MUSIC WEEK JANUARY 31, 1976

concert hall because he , afford not to. The other ven 1 arc either corporation-run bv REX ANDERSON public companies like the \> 0r HARVEY GOLDSMITH is and Moss Empire bstablishmcm^ probably the biggest rock Both corporate and pJV promoter in the business. By last Keeping out the touts handle shows establishments come in ^l Christmas he had promoted 600 cann hai cimnsame criticism from n„i..Golds'-^for 'ie concerts in the year. In 1974 he us because we organisation 1 1 on thai 'cvc AS f' at sort that corporate and p..?. / handled 640 and the year before everything from the Hcmel ..cared "P 10 do th companies always have to answ 550. He is a busy man. Goldsmith Hcmpstcad Pavilion, which was we ^ ge^ ^ last fioyd tour Generally, management lacks n" is a chubby, bearded bundle of one of the first venues he ever ME ofU work. On 't tlift]lC, Hicatrcstheatres incentive to run the organism energy who looks and dresses promoted and is still doing so we were getting into ^ 0n efficiently and profitably. IicL.s more like a roadie than a after over six years, to the highly ,lirce da it S ays; promoter. He became involved in same with{h Yes' j-jn.. money' I[ 'By and Large,^ most corpora{p successful festival at Charlton venues arc extremely well run a„a promotion like many others, football ground with The Who easiest way « " ^ what wo and starting at college as a social topping the bill. Artists that don't know, but tliai managed, but basically they don', secretary. It was then that he Goldsmith has promoted run to an I do-" i t the Floyd have the facilities that we nr... t ia Generally we take over. Weneed. teamed up with Michael Alfandnry impressive list. Off the top of his He estimates 0 an(j Put1 and after college they formed head he could name: The Who, tour cost between £80 U ^ our own power supply in) buV. Alfandary Associates. Together The Stones, ELP, Yes, Genesis, £90,000 to . promo ^ ^ our own stage and half the tim they put on the first open-air Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, projection cqmpi alone. we supply our own staff to ensurp concerts in London on Parliament Lynyrd Skynyrd. Van Morrison, 'isfi visual cITccts cost "5.00 ^ that it is run to the standard that Hill fields in 1968. Lou Reed, Dr Feelgood, Eric "FOr '^els^cfn cost tU as we want. He recalls: "As a result of that Clapton, Ginger Baker, Alex "A lot of venues i ^ we were offered Crystal Palace by Harvey, Nazareth, Pink Floyd, Cat ""rh If 50,000 wliici. means n " i n't4 make anv money on country are sadly lacking in q, the GLC. We then decided that we Stevens, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, 'hey tie" " ' f ^holc business facilities that they offer. p0 didn't want to run another Jeff Beck, Labcllc, Manhattcn example, ice. However behind we open-air event without financial Transfer, Molt the Hooplc, Ian backing because we decided we Hunter and "hundreds more." arc in England, most people, even wanted to make a career of it. We Goldsmith attributes his success if only in the summer, like to have went to all the institutions and to having an eye for spotting ice in their drinks but you tell me organisations to try to raise talent at the right time and taking THE IMPRESARIOS kids in England should get the how many venues can supply icc backing, but the price they the occasional risk. "We don't sit 3: Harvey Goldsmith same show that the Americans ge and of those how many do so wanted, although they were quite and wait for the big groups," he but sealed down- That's how all without charging you for it. There interested, was ridiculous so we says. "We go out and look for the this nonsense started. The trend a are not more than six in the looked within the business and new stuff. We spend as much time arc really agents more than the moment is to reverse it: to go country. You try to get tea or found John and Tony Smith." on Man and Gentle Giant as we do promoters. They arc basically back to simpler shows playing coffee organised in a venue John Smith had an established on Floyd and the Stones. interested in selling dates out music." . . without aggravation - it's promotion company and financed Consequently without exception around the country. V/c arc tour How, then, bands attempting to unbelievable. the first Crystal Palace festival. every act has stayed with us." promoters, and possibly the only put on an American style stage "Another thing that is Afterwards Alfandary and There arc of course artists that real tour promoters, lock stock presentation afford the inevitable impossible which the rest of the Goldsmith went into partnership never stay with one promoter. and barrel. We have to organise tour losses that they must make in world has no problem over is that with the Smiths. John Smith later