represented a kind of very different, 1373 01:41:26,280 --> 01:41:29,000 Speaker 2: you know, not many bad. It had been a long 1374 01:41:29,080 --> 01:41:33,679 Speaker 2: time since Aguarda di Vida, so having this mega track. 1375 01:41:35,240 --> 01:41:40,439 Speaker 2: I then went up to Scotland where Mark was. We well, 1376 01:41:40,439 --> 01:41:44,000 Speaker 2: actually we both went up for the We went to 1377 01:41:44,080 --> 01:41:53,200 Speaker 2: the set of Local Hero, which David Putnam was producing 1378 01:41:53,600 --> 01:41:58,639 Speaker 2: and on the first so we got up there, staying 1379 01:41:58,680 --> 01:42:01,200 Speaker 2: in this poky little hotel with the cast and crew, 1380 01:42:01,720 --> 01:42:04,479 Speaker 2: and at breakfast the following morning, Mark said to me, 1381 01:42:04,960 --> 01:42:07,679 Speaker 2: I'm going to ask you to do something you don't 1382 01:42:07,720 --> 01:42:11,719 Speaker 2: want to do. And I said, we are not having 1383 01:42:11,760 --> 01:42:17,800 Speaker 2: sex anyway, no, no, no, no no. I said, you 1384 01:42:17,880 --> 01:42:20,400 Speaker 2: want me to get the record companies to put Private 1385 01:42:20,439 --> 01:42:24,760 Speaker 2: Investigations out as the first single without an edit. And 1386 01:42:24,840 --> 01:42:27,040 Speaker 2: he said, how do you know, I said, because it 1387 01:42:27,160 --> 01:42:31,719 Speaker 2: is fucking brilliant. It's totally brilliant. If you're a manager, 1388 01:42:31,960 --> 01:42:34,839 Speaker 2: you work with what your artist gives you. And if Heaven, 1389 01:42:35,920 --> 01:42:44,240 Speaker 2: Thank Heaven. You love it as a fan, almost not commercially, 1390 01:42:44,479 --> 01:42:47,280 Speaker 2: you just love it as a piece of music. And 1391 01:42:47,360 --> 01:42:52,400 Speaker 2: I thought it was utterly, absolutely brilliant. And he said yes, 1392 01:42:52,479 --> 01:42:55,280 Speaker 2: he said, can you do that? I said yes, I said, 1393 01:42:55,280 --> 01:42:59,080 Speaker 2: but there's going to be some pushback on it. When 1394 01:42:59,120 --> 01:43:01,439 Speaker 2: I finally got back down to London and I took 1395 01:43:01,520 --> 01:43:08,479 Speaker 2: the record into play to the London Phonogram company and 1396 01:43:08,560 --> 01:43:10,120 Speaker 2: it was then that I played it to ram On. 1397 01:43:10,280 --> 01:43:14,439 Speaker 2: I just got the chronology wrong. The head of radio promotion, 1398 01:43:14,560 --> 01:43:20,000 Speaker 2: who I won't name, said to me. I said to them, 1399 01:43:20,000 --> 01:43:21,800 Speaker 2: I said, I'm going to ask you to do so 1400 01:43:22,280 --> 01:43:24,920 Speaker 2: you're not going to want to do. Said, I want 1401 01:43:24,960 --> 01:43:29,920 Speaker 2: you to put that second track Private Investigations out. It's 1402 01:43:29,960 --> 01:43:33,360 Speaker 2: the first single without an edit, and it's seven minutes long. 1403 01:43:34,840 --> 01:43:38,000 Speaker 2: And the head of radio promotions said to me, we 1404 01:43:38,040 --> 01:43:43,040 Speaker 2: can't do that. People will ring up their radio stations 1405 01:43:43,200 --> 01:43:48,439 Speaker 2: and think that something's gone wrong. And I went, what why. 1406 01:43:48,880 --> 01:43:53,519 Speaker 2: He said, because it stops. I said, yes, those are 1407 01:43:53,520 --> 01:44:00,320 Speaker 2: called rest periods. Because I was an it's a bit 1408 01:44:00,400 --> 01:44:05,240 Speaker 2: sip teeny bit ticked the managing director. Then one of 1409 01:44:06,400 --> 01:44:12,759 Speaker 2: this endless literally of managing directors I was. He said, okay, 1410 01:44:13,080 --> 01:44:16,200 Speaker 2: we'll do that. I said, I know, it's a risk. 1411 01:44:16,920 --> 01:44:20,240 Speaker 2: I said, this that will be as big as MacArthur Park, 1412 01:44:20,800 --> 01:44:26,280 Speaker 2: or it will die death. So they put it out. 1413 01:44:27,120 --> 01:44:27,360 Speaker 1: Now. 1414 01:44:27,439 --> 01:44:32,840 Speaker 2: I I had, you know, two or three ladies working 1415 01:44:32,880 --> 01:44:36,040 Speaker 2: for me at the time, well for nearly the whole time, 1416 01:44:36,600 --> 01:44:39,080 Speaker 2: and they would have the radio on downstairs, and I 1417 01:44:39,160 --> 01:44:41,840 Speaker 2: was upstairs in my office and I kept hearing this song, 1418 01:44:42,479 --> 01:44:48,800 Speaker 2: and I buzzed Gene, my American PA, whose voice would 1419 01:44:49,000 --> 01:44:53,280 Speaker 2: strip chrome off a bumper, and I said to her, 1420 01:44:53,880 --> 01:45:00,000 Speaker 2: will you please stop playing that bloody record. Wow, it's 1421 01:45:00,320 --> 01:45:06,719 Speaker 2: it's not us, it's Radio one. I said what I said, 1422 01:45:06,920 --> 01:45:09,479 Speaker 2: But they're playing the whole thing, and she said yes. 1423 01:45:11,080 --> 01:45:16,600 Speaker 2: So this thing was picked up by the rest of 1424 01:45:16,640 --> 01:45:21,479 Speaker 2: the world radio, no edit, whole thing. We did a 1425 01:45:21,520 --> 01:45:25,040 Speaker 2: pretty crappy video to go with it, but didn't really matter. 1426 01:45:25,280 --> 01:45:29,639 Speaker 2: And the next week, to give you an idea of 1427 01:45:29,640 --> 01:45:35,040 Speaker 2: my own belief and the amount of bullshit I can talk, 1428 01:45:35,760 --> 01:45:37,640 Speaker 2: I call up the charts used to come through on 1429 01:45:37,680 --> 01:45:40,360 Speaker 2: a Tuesday back then, So I call up Phonogram on 1430 01:45:40,400 --> 01:45:42,960 Speaker 2: a Tuesday, and I get the cleaner of somebody on 1431 01:45:43,000 --> 01:45:46,160 Speaker 2: the phone and I tell him who I am, and 1432 01:45:46,200 --> 01:45:52,600 Speaker 2: I say, have you got this week's radio chart, the 1433 01:45:52,720 --> 01:45:55,479 Speaker 2: Music week Charts, which would be equivalent to the Billboard, 1434 01:45:56,360 --> 01:45:58,439 Speaker 2: And there's a scrabbling of papers and he said yes, 1435 01:45:58,560 --> 01:46:01,920 Speaker 2: And I said, can you look between numbers fifty and 1436 01:46:02,040 --> 01:46:06,920 Speaker 2: seventy five and see if a song called Private Investigations 1437 01:46:06,960 --> 01:46:11,320 Speaker 2: has gone in? And he looks and he said, nah, no, 1438 01:46:11,479 --> 01:46:13,840 Speaker 2: it's not there, and I'm thinking, fuck, we haven't even 1439 01:46:13,840 --> 01:46:16,600 Speaker 2: made the top seventy five. And then he said to me, 1440 01:46:16,640 --> 01:46:20,000 Speaker 2: he said, what's it called again, I said, private Investigations. 1441 01:46:20,280 --> 01:46:23,360 Speaker 2: He said, oh, there's a song called Private Investigations that's 1442 01:46:23,400 --> 01:46:29,520 Speaker 2: gone in at number two. And I went wow, wow, 1443 01:46:30,240 --> 01:46:37,519 Speaker 2: because I just didn't know. And that record became an 1444 01:46:37,560 --> 01:46:42,080 Speaker 2: absolute classic. In the Dos Traits Repertoire Live Repertoire, Big 1445 01:46:42,200 --> 01:46:47,360 Speaker 2: Big fan favorite Carl Scott blessed him, who was at 1446 01:46:47,360 --> 01:46:52,360 Speaker 2: this point in a totally unenviable position, brings me up 1447 01:46:52,360 --> 01:46:54,800 Speaker 2: and he says, the A and R Department have done 1448 01:46:54,800 --> 01:46:58,680 Speaker 2: an edit on Telegraph Road and I have they? And 1449 01:46:58,720 --> 01:47:02,600 Speaker 2: he said it's two and a half minutes long, and 1450 01:47:02,680 --> 01:47:06,240 Speaker 2: I just burst out laughing. I said, Carl, don't be silly. 1451 01:47:07,160 --> 01:47:10,320 Speaker 2: We can't put that out, so we weren't able to 1452 01:47:10,360 --> 01:47:17,280 Speaker 2: put out a radio friendly length single In America. The 1453 01:47:17,320 --> 01:47:19,800 Speaker 2: album did quite well, I mean I can't remember what 1454 01:47:19,880 --> 01:47:22,080 Speaker 2: it's sold over two million in the end. 1455 01:47:27,479 --> 01:47:32,519 Speaker 1: When do you find Pick is going to leave the band? 1456 01:47:32,600 --> 01:47:35,919 Speaker 1: What's going on there? And frequently in the history of groups, 1457 01:47:36,720 --> 01:47:39,760 Speaker 1: you'll lose one member, you change the chemistry. I mean, 1458 01:47:40,000 --> 01:47:44,040 Speaker 1: Rim the drummer quit after an illness, and it was 1459 01:47:44,080 --> 01:47:47,759 Speaker 1: never really you seem being very successful. 1460 01:47:47,240 --> 01:47:48,040 Speaker 2: And you're the same. 1461 01:47:48,360 --> 01:47:50,639 Speaker 1: Yeah, what do you think when Pick says I'm done? 1462 01:47:51,200 --> 01:47:53,559 Speaker 2: It's the same thing in this situation. I mean, I 1463 01:47:53,600 --> 01:47:57,439 Speaker 2: played drums. I'm not a professional drummer level, but I 1464 01:47:57,439 --> 01:47:59,680 Speaker 2: played drums well enough that I could play with the 1465 01:47:59,760 --> 01:48:07,880 Speaker 2: not Hillbillies, etc. And Pick was a really, really good player, 1466 01:48:08,000 --> 01:48:12,080 Speaker 2: and he was absolutely right for the music they were 1467 01:48:12,200 --> 01:48:17,640 Speaker 2: making at the beginning of their career, and more particularly, 1468 01:48:17,720 --> 01:48:21,200 Speaker 2: he was right for the level of venues we were doing. 1469 01:48:21,479 --> 01:48:27,639 Speaker 2: We had not got up to mega venues. He had 1470 01:48:28,360 --> 01:48:33,559 Speaker 2: unbelievably where these things go. He'd married my first secretary, Linda. 1471 01:48:35,640 --> 01:48:40,400 Speaker 2: They divorced and then they remarried. Go figure, So he'd 1472 01:48:40,400 --> 01:48:44,840 Speaker 2: married Linda. Linda was still working for me this was 1473 01:48:44,920 --> 01:48:48,479 Speaker 2: not a very good arrangement because they'd go you know, 1474 01:48:48,560 --> 01:48:50,840 Speaker 2: she'd go home and she'd tell him everything that was 1475 01:48:50,880 --> 01:48:58,479 Speaker 2: going on in the office, and how do I do 1476 01:48:58,560 --> 01:49:03,720 Speaker 2: this diplomatically. There were some aspects to the way that 1477 01:49:03,960 --> 01:49:06,000 Speaker 2: the band was going which Pick was not happy with. 1478 01:49:06,479 --> 01:49:08,360 Speaker 2: The first of all, it was, first of all, it 1479 01:49:08,439 --> 01:49:15,639 Speaker 2: was getting considerably louder on live shows, and he did 1480 01:49:15,680 --> 01:49:22,000 Speaker 2: not like battling with the guitars basically because it was 1481 01:49:22,320 --> 01:49:25,439 Speaker 2: not deafening, but it was getting loud. And he's not 1482 01:49:28,840 --> 01:49:33,120 Speaker 2: you know, he couldn't do Phil Rudd's job in ac DC. 1483 01:49:33,640 --> 01:49:40,320 Speaker 2: He's not that kind of player. There were just personal 1484 01:49:40,320 --> 01:49:44,360 Speaker 2: issues arising really between him and Mark, because Mark by 1485 01:49:44,439 --> 01:49:49,200 Speaker 2: then had emerged as happens in many, many, many bands 1486 01:49:49,240 --> 01:49:53,680 Speaker 2: that start off as democracies, Mark had become a dictator. 1487 01:49:54,680 --> 01:49:57,560 Speaker 2: I mean he was right in everything. Now. He was producing, 1488 01:49:58,840 --> 01:50:01,479 Speaker 2: he was singing everything, he was arranging everything, and he 1489 01:50:01,600 --> 01:50:06,200 Speaker 2: wasn't exactly telling people how to what to play. But 1490 01:50:06,280 --> 01:50:14,120 Speaker 2: Mark's very precise about how he hears his songs kind 1491 01:50:14,160 --> 01:50:17,280 Speaker 2: of in his head. He's not the kind of musician 1492 01:50:17,320 --> 01:50:21,440 Speaker 2: who goes into the studio and like say the Stones 1493 01:50:21,560 --> 01:50:25,439 Speaker 2: might from time to time and jam and hope that 1494 01:50:25,520 --> 01:50:29,679 Speaker 2: something arises. He goes in and he's got a very 1495 01:50:29,760 --> 01:50:33,559 Speaker 2: clear idea. That's not to say he doesn't like let 1496 01:50:33,600 --> 01:50:36,960 Speaker 2: other people put their ten cents in. He does, but 1497 01:50:37,000 --> 01:50:41,760 Speaker 2: at the end of the day he'll basically dictate if 1498 01:50:41,800 --> 01:50:46,439 Speaker 2: you like, how the thing's going to go. And Pick 1499 01:50:46,600 --> 01:50:50,040 Speaker 2: was not happy with that aspect. He and his Linda 1500 01:50:50,160 --> 01:50:53,040 Speaker 2: my secretary, his wife, my secretary, they just had their 1501 01:50:53,080 --> 01:51:01,800 Speaker 2: first baby. He was on one core water of albums 1502 01:51:01,840 --> 01:51:08,280 Speaker 2: one and two, had one third on albums three and 1503 01:51:08,600 --> 01:51:16,040 Speaker 2: four and plus whatever the tours have produced, because by 1504 01:51:16,080 --> 01:51:23,719 Speaker 2: this time the tours were profitable. So he did the 1505 01:51:23,760 --> 01:51:30,960 Speaker 2: record and there was a big row about something in 1506 01:51:31,040 --> 01:51:33,320 Speaker 2: New York. I can't remember what it was. It was 1507 01:51:33,360 --> 01:51:38,840 Speaker 2: something to do with kind of the domestic arrangements. I 1508 01:51:38,840 --> 01:51:42,679 Speaker 2: mean a lot of people listening to your You did 1509 01:51:42,680 --> 01:51:46,840 Speaker 2: a fantastic podcast some time ago with Bill Kirbishly. It 1510 01:51:47,000 --> 01:51:50,880 Speaker 2: was one of my absolute heroes. I love Bill, and 1511 01:51:50,920 --> 01:51:53,000 Speaker 2: what struck me about that because I've listened to it 1512 01:51:53,040 --> 01:51:59,080 Speaker 2: about three times. Bill was open enough about his personal 1513 01:51:59,120 --> 01:52:02,799 Speaker 2: life and the impact that that has had on his career. 1514 01:52:04,840 --> 01:52:12,639 Speaker 2: And also Bill said something which absolutely I totally totally. 1515 01:52:12,680 --> 01:52:14,200 Speaker 2: If he was here now, i'd give him a hug. 1516 01:52:14,960 --> 01:52:18,400 Speaker 2: He was talking about why he and Robert Plant split up, 1517 01:52:19,120 --> 01:52:21,120 Speaker 2: and he said that for him, it was a matter 1518 01:52:21,200 --> 01:52:25,360 Speaker 2: of principle, and in a strange kind of way. I 1519 01:52:25,400 --> 01:52:27,160 Speaker 2: think for Pick it was a bit of a matter 1520 01:52:27,240 --> 01:52:33,000 Speaker 2: of principle. And I was very sad to see him 1521 01:52:33,000 --> 01:52:35,640 Speaker 2: good because he came to me to tell me, and 1522 01:52:35,720 --> 01:52:37,800 Speaker 2: I was very sad to see him go, But I 1523 01:52:37,840 --> 01:52:41,920 Speaker 2: didn't try to talk him into staying. In my experience, 1524 01:52:42,360 --> 01:52:45,800 Speaker 2: if you try and talk creative people into doing things 1525 01:52:45,840 --> 01:52:48,040 Speaker 2: they don't want to do, it's not going to work. 1526 01:52:48,080 --> 01:52:53,960 Speaker 2: It'll backfire. And I remember that John Remark and myself 1527 01:52:54,000 --> 01:52:57,160 Speaker 2: had lunch with Pick, and I said, I said to 1528 01:52:57,200 --> 01:52:58,560 Speaker 2: Pick when he told me, I said, you're going to 1529 01:52:58,640 --> 01:52:59,960 Speaker 2: have to You're going to have to tell the other 1530 01:53:00,400 --> 01:53:02,200 Speaker 2: and he went, yeah, I know. So he told them 1531 01:53:03,040 --> 01:53:09,040 Speaker 2: and it was logistically inconvenient because I already had of course, 1532 01:53:09,240 --> 01:53:12,400 Speaker 2: I had a tour already set up, already to go. 1533 01:53:13,479 --> 01:53:16,320 Speaker 2: I think the thing was on sale and suddenly we 1534 01:53:16,400 --> 01:53:19,320 Speaker 2: needed another drummer. Now I need to go back to 1535 01:53:19,360 --> 01:53:21,400 Speaker 2: my days as an agent. I used to work with 1536 01:53:21,439 --> 01:53:24,080 Speaker 2: a guy called Barry Marshall, who's one of the absolute 1537 01:53:24,120 --> 01:53:27,400 Speaker 2: best promoters in this country that we've ever produced, and 1538 01:53:27,479 --> 01:53:29,840 Speaker 2: probably one of my along with his wife Jenny, one 1539 01:53:29,880 --> 01:53:33,000 Speaker 2: of my dearest friends. At the time Barry was managed. 