ACTS TIPPED FOR P.II JANUARY 5, 1985 5 L ESTABLISHED 1959 £1.25 Wind song takes over beleaguered indie distributor y Pinnacle rescued /\.: Berry was told on the day of Windsong's takeover By JEFF CLARK-MEADS that his services were not required. Berry has set up PINNACLE RECORDS, the indie label his own music industry consultancy and is trading distributor which went into receivership eight upder the name of Tony Berry and Associates. weeks ago, has been rescued by export Pinnacle chairman Terence Scully, whose family s T i company Windsong in a move that new owner have been involved with the company since the early •K Steve Mason believes will bring a "new pro- days, left a week after the receivers were called in. fessionalism" to the whole independent The new company has not taken up responsibility • <i S 8M market. for Pinnacle's debts and any dividend to creditors A BUSINESS "wedding" — button-holed Derek Green and Bob Grace Mason, managing director of Windsong, finalised will come through receiver Stephen Adamson. shake hands on their deal. the takeover he says, without serious competition Mason says of the labels distributed by Pinnacle: and acquired Pinnacle's record operation in its "We hope to be keeping the professional ones. We entirety. The troubled electronics division, which want to make the indie scene more professional. The contributed to the collapse, was sold previously. guy who walks in with 500 singles in a carrier bag Grace quits Rondor "We can use our selling expertise in the UK as well could find things rather difficult. as in the export market," says Mason. "We have felt "The labels with Pinnacle will get a better deal, a frustration in being a label and not getting any UK with us. As Windsong we have done a professional sales. I could see potential hits drop out of the charts job in buying and distributing product abroad for for Green venture because nobody was pushing them." years." BOB GRACE has resigned as launched Chrysalis Music for Mason hopes to retain the majority of Pinnacle He expressed hope that 4AD and Flicknife. the two managing director of Rondor Chris Wright and Terry Ellis, and staff, although Pinnacle managing director Tony labels to leave Pinnacle, would rejoin the company. Music (London) — the A&M signed David Bowie and Santana publishing company — after 13 during his five years with the years to join the recently de- company. parted A&M Records chief Derek "The opportunity of establish- Relax tops Euro charts Green in his new venture. Grace ing my own business in partner- THE TOP single in Europe during Lionel Richie's Can't Slow Down has formed Empire Music, which ship with such an outstanding 1984 was Frankie Goes To Holly- — both on Motown (see p19). will be the music publishing arm record man as Derek Green has wood's Relax — by a very clear # Top independent label single of Green's China Records (MW proved irresistible," Grace com- margin — according to the Euro- of the year was The Smiths' What December 15). mented. "I would like to thank * parade chart compiled by Dutch Difference Does It Make? on During his long Rondor career, Jerry Moss for all his support and radio station TROS from 11 Rough Trade, and The Smiths Grace signed and developed the encouragement in the past." / national charts. also had top indie LP of the year careers of songwriting artists # Another former 10-year col- British-originated singles with their eponymous album on such as Supertramp, Richard league of Derek Green at A&M dominated the Top 40 Euro- Rough Trade (see p21). Kerr, Gallagher & Lyle, Rick Records, Alan McGee, has parade of the year, accounting for # Top heavy metal single of the Wakeman, Andy Fairweather formed Red Promotions in 22 records compared with 13 year was Gimme All Your Lovin' Low, Heatwave, Rod Temperton, partnership with Green. It will from the US. There were three by ZZ Top (Warner Bros) and top Joan Armatrading, Dire Straits, offer promotional and consult- records by German acts and one LP was ZZ Top's Eliminator Nik Kershaw and Bob Marley ation services to a small and MUSIC WILL be promoted and by Dutch and Italian acts (see (Warner Bros). (The full HM chart among others. Before Rondor, he select number of clients. celebrated throughout Europe in p22). of 1984 will be published next 1985 as part of European Music • Top disco/dance single of the week). Year which is being co-ordinated year was Stevie Wonder's I Just # Top singles and LPs based on by the Council of Europe and the Called To Say I Love You, and lop the Gallup charts will be pub- European Economic Community. lished next week. Home-taping is now The IFPI is planning a number disco/dance IP of the year was of