What Makes A GREAT A&R ?….Part 5

Ok guys so what DOES  make a great A&R ?


1) Good taste….can't be taught
2 Loyalty to the artists….vital
3) The only thing that matters is the music
4) No concessions,no compromises
5) Be a leader not a follower….the artists I signed changed music
6) Stay up late
7)Don't care what people say …especially pluggers…they tell lies all the time
8) Never doubt yourself
9) Appreciate just how lucky you are to have such a great job
10 )……the secret of GREAT A&R…..do you think I'm gonna tell you for free ? ? ? ? ?

I AM The Soul Guru….and I am back in the business.....working with artists,planning,plotting,thinking every day about how to achieve my goals for my artists......

The Soul Guru loves YOU
xx

What Makes a Great A&R ? ….Part 4

OK so what makes me qualified to tell you what makes a GREAt A&R ? ….Simple I AM A GREAT A&R…I signed :

Loose Ends
Maxi Priest
Inner City
Soul II Soul
LeftField
MN8
Grooverider
DJ Rap
Mantronix
Pressure Drop

and sadly quite a few that weren't successful……………..but that's part of an A&R's life….no A&R has anything better than a 20% success rate…..the music business is a business based on failure and rejection so it's important to enjoy your successes and accept the failures with dignity…..that may sound harsh,especially for the artists who,for whatever reason,didn't achieve the success that hoped and dreamed they would have….

I signed 3 artists who I signed that I still listen to and simply can't understand why they weren't huge…it causes me great pain even to this day…they are

Temper Temper
Floy Joy
Johnson

all 3 made brilliant albums….Temper Temper ( Melanie Williams and Eric Gooden ) made what I think is the greatest British Soul album ever….beg,borrow or steal a copy !
I was the first A&R to ask Don Was to produce any artist other than Was Not Was…he produced 2 Floy Joy albums for me ,including " Weak In The Presence of Beauty " that was a huge hit for Alison Moyet….and in so doing he met Gemma ..they've been married for over 20 years..A&R isn't just about the music…it's alchemy…putting great people together…
Johnson…Noah and Raine recorded a BRILLIANT album Produced by Andrew Hale from Sade…it's a wonderful collection of great songs…how it wash't HUGE is beyond me….again beg,borrow or steal a  copy …the album is called " Hard Mouth To Feed "…



So next post will be about how and why I became the GREAT A&R I am……..

I AM The Soul Guru…...

What Makes A great A&R ? …Part 3

January 11th 1981…my 25th birthday…I join Virgin Records as the first A&R man employed to specifically sign British Black Music…….I had no idea what I was supposed to do……my office was a converted broom-cupboard ( literally ) on the first-floor off Jon Webster's sales floor…I'd been working in City Sounds for 3 years and was a Soul Mafia DJ…DJ-ing regularly with Pete Tong at my club,Papillon,in Brighton and Pete's club,The Hill Top , in Kent….as well as the first 4 Caister Weekenders where me and Pete were bottom of the bill below Chris Hill,Robbie Vincent etc…..
 At City Sounds I never had a lunch - hour so at 1 pm when everyone left the office on my first day  I didn't know what to do so I had lunch on my own at Mick's Fish & Chip Bar in Portobello Rd…….

I had a telephone book ….but no numbers in it
The second afternoon Gemma's ( now Mrs Don Was thanks to me …I'll tell that story later ) dog came on pissed on the carpet
The third afternoon it rained heavily and the roof caved in……True ( ALL my anecdotes are true )

Simon Draper was MD and without the GREATEST A&R I've ever met…he taught me everything I know about A&R …….I didn't have a clue what I was supposed to do..everyone just seemed to assume I did

A&R Meeting were every Friday morning at 9.30 am in Simon's office …those present :

Simon Draper
Richard Griffiths ( now MD Modest Management..stupidOne Direction's Manager )
Danny Goodwin
Rob Collins
Steve Lewis
Jumbo Vanrennen
Jeremy Lascelles

Keith Bourton would pop in every week with some gem " Enter fool " we would say…..

I LOVED these meetings….after a few nervous months I started to give as good as I got….and I got PLENTY ! !

After a few weeks I started to get demos and take them to Simon….he was brilliant because although he didn't agree with me he never made me feel bad….
Eventually after a few weeks of this he taught me possibly the most important lesson I ever learnt :

Simon : Why do you want to sign this ?
Me : because it's a great record
Simon : It's not enough to just have a great record…the artist has to be special….

I never forgot that ….I signed

Loose Ends
I-Level
Maxi Priest
Soul II Soul
Mantronix
Inner City
Floy Joy
Working week

I was taught by the greatest…I like to think I did well too

Next Week…signing my first band,Loose Ends,and changing the face of British Black Music

The Soul Guru