1540 01:53:33,040 --> 01:53:35,439 Speaker 2: This is back in the seventies. Barry was managing a 1541 01:53:35,560 --> 01:53:42,360 Speaker 2: Welsh jam band a bit like the Dead or Dave 1542 01:53:42,439 --> 01:53:46,720 Speaker 2: Math more like the Dead really, and they had a 1543 01:53:46,760 --> 01:53:50,760 Speaker 2: drummer called Terry Williams, who, of course I became very 1544 01:53:50,760 --> 01:53:54,479 Speaker 2: good friends with. And Terry eventually left Man and joined 1545 01:53:54,600 --> 01:53:58,439 Speaker 2: Dave Edmunds Rock Pile and was on all of those 1546 01:53:59,760 --> 01:54:03,000 Speaker 2: Dave Edmund's records. And Terry is the king of the 1547 01:54:03,040 --> 01:54:08,720 Speaker 2: shuffle as we drummers call it, kind of boogie kind 1548 01:54:08,720 --> 01:54:14,519 Speaker 2: of playing. So when so so, when Pitt left, Mark 1549 01:54:14,600 --> 01:54:18,000 Speaker 2: said to me, and sometimes I wonder where where Mark's 1550 01:54:18,040 --> 01:54:20,320 Speaker 2: brain is, because he says to me, do you know 1551 01:54:20,360 --> 01:54:21,080 Speaker 2: any drummers? 1552 01:54:23,479 --> 01:54:23,839 Speaker 1: Yeah? 1553 01:54:24,160 --> 01:54:32,360 Speaker 2: Loads, he said, can you find us a drummer? Oh, yeah, 1554 01:54:32,560 --> 01:54:34,280 Speaker 2: I'll tell you, I said, I'll tell you who you want. 1555 01:54:34,400 --> 01:54:39,800 Speaker 2: You need. Terry Williams, who's Terry Williams told him Terry 1556 01:54:39,800 --> 01:54:44,800 Speaker 2: comes up, goes to what I suppose you'd call an audition, 1557 01:54:44,960 --> 01:54:48,840 Speaker 2: which wasn't really about an hour after he's got there, 1558 01:54:49,040 --> 01:54:55,000 Speaker 2: Illy rings me up. He says, great, fantastic, and I 1559 01:54:55,040 --> 01:54:59,200 Speaker 2: said what you want him? He went absolutely. He said 1560 01:54:59,560 --> 01:55:02,360 Speaker 2: he hasn't walked around his drum kit once, which is 1561 01:55:02,360 --> 01:55:04,480 Speaker 2: what Pick would do. Pick would walk around his drum 1562 01:55:04,560 --> 01:55:09,240 Speaker 2: kit going like that. Terry became the drummer. And what 1563 01:55:09,400 --> 01:55:12,080 Speaker 2: was significant about that was not only could he play 1564 01:55:12,160 --> 01:55:16,920 Speaker 2: the catalog if you like the stuff, but we were 1565 01:55:16,960 --> 01:55:19,760 Speaker 2: moving into bigger arenas and we were on our way 1566 01:55:19,800 --> 01:55:25,160 Speaker 2: to stadiums for better or worse and day and Terry 1567 01:55:25,280 --> 01:55:29,360 Speaker 2: was what we needed. He was an absolute powerhouse and 1568 01:55:29,880 --> 01:55:34,320 Speaker 2: he has a quality which a lot of your audience 1569 01:55:34,480 --> 01:55:38,560 Speaker 2: might not understand. But the drummers in your audience will 1570 01:55:39,280 --> 01:55:50,200 Speaker 2: he swings, count Bezi swung, Ellington swung, Oscar Peterson swung 1571 01:55:51,440 --> 01:55:56,040 Speaker 2: and the people who drove those swinging units were the drummers. 1572 01:55:57,080 --> 01:56:02,600 Speaker 2: Uh and Terry Williams was By this time we already 1573 01:56:02,640 --> 01:56:08,200 Speaker 2: had two keyboard players, Alan Clark and Guy Fletcher, and 1574 01:56:08,240 --> 01:56:10,400 Speaker 2: then we had Mark and we and we ended up 1575 01:56:11,520 --> 01:56:14,840 Speaker 2: we needed a saxon. No, the saxon came a little 1576 01:56:14,840 --> 01:56:23,360 Speaker 2: bit later. So we did that tour and we recorded 1577 01:56:23,360 --> 01:56:27,120 Speaker 2: a live album the Alchemy record, which amazingly sold over 1578 01:56:27,160 --> 01:56:31,280 Speaker 2: five million copies, which is pretty good for a live record. Uh. 1579 01:56:31,440 --> 01:56:35,480 Speaker 2: And Terry became a full time member of the band. 1580 01:56:35,640 --> 01:56:37,800 Speaker 2: And the other great thing about Terry, and it's true, 1581 01:56:37,840 --> 01:56:41,080 Speaker 2: I think of you really need this with musicians. He 1582 01:56:41,200 --> 01:56:46,200 Speaker 2: was easy, He didn't he didn't have a drug problem, 1583 01:56:46,800 --> 01:56:51,240 Speaker 2: he didn't have a woman problem. He didn't get silly, 1584 01:56:51,400 --> 01:56:54,840 Speaker 2: he didn't collapse, he was ready. He never missed a gig. 1585 01:56:55,680 --> 01:56:59,680 Speaker 2: He put one hundred percent into every performance. He was 1586 01:57:00,120 --> 01:57:03,400 Speaker 2: used to get along with. He never complained. I never 1587 01:57:03,440 --> 01:57:08,200 Speaker 2: heard him whining or minging about anything. Fantastic. 1588 01:57:08,800 --> 01:57:12,560 Speaker 1: I wish, okay, you bring a new member in the band. 1589 01:57:12,960 --> 01:57:15,280 Speaker 1: The others have been working together a better part of 1590 01:57:15,280 --> 01:57:21,280 Speaker 1: a decade. Most bands they pay him a flat fee 1591 01:57:21,800 --> 01:57:24,800 Speaker 1: and if anything, maybe they'll wait yours and make them 1592 01:57:24,800 --> 01:57:28,360 Speaker 1: a full member. Now you only have two original members 1593 01:57:29,680 --> 01:57:33,000 Speaker 1: forgetting the songwriting. You know, what do you decide? 1594 01:57:33,360 --> 01:57:37,760 Speaker 2: You know, well, yeah, good question. The other guys were 1595 01:57:38,160 --> 01:57:43,280 Speaker 2: on a fee. I do believe that if you should 1596 01:57:43,280 --> 01:57:47,000 Speaker 2: pay everybody the same, they're riding on the same bus, 1597 01:57:47,120 --> 01:57:49,960 Speaker 2: they're going on the same plane, they're playing the same show. 1598 01:57:50,080 --> 01:57:53,480 Speaker 2: For two and a quarter rounds whatever it is, and 1599 01:57:53,520 --> 01:57:57,320 Speaker 2: we used to pay what I used to do just 1600 01:57:57,360 --> 01:57:59,680 Speaker 2: as a tip for any managers who might be listening. 1601 01:57:59,760 --> 01:58:04,360 Speaker 2: I used to ring my friends who were managing the 1602 01:58:04,400 --> 01:58:10,600 Speaker 2: acts of a simp. Sorry, same kind of level. So 1603 01:58:10,640 --> 01:58:13,480 Speaker 2: I used to ring Roger Forrester who was managing Eric Clapton. 1604 01:58:13,560 --> 01:58:16,680 Speaker 2: I used to ring Steve or Roger was managing Pink Floyd. 1605 01:58:17,000 --> 01:58:19,800 Speaker 2: I used to call Tony Smith who was managing Genesis 1606 01:58:19,880 --> 01:58:22,360 Speaker 2: and probably somebody else, and I would find out what 1607 01:58:22,440 --> 01:58:25,040 Speaker 2: they were paying their side men, and then I would 1608 01:58:25,040 --> 01:58:28,720 Speaker 2: average it and I would increase it, and that was 1609 01:58:28,840 --> 01:58:34,120 Speaker 2: the basis on which they were paid, and then we 1610 01:58:34,640 --> 01:58:39,040 Speaker 2: were the straits because it's their money, not mine. Were 1611 01:58:39,240 --> 01:58:45,240 Speaker 2: very generous with bonuses to our crew. We weren't kind 1612 01:58:45,240 --> 01:58:48,000 Speaker 2: of quite at the tailor swift level with our crew, 1613 01:58:48,680 --> 01:58:53,360 Speaker 2: but the money we would have been. I got to 1614 01:58:53,440 --> 01:58:55,920 Speaker 2: give her eleven out of ten for what she did 1615 01:58:55,960 --> 01:59:01,040 Speaker 2: for her truck drivers, people who if the truck drivers 1616 01:59:01,160 --> 01:59:05,040 Speaker 2: don't care, there, you'll fucked. You know, these people make 1617 01:59:05,480 --> 01:59:10,040 Speaker 2: the thing happen. So we basically had people on what 1618 01:59:10,080 --> 01:59:12,880 Speaker 2: I'll call what you call a flat fee salary, whatever 1619 01:59:12,880 --> 01:59:16,160 Speaker 2: you want to call it. With a bonus at the end, 1620 01:59:16,600 --> 01:59:22,640 Speaker 2: and if they did. For instance, when Terry played on 1621 01:59:22,720 --> 01:59:25,880 Speaker 2: the twisting by the pool ep which was a bit 1622 01:59:25,880 --> 01:59:29,520 Speaker 2: of a throwaway, he got a royalty on that and 1623 01:59:29,600 --> 01:59:33,000 Speaker 2: still does. And the others did that kind of thing. 1624 01:59:34,560 --> 01:59:38,280 Speaker 2: I ran a very I like to think. I mean, 1625 01:59:38,320 --> 01:59:40,560 Speaker 2: there are people who probably would disagree with this and 1626 01:59:40,600 --> 01:59:44,120 Speaker 2: say he's a hard nosed bastard, but I like to 1627 01:59:44,160 --> 01:59:49,480 Speaker 2: think that we ran a pretty fair ship. And that's 1628 01:59:49,480 --> 01:59:52,440 Speaker 2: why the people that we had stayed with us for 1629 01:59:52,520 --> 01:59:57,160 Speaker 2: so long. I mean, Alan Clark gave up at one point. 1630 01:59:58,640 --> 02:00:01,920 Speaker 2: He gave a pretty solid gig with Clapton to come 1631 02:00:01,960 --> 02:00:06,360 Speaker 2: back to the streets, and I got him a big 1632 02:00:06,400 --> 02:00:11,040 Speaker 2: gig prior to that when we were off with Tina Turner. 1633 02:00:12,360 --> 02:00:18,360 Speaker 2: Good musicians are good musicians are generally, but not always, 1634 02:00:18,440 --> 02:00:21,400 Speaker 2: but generally they're pretty bright. They're pretty intelligent. I mean 1635 02:00:21,400 --> 02:00:28,200 Speaker 2: they're not you're not. You don't become whoever by being stupid. 1636 02:00:29,880 --> 02:00:33,160 Speaker 1: Which brings us to brother in arms. What do you 1637 02:00:33,400 --> 02:00:36,960 Speaker 1: think going in? How does Sting get on the money 1638 02:00:36,960 --> 02:00:40,880 Speaker 1: for nothing? Although he'd worked with Deil Dorsman previously, and 1639 02:00:41,480 --> 02:00:43,440 Speaker 1: do you know what's about to happen? 1640 02:00:45,360 --> 02:00:48,040 Speaker 2: Okay, let's go to back to the beginning of that tale. 1641 02:00:48,240 --> 02:00:57,600 Speaker 2: After after Love Over Gold and Alchemy, Mark did a 1642 02:00:57,720 --> 02:01:03,360 Speaker 2: couple of movies. He did al with Helen Mirren and 1643 02:01:03,480 --> 02:01:12,160 Speaker 2: he did The Princess Bride with whoever was in the 1644 02:01:12,160 --> 02:01:15,280 Speaker 2: Princess's Pride of My dam Mental blank. Andre the Giant 1645 02:01:15,360 --> 02:01:20,320 Speaker 2: was in it, I know. And and he started he 1646 02:01:20,440 --> 02:01:23,960 Speaker 2: was doing a bit of producing with other people. He 1647 02:01:24,080 --> 02:01:29,400 Speaker 2: did a record with Aztec Camera and so on and 1648 02:01:29,400 --> 02:01:35,280 Speaker 2: so forth. And he was down Phil Man's and Era 1649 02:01:35,400 --> 02:01:39,760 Speaker 2: from Roxy Music has a really nice studio outside of town. 1650 02:01:40,160 --> 02:01:44,880 Speaker 2: And I was down there one day doing some soundtrack work, 1651 02:01:44,920 --> 02:01:48,600 Speaker 2: I think, and I popped down and we drove back 1652 02:01:48,680 --> 02:01:51,280 Speaker 2: up to London and he just said to me, this 1653 02:01:51,280 --> 02:01:56,120 Speaker 2: would have been this must have been in late eighty four. 1654 02:01:56,920 --> 02:01:59,640 Speaker 2: He just said to me, I've got some songs together. 1655 02:01:59,720 --> 02:02:03,920 Speaker 2: Can you get the guys back together for me. I 1656 02:02:03,960 --> 02:02:08,760 Speaker 2: will say that between the records, I never ever asked 1657 02:02:08,840 --> 02:02:15,040 Speaker 2: him about the next Diastraates record, And I have to 1658 02:02:15,080 --> 02:02:19,040 Speaker 2: be absolutely fair, the record companies didn't either. Now maybe 1659 02:02:19,080 --> 02:02:21,440 Speaker 2: because they were terrified, I don't know, but they never did. 1660 02:02:21,560 --> 02:02:24,760 Speaker 2: Nobody ever said are we going to get another record? 1661 02:02:24,840 --> 02:02:26,640 Speaker 2: Or when are we going to get another record, which 1662 02:02:26,680 --> 02:02:32,560 Speaker 2: you might have expected them to, but they didn't, and 1663 02:02:32,600 --> 02:02:34,840 Speaker 2: so that's what happened. We got the we got the 1664 02:02:37,360 --> 02:02:40,280 Speaker 2: basic group back together. They went down to Phil's place 1665 02:02:40,480 --> 02:02:43,880 Speaker 2: and started working up the songs and I remember going 1666 02:02:43,880 --> 02:02:48,240 Speaker 2: down there one day and I had money for nothing 1667 02:02:48,280 --> 02:02:52,760 Speaker 2: for the first time. And one thing that struck me 1668 02:02:52,800 --> 02:02:55,000 Speaker 2: about it was that I had done the first tour 1669 02:02:55,080 --> 02:02:58,960 Speaker 2: of UK and Europe as an agent for zz Top, 1670 02:03:00,720 --> 02:03:03,920 Speaker 2: a band that I love guys, I mean, Dusty's passed 1671 02:03:03,920 --> 02:03:08,160 Speaker 2: away sadly, but the best guys, I mean the best guys, 1672 02:03:08,560 --> 02:03:14,760 Speaker 2: especially Billy, fantastic bloke, because they have a sense of humor. 1673 02:03:16,320 --> 02:03:23,600 Speaker 2: You'd have to if you're in Zeezy. I'd taken Mark 1674 02:03:23,680 --> 02:03:29,040 Speaker 2: to see them. And the guitar tone of that lick 1675 02:03:29,400 --> 02:03:32,600 Speaker 2: is not a I'm not saying. I'm not saying because 1676 02:03:32,600 --> 02:03:35,280 Speaker 2: I don't know, but it was not a million miles 1677 02:03:35,320 --> 02:03:39,840 Speaker 2: away from you know, because when the first time they 1678 02:03:39,880 --> 02:03:43,240 Speaker 2: came over, they weren't doing I'll tell you a little aside. 1679 02:03:44,320 --> 02:03:46,320 Speaker 2: They came over here to do an old gray Whistle 1680 02:03:46,360 --> 02:03:51,680 Speaker 2: test showing London at the Apollo, which is thirty three 1681 02:03:51,760 --> 02:03:54,600 Speaker 2: hundred seats, and another show in Germany and the Big 1682 02:03:54,600 --> 02:04:00,160 Speaker 2: Two in Germany, and they were on the album is 1683 02:04:00,240 --> 02:04:02,680 Speaker 2: Ombree I think it was called, and that. 1684 02:04:03,040 --> 02:04:04,760 Speaker 1: Was the first Warner Brothers reckord. 