With an irrefutable reputation achieved over 30 plus years working with a stellar cast of clients (U2, New Order, David Bowie, Genesis, The Stone Roses, REM, Happy Mondays, The Police, Massive Attack, Bob Marley, Matchbox Twenty, The Pixies, Elvis Costello, Peter Gabriel etc…) His book, “Insights From The Engine Room” is littered with stories and lessons learned from working with artists whose sales have been in excess of a billion. Tony is now acting as a mentor and music industry consultant offering his years of expertise to artists at all levels.
And so to the NME article. And let’s be totally honest here, written to get people to buy a paper they no longer care about. Because the nemesis is on the cover. Whatever you think of Simon… he is bigger than Swine Flu and far more contagious. He changed the way we watched television (we being a generalization) and he changed the way people bought records. He got them to watch his programs and to buy his records, whereas most recently they bought very few records and didn’t give a fuck about music on television. Arise M(MUSIC????) Televison??
Looks like Simon Cowell is about to surpass Tiger Woods and maybe the sponsors will have a new kid in town. Simon has so much money but I don’t think he’s even tapped in to that income stream yet. I wonder why? By his own admission he does this to make as much money as [...]
As the cult of celebrity thickens, it’s fast becoming an epidemic. I’m sitting in Orlando just down the road from the once squeeky clean Tiger Woods who’s now looking like he was a tiger after all. He only ever popped out for a round of golf but now he’s got to be feeling a little [...]
I’ve never seen the X Factor, the show that’s pulling in all the ratings in the UK. Apparently nearly 15 million saw Cheryl Cole perform her new single. Cheryl who? She married a footballer, apparently. A dumb one at that. So now we have He Cole and She Cole. Apparently one was enough, we needed [...]
In all my years in the music business I don’t think I’ve cared less about any person than Whitney Houston. I can’t stand her. Well that’s not true, when I first heard ‘I want to dance with somebody ‘ she looked vibrant, energetic and it was a good little pop song. Ever since then she [...]
I’ve been thinking a lot about David Bowie just lately which is strange because he’s been fairly quiet. The other night I dreamt I was a gnome in his Ashes to ashes video, on the beach and a lot colder than I remember when I first saw it. Why am I choosing to mention David [...]
One word can say so much and some words like ’reputation’ take on a whole new meaning depending on the context. Just think of something as simple as ’she’s got a reputation’ which implies either she’s a bit of a slapper or she’s to be heeded. Either way it’s not good but then when you hear [...]
I was particularly saddened yesterday looking at The Sun (not that one, the English tabloid.) I went on line curious to see what they had to say about Manchester United’s destruction of AC Milan and there emblazoned on the front cover was a story about Take That’s Mark Owen. I read it and went back [...]
No matter what anyone says I’m sure American Idol has had it’s day, they won’t be producing a Carrie Underwood or a Kelly Clarkson for that matter and when you look at all the winners few are ’stars.’ To be idolized there should be some immortality and where is that in any of them? They’re pop [...]
I just got a note on my Facebook page from an old pal and colleague at Piccadilly Radio David Dunne attaching a clip from a bygone era. Oh how I laughed, it’s funny how you never remember how you looked. And then I found myself saying, ‘I wonder what ever happened to that jacket?’ All [...]
Oh damn I was right all along, Whitney Houston is shit. Seems like her only redeeming feature, her voice let her down in Australia big time. The audiences started walking out (I hope with a refund) because the old battle axe was shite . It is reported from some reliable sources, including You Tube footage [...]
The Brits. that much lauded, much laughed at awards ceremony celebrating what’s best in British music. But has it really ever done that? Those who think they know put together a list of nominees, spread them around the labels they work for and then troll along to the event knowing that their expenses will get [...]
In reality TV Cowell is a one off, American Idol need to do something very off the wall to replace him and I think Ellen’s DeGeneres’ addition to the judges panel was done with the knowledge that this series would be Simon’s swansong. Surely she too would have known that? I think they did right [...]
Once the jury was out and back with the verdict then time to put the wheels in motion. Was it good enough? If all were agreed about the finished product the planning would begin. They’d have ideas about a single , they would decide on the order of the tracks and start to engage in [...]
Take a handful of artists away from the mix (not literally of course) and you’ll find there just isn’t the investment being put in to the record. If you’re signed to a record company they aren’t spending what they used to, they can’t afford to. They probably won’t be able to afford a top rate [...]
