IT WAS ACCEPTABLE IN THE 80S: STORIES FROM MY DAD'S WORK AS A MUSIC PROMOTER

I’ve known for a long time that my Dad, Brian Crowhurst, worked in the music industry. I grew up with gold discs on the walls and various tracks from my Dad’s music days playing in the background. However, apart from this (and the occasional random story), that was all we had until my sister started clearing out the loft of her house, which happens to be the house that my father lived in back in the 80s, and found a briefcase full of memorabilia from his old industry days.My dad worked in the promotion team of a, then, relatively up and coming record label which is now one of the biggest record labels out there now. All of these items belong to him and he has kindly decided to share some information about them as well as some interesting stories behind them.

Before we go into the items, Dad gave a brief explanation of how charting and promotion worked before the days of streaming and online purchases.

“The chart was made up by record dealers having a book that they sent of to the people who worked for the charting system each week. With fast selling singles/album they would simply have to tick whenever one was sold, but with other ‘bubbling’ singles and albums that were selling less quickly, they’d have to write physical numbers in. I’m not saying any of the dealers are crooked at all, not putting any blame on anyone, but with fast-selling singles, some dealers used to be favorable towards artists who gave products, gifts and personal appearances, which is why promotion was so important.”

(Note: All photos are mine and all items are my father, Brian Crowhurst’s.)

Signed copy of 'Take it Away' and telegram that was sent along with it.

This is the piece of memorabilia that shocked us the most. The letter and actual record weren’t put together so we found the letter first and the family was sat there wondering what the hell happened to the record, and then, thank the Lord, we found it deeper within the briefcase.

The majority of Dad’s job consisted of promoting singles via record dealers and the radio. The album 'Tug of War', released in 1982, was one of Paul McCartney’s first as a fully solo artist - no Beatles and no Wings, so obviously it was important to have this album do very well. Dad’s job was to promote the single ‘Take it Away’, which would then promote album sales.

“It was struggling to climb the charts, and we needed it to go further, so we had to work hard to promote it. Mr McCartney (or his team rather) gave the instructions that he wanted the single to go further, so that’s what they tried to achieve.” 

They did manage to achieve chart success, in return for which, my dad was gifted a signed copy of the single he helped promote. Why he kept this in a briefcase and didn't frame it for everyone to see as they walk in the house, I have no idea.

My dad (left) with Kate Bush

Another artist Dad worked with once-upon-a-time was indie icon Kate Bush. He worked with Bush in the late 70s/early 80s, when she released her album 'Never for Ever' (1980). This picture specifically was taken at a record signing in Birmingham (can’t remember which store but it was nearly forty years ago so I won’t blame him for that one). They did record signings, much like they do with CD signings now, in order to promote sales of singles and albums. As we know now, Bush ended up being a very successful artist, with Never for Ever being her first UK No.1 album and Dad was a solid part of that in the early days. 

Telegram saying Dr Feelgood had gone to number one in the charts.

Dr Feelgood have always been a band that Dad loves, and never really understood why. They weren’t a band I’d heard of but Dad seemed to be their biggest fan, and that’s because he used to essentially used to get paid to be their biggest fan. Dr Feelgood was one of the first bands that got signed to the label whilst Dad worked there, and at the time they were doing really well. He went on tour with Dr Feelgood on what was called the ‘Dirty Rhythms’ tour. The band, and two others, Kokomo, Kilburn and the High Roads (Ian Drury’s old band), toured around the UK visiting universities and colleges.

“The schedule was that the band that was the least inebriated would be the headlining act. That’s just how it was. They toured round in the back of old vans, not like the tour buses now, and the band often slept in the back amongst the instruments if they felt so inclined”

Obviously, being a promoter, that was exactly what Dad did with Dr Feelgood also. 

“We always believed they could get to number one, they just hadn’t yet, and we really wanted this album to do it, and it did. I’m very thankful for that”. 

The team put a lot of work into promoting, and as stated in the picture, they managed to successfully take Dr Feelgood to top the charts.

Telegram from Iron Maiden, from 'Eddie'

This could possibly be my personal favourite of the memorabilia we found, which is why I saved it until last. A letter from Iron Maiden signed by their band character Eddie, that my dad never actually responded to. He had the opportunity to have a drink with a band who are now a household name and he never went. Iron Maiden. When asked about this particular letter Dad simply replied “God knows where that came from. Don’t remember anything!”. 

I have no doubt that a lot of promotion work was involved but I doubt we’ll ever know the detailed story behind it. I suppose they say if you can remember the 80s, you didn’t do it right! Plus, I almost think the lack of context makes it better; who else can say they have a letter from Iron Maiden and have no idea how it got there?

Signed photo of Kim Wilde

Dad spent a lot of time working with Kim Wilde. He worked with her mostly just after she released the iconic track ‘Kids in America’ (which has now sold over three million records worldwide.). With Wilde, and many other artists, he “took them on what used to be known as ‘retail tours’ where they would visit record shops and radio stations in order to meet dealers, fans and the general public in order to sell singles and gain promotion for the whole album in general."

Other than the artists mentioned in this post as well as the memorabilia, there were many many bands and artists (perhaps less well known than the ones mentioned) that my dad helped try and promote and took on tour. These artists include Hot Chocolate, Dennis Waterman, Sheena Easton, and Talk Talk. However, there were also many bands he worked with that didn’t quite make it showing that the music industry was just as, if not more, brutal than it is now. But, for every load of failed bands and artists you’ll get a Paul McCartney or Iron Maiden, and that’s just the risk you have to take when working at a record label.

There's plenty more memorabilia of my dad's and stories to tell about them, so let me know if you'd be interested in more! 

Written by Ruby Crowhurst. All items provided by Brian Crowhurst.