1685 02:04:05,200 --> 02:04:07,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, was it okay? And there was a track on 1686 02:04:07,320 --> 02:04:09,600 Speaker 2: it called I Thank You, which I think is an 1687 02:04:09,640 --> 02:04:21,120 Speaker 2: old day thank you. Yeah, and uh, I remember, I 1688 02:04:21,160 --> 02:04:30,360 Speaker 2: remember they they wanted to go. They were constantly going 1689 02:04:30,360 --> 02:04:32,600 Speaker 2: on about how they came from Houston and they could 1690 02:04:32,600 --> 02:04:37,000 Speaker 2: eat the hottest food known to man, and they wanted 1691 02:04:37,000 --> 02:04:40,960 Speaker 2: to go. They wanted to know what Indian restaurant in 1692 02:04:41,000 --> 02:04:45,200 Speaker 2: London served the hottest curry. So I took them to 1693 02:04:46,600 --> 02:04:48,960 Speaker 2: Funny Enough, a place that Freddie Mercury used to go. 1694 02:04:49,040 --> 02:04:50,760 Speaker 2: So I used to see fred In there all the time. 1695 02:04:51,360 --> 02:04:56,440 Speaker 2: That Dusty said to me, I want the hottest thing 1696 02:04:56,480 --> 02:04:59,240 Speaker 2: that they make. And I said, no, you don't. He 1697 02:04:59,320 --> 02:05:04,280 Speaker 2: said no do I said no, you definitely don't. So 1698 02:05:04,400 --> 02:05:06,640 Speaker 2: when they were the guy came out to take the orders, 1699 02:05:06,680 --> 02:05:08,440 Speaker 2: he said to the waiter, he said, what's the hottest 1700 02:05:08,480 --> 02:05:10,480 Speaker 2: curring you make? And the guy looked at him and 1701 02:05:10,480 --> 02:05:14,000 Speaker 2: he said, it's called a Bangla file. If any of 1702 02:05:14,040 --> 02:05:19,000 Speaker 2: your listeners do not have the So he orders the 1703 02:05:19,040 --> 02:05:23,360 Speaker 2: Bangla file and the entire kitchen staff came out to 1704 02:05:23,440 --> 02:05:31,839 Speaker 2: watch him eat it. It took one mouthful, it turned 1705 02:05:32,200 --> 02:05:35,680 Speaker 2: a completely different color that human beings are supposed to be. 1706 02:05:37,960 --> 02:05:42,080 Speaker 2: And he literally ran to the bathroom and for two 1707 02:05:42,080 --> 02:05:45,960 Speaker 2: and a half hours he remained in the bathroom and 1708 02:05:46,040 --> 02:05:51,520 Speaker 2: we could hear through the door gurglings and plops and groaning, 1709 02:05:51,920 --> 02:05:59,240 Speaker 2: and finally a kind of called to prayer. And when 1710 02:05:59,280 --> 02:06:01,840 Speaker 2: he came out, he was half the size of the 1711 02:06:01,880 --> 02:06:04,680 Speaker 2: person who had gone in. And they had a gig 1712 02:06:04,720 --> 02:06:08,440 Speaker 2: the next day, and poor Dusty had he had very 1713 02:06:08,440 --> 02:06:10,840 Speaker 2: short say, he had contact lenses. He forgot to put 1714 02:06:10,840 --> 02:06:13,200 Speaker 2: his contact lenses in because he was in such a 1715 02:06:13,240 --> 02:06:17,720 Speaker 2: panic that something was going to happen on stage. And 1716 02:06:17,800 --> 02:06:19,680 Speaker 2: every time he walked up to the microphone, he hit 1717 02:06:19,720 --> 02:06:22,880 Speaker 2: the microphone hit him on the head with an incredibly 1718 02:06:22,960 --> 02:06:26,840 Speaker 2: loud donk through the PA and Billy could pardly play 1719 02:06:26,880 --> 02:06:32,960 Speaker 2: for laughing, and uh, well there's no more to the story, really, 1720 02:06:33,000 --> 02:06:36,080 Speaker 2: but that's my little Easy's top story because he couldn't. 1721 02:06:36,360 --> 02:06:41,560 Speaker 2: He absolutely thought he was going to die. So funny, 1722 02:06:41,920 --> 02:06:44,040 Speaker 2: So don't have the bang of file. Sorry, what was 1723 02:06:44,080 --> 02:06:45,240 Speaker 2: your question before? 1724 02:06:45,520 --> 02:06:51,120 Speaker 1: Well, we're making the Brothers and Arms album. 1725 02:06:51,200 --> 02:06:54,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, so they basically went down rehearsed. I heard money 1726 02:06:54,120 --> 02:07:00,720 Speaker 2: for Nothing. I didn't. I never listened to records from 1727 02:07:00,720 --> 02:07:03,720 Speaker 2: a commercial point of view, honestly. I mean maybe as 1728 02:07:03,720 --> 02:07:05,480 Speaker 2: a manager I should have done, but I didn't. I 1729 02:07:05,560 --> 02:07:09,480 Speaker 2: just listen. Do I like it. I like to work 1730 02:07:09,520 --> 02:07:12,520 Speaker 2: with artists that I liked. The most important thing to 1731 02:07:12,560 --> 02:07:15,280 Speaker 2: me about all the artists I worked with, other than 1732 02:07:15,360 --> 02:07:17,440 Speaker 2: the fact that I liked them enough to get on 1733 02:07:17,520 --> 02:07:21,000 Speaker 2: with them, was that they were great songwriters. You had 1734 02:07:21,040 --> 02:07:23,280 Speaker 2: Paul Brady on your show a few weeks ago, I 1735 02:07:23,320 --> 02:07:27,680 Speaker 2: mean another of my clients. Fantastic writer and a great guy, 1736 02:07:28,000 --> 02:07:34,280 Speaker 2: I mean, a really great guy. And people like Brian Ferry, 1737 02:07:34,320 --> 02:07:37,760 Speaker 2: I mean, is Brian's a genius songwriter to me? So 1738 02:07:39,680 --> 02:07:44,240 Speaker 2: I wasn't. Particularly the song on that album which I 1739 02:07:44,280 --> 02:07:48,320 Speaker 2: heard in rehearsal, which I just loved was the title song, 1740 02:07:48,640 --> 02:07:52,280 Speaker 2: the Brothers and Arms song, And at the time, we 1741 02:07:52,280 --> 02:07:57,040 Speaker 2: were going through the Falklands War, which is what that 1742 02:07:57,160 --> 02:08:02,920 Speaker 2: song was about. It was very I mean, Dostras hardly 1743 02:08:03,080 --> 02:08:08,640 Speaker 2: be called a political group, but that was quite a 1744 02:08:09,000 --> 02:08:13,960 Speaker 2: moving song given that we had troops out there being 1745 02:08:14,040 --> 02:08:16,960 Speaker 2: blown up and the Argentinians were getting blown up as well, 1746 02:08:20,760 --> 02:08:25,920 Speaker 2: and one song nearly didn't make it onto it. That 1747 02:08:26,040 --> 02:08:29,160 Speaker 2: was Walk of Life. I walked into the studio in 1748 02:08:29,240 --> 02:08:34,920 Speaker 2: New York and Mark and Neil Drsman were mixing it. 1749 02:08:35,760 --> 02:08:41,600 Speaker 2: I hadn't heard it. And as I think I might 1750 02:08:41,680 --> 02:08:43,320 Speaker 2: have mentioned earlier, Mark was a big fan of the 1751 02:08:43,360 --> 02:08:48,240 Speaker 2: animals and he happened to like Alan Price's far Feasta 1752 02:08:48,480 --> 02:08:52,200 Speaker 2: organ sound and he'd got this deed did he did? Did? 1753 02:08:52,240 --> 02:08:57,120 Speaker 2: He did lick at the beginning. And I was listening 1754 02:08:57,160 --> 02:09:00,720 Speaker 2: to it and I said, what's this and Mark said, oh, 1755 02:09:00,760 --> 02:09:03,400 Speaker 2: it's a B side, because back then we had B sides. 1756 02:09:04,480 --> 02:09:07,240 Speaker 2: And I said that's a hit song. No it's not. 1757 02:09:08,360 --> 02:09:11,120 Speaker 2: And we had a bit of a debate, not an argument, 1758 02:09:12,160 --> 02:09:17,840 Speaker 2: and Neil Drsman's going, yeah, it's right, and Mark went no, 1759 02:09:18,680 --> 02:09:21,000 Speaker 2: I said, listen, he said. I said, so it's good 1760 02:09:21,120 --> 02:09:24,160 Speaker 2: enough to be a B side and people can hear it, 1761 02:09:24,240 --> 02:09:25,920 Speaker 2: but it's not good enough to go on the record. 1762 02:09:27,080 --> 02:09:30,320 Speaker 2: And he went, oh, all right. Then that song outsold 1763 02:09:30,360 --> 02:09:34,720 Speaker 2: money for nothing worldwide, and it's used in all these 1764 02:09:34,720 --> 02:09:39,920 Speaker 2: football commercials in America and what have you. Sometimes, I mean, 1765 02:09:39,960 --> 02:09:43,760 Speaker 2: I don't think of myself as being credited with anything 1766 02:09:43,800 --> 02:09:46,560 Speaker 2: other than my personal musical taste. That's the only thing 1767 02:09:46,600 --> 02:09:50,760 Speaker 2: that I bring to this. I don't listen to pop 1768 02:09:50,880 --> 02:09:55,280 Speaker 2: radio and I haven't in years. I don't know. I'm 1769 02:09:55,280 --> 02:10:01,800 Speaker 2: not thinking, oh, we need hits. One of my closest 1770 02:10:01,800 --> 02:10:04,440 Speaker 2: friends is a songwriter called Nikki Chin who wrote most 1771 02:10:04,440 --> 02:10:07,240 Speaker 2: of those glam rockets with Mike Chapman. And had dinner 1772 02:10:07,240 --> 02:10:09,240 Speaker 2: with him last night and he said to me we 1773 02:10:09,320 --> 02:10:14,280 Speaker 2: had fifty hits. Really, I said, I can only think 1774 02:10:14,280 --> 02:10:20,440 Speaker 2: of five of them. And he's like, because I always 1775 02:10:20,480 --> 02:10:25,760 Speaker 2: introduced him to people, Britain's worst songwriter by far is terrible. 1776 02:10:26,800 --> 02:10:29,760 Speaker 2: I mean, who could write? Can they can? Forkingness sake? 1777 02:10:32,240 --> 02:10:38,040 Speaker 2: So we had that record. As always happens in these situations, 1778 02:10:39,120 --> 02:10:42,480 Speaker 2: the album cover was a complete accident. Somebody's waving that 1779 02:10:42,560 --> 02:10:45,640 Speaker 2: National steel about and I can't remember the lady who 1780 02:10:45,680 --> 02:10:51,280 Speaker 2: took the pictures, but stuck a shot and we delivered it. 1781 02:10:51,360 --> 02:10:55,000 Speaker 2: And I had this whole world tour set up because 1782 02:10:55,040 --> 02:10:57,160 Speaker 2: by this time I had a pretty good idea of 1783 02:10:57,720 --> 02:11:01,080 Speaker 2: where we could play, the level we could play, and 1784 02:11:01,280 --> 02:11:03,400 Speaker 2: where we needed to go where we hadn't been before. 1785 02:11:03,480 --> 02:11:05,040 Speaker 2: Because one of the things you have to do with 1786 02:11:05,120 --> 02:11:09,280 Speaker 2: any band is keep it interesting and when you go. 1787 02:11:09,840 --> 02:11:12,320 Speaker 2: We were the first really big band to go and 1788 02:11:12,360 --> 02:11:15,240 Speaker 2: play in Israel. I mean sadly we couldn't do that 1789 02:11:15,280 --> 02:11:18,120 Speaker 2: obviously at the moment, but we played to a quarter 1790 02:11:18,160 --> 02:11:22,080 Speaker 2: of the population over three shows and they were going gaga, 1791 02:11:22,360 --> 02:11:27,040 Speaker 2: I mean completely bonkers, because nobody went and played in Israel. 1792 02:11:27,880 --> 02:11:30,840 Speaker 2: And yea, I used to find these promoters, mostly under 1793 02:11:30,840 --> 02:11:36,640 Speaker 2: a stone somewhere and they would we playing on that tour. 1794 02:11:36,720 --> 02:11:38,960 Speaker 2: We played that. We started in Israel, and then we 1795 02:11:39,000 --> 02:11:43,280 Speaker 2: went to Greece, then we went to the old Yugoslavia 1796 02:11:43,840 --> 02:11:45,960 Speaker 2: and worked our way up and so on and so forth. 1797 02:11:46,440 --> 02:11:54,240 Speaker 2: And we had my partner, Sadie doesn't believe in the 1798 02:11:54,600 --> 02:11:58,880 Speaker 2: idea of luck. She calls it perfect alignment. And I 1799 02:11:58,960 --> 02:12:03,560 Speaker 2: always think yeah, and we that was a wonderful piece 1800 02:12:03,600 --> 02:12:06,720 Speaker 2: of perfect alignment, which was not intended to be so. 1801 02:12:07,000 --> 02:12:10,160 Speaker 2: And that was doing live aid when we had money 1802 02:12:10,200 --> 02:12:14,560 Speaker 2: for nothing out with Sting. Oh you asked me how 1803 02:12:14,600 --> 02:12:23,640 Speaker 2: Sting appeared on that record. He was on the island surfing. Well, 1804 02:12:23,680 --> 02:12:25,360 Speaker 2: not on the island. He went in the sea for that. 1805 02:12:26,080 --> 02:12:30,840 Speaker 2: And the best place to eat on the island was 1806 02:12:30,880 --> 02:12:34,040 Speaker 2: the studio. There was a great chef up at George 1807 02:12:34,040 --> 02:12:39,919 Speaker 2: Martin studio, and one night he showed up in Monsrat 1808 02:12:40,000 --> 02:12:43,840 Speaker 2: Yes and Mark said, Tom, I've written I've written this 1809 02:12:43,920 --> 02:12:47,160 Speaker 2: really stupid song about MTV. You fancy playing on it? 1810 02:12:48,400 --> 02:12:54,000 Speaker 2: And Gordon as we call him, said yeah. So they 1811 02:12:54,000 --> 02:12:56,640 Speaker 2: went downstairs into the studio and just came up with 1812 02:12:56,680 --> 02:13:00,720 Speaker 2: the idea of sticking I Want my MTV on the 1813 02:13:00,760 --> 02:13:03,800 Speaker 2: front to the tune of Don't Stand So Close to 1814 02:13:03,840 --> 02:13:09,600 Speaker 2: Me and we had a we had How long did 1815 02:13:09,600 --> 02:13:12,800 Speaker 2: that take? Half an hour? I don't know, It's just 1816 02:13:12,840 --> 02:13:15,280 Speaker 2: one of those things. Sorry. I was just going to 1817 02:13:15,320 --> 02:13:20,840 Speaker 2: say that in pop music, spontaneity it's very difficult. You 1818 02:13:20,960 --> 02:13:25,000 Speaker 2: can't engineer spontaneity because of the definition of the word. 1819 02:13:25,880 --> 02:13:32,800 Speaker 2: But spontaneity is often produces a great result. And that 1820 02:13:33,000 --> 02:13:33,320 Speaker 2: was one. 1821 02:13:40,800 --> 02:13:44,080 Speaker 1: Okay, the record is done. At what point do you 1822 02:13:44,160 --> 02:13:47,120 Speaker 1: decide to make a video for money for nothing? And 1823 02:13:47,200 --> 02:13:50,320 Speaker 1: how does it become the video? It is one of 1824 02:13:50,360 --> 02:13:52,600 Speaker 1: the most iconic videos of the empty. 1825 02:13:53,520 --> 02:14:01,520 Speaker 2: Right, Okay, Well, it was pretty obvious to everybody. And 1826 02:14:01,560 --> 02:14:04,520 Speaker 2: I remember right at the beginning when I very first 1827 02:14:04,560 --> 02:14:11,280 Speaker 2: played that album to the record company people, and first 1828 02:14:11,320 --> 02:14:15,400 Speaker 2: it would have been the UK company. Everybody, you know, 1829 02:14:15,560 --> 02:14:23,600 Speaker 2: everybody jumped on that particular track, and we were because 1830 02:14:23,680 --> 02:14:27,360 Speaker 2: the whole thing, because everything had overrun. We were in 1831 02:14:27,400 --> 02:14:32,400 Speaker 2: a real time jam we had and we were doing 1832 02:14:32,480 --> 02:14:35,280 Speaker 2: various tax things and so on and so forth. We 1833 02:14:35,360 --> 02:14:40,280 Speaker 2: had to leave the country by March the thirty first 1834 02:14:40,360 --> 02:14:46,080 Speaker 2: of nineteen eighty five, so we had to make the 1835 02:14:46,280 --> 02:14:56,560 Speaker 2: video while we were on tour, and we had contacted 1836 02:14:56,640 --> 02:15:02,560 Speaker 2: Steve Barron, who had, amongst other things, shot Beat It 1837 02:15:03,040 --> 02:15:09,760 Speaker 2: for Michael Jackson, and we were looking for somebody to 1838 02:15:09,880 --> 02:15:13,480 Speaker 2: play the role of the redneck guy in the store. 1839 02:15:14,440 --> 02:15:17,040 Speaker 2: And I tried to think of the two biggest American 1840 02:15:17,120 --> 02:15:19,200 Speaker 2: rednecks I could come up with, and one of them 1841 02:15:19,280 --> 02:15:25,640 Speaker 2: was Buddy Rich and the other one was very dry 1842 02:15:25,760 --> 02:15:30,360 Speaker 2: comedian you've got when he's passed on what was his name, 1843 02:15:30,480 --> 02:15:34,960 Speaker 2: can't remember, and they both of course flipped it back 1844 02:15:35,880 --> 02:15:39,840 Speaker 2: and Steve came up with, well, he didn't come up 1845 02:15:39,880 --> 02:15:44,840 Speaker 2: with it, but he showed us that computer stuff, which 1846 02:15:44,880 --> 02:15:49,440 Speaker 2: was brand new then, which got around the problem of 1847 02:15:49,480 --> 02:15:51,800 Speaker 2: having somebody a redneck in it, because we could have 1848 02:15:51,840 --> 02:15:56,400 Speaker 2: a cartoon redneck, which is what we had. So we 1849 02:15:56,520 --> 02:15:58,760 Speaker 2: basically said yes, and he went off and he made 1850 02:15:58,800 --> 02:16:03,200 Speaker 2: that clip and the live sections were all shot at 1851 02:16:03,200 --> 02:16:07,840 Speaker 2: a sound check and a gig in Budapest, and the 1852 02:16:07,880 --> 02:16:13,480 Speaker 2: girl who's in it was Miss Hungary. Can't write this, 1853 02:16:13,640 --> 02:16:13,960 Speaker 2: can you? 1854 02:16:14,680 --> 02:16:20,080 Speaker 1: Okay? I bought the album day came out. I knew 1855 02:16:20,120 --> 02:16:26,520 Speaker 1: money for nothing before it hit MTV. But this kick 1856 02:16:27,120 --> 02:16:30,000 Speaker 1: as big as Dire Streets was. They kicked the whole 1857 02:16:30,040 --> 02:16:33,440 Speaker 1: thing into the stratosphere. So what was it like on 1858 02:16:33,600 --> 02:16:35,080 Speaker 1: your red. 1859 02:16:39,879 --> 02:16:42,879 Speaker 2: I'm going to say something that you It was funny. 