Tony Stratton Smith
| Tony Stratton-Smith | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 29 October 1933 Birmingham, England |
| Died |
(aged 53) London, England |
| Other names | "Strat" |
| Occupation | Music Manager |
| Known for | Charisma Records, The Koobas, The Nice, Van der Graaf Generator, Genesis, Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, Monty Python |
Tony Stratton-Smith (29 October 1933 – 19 March 1987) was an English rock music manager, and entrepreneur. He founded the London-based independent record label Charisma Records in 1969 and managed rock groups such as The Nice, Van der Graaf Generator and Genesis.
Stratton-Smith was born in Birmingham in 1933. He started his career as a sports journalist, mainly reporting on football (soccer), for the Daily Sketch and the Daily Express, before becoming influenced by The Beatles, in particular their manager Brian Epstein and decided to enter the music business. The first notable band he managed were Liverpool based The Koobas, taking over from Epstein. He subsequently took over management of The Nice in 1968 from Andrew Loog Oldham and, frustrated with the workings of Oldham's Immediate Records label, decided to form his own.
Later signings included the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der Graaf Generator. In 1969 he signed the progressive rock band Genesis onto his record and management companies, and released Trespass (1970), the band's second album. Genesis went on to become the label's most commercially successful group. Stratton-Smith released many records by Monty Python and helped to finance the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975). He also recorded former Bonzo frontman Vivian Stanshall and financed Stanshall's film Sir Henry at Rawlinson End (1980), as well as being credited as its producer. Other important artists Stratton-Smith was closely associated with include Atomic Rooster, Audience, Brand X, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Peter Hammill, Lindisfarne, Julian Lennon, Robert John Godfrey, String Driven Thing and Rare Bird. According to Hackett, Stratton-Smith missed an opportunity to sign Queen, whose demos had been brought in to Charisma.Gail Colson worked with him at Charisma, as label manager and joint managing director. She left to form her own company in the late 1970s and would manage the solo careers of Gabriel and Hammill, among others.
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