Goldsmith promoted the last Elton everything including lighting and the UK? , . it takes six to eight weeks to get retired, or at least look a less John Christmas tour for example the Red Cross. When I started "The big groups subsidise cash settlement for staging a show active interest in the company. and he has also handled Glen promoting it was a lot of fun. themselves and the smaller groups in this country. In America 1 can Tony Smith started to manage Campbell. Now it's a lot of hard work." arc subsidised by the record book a 10,000 scatcr in Los Genesis two years ago and Says Goldsmith. "Many This is presumably a situation companies because they arc Angeles and settle completely and Alfandary took on the promoters do not promote in the that has been brought about by struggling to survive. The cost of the mass of the equipment that utterly on the night. Most of the management of Chapman Whitney true sense of the word. The only putting Andy Fairweathcr Low on time promoters in the UK act as leaving Goldsmith to promote all two true promoters in my opinion groups arc now taking with them? at Birmingham Town Hall and banks because the venues, the shows. arc Mel Bush and Peter Bowycr. "The size of the equipment is Sabbath at the Hammersmith The difference is that the others only one side of it. They conic to especially corporation venues, sit Goldsmith has handled Odcon is virtually the same. on our money for as long as they Record company support could be can. Furthermore, our costs have better. I've been working on record companies now for four gone up by approximately 25 years and it is only now that they percent this year." arc coming round to recognise the Ticket prices, he points out, importance of live shows. There is haven't really altered that much new singles too much departmentalisation in since the introduction of VAT. this business. Publishers are only Although he believes in keeping worried about getting their money ticket prices down he says it is from becoming increasingly difficult to ait in and record companies arc only worried about selling records. make a profit in the face of rising 111 Promoters arc left to cope on their prices. The cost of advertising own. If you look closely you find alone has gone up 35 percent this that the most successful groups arc year he says. "We arc making our the ones where everybody pulls money out of volume but with the together and that depends on kind of service that we give acts strong management, of which now it's becoming increasingly Available February 6th there is precious little nowadays. difficult. Our own company If you look at the biggest acts in situation is going through a radical LANCE WYNSOR the world you'll find the strongest rethink because I cannot afford to managcincnt." put on new acts although I am On the subject of the getting grudging support from the Clhaiege PaFfmeirs/Lm/e^Wlhiat Low mishandling of a group's live record companies. It costs the F13621 exposure, Goldsmith says that company £150 a show to promote record companies tend to want to just in terms of office expenses, screw management down in an travel and accommodation- EM attempt to get what they can and managers have a hard time. Is it this sort of drastic Nobody, he says, wants to lav out financial situation that tempts TYRONE DAVIS money on anything these days. promoters to deal with the ticket touts? Goldsmith says certainly Because a group has a Iiit the not in the ease of John Smith Turning Poiet/DoiTt Let It Eelbo Late record company think they can fill any venue and the manager Hunks Enterprises which docs everything BR 31 arc a possible to stop touts getting H bcadlincr, which isn't tickets. In fact, Goldsmith has myuftiLmyth that antasc act' Uthat's a becomespoln,lar been fighting a personal ^ against the touts throughout ^ 6 fr0m nowl crc c;in scl1 s cn 0out uT l,1 I-" ' time in the business and P. ) lU{ c Empire Pool." lot of lime and effort working e ...And the Doubles themselves?3 Am' ^ic ^* V0 ? UCS systems that will defeat them- ^ Crt attempt is to allow only in Britain adcqiiale; t0 C CHUBBY CHECKER BOBBY RYDELL tickets per purchaser and . , L down the number of tree tlCL", At the Discotheque/ - - distributed, especially with the Sway/Forget, Him they arc n, 7 •, 0 SlnaI1 a'«l acts. » "We had to send back 16.0^ Slow Twistin' HLU 10516 or applications for tickets Wl,sl the HLU 10515 wwm Who at Wembley, but it . only way to stop touts by lling group of nconl* i nsymPalhctic anc vc antl ONVn on application only i L them. There is onm them as they came in. The so^ ^ venue in "1.1 0nc PnVi'tcly the government does so met huh. llat is the ApoUo'ci C0""try aiul stop touts and pirate progrm 1 G1 S 0W 0 the owner,ov"° runs.P 'a '-rank sellers the better it will be good business."