1860 02:16:44,520 --> 02:16:49,360 Speaker 2: It was really funny. We'd been slogging away and climbing 1861 02:16:49,440 --> 02:16:55,720 Speaker 2: up the greasy pole and each step and suddenly we 1862 02:16:55,920 --> 02:16:59,640 Speaker 2: have a hit record with a lyric which is basically 1863 02:17:02,000 --> 02:17:06,160 Speaker 2: it's not a comedy record. But and it was written 1864 02:17:06,920 --> 02:17:11,240 Speaker 2: because he went into an electronics store down in Greenwich 1865 02:17:11,320 --> 02:17:15,360 Speaker 2: Village that's going to place down there, and there were 1866 02:17:15,400 --> 02:17:18,880 Speaker 2: these guys having this conversation and he just he got 1867 02:17:18,920 --> 02:17:22,280 Speaker 2: up a piece of Off Blokes notepad and he went 1868 02:17:22,320 --> 02:17:26,360 Speaker 2: and sat in the window display and he just listened. 1869 02:17:26,840 --> 02:17:30,080 Speaker 2: And he said to me he couldn't quite remember he 1870 02:17:30,160 --> 02:17:32,040 Speaker 2: thought of the band that was on the TV at 1871 02:17:32,080 --> 02:17:34,280 Speaker 2: the time, because of course they had fifty TVs all 1872 02:17:34,320 --> 02:17:36,920 Speaker 2: played on TV and he thought it was Motley Crue, 1873 02:17:38,440 --> 02:17:42,879 Speaker 2: something that my dear friend Dot McGee was very chuffed about. 1874 02:17:43,400 --> 02:17:52,280 Speaker 2: And so we had this tour that's totally sold out 1875 02:17:52,760 --> 02:17:57,920 Speaker 2: before we've even started. We've got this record, we've got 1876 02:17:58,400 --> 02:18:02,959 Speaker 2: some reasonably good art work, I suppose from dastress point 1877 02:18:02,959 --> 02:18:06,560 Speaker 2: of view, and we had this video which was, as 1878 02:18:06,600 --> 02:18:09,640 Speaker 2: you say, a bit of it was the first one 1879 02:18:09,680 --> 02:18:14,600 Speaker 2: ever played on MTV UK when they opened the station, 1880 02:18:15,160 --> 02:18:20,840 Speaker 2: and we had radio going nuts for it. So everything 1881 02:18:20,879 --> 02:18:25,199 Speaker 2: that had happened previously kind of got us to there, 1882 02:18:26,400 --> 02:18:29,920 Speaker 2: and the tour just took off. I mean it just 1883 02:18:30,200 --> 02:18:30,760 Speaker 2: took off. 1884 02:18:31,840 --> 02:18:35,600 Speaker 1: Well, people don't realize because of course, you know, this 1885 02:18:35,760 --> 02:18:38,879 Speaker 1: was by time we hit eighty five. It's no longer 1886 02:18:38,920 --> 02:18:41,920 Speaker 1: the advent of MTV. People had certain things. You spend 1887 02:18:41,920 --> 02:18:45,199 Speaker 1: the money, you have looked, you have outfits. We people 1888 02:18:45,360 --> 02:18:49,800 Speaker 1: didn't realize in America then and for a few years after, 1889 02:18:50,160 --> 02:18:55,160 Speaker 1: the Dire Strait was the biggest band in the world 1890 02:18:55,920 --> 02:18:59,560 Speaker 1: that could sell more tickets in anybody else around the world. 1891 02:19:02,800 --> 02:19:05,760 Speaker 2: Yeah. Probably no, I mean. 1892 02:19:05,640 --> 02:19:09,039 Speaker 1: You would see the stadium grosses. Let's not forget. Dire 1893 02:19:09,120 --> 02:19:12,480 Speaker 1: Streets didn't tick the boxes of the emptyv era when 1894 02:19:12,520 --> 02:19:16,039 Speaker 1: most of their success was No, it wasn't about flash, 1895 02:19:16,080 --> 02:19:19,120 Speaker 1: it wasn't about good looking guys. It wasn't about you know, 1896 02:19:19,280 --> 02:19:24,039 Speaker 1: syndromes or et cetera. So to have this, I mean, 1897 02:19:24,200 --> 02:19:27,480 Speaker 1: we should have such a thing today. 1898 02:19:28,280 --> 02:19:32,440 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, but I'll tell you something, Bob, it's funny. 1899 02:19:32,520 --> 02:19:34,920 Speaker 2: And I don't know how many other people like me 1900 02:19:35,040 --> 02:19:37,960 Speaker 2: you've I know, you've interviewed a lot. When you're in 1901 02:19:38,000 --> 02:19:42,560 Speaker 2: the middle of it, you don't really you can't stand back. 1902 02:19:43,800 --> 02:19:49,560 Speaker 2: You're thinking more about tomorrow or are the trucks gonna 1903 02:19:49,560 --> 02:19:54,800 Speaker 2: break down? If you're a warrior or a very hands 1904 02:19:54,800 --> 02:19:58,800 Speaker 2: on person, which I am, and I don't consider that's 1905 02:19:58,800 --> 02:20:01,119 Speaker 2: the plus. By the way, I think that the biggest 1906 02:20:01,160 --> 02:20:06,199 Speaker 2: mistake I did. I didn't delegate enough. I was too 1907 02:20:09,240 --> 02:20:16,199 Speaker 2: I I was too detail oriented. I mean, don't forget 1908 02:20:16,240 --> 02:20:18,680 Speaker 2: I wasn't using an agent anywhere except the US, so 1909 02:20:18,760 --> 02:20:24,040 Speaker 2: I was doing all of that, dealing with all these promoters. 1910 02:20:24,600 --> 02:20:27,440 Speaker 2: But yeah, we had. That was an amazing experience. I mean, 1911 02:20:27,520 --> 02:20:34,840 Speaker 2: in terms of my life today, that would be top 1912 02:20:34,959 --> 02:20:39,000 Speaker 2: That's the greatest experience of my life other than you know, 1913 02:20:39,720 --> 02:20:42,560 Speaker 2: the birth of my kids. Things like that, and it 1914 02:20:45,920 --> 02:20:48,520 Speaker 2: and it was and it was so it was a 1915 02:20:48,600 --> 02:20:54,520 Speaker 2: very joyful experience. Everybody was getting on, everybody loved what 1916 02:20:54,600 --> 02:20:58,240 Speaker 2: they were doing. We had a fantastic crew, well the 1917 02:20:58,320 --> 02:21:01,199 Speaker 2: same people we always had, great front of our sound, 1918 02:21:01,400 --> 02:21:06,800 Speaker 2: great Chas. Herrington's lights were super. Every show was an event. 1919 02:21:07,680 --> 02:21:09,760 Speaker 2: I think if you're a manager, one of the best 1920 02:21:09,760 --> 02:21:12,080 Speaker 2: things you can do is try and create an event 1921 02:21:12,480 --> 02:21:17,440 Speaker 2: for the audience. And every one of our shows was 1922 02:21:17,440 --> 02:21:19,520 Speaker 2: an event. And when we got to Australia where we 1923 02:21:19,600 --> 02:21:22,879 Speaker 2: ended up for three months, which is ridiculous, and we 1924 02:21:22,959 --> 02:21:26,880 Speaker 2: sold over a million tickets and only little Ed Sheeran 1925 02:21:26,959 --> 02:21:33,040 Speaker 2: has managed more. He sold five tickets more than us. 1926 02:21:34,400 --> 02:21:36,560 Speaker 2: The biggest show we ever did was one hundred and 1927 02:21:36,560 --> 02:21:44,200 Speaker 2: two thousand people in Auckland with no support act. The 1928 02:21:44,600 --> 02:21:47,240 Speaker 2: actual capacity of the place was sixty thousand. And when 1929 02:21:47,280 --> 02:21:51,119 Speaker 2: we got there Gary van Egmund, the promoter who sadly 1930 02:21:51,200 --> 02:21:55,000 Speaker 2: passed away about two months ago, he came up running 1931 02:21:55,040 --> 02:21:58,920 Speaker 2: up to me because it had taken ages to get 1932 02:21:58,920 --> 02:22:02,800 Speaker 2: into the actual vein because of the people outside. He said, 1933 02:22:02,840 --> 02:22:04,800 Speaker 2: can you hold a show for a couple of hours? 1934 02:22:04,959 --> 02:22:09,800 Speaker 2: I said sure. He said, we've found all of these 1935 02:22:09,920 --> 02:22:13,760 Speaker 2: rolls of cloakroom tickets in the back of this place. 1936 02:22:14,320 --> 02:22:23,200 Speaker 2: It was a stock car racing stadium. We sold thirty nine, 1937 02:22:23,680 --> 02:22:28,560 Speaker 2: six hundred and thirty two cloakroom tickets to the people outside. 1938 02:22:30,400 --> 02:22:33,600 Speaker 1: Explain to the American audience what a cloakroom ticket is. 1939 02:22:33,640 --> 02:22:36,280 Speaker 2: Oh, if you put your coat in, If you come 1940 02:22:36,280 --> 02:22:39,560 Speaker 2: in a coat, give it to somebody and they'll hang 1941 02:22:39,600 --> 02:22:42,160 Speaker 2: it on a hook. And in exchange for your incredibly 1942 02:22:42,160 --> 02:22:45,400 Speaker 2: expensive mink coat, you'll get a small piece of paper 1943 02:22:45,400 --> 02:22:48,800 Speaker 2: with a number on it which you can claim when 1944 02:22:48,840 --> 02:22:49,240 Speaker 2: you leave. 1945 02:22:51,000 --> 02:22:53,759 Speaker 1: So where were these people They were in the cloakroom. 1946 02:22:54,280 --> 02:22:57,720 Speaker 2: No, no, no, the audience I'm talking about were outside. 1947 02:22:57,760 --> 02:23:00,800 Speaker 2: They hadn't got tickets. They'd come along on the chance 1948 02:23:00,879 --> 02:23:07,160 Speaker 2: they could get a ticket, and ticket touting secondary ticketing 1949 02:23:07,720 --> 02:23:10,800 Speaker 2: was not known in Australia New Zealand at the time. 1950 02:23:11,400 --> 02:23:14,720 Speaker 2: So these forty people had shown up on the off 1951 02:23:14,920 --> 02:23:17,040 Speaker 2: chance they could get in or they could hear it 1952 02:23:17,120 --> 02:23:21,320 Speaker 2: from outside because it was an outdoor show. And I 1953 02:23:21,360 --> 02:23:23,720 Speaker 2: had a promoter, one of the best we worked with, 1954 02:23:23,840 --> 02:23:29,560 Speaker 2: by far, who had the intelligence and creativity to go 1955 02:23:29,920 --> 02:23:32,960 Speaker 2: figure out, how can I do this? And they went 1956 02:23:33,680 --> 02:23:36,960 Speaker 2: looking around and they found all of these little they're 1957 02:23:37,040 --> 02:23:42,120 Speaker 2: just little paper tickets. So they sold those. So we 1958 02:23:42,440 --> 02:23:45,920 Speaker 2: in the two hours and it was an amazing, amazing show, 1959 02:23:46,360 --> 02:23:49,120 Speaker 2: because of course it is. I mean when you're when 1960 02:23:49,160 --> 02:23:51,160 Speaker 2: you're doing something like that, and I would go in 1961 02:23:51,200 --> 02:23:53,160 Speaker 2: the dressing room and I'd say to the band, you're 1962 02:23:53,160 --> 02:23:56,720 Speaker 2: not going to believe this, And there was quite a 1963 02:23:56,720 --> 02:23:59,720 Speaker 2: lot of you're not going to believe this in their career. 1964 02:24:01,879 --> 02:24:04,480 Speaker 2: You know, Princess Diana wants to wants to just do 1965 02:24:04,600 --> 02:24:09,920 Speaker 2: a concert for her. Okay, So Hewitt, that's Jim. It 1966 02:24:09,920 --> 02:24:12,960 Speaker 2: was king chance as he is now. And we did 1967 02:24:14,440 --> 02:24:18,119 Speaker 2: I mean every where we went. The mistake we made, 1968 02:24:19,040 --> 02:24:21,440 Speaker 2: but it wasn't mistake. We should have come back to 1969 02:24:21,520 --> 02:24:25,040 Speaker 2: the States, but people we'd been We've played two hundred 1970 02:24:25,040 --> 02:24:27,360 Speaker 2: and forty eight shows in twelve months, and people were 1971 02:24:27,600 --> 02:24:32,400 Speaker 2: at a point of caving in. So we didn't. 1972 02:24:34,000 --> 02:24:41,959 Speaker 1: Okay, you make another album on every street. Artistically very strong, 1973 02:24:42,080 --> 02:24:45,480 Speaker 1: nothing could sell as many copies, you know, Michael Jackson, 1974 02:24:45,920 --> 02:24:49,760 Speaker 1: you know, failed to constantly try to reach the peaks 1975 02:24:49,760 --> 02:24:54,320 Speaker 1: of Thriller. But it was both artistically in a commercial success. 1976 02:24:54,760 --> 02:24:59,600 Speaker 1: What was that experience and why was that the last record? Right? 1977 02:25:00,200 --> 02:25:03,520 Speaker 2: I'll just preface that by saying that up to now, 1978 02:25:03,720 --> 02:25:06,360 Speaker 2: I don't know the streaming numbers, but the Brothers in 1979 02:25:06,480 --> 02:25:11,320 Speaker 2: Arms record as a physical product sold about thirty six million. 1980 02:25:13,520 --> 02:25:19,600 Speaker 2: And after it and after that tour, there was a 1981 02:25:19,680 --> 02:25:26,440 Speaker 2: hiatus which lasted about six years. Now, with hindsight, which 1982 02:25:26,480 --> 02:25:31,720 Speaker 2: is a blessed thing, indeed, that was too long for 1983 02:25:31,800 --> 02:25:35,320 Speaker 2: a lot of reasons, and one was that the music 1984 02:25:35,480 --> 02:25:40,800 Speaker 2: scene had changed quite drastically, and if I simply mentioned 1985 02:25:40,879 --> 02:25:45,080 Speaker 2: Nirvana and Pearl Jam, that really. 1986 02:25:47,680 --> 02:25:47,840 Speaker 1: So. 1987 02:25:48,600 --> 02:25:51,359 Speaker 2: But we had a very big and a very loyal 1988 02:25:51,760 --> 02:26:02,280 Speaker 2: fan base, and I with hindsight, as I say, in 1989 02:26:02,320 --> 02:26:08,039 Speaker 2: a way, I wish we'd stopped with the Brothers record, 1990 02:26:09,840 --> 02:26:13,760 Speaker 2: But that's with hindsight. What we did do to fill 1991 02:26:13,840 --> 02:26:21,439 Speaker 2: that gap was complete a contractual requirement. It wasn't contractual, 1992 02:26:21,480 --> 02:26:25,400 Speaker 2: nobody was forcing it, and certainly we were in a 1993 02:26:25,400 --> 02:26:28,080 Speaker 2: position to choose the timing. But we put out a 1994 02:26:28,120 --> 02:26:34,760 Speaker 2: best of the Greatest Hits which sold fifteen million. And 1995 02:26:34,840 --> 02:26:40,720 Speaker 2: I'm just sitting there going this is just ridiculous. So 1996 02:26:43,480 --> 02:26:50,120 Speaker 2: and Mark was doing bits and pieces and I'm going 1997 02:26:50,200 --> 02:26:52,520 Speaker 2: to say something here which if he was sitting in 1998 02:26:52,520 --> 02:26:54,960 Speaker 2: front of him, he might well disagree with me. I 1999 02:26:55,000 --> 02:27:01,000 Speaker 2: don't know. I think for any artists when you have 2000 02:27:01,080 --> 02:27:04,640 Speaker 2: an app when you have one of those big single records, 2001 02:27:04,840 --> 02:27:12,040 Speaker 2: Dark Side of the Moon, the Saturday Night Fever is 2002 02:27:12,040 --> 02:27:14,560 Speaker 2: a really bad example, but Back in Black would be 2003 02:27:14,600 --> 02:27:21,400 Speaker 2: another one. They're great to have in every sense. And 2004 02:27:21,480 --> 02:27:26,800 Speaker 2: I don't mean the income, I mean just but they 2005 02:27:26,840 --> 02:27:30,960 Speaker 2: create this expectation and I'm stating the obvious right now, 2006 02:27:32,080 --> 02:27:36,840 Speaker 2: and I think that I got a bit intimidated by that. 2007 02:27:37,000 --> 02:27:42,480 Speaker 2: I think anybody would, because what happens when you have 2008 02:27:42,480 --> 02:27:44,760 Speaker 2: a big record like that is, first of all, your 2009 02:27:44,800 --> 02:27:49,119 Speaker 2: audience changes a bit. People start coming to shows who 2010 02:27:49,120 --> 02:27:54,240 Speaker 2: are not necessarily distraates music fans. They're becoming because it's 2011 02:27:54,280 --> 02:27:57,520 Speaker 2: the hip and relevant thing to be doing. They want 2012 02:27:57,560 --> 02:28:04,120 Speaker 2: to be seen. You start selling tickets in catered skyboxes. 