activities being in, including a seminar in Brussels to discuss how the future levels of music Deacon optimistic for '85 a waf of life — depend on increased partici- pation by the music industry. By NIGEL HUNTER "1985 is an important year for THE BP! has produced its own "green paper" on home-taping — an The IFPI will also produce an EFFECTIVE LEGISLATION on us from the copyright stand- 18-page green-covered booklet titled The Facts About Home-Taping — educational poster explaining the copyright protection has been point," says Deacon. "Rental will in anticipation of the Government's Green Paper on copyright as it social importance of recorded forecast by BPI director general also be mentioned in the forth- relates to home recording which is due this month. music, and will be involved in John Deacon for the 1985/86 coming Green Paper, and that's The BPI claims that: "Over the last 10 years home-taping has become sponsorship of a European Parliamentary session. becoming a tangible problem a way of life for millions of music lovers as the demand for recorded Community Youth Orchestra and Deacon anticipates publication with the advent of compact discs. music has become greater than ever before. In 1983 alone, 466m hours will commission European jazz of the Government's Green Paper "Home-taping is still a major of music were recorded in the home." compositions. on home-taping this month, and problem here and internationally. The booklet quotes a recent BMRB survey of home-taping habits and A number of record companies believes it will reveal a far more It's a copyright question, and no suggests that "a significant number of people would have bought are making plans to tie in record aware and informed attitude by matter how much the blank tape records had they been unable to tape them". The BPI admits that the releases in 1985 with the the Government about the prob- industry may argue, our mem- music industry cannot stop home-taping, and repeals its demand for a European Music Year theme. lem than its 1981 predecessor. TO PAGE FOUR royalty on blank tape and audio hardware to reimburse rights owners. DttQ =0 (0)0 EMS New 7" & 12" Single W9120/T. > 12" Features Special 'Jellybean' Remix il^IEMiFlnlSTF DISTRIBUTED BYUiea RECORDS LTD.© A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY. ORDER FROM THE WEA TELE-ORDER DESK 01-998 5929 OR FROM YOUR WEA SALESMAN/TELE-SALES PERSON. MUSIC WEEK JANUARY 5 1985 American Commentary New deal sees Argo catalogue for US Old MayeKs Almanak THE ARGO Spoken Word catalogue will go into thousands of major US outlets next year following a new agreement signed this week by From Ira Mayer London Records and Newman Communications Corporation of Alburquerque. New Mexico, writes Nicolas Soames. NEW YORK: While everyone else is pondering their new bud- The agreement gives Newman exclusive US rights for the manu- JOE LOSS holds a golden baton gets at this time of year, journalists trot out their o c y facture, importation and distribution of Argo's 123-tille catalogue, which presented to him by head of balls. What's in store for 1985? . has been gradually developed in the UK from scratch in 1981 to a Radio 2 Geoffrey Owen (left) and Probably a slight dip in unit sales. The chances ot anomer business worth Clm in retail takings in this country alone in 1984. presenter Ray Moore to mark the Michael Jackson-like success are slim, and it is unlikely "We have been working on finding a US distributor for some con- bandleader's 50-year contri- enough other artists will sell multi-platinum to make up siderable time." said Michael Letchford, general manager, classical bution to British broadcasting. difference; continued movement toward higher list prices or marketing and promotions, London Records. "Unlike the UK, spoken LPs and audio cassettes, in part to offset the lowered unit sales word is sold through the book trade in the US, not the record trade, and and in part to minimise the differential between CDs and other we wanted someone who could get into the 3,500 chain stores as well as formats. independent retailers." Rats trapped A slowdown in the rate of change for the LP-to-audio cassette The Argo catalogue contains a wide range of material, from its ratio, partly because of a slowing in sales of Walkman-like best-selling item of Richard Burton's Under Milk Wood, to Winnie the players and partly because consumers will be increasingly torn mev concert between high quality tape decks and CD players; significantly Pooh, Sherlock Holmes and Brideshead Revisited. One of its important lower prices for CD players, making them indeed competitive issues of this year has been Passage to India read by Ben Kingsley.