2013 02:28:05,520 --> 02:28:14,320 Speaker 2: All of that element comes in. And what am with 2014 02:28:14,480 --> 02:28:22,680 Speaker 2: the on every Street record? Do you know? I'm trying 2015 02:28:22,720 --> 02:28:25,959 Speaker 2: to remember how that even got underway? Oh, I know 2016 02:28:26,040 --> 02:28:36,160 Speaker 2: what happened. We were having a conversation. There were some 2017 02:28:36,280 --> 02:28:40,720 Speaker 2: people in the organization and I'm including somebody in my 2018 02:28:40,800 --> 02:28:49,640 Speaker 2: office who were deciding to sort of leave. And the 2019 02:28:49,680 --> 02:28:55,440 Speaker 2: line was I kind of there's nothing going on I'm 2020 02:28:55,480 --> 02:29:03,120 Speaker 2: wasting my life and I was getting a bit. But 2021 02:29:03,240 --> 02:29:08,879 Speaker 2: on the other hand, I had things like the chet 2022 02:29:08,879 --> 02:29:13,560 Speaker 2: Atkins record and you know, to go to Nashville to 2023 02:29:13,560 --> 02:29:16,440 Speaker 2: meet chat Atkins and end up having you know, dinner 2024 02:29:16,480 --> 02:29:19,400 Speaker 2: with Scottie Moore and DJ Fontana and the whole thing 2025 02:29:19,400 --> 02:29:22,840 Speaker 2: that goes with that. And I'm a groupie at the 2026 02:29:22,920 --> 02:29:24,760 Speaker 2: end of the day, I'm a groupie for the stuff 2027 02:29:24,800 --> 02:29:29,640 Speaker 2: I grew up listening to. I mean, when I met 2028 02:29:29,680 --> 02:29:32,480 Speaker 2: Buddy Rich, I didn't I couldn't speak, which is just 2029 02:29:32,520 --> 02:29:42,880 Speaker 2: as well because he couldn't stop. And so there was 2030 02:29:42,920 --> 02:29:46,920 Speaker 2: a camera point when one particular person basically said I'm leaving, 2031 02:29:47,040 --> 02:29:53,039 Speaker 2: and I said, you need to tell Mark and John. 2032 02:29:55,320 --> 02:29:57,280 Speaker 2: Mark and John John. John had done a couple of 2033 02:29:57,280 --> 02:30:04,920 Speaker 2: solo records which were so so, and we went to 2034 02:30:05,040 --> 02:30:10,680 Speaker 2: a little a burger place called Tutsis in Holland Park 2035 02:30:10,720 --> 02:30:15,840 Speaker 2: in London, and my colleague said to Mark, I'm done, 2036 02:30:16,040 --> 02:30:21,320 Speaker 2: I'm going to go, and Mark said, he says, I 2037 02:30:21,320 --> 02:30:24,199 Speaker 2: don't want you to leave, and this guy said, well, 2038 02:30:24,440 --> 02:30:29,039 Speaker 2: you know, there's nothing happening, and and Mark suddenly said, 2039 02:30:29,120 --> 02:30:31,600 Speaker 2: completely out of the blue, you could have you could 2040 02:30:31,600 --> 02:30:35,240 Speaker 2: have literally locked me over with a feather. He said, well, actually, 2041 02:30:35,240 --> 02:30:37,760 Speaker 2: I've got some songs together. Why don't we get the 2042 02:30:37,760 --> 02:30:42,080 Speaker 2: band back together and do it with the band? And 2043 02:30:42,160 --> 02:30:47,440 Speaker 2: I remember saying, no disrespect to so and so, but 2044 02:30:47,600 --> 02:30:50,320 Speaker 2: that is a ridiculous reason for doing a record, to 2045 02:30:50,320 --> 02:30:56,400 Speaker 2: get somebody to stay. And he said, to please the 2046 02:30:56,440 --> 02:30:59,720 Speaker 2: other guy much and Mark said yeah, he said, but 2047 02:30:59,760 --> 02:31:01,840 Speaker 2: you know, it's what I do best, It's why I 2048 02:31:01,920 --> 02:31:12,840 Speaker 2: enjoy doing the most. So he told we got everybody 2049 02:31:12,840 --> 02:31:21,160 Speaker 2: back together, and they went into rehearsals. And by this 2050 02:31:21,240 --> 02:31:25,920 Speaker 2: time he had been seduced, if you like, by the 2051 02:31:26,040 --> 02:31:32,560 Speaker 2: Nashville scene, which I had very mixed feelings about. I 2052 02:31:32,640 --> 02:31:37,039 Speaker 2: have no issue at all with musicians making money professionally, 2053 02:31:37,040 --> 02:31:40,120 Speaker 2: that's what they do. But it was quite apparent to 2054 02:31:40,160 --> 02:31:45,160 Speaker 2: me that the amount of stroking that was going on 2055 02:31:45,240 --> 02:31:50,520 Speaker 2: in Nashville from people there in Mart's direction was not 2056 02:31:50,879 --> 02:31:54,520 Speaker 2: because they thought his music was great. But he was 2057 02:31:54,560 --> 02:31:58,879 Speaker 2: a big rock star who'd come to town and it 2058 02:31:59,000 --> 02:32:01,680 Speaker 2: was very possible that they could probably hitch a ride, 2059 02:32:02,640 --> 02:32:05,720 Speaker 2: and quite a lot of them did, and they're great 2060 02:32:06,200 --> 02:32:12,680 Speaker 2: people and great players. But he was very I think 2061 02:32:12,720 --> 02:32:18,439 Speaker 2: a little bit naive about that. And anyway, that influence, 2062 02:32:19,000 --> 02:32:21,600 Speaker 2: and particularly in the form of Paul Franklin, who was 2063 02:32:21,600 --> 02:32:27,280 Speaker 2: playing pedal steel guitar extremely well, am I add at 2064 02:32:27,320 --> 02:32:29,600 Speaker 2: not in Hillbery sound checks. He and I used to 2065 02:32:29,640 --> 02:32:31,800 Speaker 2: play just we'd just go on the stage together, just 2066 02:32:31,879 --> 02:32:35,200 Speaker 2: me and and play Orange Blossom Special as fast as 2067 02:32:35,200 --> 02:32:38,360 Speaker 2: we could possibly play it, and every sound check it 2068 02:32:38,400 --> 02:32:43,040 Speaker 2: would get faster and faster and faster. So Paul came 2069 02:32:43,080 --> 02:32:45,720 Speaker 2: into the group and they made that record which had 2070 02:32:45,760 --> 02:32:48,520 Speaker 2: this sort of bit of a country flavor to it, 2071 02:32:49,680 --> 02:32:55,280 Speaker 2: and on a personal level, I didn't think that it 2072 02:32:55,480 --> 02:33:00,000 Speaker 2: was not that it wasn't as commercial as Brothers and Arms. 2073 02:33:00,320 --> 02:33:02,480 Speaker 2: I didn't think it was as good an album as 2074 02:33:02,480 --> 02:33:05,680 Speaker 2: some of the ones we've done in the past. I 2075 02:33:05,720 --> 02:33:10,560 Speaker 2: thought there were some tracks on it that were fault fillers. 2076 02:33:11,640 --> 02:33:15,360 Speaker 2: Calling Elvis to me is a lazy song. I love 2077 02:33:15,400 --> 02:33:18,680 Speaker 2: the guitar sound on that, Yeah, yeah, hang on. There's 2078 02:33:18,680 --> 02:33:21,560 Speaker 2: a qualification to that, which is that that which was 2079 02:33:21,680 --> 02:33:27,240 Speaker 2: saved by Jeff Paccaro bless him, I r I p 2080 02:33:28,400 --> 02:33:31,720 Speaker 2: and by Mart's guitar playing on it, but doing a song, 2081 02:33:33,480 --> 02:33:36,680 Speaker 2: you know, waffling on with Elvis's song titles. It's a 2082 02:33:36,680 --> 02:33:42,800 Speaker 2: bit lazy to me. I really liked the title track. 2083 02:33:43,680 --> 02:33:46,040 Speaker 2: I thought You and Your Friend, which is the one 2084 02:33:46,280 --> 02:33:55,240 Speaker 2: with the Doughbra solo on it was brilliant. But well, 2085 02:33:55,360 --> 02:33:56,920 Speaker 2: that's what I had to work with when you're a man, 2086 02:33:56,959 --> 02:34:00,720 Speaker 2: and you know we're talking relative here, because most managers 2087 02:34:00,720 --> 02:34:04,039 Speaker 2: don't get a record like that in their lives to 2088 02:34:04,160 --> 02:34:11,039 Speaker 2: work with. And we and I made a mistake, and 2089 02:34:11,080 --> 02:34:13,879 Speaker 2: it was it was made in good faith. I over 2090 02:34:14,120 --> 02:34:19,359 Speaker 2: egged the size of the venues and night and multiple 2091 02:34:19,520 --> 02:34:23,240 Speaker 2: night things that we were planning to do. And in 2092 02:34:23,280 --> 02:34:33,080 Speaker 2: some countries it worked. UK, Europe no problem. Australia was okay, 2093 02:34:33,879 --> 02:34:37,560 Speaker 2: but it was we've kind of left it too long 2094 02:34:37,680 --> 02:34:44,400 Speaker 2: in a way, and the US was not good. I 2095 02:34:44,440 --> 02:34:49,760 Speaker 2: mean we were okay in on the two coasts and 2096 02:34:49,879 --> 02:34:56,680 Speaker 2: in Canada, but the middle, it was the middle was 2097 02:34:56,720 --> 02:35:00,200 Speaker 2: a you needed a hit single kind of thing, get 2098 02:35:00,240 --> 02:35:04,840 Speaker 2: over in Kansas. But that's you know, I mean, it 2099 02:35:04,959 --> 02:35:07,960 Speaker 2: sold seven million tickets, so people would say, oh, what 2100 02:35:08,000 --> 02:35:11,720 Speaker 2: are you moaning about, But it's just I think that's 2101 02:35:11,760 --> 02:35:14,440 Speaker 2: to do with the pride that you have in your 2102 02:35:14,520 --> 02:35:18,800 Speaker 2: work and trying to get things right in what is 2103 02:35:18,879 --> 02:35:23,200 Speaker 2: an incredibly speculative kind of thing. And what a lot 2104 02:35:23,200 --> 02:35:25,360 Speaker 2: of other people. A lot of people don't realize, and 2105 02:35:25,400 --> 02:35:29,360 Speaker 2: certainly the audience didn't realize. When you're working with a 2106 02:35:29,400 --> 02:35:32,280 Speaker 2: band at that level, you're planning at least a year ahead, 2107 02:35:32,600 --> 02:35:35,200 Speaker 2: probably eighteen months. And there was one thing, of course, 2108 02:35:35,240 --> 02:35:37,720 Speaker 2: that I could never have anticipated, and that was the 2109 02:35:37,720 --> 02:35:42,760 Speaker 2: outbreak of the goal, for which totally stuffed us because 2110 02:35:43,120 --> 02:35:47,560 Speaker 2: I had to I had done put nearly the whole 2111 02:35:47,560 --> 02:35:50,000 Speaker 2: thing together, and I had to dump it all and 2112 02:35:50,080 --> 02:35:53,119 Speaker 2: start again. I put that tour together twice. 2113 02:35:54,320 --> 02:35:56,720 Speaker 1: Okay, So how many dates were there on that tour. 2114 02:35:56,760 --> 02:36:01,440 Speaker 2: Two hundred and that one? I think it was about 2115 02:36:01,440 --> 02:36:03,360 Speaker 2: two hundred and thirty five. 2116 02:36:03,800 --> 02:36:06,879 Speaker 1: Okay, you play the two hundred and thirtieth date. Everybody's 2117 02:36:06,959 --> 02:36:10,560 Speaker 1: worn out. Yeah. Do you have a sense that this 2118 02:36:10,720 --> 02:36:13,400 Speaker 1: is it? Or you do? 2119 02:36:14,959 --> 02:36:21,280 Speaker 2: I canceled South America and South Africa because I didn't 2120 02:36:21,320 --> 02:36:24,840 Speaker 2: think i'd have a band to do it. Inter Band 2121 02:36:24,920 --> 02:36:36,520 Speaker 2: relationships were fraught in the extreme because because our leader 2122 02:36:37,000 --> 02:36:43,720 Speaker 2: was not a happy bunny, and he was, there was 2123 02:36:43,760 --> 02:36:48,800 Speaker 2: an awful lot going something that people who are fans 2124 02:36:48,840 --> 02:36:52,080 Speaker 2: of popular music and love their particular act, be it 2125 02:36:52,600 --> 02:37:00,760 Speaker 2: Coldplay or whoever, can never know the impact that personal 2126 02:37:01,280 --> 02:37:07,600 Speaker 2: relationships outside of a band and marriage is what I'm 2127 02:37:07,640 --> 02:37:12,680 Speaker 2: thinking of the impact that they have on the artistic side. 2128 02:37:13,920 --> 02:37:17,520 Speaker 2: It's huge, and it was huge in that case. It 2129 02:37:17,680 --> 02:37:22,160 Speaker 2: was a very very very difficult period because people's personal 2130 02:37:22,200 --> 02:37:23,760 Speaker 2: lives were in tatus. 2131 02:37:31,280 --> 02:37:35,840 Speaker 1: Okay, so the tour stops. Is there ever a conscious 2132 02:37:35,879 --> 02:37:38,240 Speaker 1: decision to say we're done, we're not going to go 2133 02:37:38,280 --> 02:37:41,760 Speaker 1: out as dire streets or it just never happened again. 2134 02:37:41,840 --> 02:37:48,080 Speaker 2: No nobody ever told me. When they finished in a 2135 02:37:48,160 --> 02:37:53,480 Speaker 2: town in called Zaragotho or Zaragoza in Spain, they left 2136 02:37:53,520 --> 02:37:57,640 Speaker 2: the stage, they got on the private plane back to 2137 02:37:58,120 --> 02:38:01,760 Speaker 2: Barcelona where we were staying. Nobody spoke to each other. 2138 02:38:02,360 --> 02:38:05,200 Speaker 2: There was no end of tour party, There was no 2139 02:38:05,360 --> 02:38:10,680 Speaker 2: end of tour goodbyes. There were no hugs. Everybody went 2140 02:38:10,680 --> 02:38:17,040 Speaker 2: their separate ways. Chris Whitten, who was the drummer on 2141 02:38:17,080 --> 02:38:19,480 Speaker 2: that tour, who'd been with Paul McCartney up to that, 2142 02:38:20,120 --> 02:38:21,840 Speaker 2: has never spoken to Mark since. 2143 02:38:24,040 --> 02:38:26,959 Speaker 1: Was there that level of dissension and the animosity in 2144 02:38:27,000 --> 02:38:27,680 Speaker 1: the group. 2145 02:38:27,640 --> 02:38:32,240 Speaker 2: It was really bad. They might say that I'm completely 2146 02:38:32,320 --> 02:38:35,120 Speaker 2: wrong or that I'm exaggerating. I can only tell you 2147 02:38:35,120 --> 02:38:37,600 Speaker 2: that from my point of view, it was horrendous. We 2148 02:38:37,680 --> 02:38:40,560 Speaker 2: had gone from being at the top of the pile, 2149 02:38:40,600 --> 02:38:46,280 Speaker 2: as you've eloquently described. You See, the thing is that 2150 02:38:46,320 --> 02:38:48,120 Speaker 2: people look at it and they say, when you sold 2151 02:38:48,160 --> 02:38:50,280 Speaker 2: a lot of tickets and he made a lot of money, 2152 02:38:51,120 --> 02:38:56,480 Speaker 2: and that record did twelve million physical more. So, all 2153 02:38:56,480 --> 02:39:03,720 Speaker 2: of that statistically sounds great, but when when you're Paul 2154 02:39:03,720 --> 02:39:06,720 Speaker 2: Franklin was so miserable. When I went out to Barcelona 2155 02:39:06,800 --> 02:39:08,199 Speaker 2: at the end of that time, and I took Peter 2156 02:39:08,320 --> 02:39:14,240 Speaker 2: Grant with me, led Zeppelin's manager the last gigs, I 2157 02:39:14,240 --> 02:39:18,800 Speaker 2: think Peter ever went to him. And when I got there, 2158 02:39:18,840 --> 02:39:21,880 Speaker 2: the guys were having a day off before doing six 2159 02:39:22,000 --> 02:39:25,080 Speaker 2: nights in Barcelona, I think it was, And I asked 2160 02:39:25,080 --> 02:39:29,760 Speaker 2: our tour manager where Paul Franklin was. He said, oh, 2161 02:39:29,760 --> 02:39:31,480 Speaker 2: one days off, he said. He takes a load of 2162 02:39:31,480 --> 02:39:34,640 Speaker 2: sleeping pills and goes to bed and sleeps through so 2163 02:39:34,680 --> 02:39:39,959 Speaker 2: that he doesn't have to mix with anybody else. Ah, 2164 02:39:40,280 --> 02:39:44,840 Speaker 2: So it's like that. It was awful. The things I 2165 02:39:44,840 --> 02:39:48,160 Speaker 2: could tell you, not because I'm not not telling you 2166 02:39:48,200 --> 02:39:52,680 Speaker 2: because they're private, but because they're they're so awful that 2167 02:39:53,120 --> 02:39:55,840 Speaker 2: you and your audience would just go, oh, this guy's 2168 02:39:55,879 --> 02:39:58,800 Speaker 2: making this out. This is out. This starts straight. So 2169 02:39:58,840 --> 02:40:02,200 Speaker 2: I love their music, you know, just it was just 2170 02:40:05,440 --> 02:40:08,400 Speaker 2: I have worked over the many years of my career 2171 02:40:08,480 --> 02:40:14,960 Speaker 2: with bands which were I remember years and years ago, 2172 02:40:15,280 --> 02:40:17,400 Speaker 2: years and years ago, when Richie was still in the 2173 02:40:17,440 --> 02:40:24,520 Speaker 2: group Deep Purple, five cars, five dressing rooms didn't speak 2174 02:40:24,520 --> 02:40:29,680 Speaker 2: to each other, and Richie would frequently refuse point blank 2175 02:40:29,720 --> 02:40:32,520 Speaker 2: to play any guitar solos, so John Lord had to 2176 02:40:32,560 --> 02:40:35,480 Speaker 2: hunt the Hammond organ back was forwards across the stage. 2177 02:40:39,040 --> 02:40:43,879 Speaker 2: Uh black Sabbath who I happened to laugh. And they 2178 02:40:43,920 --> 02:40:47,080 Speaker 2: were great guys because they were so off the wall, 2179 02:40:48,160 --> 02:40:54,520 Speaker 2: but they were everybody's fighting and squabbling. I did a 2180 02:40:54,560 --> 02:40:58,160 Speaker 2: tour with an American band called War, who Eric Burdens 2181 02:40:58,200 --> 02:41:00,680 Speaker 2: sang with for a while. War could not have been 2182 02:41:00,720 --> 02:41:06,080 Speaker 2: more aptly named. They would regularly throw furniture at each other. 2183 02:41:07,360 --> 02:41:10,000 Speaker 2: There was always a bill for broken chairs and tables 2184 02:41:10,040 --> 02:41:13,879 Speaker 2: and crockery. I don't know what it is. I mean, 2185 02:41:16,480 --> 02:41:19,640 Speaker 2: somebody once said to me, if you got back into management, 2186 02:41:20,120 --> 02:41:22,880 Speaker 2: and that's not going to happen, no, But if you did, 2187 02:41:23,280 --> 02:41:25,560 Speaker 2: I said, I try and find a folks singer. It's 2188 02:41:25,720 --> 02:41:31,640 Speaker 2: just on their own who's unmarried. Just trust trust them, 2189 02:41:32,080 --> 02:41:38,280 Speaker 2: Ed Sheeran come and you know it just and the 2190 02:41:38,320 --> 02:41:42,080 Speaker 2: fact that the record, you know, there's a difference, a 2191 02:41:42,240 --> 02:41:46,080 Speaker 2: huge difference in our game between a hit record and 2192 02:41:46,120 --> 02:41:51,959 Speaker 2: a hot record. Brothers in Arms was on fire and 2193 02:41:52,080 --> 02:41:54,800 Speaker 2: on every street somebody had come along with a fire 2194 02:41:54,840 --> 02:42:01,560 Speaker 2: bucket and tipped it over it he didn't have And 2195 02:42:01,600 --> 02:42:06,280 Speaker 2: we were in Adelaide. The previous time in Adelaide on 2196 02:42:06,320 --> 02:42:08,280 Speaker 2: the Brothers and Arms tour, we played to fifty five 2197 02:42:08,360 --> 02:42:12,400 Speaker 2: thousand people in a stadium. On this tour, I had 2198 02:42:12,440 --> 02:42:16,280 Speaker 2: completely miscalculated. And I'm going to share the blame with 2199 02:42:16,600 --> 02:42:21,160 Speaker 2: the promoter, Gary because unfortunately he's passed on. But you know, 2200 02:42:21,240 --> 02:42:24,760 Speaker 2: we had broken all these records in Australia, so you 2201 02:42:25,200 --> 02:42:28,320 Speaker 2: have certain assumptions planted in your mind. Oh, we can 2202 02:42:28,400 --> 02:42:33,560 Speaker 2: do this again. Set the thing up. I arrive in 2203 02:42:33,600 --> 02:42:36,160 Speaker 2: Australia a few days after the guys because they've gone 2204 02:42:36,160 --> 02:42:40,520 Speaker 2: there to rehearse with the local equipment, and that Gary 2205 02:42:40,560 --> 02:42:43,520 Speaker 2: picks me up at the airport and I'm getting ticket 2206 02:42:43,560 --> 02:42:47,560 Speaker 2: counts all the time, and I noticed that these ticket 2207 02:42:47,600 --> 02:42:52,920 Speaker 2: counts are not It's like it's like a movie, you know, 2208 02:42:53,080 --> 02:42:56,000 Speaker 2: in the movie world. They know on the first night 2209 02:42:57,800 --> 02:43:02,480 Speaker 2: and I'm looking at this figure for Adelaide and it's like, 2210 02:43:03,320 --> 02:43:05,640 Speaker 2: we sold fifty five thousand tickets last time, and we've 2211 02:43:05,640 --> 02:43:09,720 Speaker 2: sold six thousand tickets this time. Holy, So we move 2212 02:43:09,760 --> 02:43:12,920 Speaker 2: it into another venue and we sell eight thousand tickets, 2213 02:43:12,920 --> 02:43:15,560 Speaker 2: which fills the other venue. So that you could say 2214 02:43:15,560 --> 02:43:17,760 Speaker 2: that the fault was my fault because I put them 2215 02:43:17,760 --> 02:43:21,400 Speaker 2: in a venue that was too big. But in defense 2216 02:43:21,440 --> 02:43:25,080 Speaker 2: of myself, what would have happened if I'd put them 2217 02:43:25,080 --> 02:43:27,800 Speaker 2: in an eight thousand seater and fifty five thousand people 2218 02:43:27,800 --> 02:43:31,800 Speaker 2: had wanted to come? So you're in a no win. 2219 02:43:32,600 --> 02:43:36,959 Speaker 2: And I remember after that show, Mark and I were 2220 02:43:36,959 --> 02:43:39,480 Speaker 2: having a drink in this hotel and there were two 2221 02:43:39,600 --> 02:43:43,640 Speaker 2: ladies there from the record company, entirely professionally, I should add, 2222 02:43:44,600 --> 02:43:50,360 Speaker 2: and he suddenly said to me, he said, I made 2223 02:43:50,360 --> 02:43:55,000 Speaker 2: a crap record in front of the record company people. 2224 02:43:56,400 --> 02:43:59,400 Speaker 2: And I went, no, you didn't. I said, you didn't 2225 02:43:59,400 --> 02:44:04,800 Speaker 2: make a commercial record. There's a difference. And I'm thinking 2226 02:44:04,840 --> 02:44:07,000 Speaker 2: these two girls are going to go back and repeat. 2227 02:44:07,040 --> 02:44:12,800 Speaker 2: This conversation is going to go right round them, and 2228 02:44:12,840 --> 02:44:14,400 Speaker 2: he just kind of got up and went to bed. 2229 02:44:15,160 --> 02:44:22,320 Speaker 2: That comes with the territory, you know, if you there 2230 02:44:22,600 --> 02:44:25,240 Speaker 2: there are ants out there that have had a lifetime 2231 02:44:25,280 --> 02:44:29,359 Speaker 2: of god knows how many decades. The Stones Bruce Springsteen 2232 02:44:32,680 --> 02:44:41,119 Speaker 2: when they were going to Floyd, uh, and I sometimes 2233 02:44:41,120 --> 02:44:43,560 Speaker 2: look at them and I think, I mean, good for 2234 02:44:43,760 --> 02:44:46,480 Speaker 2: good for you. You've managed somehow, you've managed to keep 2235 02:44:46,520 --> 02:44:50,840 Speaker 2: the plates spinning. And the interesting thing to me about 2236 02:44:50,840 --> 02:44:53,640 Speaker 2: the Stones, for instances is that they don't make particularly 2237 02:44:53,680 --> 02:44:56,640 Speaker 2: good records. I mean, sometimes they come out with one 2238 02:44:56,760 --> 02:45:02,280 Speaker 2: that's better than the others, but they've turned the big 2239 02:45:02,320 --> 02:45:07,640 Speaker 2: outdoor stadium into an art form. Pink Floyd turned that 2240 02:45:07,680 --> 02:45:12,000 Speaker 2: into an art form. But then then then you've got 2241 02:45:12,000 --> 02:45:19,520 Speaker 2: these two characters, Roger and David, who just don't get. 2242 02:45:19,360 --> 02:45:24,720 Speaker 1: On, okay, putting a bow on it. How much longer 2243 02:45:24,720 --> 02:45:27,200 Speaker 1: do you work with Mark? And how does it end? 2244 02:45:27,240 --> 02:45:27,720 Speaker 1: With Mark? 2245 02:45:28,640 --> 02:45:35,640 Speaker 2: Right? Well, after the on Every Street thing on every 2246 02:45:35,640 --> 02:45:42,560 Speaker 2: Street to and record staggered literally like a very very 2247 02:45:42,680 --> 02:45:46,520 Speaker 2: very drunk man towards the gutter, and then he fell 2248 02:45:46,560 --> 02:45:50,800 Speaker 2: in it. It was quite clear at the end of 2249 02:45:50,840 --> 02:45:54,520 Speaker 2: that well, he actually was quite clear from almost the 2250 02:45:54,560 --> 02:45:58,120 Speaker 2: beginning of it that we were doing it for the 2251 02:45:58,160 --> 02:46:06,640 Speaker 2: wrong reason, and that written were all reasons, partly monetary, 2252 02:46:08,320 --> 02:46:13,920 Speaker 2: partly don't take the strong way. But things that I 2253 02:46:14,400 --> 02:46:17,600 Speaker 2: probably shouldn't tell you about, personal stuff, you know, that 2254 02:46:17,920 --> 02:46:29,000 Speaker 2: was going on, and the band just it wasn't even 2255 02:46:29,120 --> 02:46:33,080 Speaker 2: spoken about. That was what was so strange. Nobody sat around, 2256 02:46:33,080 --> 02:46:37,160 Speaker 2: nobody gave it six months and just said, you know 2257 02:46:37,800 --> 02:46:40,280 Speaker 2: what a war hand. How do we feel about this? 2258 02:46:40,480 --> 02:46:44,560 Speaker 2: Because because you've got a lot of very tight relationships 2259 02:46:44,600 --> 02:46:46,680 Speaker 2: that have gone on at that point for nearly twenty 2260 02:46:47,240 --> 02:46:49,879 Speaker 2: twenty plus years, and there are people who were just 2261 02:46:49,959 --> 02:46:54,879 Speaker 2: completely not speaking to each other and haven't to this day. 2262 02:46:57,360 --> 02:47:02,720 Speaker 2: And Mark decided, and he was propelled at least in 2263 02:47:02,840 --> 02:47:15,160 Speaker 2: part by the Nashville connection. If you like that he 2264 02:47:15,360 --> 02:47:19,480 Speaker 2: was going to he was obviously going to record the 2265 02:47:19,520 --> 02:47:24,880 Speaker 2: songs that he wrote and what he wanted I think, 2266 02:47:25,920 --> 02:47:29,320 Speaker 2: and this is me being an amateur psychiatrist, which I'm not. 2267 02:47:32,160 --> 02:47:34,720 Speaker 2: He wanted to get himself into a position where he 2268 02:47:34,760 --> 02:47:41,440 Speaker 2: was completely in control. He wasn't having to everybody who's 2269 02:47:41,760 --> 02:47:45,280 Speaker 2: played in the units he's had since, and they've really 2270 02:47:45,320 --> 02:47:49,120 Speaker 2: been pretty much the same people are. Essentially, you're a 2271 02:47:49,840 --> 02:47:58,080 Speaker 2: division Nashville studio players, and studio players by definition essentially 2272 02:47:58,120 --> 02:48:05,080 Speaker 2: play what they're told. I mean Richard Bennett, who plays 2273 02:48:05,080 --> 02:48:07,920 Speaker 2: guitar with him. Was with Neil Diamond for nineteen years 2274 02:48:07,959 --> 02:48:13,920 Speaker 2: playing I Am, I said, for nineteen years and Sweet 2275 02:48:13,959 --> 02:48:19,640 Speaker 2: Caroline and soon it's great stuff. But so he did 2276 02:48:20,200 --> 02:48:23,520 Speaker 2: the Golden Heart record, and I spent quite a bit 2277 02:48:23,560 --> 02:48:28,760 Speaker 2: of time out in Nashville, which, if you're not a player, 2278 02:48:29,680 --> 02:48:35,080 Speaker 2: is not a town which is incredibly stimulating to be in. 2279 02:48:35,560 --> 02:48:45,200 Speaker 2: And I'm not having a pop at Nashville. And as 2280 02:48:45,240 --> 02:48:54,320 Speaker 2: that record was taking form, I was starting to have doubts. 2281 02:48:55,040 --> 02:48:58,120 Speaker 2: It's a strange thing when you go into a situation 2282 02:48:59,120 --> 02:49:06,039 Speaker 2: with the belief and passion and love that I had 2283 02:49:06,320 --> 02:49:11,080 Speaker 2: for them from for the first ten years, from seventy 2284 02:49:11,120 --> 02:49:20,120 Speaker 2: eight to eighty eight, and suddenly find yourself just not 2285 02:49:20,840 --> 02:49:27,600 Speaker 2: liking it, not liking the music as much. And that's 2286 02:49:27,680 --> 02:49:30,800 Speaker 2: not to say I don't use terms like good and bad, 2287 02:49:30,920 --> 02:49:35,279 Speaker 2: because it's so personal the music I listened to personally, 2288 02:49:36,120 --> 02:49:38,800 Speaker 2: people would probably be quite surprised because I don't listen 2289 02:49:38,840 --> 02:49:41,920 Speaker 2: to rock and pop music except the stuff I grew up. 2290 02:49:42,040 --> 02:49:45,400 Speaker 2: I listened to a lot of film music. I'd listen 2291 02:49:45,480 --> 02:49:50,320 Speaker 2: to a huge amount of jazz, especially from the sixties 2292 02:49:50,320 --> 02:49:54,800 Speaker 2: and seventies, and not fusion stuff, but anyway, and that's 2293 02:49:54,800 --> 02:50:00,840 Speaker 2: by the bye, and he did that record, and there 2294 02:50:00,879 --> 02:50:03,280 Speaker 2: was I was a bit on. I think the impact, 2295 02:50:03,320 --> 02:50:05,640 Speaker 2: one of the impacts of the on every street experience 2296 02:50:05,760 --> 02:50:08,520 Speaker 2: was it had made me very unshure. That had a 2297 02:50:08,520 --> 02:50:12,640 Speaker 2: big impact on all of us mentally and physically, not 2298 02:50:12,800 --> 02:50:16,800 Speaker 2: in a good way. And I suddenly had lost my 2299 02:50:17,000 --> 02:50:22,480 Speaker 2: confidence in my own ability to pitch the thing at 2300 02:50:22,520 --> 02:50:26,960 Speaker 2: the right level. So when it came to live work, 2301 02:50:27,040 --> 02:50:32,880 Speaker 2: those Nashville players are not cheap, or you could say 2302 02:50:32,920 --> 02:50:39,440 Speaker 2: they're very cheap, because they they definitely it's how they 2303 02:50:39,480 --> 02:50:41,560 Speaker 2: make their living. I don't have a problem with that. 2304 02:50:42,560 --> 02:50:48,480 Speaker 2: And we had a very expensive band, and we had 2305 02:50:48,600 --> 02:50:53,720 Speaker 2: quite a big production, and I didn't feel confident enough 2306 02:50:53,760 --> 02:51:03,760 Speaker 2: to play big places. So it was break even time, really. 2307 02:51:05,520 --> 02:51:12,800 Speaker 2: And the other problem is that he, by which I 2308 02:51:12,879 --> 02:51:17,280 Speaker 2: mean Mark, he did not have the profile. This might 2309 02:51:17,360 --> 02:51:19,800 Speaker 2: sound strange, but you've got to pitch this back to 2310 02:51:21,280 --> 02:51:25,960 Speaker 2: that period of time two thousands. He wasn't. He didn't 2311 02:51:25,959 --> 02:51:31,280 Speaker 2: have the profile that Sting had within the police, or 2312 02:51:31,840 --> 02:51:37,000 Speaker 2: Eric had within Derek and the Dominoes, or he wasn't. 2313 02:51:39,840 --> 02:51:43,400 Speaker 2: He came in the office one morning and I happened 2314 02:51:43,400 --> 02:51:46,119 Speaker 2: to be downstairs talking to the girls, and he said 2315 02:51:46,160 --> 02:51:49,760 Speaker 2: something quite interesting. He said, because he'd obviously been watching 2316 02:51:49,760 --> 02:51:52,560 Speaker 2: Breakfast TV. And he said to me, don't you think 2317 02:51:52,600 --> 02:51:58,240 Speaker 2: it's strange that people like Elton and Rod go on 2318 02:51:58,320 --> 02:52:02,000 Speaker 2: TV and tell millions of strangers about the most intimate 2319 02:52:02,080 --> 02:52:08,560 Speaker 2: things in their lives. Like I said, well, that's their personalities. 2320 02:52:10,040 --> 02:52:13,680 Speaker 2: And I don't know whether you've read Elton's book. Elton's 2321 02:52:13,680 --> 02:52:16,640 Speaker 2: book is about as open a book as you could 2322 02:52:17,320 --> 02:52:22,040 Speaker 2: possibly find, and that's what Elton's personality is. And Rod 2323 02:52:23,320 --> 02:52:26,560 Speaker 2: is a no. I'm just using these two examples because 2324 02:52:26,560 --> 02:52:30,600 Speaker 2: he did. And Run Stewart knows the game backwards forwards 2325 02:52:30,680 --> 02:52:34,879 Speaker 2: upside down. I interviewed Narl Rogers a couple of years ago. 2326 02:52:35,440 --> 02:52:38,560 Speaker 2: It's brilliant because he knows what to do, he knows 2327 02:52:38,600 --> 02:52:44,560 Speaker 2: how to do it, and he's not people like that are. 2328 02:52:46,640 --> 02:52:53,400 Speaker 2: It's just they're happy to be stars. Mark's quite a 2329 02:52:53,440 --> 02:53:02,480 Speaker 2: private person. He's not particularly he doesn't enjoy he never 2330 02:53:02,640 --> 02:53:08,520 Speaker 2: enjoyed any of the ass the stuff that comes with 2331 02:53:08,680 --> 02:53:18,080 Speaker 2: being a rock star, whatever that is. And you asked 2332 02:53:18,080 --> 02:53:19,800 Speaker 2: what happened with me and him, Well, we did the 2333 02:53:19,840 --> 02:53:22,640 Speaker 2: Golden Heart thing, And I mean commercially that was quite 2334 02:53:22,680 --> 02:53:26,320 Speaker 2: successful and the tour did okay given the level that 2335 02:53:26,360 --> 02:53:35,200 Speaker 2: we were doing it at, and but the relationship, the 2336 02:53:35,280 --> 02:53:41,120 Speaker 2: relationship between us was shifting and we were both older. Obviously, 2337 02:53:41,240 --> 02:53:45,120 Speaker 2: it's very different when you're twenty six twenty seven and 2338 02:53:45,200 --> 02:53:48,400 Speaker 2: you meet somebody who's got a red fender and it 2339 02:53:48,400 --> 02:53:52,200 Speaker 2: makes you think that the shadows and by this time 2340 02:53:53,800 --> 02:53:59,800 Speaker 2: you're married or you're divorced, you've got children, you've got 2341 02:54:00,040 --> 02:54:04,680 Speaker 2: the responsibilities, and you think you think like a fifty 2342 02:54:04,760 --> 02:54:07,240 Speaker 2: year old person, not a twenty five year old person. 2343 02:54:07,440 --> 02:54:09,640 Speaker 2: And if you're not thinking like a fifty year old person, 2344 02:54:09,920 --> 02:54:17,800 Speaker 2: then something's wrong. And it was quite obvious as I 2345 02:54:18,120 --> 02:54:21,879 Speaker 2: as I was alluding to with the Australian thing. You know, 2346 02:54:22,000 --> 02:54:26,680 Speaker 2: the music scene is ever changing, there's new things coming along. 2347 02:54:27,440 --> 02:54:31,679 Speaker 2: Getting marked man offer on television was difficult. There's a 2348 02:54:31,720 --> 02:54:35,400 Speaker 2: line of people trying to get those slots and how 2349 02:54:35,440 --> 02:54:38,920 Speaker 2: many slots are there and in this country not many. 2350 02:54:39,840 --> 02:54:42,360 Speaker 2: And so he ended up he's the guy who took 2351 02:54:42,360 --> 02:54:45,080 Speaker 2: over from me, had him on programs with a guy 2352 02:54:45,160 --> 02:54:49,360 Speaker 2: who was basically a market gardener. Yeah, I mean kind 2353 02:54:49,400 --> 02:54:52,960 Speaker 2: of you end up. It's almost a sense of desperation 2354 02:54:53,120 --> 02:54:58,560 Speaker 2: sets in and everybody's coming along and the whole it's 2355 02:54:58,600 --> 02:55:01,959 Speaker 2: just even saying, really, the whole music industry changed. It 2356 02:55:02,040 --> 02:55:04,480 Speaker 2: became in the eighties and we were in the We 2357 02:55:04,520 --> 02:55:08,960 Speaker 2: were in the change. It went from being pretty chaotic 2358 02:55:09,959 --> 02:55:19,640 Speaker 2: to being corporate, and it's corporate now. So the last 2359 02:55:19,640 --> 02:55:22,680 Speaker 2: interview I did for the ILMC was with j Marciano 2360 02:55:23,000 --> 02:55:31,800 Speaker 2: from AG Great Guy, Lovely Man, and I actually said 2361 02:55:31,800 --> 02:55:34,080 Speaker 2: to him, I said, does AG have a sense of humor? 2362 02:55:35,000 --> 02:55:41,240 Speaker 2: And he said yes. I just started laughing. He does 2363 02:55:42,680 --> 02:55:45,000 Speaker 2: the corporations have a sense of hum you know. I mean, 2364 02:55:45,040 --> 02:55:47,560 Speaker 2: I don't have any beef against this. What happened in 2365 02:55:47,600 --> 02:55:50,279 Speaker 2: the music interest to me, and particularly the live side, 2366 02:55:50,440 --> 02:55:55,320 Speaker 2: was totally inevitable. It was completely inevitable. 2367 02:55:55,520 --> 02:55:58,280 Speaker 1: Let's go back to Mark. Yes, sorry, did he say 2368 02:55:58,320 --> 02:56:00,679 Speaker 1: we're done or did you say we're done? 2369 02:56:01,280 --> 02:56:03,920 Speaker 2: Oh? It was one of the weirdest meetings I've ever 2370 02:56:03,959 --> 02:56:10,640 Speaker 2: had in my life. And after it, after it, I 2371 02:56:10,680 --> 02:56:13,840 Speaker 2: honestly didn't know what had happened. I didn't know if 2372 02:56:13,840 --> 02:56:18,840 Speaker 2: I'd been sacked or I'd quit. We had a conversation 2373 02:56:20,480 --> 02:56:25,600 Speaker 2: he had done the record that came out of selling 2374 02:56:25,600 --> 02:56:31,320 Speaker 2: to Philadelphia and we were talking about the promotion on it, 2375 02:56:31,400 --> 02:56:36,600 Speaker 2: and without giving away too many secrets, as it were, 2376 02:56:39,600 --> 02:56:41,800 Speaker 2: he had agreed to do a certain amount of promotion 2377 02:56:42,440 --> 02:56:46,360 Speaker 2: which I had then set up, which was principally our 2378 02:56:46,400 --> 02:56:54,600 Speaker 2: old favorites, video clip TVs gigs, but he didn't want 2379 02:56:54,600 --> 02:56:56,680 Speaker 2: to do more than four months touring, which was fun. 2380 02:56:59,200 --> 02:57:02,440 Speaker 2: And I had put in all the TVs that you 2381 02:57:02,480 --> 02:57:05,600 Speaker 2: can get for somebody like him, because you can't get 2382 02:57:05,600 --> 02:57:10,560 Speaker 2: somebody like that or anybody of that age onto Saturday 2383 02:57:10,600 --> 02:57:15,600 Speaker 2: morning kids television shows. So it was the lettermans or 2384 02:57:15,879 --> 02:57:19,520 Speaker 2: whether the post is now Stephen Colbert, whoever it is, 2385 02:57:19,959 --> 02:57:26,160 Speaker 2: it was the other here Michael Parkinson, the kind of 2386 02:57:26,280 --> 02:57:31,760 Speaker 2: chat show format with musical guest, and having got the 2387 02:57:31,800 --> 02:57:39,680 Speaker 2: whole lot together in a very kind of odd way, 2388 02:57:40,400 --> 02:57:43,080 Speaker 2: he decided he didn't want to do any of them. 2389 02:57:45,920 --> 02:57:48,960 Speaker 2: And his reason was that he did not want to 2390 02:57:48,959 --> 02:57:51,840 Speaker 2: be as public a figure as that would make him. 2391 02:57:53,760 --> 02:57:56,400 Speaker 2: And I was not best pleased because I'd spent quite 2392 02:57:56,440 --> 02:57:58,640 Speaker 2: a long time doing this and it wasn't a particularly 2393 02:57:58,640 --> 02:58:03,560 Speaker 2: easy thing to do, and I didn't want the record 2394 02:58:03,560 --> 02:58:07,920 Speaker 2: companies and someone to be demotivated, because when you go 2395 02:58:08,000 --> 02:58:12,560 Speaker 2: to Belgium to do, Telly, you end up doing a 2396 02:58:12,560 --> 02:58:16,480 Speaker 2: pile of interviews, so you have print going on, or 2397 02:58:16,760 --> 02:58:21,080 Speaker 2: whatever the technology is of the time. And we had 2398 02:58:21,320 --> 02:58:27,960 Speaker 2: and his pa rang me up and told me, and 2399 02:58:28,000 --> 02:58:30,160 Speaker 2: I had him come into the office one evening, just 2400 02:58:30,200 --> 02:58:35,720 Speaker 2: me and him, and we had a very surreal conversation 2401 02:58:37,600 --> 02:58:44,320 Speaker 2: which ended with him, well, it ended with I don't 2402 02:58:44,360 --> 02:58:47,640 Speaker 2: know how honestly, if I could explain it to you, 2403 02:58:47,720 --> 02:58:50,760 Speaker 2: I would. I don't really know what happened. It was 2404 02:58:50,800 --> 02:58:55,800 Speaker 2: a bit like Bill's comment about Robert Plant. I just 2405 02:58:55,920 --> 02:58:59,959 Speaker 2: thought that he said something to me which was so upset. 2406 02:59:01,360 --> 02:59:05,640 Speaker 2: I just thought, I can't do this anymore. And you 2407 02:59:05,760 --> 02:59:07,840 Speaker 2: have to put that in the context. And I would 2408 02:59:07,840 --> 02:59:10,920 Speaker 2: say that of Bill, and Bill would absolutely agree with me. 2409 02:59:11,760 --> 02:59:14,640 Speaker 2: It's a lot easier to be able to say that 2410 02:59:14,640 --> 02:59:21,640 Speaker 2: when you can, you know, and sometimes in life it's 2411 02:59:21,760 --> 02:59:25,120 Speaker 2: like marriages and all that. Everybody uses that example, and 2412 02:59:25,160 --> 02:59:30,760 Speaker 2: actually managing acts is not like being married. But things 2413 02:59:30,879 --> 02:59:34,039 Speaker 2: just have run their course, and it had run its course, 2414 02:59:34,240 --> 02:59:36,440 Speaker 2: and it had probably run it. We were probably quite 2415 02:59:36,480 --> 02:59:39,280 Speaker 2: a bit by our cell by day, and I said 2416 02:59:39,320 --> 02:59:42,720 Speaker 2: to him, I mentioned somebody else who happened to be 2417 02:59:42,720 --> 02:59:44,800 Speaker 2: in the building at the time. For you know, who 2418 02:59:44,920 --> 02:59:47,879 Speaker 2: was working on the promo tool that we I thought 2419 02:59:47,879 --> 02:59:51,560 Speaker 2: we were going to do. And I said, if you 2420 02:59:51,600 --> 02:59:53,879 Speaker 2: pay him a salary, he knows how to get you 2421 02:59:53,920 --> 02:59:55,720 Speaker 2: from A to B and do you think he's funny? 2422 02:59:57,080 --> 03:00:04,480 Speaker 2: So that's what happened. And then the irony was that 2423 03:00:04,520 --> 03:00:07,360 Speaker 2: he went off and he did seventy television shows Europe 2424 03:00:07,400 --> 03:00:11,439 Speaker 2: in the UK on that record. I have don't understand 2425 03:00:12,360 --> 03:00:16,400 Speaker 2: and our relationship now he lives literally one hundred and 2426 03:00:16,440 --> 03:00:19,800 Speaker 2: fifty yards from where I'm speaking to you from this apartment, 2427 03:00:20,400 --> 03:00:25,599 Speaker 2: and I don't see him. We have the occasional interaction 2428 03:00:25,879 --> 03:00:30,200 Speaker 2: which is usually something to do with which happened when 2429 03:00:30,200 --> 03:00:32,760 Speaker 2: we were together. I mean, when he went on tour 2430 03:00:32,800 --> 03:00:38,520 Speaker 2: with Bob Dylan, you know, a double bill thing. I 2431 03:00:38,560 --> 03:00:42,119 Speaker 2: got an email from him that in itself is amazing. 2432 03:00:43,720 --> 03:00:46,960 Speaker 2: There was a wonderful interview some years ago with Charlie 2433 03:00:46,959 --> 03:00:52,160 Speaker 2: Watson Ronnie Wood, and Ronnie was telling Charlie Charlie was 2434 03:00:52,200 --> 03:00:57,320 Speaker 2: a wonderful man, fantastic guy. He mentioned that Keith Richards 2435 03:00:57,320 --> 03:01:00,720 Speaker 2: had sent an email and I thought Charli was going 2436 03:01:00,760 --> 03:01:05,120 Speaker 2: to have a comera, but Mars would send me an 2437 03:01:05,120 --> 03:01:07,200 Speaker 2: email and he sent me this email, I can do 2438 03:01:07,240 --> 03:01:11,240 Speaker 2: it for baiting for you. It said, Well, he hasn't 2439 03:01:11,280 --> 03:01:16,039 Speaker 2: spoken to me, he hasn't spoken to my manager, he 2440 03:01:16,080 --> 03:01:18,400 Speaker 2: hasn't spoken to my band, and he hasn't spoken to 2441 03:01:18,440 --> 03:01:21,800 Speaker 2: any of my crew. He hasn't spoken to his band, 2442 03:01:22,360 --> 03:01:26,840 Speaker 2: and he hasn't spoken to his manager. Nothing changes, Boss. 2443 03:01:26,840 --> 03:01:29,400 Speaker 2: The love mark didn't even tell me who it was 2444 03:01:29,440 --> 03:01:30,760 Speaker 2: and it was straight away. 2445 03:01:32,760 --> 03:01:35,320 Speaker 1: Okay, it's the it's. 2446 03:01:35,120 --> 03:01:37,160 Speaker 2: The sorry just to I know we're going to be 2447 03:01:37,200 --> 03:01:42,959 Speaker 2: finishing up the It's the characters for the generation that 2448 03:01:43,040 --> 03:01:48,119 Speaker 2: I belong to that has made it interesting. The people 2449 03:01:48,160 --> 03:01:54,680 Speaker 2: who've got a sense of humor about themselves. Somebody who 2450 03:01:54,800 --> 03:01:58,720 Speaker 2: was like that, who people would never imagine she was 2451 03:01:58,800 --> 03:02:04,560 Speaker 2: like that, was Tina Toern. Tina was so funny. She 2452 03:02:05,600 --> 03:02:08,320 Speaker 2: was such a gossip. Who's going out with so and so, 2453 03:02:08,840 --> 03:02:14,599 Speaker 2: Who's was who's having sex with? Brilliant? Brilliant? 2454 03:02:15,360 --> 03:02:19,920 Speaker 1: Okay, Dire Streets was very successful. We went through your 2455 03:02:20,040 --> 03:02:32,080 Speaker 1: various percentages. What did you do with all the money? 2456 03:02:27,200 --> 03:02:35,959 Speaker 2: Yeah, being from the North of England and having a 2457 03:02:36,000 --> 03:02:40,040 Speaker 2: father who was the principal of a large grammar school, 2458 03:02:40,800 --> 03:02:59,480 Speaker 2: I was careful put it into property pension funds because 2459 03:02:59,480 --> 03:03:01,920 Speaker 2: we get a very good tax break thing in this 2460 03:03:02,040 --> 03:03:11,280 Speaker 2: country on pension funds, had a great life. I'm in 2461 03:03:11,360 --> 03:03:14,160 Speaker 2: traveled a lot because when you're traveling with bands, you're 2462 03:03:14,200 --> 03:03:17,280 Speaker 2: not traveling. You're in a just You're in this just box. 2463 03:03:23,400 --> 03:03:27,720 Speaker 2: I don't say this, should I say this? I helped 2464 03:03:27,720 --> 03:03:32,360 Speaker 2: a few people. I think there's a kind of when 2465 03:03:32,440 --> 03:03:48,120 Speaker 2: you have such a when you have such a when 2466 03:03:48,160 --> 03:03:52,560 Speaker 2: you live your dream, when you get to live your dream. 2467 03:03:56,360 --> 03:04:03,680 Speaker 2: I never stopped being surprised about the financial end. Ever, 2468 03:04:03,240 --> 03:04:05,720 Speaker 2: I could never get my head around it at all. 2469 03:04:06,920 --> 03:04:13,160 Speaker 2: So sometimes you help people out. You certainly, of course 2470 03:04:13,360 --> 03:04:15,240 Speaker 2: help your kids out if you can. My kids are 2471 03:04:15,240 --> 03:04:20,680 Speaker 2: grown now. I mean I've got grandchildren. My grandson's fifteen 2472 03:04:20,720 --> 03:04:26,240 Speaker 2: and my granddaughter's thirteen, and I'm very proud of my kids. 2473 03:04:26,600 --> 03:04:31,720 Speaker 2: My daughters are very high ranked lawyer at Meta for 2474 03:04:31,800 --> 03:04:37,480 Speaker 2: Better or Worse, driving her mad and my son teaches 2475 03:04:37,520 --> 03:04:42,960 Speaker 2: foreign students English on the web, and they're great. They're 2476 03:04:43,000 --> 03:04:52,640 Speaker 2: totally different. But I have I don't buy art or stuff, 2477 03:04:52,680 --> 03:04:56,599 Speaker 2: but I've got some nice antiques. But I'm not particularly 2478 03:04:57,840 --> 03:05:00,120 Speaker 2: I think you go through phases. I always say that 2479 03:05:00,200 --> 03:05:02,720 Speaker 2: people in the rock and roll game, they go through 2480 03:05:02,760 --> 03:05:05,080 Speaker 2: their art New vaux phase, and then they go through 2481 03:05:05,120 --> 03:05:08,280 Speaker 2: their Art Deco phase and then they come out at 2482 03:05:08,320 --> 03:05:10,440 Speaker 2: the other end and get a sofa that's comfortable to 2483 03:05:10,480 --> 03:05:15,800 Speaker 2: sit on. And it's always like that, and there's a 2484 03:05:15,840 --> 03:05:23,199 Speaker 2: real pressure in our society, of course, because it's capitalist consumers. 2485 03:05:23,840 --> 03:05:25,840 Speaker 2: I might have said this to you was before. It's 2486 03:05:25,879 --> 03:05:28,080 Speaker 2: a long time since I didn't pick up the check 2487 03:05:28,080 --> 03:05:28,560 Speaker 2: at dinner. 2488 03:05:30,480 --> 03:05:34,760 Speaker 1: But that's yes, let's just go one step further. You 2489 03:05:34,800 --> 03:05:37,760 Speaker 1: were the one and only manager of dire streets, which 2490 03:05:37,800 --> 03:05:42,360 Speaker 1: is not usually the case, and usually when they get 2491 03:05:42,400 --> 03:05:46,000 Speaker 1: a new manager there's an argument over the sunset clause 2492 03:05:46,080 --> 03:05:50,320 Speaker 1: and all this other stuff. In your particular case, are 2493 03:05:50,360 --> 03:05:54,080 Speaker 1: you still a royalty participant on the stuff you were 2494 03:05:54,080 --> 03:05:54,680 Speaker 1: involved with? 2495 03:05:55,360 --> 03:05:58,119 Speaker 2: No, but I chose not to be. I sold those rights. 2496 03:05:58,560 --> 03:05:59,840 Speaker 1: And how long agoing too? 2497 03:06:00,000 --> 03:06:09,120 Speaker 2: Oh, I told those about six years ago, seven years 2498 03:06:09,120 --> 03:06:15,360 Speaker 2: ago to a company called Royalty Exchange in Denver. I 2499 03:06:15,360 --> 03:06:25,880 Speaker 2: mean that that was partly to do with a divorce 2500 03:06:26,000 --> 03:06:32,440 Speaker 2: that was looming. It was partly to do with I 2501 03:06:32,600 --> 03:06:36,240 Speaker 2: just kind of got fed up running it all, and 2502 03:06:36,320 --> 03:06:38,440 Speaker 2: it was partly to do with the fact that there 2503 03:06:38,560 --> 03:06:43,800 Speaker 2: was a decline. Now I'm not saying that it's a 2504 03:06:43,840 --> 03:06:46,640 Speaker 2: massive decline. And I don't know because I don't get 2505 03:06:46,640 --> 03:06:50,920 Speaker 2: statements anymore, but I'm sure that the distracts catalogue that 2506 03:06:51,640 --> 03:06:54,840 Speaker 2: I need to qualify this. I had a sunset clause 2507 03:06:55,000 --> 03:06:59,760 Speaker 2: on publishing which had a cut off date. It was long, 2508 03:07:00,080 --> 03:07:03,400 Speaker 2: but the cutoff date had passed and the publishing was 2509 03:07:03,440 --> 03:07:08,560 Speaker 2: about sixty percent of the total. And the record side, 2510 03:07:09,520 --> 03:07:14,519 Speaker 2: especially after streaming came in and the entire artistic community 2511 03:07:14,640 --> 03:07:21,160 Speaker 2: got stuffed, that had declined. And quite soon, of course 2512 03:07:21,200 --> 03:07:27,520 Speaker 2: there will be an Ai Nofler a little be even less. 2513 03:07:28,200 --> 03:07:35,720 Speaker 2: But I just then there were personal reasons, psychological reasons sometimes, 2514 03:07:36,040 --> 03:07:38,920 Speaker 2: you know, if you've had some of the stuff that 2515 03:07:38,959 --> 03:07:42,480 Speaker 2: went down at the end was pretty awful. And I'm 2516 03:07:42,480 --> 03:07:44,480 Speaker 2: not saying I'm not saying I'm blameless. 2517 03:07:44,480 --> 03:07:46,680 Speaker 1: Don't you talk about the end of the band or 2518 03:07:47,040 --> 03:07:49,280 Speaker 1: just before you solved your royalty interest? 2519 03:07:49,640 --> 03:07:53,200 Speaker 2: No, the end of the relationship with that side of 2520 03:07:53,240 --> 03:07:56,440 Speaker 2: the relationship with Mark. I mean, he and I perfectly 2521 03:07:56,480 --> 03:07:59,520 Speaker 2: polite with each other. I don't listen to his music, 2522 03:08:00,120 --> 03:08:05,760 Speaker 2: don't have I don't feel any connection with it. I mean, 2523 03:08:05,800 --> 03:08:10,960 Speaker 2: I don't know whether you know Bill curvisly sits around 2524 03:08:11,080 --> 03:08:16,720 Speaker 2: listening to Judas Priest albums when he goes home. Probably not. 2525 03:08:17,080 --> 03:08:21,200 Speaker 2: I don't know. Yeah, I think you. I learned a 2526 03:08:21,240 --> 03:08:27,760 Speaker 2: lot from Peter Grant. Now, Peter Grant is if you 2527 03:08:27,800 --> 03:08:31,560 Speaker 2: mentioned Peter Grant's name and people and people who remember him, 2528 03:08:31,600 --> 03:08:37,560 Speaker 2: and people do remember him, tell you a funny little 2529 03:08:37,600 --> 03:08:43,240 Speaker 2: story because it came up last night. Full enough. Back 2530 03:08:43,280 --> 03:08:51,920 Speaker 2: in the late sixties, Peter shared an office on Oxford 2531 03:08:51,959 --> 03:08:57,199 Speaker 2: Street in London with Mickey most famed South African record 2532 03:08:57,200 --> 03:09:05,480 Speaker 2: producer Nicky Chin the songwriter I was mentioning had got 2533 03:09:05,879 --> 03:09:09,240 Speaker 2: had met a waiter at a club called Annabel's whose 2534 03:09:09,320 --> 03:09:13,920 Speaker 2: name was Mike Chapman, who was serving him drinks. I 2535 03:09:13,959 --> 03:09:20,480 Speaker 2: love stuff like this, So somebody's told Mike. The disc 2536 03:09:20,520 --> 03:09:24,320 Speaker 2: jockeys told Mike that Nicky is a songwriter lyricist, and 2537 03:09:24,360 --> 03:09:28,039 Speaker 2: Mike's thick considers himself to be a melody writer. So 2538 03:09:28,120 --> 03:09:31,040 Speaker 2: Mike's sister NICKI, I write songs, and Nicky says I 2539 03:09:31,120 --> 03:09:34,000 Speaker 2: write songs, and that neither of them has written Diddley's Squit. 2540 03:09:34,640 --> 03:09:39,840 Speaker 2: But they get together. Nicky finds out the name and 2541 03:09:39,959 --> 03:09:44,480 Speaker 2: phone of the phone number of Mickey most Pa, so 2542 03:09:44,520 --> 03:09:47,039 Speaker 2: he rings her up and he asks her out on 2543 03:09:47,080 --> 03:09:50,400 Speaker 2: a blind date and she goes and on the day 2544 03:09:50,600 --> 03:09:56,240 Speaker 2: he inveigels Mickey's home phone number out of her. This 2545 03:09:56,320 --> 03:09:58,520 Speaker 2: is this is our this is when it was fun. 2546 03:09:59,240 --> 03:10:01,800 Speaker 2: So he goes how it's the middle of bloody night, 2547 03:10:02,400 --> 03:10:06,240 Speaker 2: and he calls the number, and this very gruff voice 2548 03:10:06,280 --> 03:10:09,640 Speaker 2: because he's just been woken up, says she's Mickey most 2549 03:10:09,640 --> 03:10:14,240 Speaker 2: who's that? And Nicky comes on and Nicky says, this 2550 03:10:14,320 --> 03:10:18,280 Speaker 2: is Nicky Chin. I'm a songwriter with Mike Chapman. We 2551 03:10:18,440 --> 03:10:23,760 Speaker 2: write hits. They haven't written a song. Sorry, they have 2552 03:10:23,879 --> 03:10:28,959 Speaker 2: written some songs, they've not had anything like it. And 2553 03:10:29,040 --> 03:10:31,680 Speaker 2: Micky mos did something which is probably what I would 2554 03:10:31,680 --> 03:10:35,400 Speaker 2: have done. Micky said to them, all right, my office 2555 03:10:35,560 --> 03:10:39,440 Speaker 2: eleven o'clock tomorrow morning, now fuck off. Puts the phone down. 2556 03:10:39,959 --> 03:10:45,000 Speaker 2: So they turn up and it turns out that NICKI 2557 03:10:45,320 --> 03:10:49,800 Speaker 2: that Mickey is sharing an office with Peter Grant and 2558 03:10:49,840 --> 03:10:54,160 Speaker 2: it's about twelve feet wide by sixteen foot long, and 2559 03:10:54,200 --> 03:10:57,680 Speaker 2: there are two desks and Peter, at the time weighed 2560 03:10:57,720 --> 03:11:01,640 Speaker 2: over three hundred pounds and Mickey's like this little bloke. 2561 03:11:01,720 --> 03:11:05,240 Speaker 2: And it's a famous address in London called one five 2562 03:11:05,280 --> 03:11:08,879 Speaker 2: to five Oxford Street because below them were Chris Wright 2563 03:11:08,920 --> 03:11:14,760 Speaker 2: and Terry Allis being Chrysalis, and below then were the 2564 03:11:14,800 --> 03:11:22,560 Speaker 2: Chrystalies agency booking out. So they go in and they 2565 03:11:22,600 --> 03:11:26,760 Speaker 2: give and they got some demos cut on forty five's 2566 03:11:28,000 --> 03:11:31,640 Speaker 2: No Sorry tape, Big Bum cassette tape. Ingo's the tape. 2567 03:11:31,640 --> 03:11:34,600 Speaker 2: Mickey plays the first song, stops it after ten seconds 2568 03:11:34,720 --> 03:11:41,359 Speaker 2: it's rubbish, rolls it on next one fifteen seconds, rubbish, 2569 03:11:42,080 --> 03:11:49,160 Speaker 2: Rubbish plays six songs, rubbish and he went, nah, nothing, nothing, 2570 03:11:49,240 --> 03:11:51,000 Speaker 2: there nothing. They can't do anything with any of that. 2571 03:11:52,200 --> 03:11:55,080 Speaker 2: And he says, you got anything else, and Nicky says, well, 2572 03:11:55,080 --> 03:12:00,280 Speaker 2: we've got one other song and it was cool old 2573 03:12:03,760 --> 03:12:07,040 Speaker 2: believe it or not. It was called Tom Tom turn around. 2574 03:12:07,840 --> 03:12:11,640 Speaker 2: Puts it in, listens to the whole thing. He says, 2575 03:12:11,920 --> 03:12:14,600 Speaker 2: which one of you two twats called me last night? 2576 03:12:15,120 --> 03:12:18,120 Speaker 2: And Nicki goes, that was me and he says, you 2577 03:12:18,200 --> 03:12:20,080 Speaker 2: said you're the one who said you can write hits, 2578 03:12:20,080 --> 03:12:22,840 Speaker 2: and Nicky goes, yeah. He says, you're right, you can. 2579 03:12:23,040 --> 03:12:25,959 Speaker 2: That's a hit. I'll take it, and it's a big hit. 2580 03:12:25,959 --> 03:12:30,039 Speaker 2: It's the number one for sweet groups when they go out. 2581 03:12:33,080 --> 03:12:38,120 Speaker 2: Nicky told Nicki this many years later, Peter says, I 2582 03:12:38,160 --> 03:12:40,800 Speaker 2: don't think you're going to get anywhere with those two. 2583 03:12:41,560 --> 03:12:45,680 Speaker 2: They're fucking newslet. And of course they had hit after 2584 03:12:45,800 --> 03:12:50,160 Speaker 2: hit after hit after it after it. What I learned 2585 03:12:50,160 --> 03:12:58,600 Speaker 2: from Peter was that the fuggy image was Peter was 2586 03:12:58,600 --> 03:13:03,400 Speaker 2: a shy man or not. He was quite private. He 2587 03:13:03,440 --> 03:13:06,160 Speaker 2: was quite shy, and it was all a bit of 2588 03:13:06,200 --> 03:13:10,320 Speaker 2: an act, helped by the fact that before he got 2589 03:13:10,320 --> 03:13:12,840 Speaker 2: into music he had been an amateur. He'd been a 2590 03:13:12,879 --> 03:13:20,199 Speaker 2: professional wrestler. His wrestling name was Count Bruno Alisi of Milan, Italy, 2591 03:13:20,760 --> 03:13:26,080 Speaker 2: which in itself is hilarious. And when I got to 2592 03:13:26,160 --> 03:13:30,720 Speaker 2: know Peter, and he had stopped the drugs by then, 2593 03:13:31,720 --> 03:13:36,680 Speaker 2: I must and he wouldn't mind me saying that. I mean, 2594 03:13:36,760 --> 03:13:40,080 Speaker 2: his his desk was like the last scene of Scarface 2595 03:13:40,320 --> 03:13:49,480 Speaker 2: most of the time, and he was his persona. He'd 2596 03:13:49,480 --> 03:13:53,880 Speaker 2: become a country gentleman. He used to wear suits with ties. 2597 03:13:55,040 --> 03:13:58,240 Speaker 2: And he lost. He lost. He said to me once, 2598 03:13:58,280 --> 03:14:03,160 Speaker 2: he said, ed I've lost a person in weight, And 2599 03:14:03,440 --> 03:14:05,640 Speaker 2: ARMED said to me once, he said, when I saw 2600 03:14:05,760 --> 03:14:10,879 Speaker 2: Peter Grant, I didn't recognize him, And he said, and 2601 03:14:11,000 --> 03:14:14,480 Speaker 2: the whole way you've spoken everything, and what Peter had 2602 03:14:14,480 --> 03:14:22,000 Speaker 2: done was he had decided. People constantly asking him to 2603 03:14:22,040 --> 03:14:24,160 Speaker 2: get back into the business, and would you manage this, 2604 03:14:24,440 --> 03:14:29,560 Speaker 2: and Queen Queen he turned Queen down. He understood. He 2605 03:14:29,600 --> 03:14:33,920 Speaker 2: said to me, when you have an experience like the 2606 03:14:33,959 --> 03:14:36,959 Speaker 2: one I had with led Zeppelin and the one you've 2607 03:14:37,000 --> 03:14:40,760 Speaker 2: had with Diastreit, there is no point trying to repeat it. 2608 03:14:42,000 --> 03:14:47,480 Speaker 2: And I completely agreed with that. There's no point going 2609 03:14:47,680 --> 03:14:51,600 Speaker 2: back and trying to recreate something that you did when 2610 03:14:51,640 --> 03:14:56,000 Speaker 2: you were thirty two and your I'm seventy five now. 2611 03:14:58,080 --> 03:15:00,480 Speaker 2: So what I do now, Bob, is I go music 2612 03:15:00,560 --> 03:15:06,199 Speaker 2: conferences like CMW in Toronto, and I ring up Don 2613 03:15:06,320 --> 03:15:09,960 Speaker 2: Passman and came to come and who else? Bill Silver 2614 03:15:11,520 --> 03:15:12,360 Speaker 2: and it'll be fun. 2615 03:15:12,920 --> 03:15:15,680 Speaker 1: Well, certainly two good friends of mine. I will see 2616 03:15:15,680 --> 03:15:20,320 Speaker 1: you in Toronto soon. There's a whole other area that 2617 03:15:20,360 --> 03:15:23,120 Speaker 1: we never even touched. Will do down the line, but 2618 03:15:23,240 --> 03:15:26,880 Speaker 1: I think we got most of the dire stray. 2619 03:15:26,760 --> 03:15:28,560 Speaker 2: Give me a hint on the other area. 2620 03:15:28,800 --> 03:15:32,320 Speaker 1: I'm just well, I would like to know more about 2621 03:15:32,400 --> 03:15:35,879 Speaker 1: Jerry Rafferty, who I'm a bit saying of. I would 2622 03:15:35,959 --> 03:15:39,840 Speaker 1: also like to hear about your experience with Brian Ferry 2623 03:15:39,920 --> 03:15:42,000 Speaker 1: and your experiences with a Blue Nile. 2624 03:15:42,920 --> 03:15:44,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, Taylor Swift, your. 2625 03:15:44,840 --> 03:15:49,680 Speaker 1: Favorite right, and how you promoted shows in college and 2626 03:15:49,720 --> 03:15:50,800 Speaker 1: how you became. 2627 03:15:50,480 --> 03:15:55,400 Speaker 2: An I will say, just to sign off, that's there's 2628 03:15:55,400 --> 03:15:59,680 Speaker 2: some great topics and stories there about everybody you just mentioned, 2629 03:16:00,120 --> 03:16:07,320 Speaker 2: because they all the other artists I work with. Jerry 2630 03:16:07,440 --> 03:16:11,440 Speaker 2: was difficult, but I loved Scott Walker, who you didn't 2631 03:16:11,480 --> 03:16:15,760 Speaker 2: mention just there. I thought Jerry had a prodigious talent 2632 03:16:15,920 --> 03:16:18,520 Speaker 2: which got wasted because of alcohol. I'm not going I 2633 03:16:18,560 --> 03:16:26,280 Speaker 2: won't do the thing now. And Brian. Brian's a one off, 2634 03:16:26,920 --> 03:16:33,280 Speaker 2: but I'm on good terms with everybody. I've represented most 2635 03:16:33,320 --> 03:16:37,800 Speaker 2: of them. It's the situation with Mark is just strange, 2636 03:16:37,920 --> 03:16:41,720 Speaker 2: and it's just you get to the point where you 2637 03:16:41,920 --> 03:16:44,560 Speaker 2: just accept the way things are. There's no point pushing 2638 03:16:44,600 --> 03:16:48,280 Speaker 2: against it. I've really enjoyed this. This has been great. 2639 03:16:49,080 --> 03:16:51,400 Speaker 2: I must say that you. I'm going to flatter you. 2640 03:16:52,320 --> 03:16:56,440 Speaker 2: I've been interviewed many times by many people. You're in 2641 03:16:56,440 --> 03:17:00,080 Speaker 2: a class of your own. Definitely, you've really know what 2642 03:17:00,160 --> 03:17:04,320 Speaker 2: happened makes makes somebody sweat. 2643 03:17:07,040 --> 03:17:11,280 Speaker 1: Well, on that note, and I'll see you in Toronto. 2644 03:17:10,959 --> 03:17:13,000 Speaker 2: You will. I wish you well, Bob. 2645 03:17:13,080 --> 03:17:16,600 Speaker 1: I wish you well. Until next time. This is Bob 2646 03:17:16,760 --> 03:17:17,400 Speaker 1: Left SAIDs