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Sunday Telegraph,
16th May 2016



WEB LINKS

New Seekers

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The Making Of The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour (book cover).

The Making Of
The Beatles'
Magical Mystery Tour

(book cover)


John, Paul, George, Ringo And Me (book cover).

John, Paul, George,
Ringo And Me

(book cover)


Inside The Music Business (book cover).

Inside The
Music Business

(book cover)


New Seekers: the backstage team

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In the early 1970s the New Seekers had a team working behind the scenes to keep the group on the road and in the charts.

Tony Barrow
Eileen Bradley
Norman Divall
David Joseph

David Mackay
Freya and Slim Miller
Jill Webster
Glenn Wheatley



Tony Barrow

Tony Barrow, a former journalist from Liverpool, was the New Seekers' publicist in the UK. In the early '60s he had been head of the Press and Publicity Division at Brian Epstein's NEMS Enterprises. He was The Beatles' first press agent (from 1962-68) and coined the phrase "the Fab Four." He is often quoted in newspaper articles about The Beatles and has written a number of books about his time with the group.

The Making Of The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour
Tony Barrow

Publisher: Omnibus
ISBN: 0 7119 7575 2 (paperback)
Publication date: 30th June 1999

Paul McCartney Now & Then
Tony Barrow and Robin Bextor

Publisher: Carlton Books
ISBN: 1 84442 822 2
Publication date: 15th June 2004

Publisher: Carlton Books
ISBN: 1 84442 204 6
Publication date: 8th May 2006

John, Paul, George, Ringo and Me: the real Beatles story
Tony Barrow

Publisher: A. Deutsch
ISBN: 0 233 00140 9 (hardback) /
Publication date: 5th September 2005 (hardback)

Publisher: A. Deutsch
ISBN: 0 233 00192 1 (paperback)
Publication date: 4th September 2006 (paperback)

Other artists represented by NEMS included Cilla Black, The Dakotas, Billy J. Kramer and Gerry and the Pacemakers.

In 1968 Tony Barrow formed his own company, Tony Barrow International. Having established it as one of Britain's leading independent PR consultancies, he was joined two years later by Bess Coleman, a former journalist from Leicester who became a director of the company and who took on the responsibility of organising the New Seekers' PR. She was assisted by Norman Divall, who continued to handle Lyn Paul's PR after the New Seekers split up.

In addition to his books about The Beatles, Tony Barrow has also co-written a book about the music industry.

Inside The Music Business
Tony Barrow and Julian Newby

Publisher: Blueprint
ISBN: 1 85713 012 X
Publication date: 1st January 1995

Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0 415 13660 1
Publication date: 31st May 2000

In 2001, following the death of Peter Doyle, Tony Barrow paid tribute to him in an obituary in The Independent: "They had a cleverness and a musical intelligence that you wouldn't get with other bands of the day... and a lot of that is due to Peter Doyle." (The Independent, 18th October 2001)

Tony Barrow died on 14th May 2016, aged 80.


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Eileen Bradley

Eileen Bradley was a Vice President of the New Seekers' management / agency / production company, the Gem-Toby Organisation (GTO). Eileen and fellow Vice President Glenn Wheatley were based at the GTO office in Hollywood, established in August 1972. She had previously worked in New York with Connie de Nave before moving to Los Angeles in 1970 to become the West Coast editor of one of America's most popular teen magazines


Norman Divall

Do you remember the 'Ask Lyn & Eve' column in Popswop and 'Marty's Party' in Mirabelle? The man behind both was Norman Divall. In his own words, here's how it happened.

"I first met the New Seekers shortly after joining Tony Barrow in the early seventies. I had previously been Head of Press at EMI Records. Lyn and I became fast friends from the get-go. Initially my brief was to get them coverage in the teen magazines that proliferated at that time. The most interest was centred on Marty Kristian and it was suggested that he write his own column for Mirabelle unter the title 'Marty's Party'. I ghosted the column for him and was lucky in the fact that I got ideas from him on topics. As the column was written six weeks in advance it was great that I had huge co-operation from their management so I always knew what they would be doing. I wrote about trips across America and the towns they visited (all researched) plus the column promoted upcoming recordings and tour dates in the UK. It was highly-successful.

I then went on to ghost a column for Lyn and Eve for Popswop magazine which was basically an Agony Aunt advice session. The response was huge and we received hundreds of letters.

When they did London dates (ie Talk of the Town etc) I was generally there for most performances and was given the honorary title of "sixth New Seeker" which thrilled me greatly - being something of a frustrated singer/performer. Great days filled with such happy memories for me."


David Joseph

David Joseph, a former television producer from Australia, was a founding partner of the New Seekers' management company, the Toby Organisation. He set up the company in London in February 1969 with Keith Potger, who was in search of a new venture following the split-up of The Seekers. In June that year David and Keith launched the New Seekers.

At the time David Joseph was also the manager of an Australian band, Procession, whose début single Anthem became a hit for the New Seekers in 1978. By the end of 1969 Procession had split up. The band's organist, Trevor Griffin, became one of the New Seekers' road crew.

In June 1972 the Toby Organisation joined forces with Laurence Myers' Gem companies to form the Gem-Toby Organisation (GTO). A month later David flew out to California to set up a new office in Hollywood.

Peter Doyle described David Joseph's relationship with the group in an interview in December 1972: "He's good in that he knows his place when it comes to our music. He can hear what's going on and whether it's good or bad. Naturally, he makes some suggestions, but generally he lets us get on with it and stays out of the way. When it comes to business we keep out of his way. He knows what he's doing." (Beat Instrumental, No. 115)

In an interview with The Beat magazine in 2012, Lyn Paul said: "We had an incredible manager in David Joseph. The huge driving force behind the New Seekers was David Joseph and without David Joseph the group would never have reached the heights... would never have done the great venues and had the privileges that we did."

In addition to the New Seekers, David Joseph managed other acts, including Springfield Revival (a trio featuring Mick Flinn, Donna Jones and Ray Martin) and singer / songwriter John Pantry, who supported the New Seekers on the group's Farewell Tour (1974).

David Joseph died from a heart attack following a hip operation in November 2012.


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WEB LINKS

David Mackay

Cilla Black's
Official Website:
David Mackay


Keith Potger & the New Seekers (album cover).

New Seekers
Keith Potger
& the New Seekers

(album cover)


New Seekers Now (album cover).

New Seekers
New Seekers Now
(album cover)


Give Me Love (cassette cover).

Lyn Paul
Give Me Love
(cassette cover)


David Mackay

David Mackay worked with the New Seekers during the Peter Doyle years (1970-73), arranging and producing seven consecutive albums. He first worked with the New Seekers on the LP Keith Potger & The New Seekers. This was the group's second album but the first to feature Peter Doyle, Paul Layton and Lyn Paul. He continued working with them until their eighth album, New Seekers Now.

The Now album marked a watershed: for the first time on a New Seekers' album the production credits were shared. Five of the tracks were produced by David Mackay, the rest were recorded in the USA with The Osmonds' producer Mike Lloyd. Up until this point David Mackay had produced all of the New Seekers' records, the only exception being the group's début album, which was produced by Keith Potger. Subsequent albums (1973-74) were produced by Mike Lloyd, Tony Macaulay and Tommy Oliver.

David Mackay was born and brought up in Sydney, Australia. He began his musical career at the age of fifteen in a production of Bye Bye Birdie for the J. C. Williamson Theatre Company. He worked for a time in local radio, recording the musical sessions for Radio 2CH in Sydney. He then accepted an offer of a job as a recording engineer for EMI Australia, rising in the ranks to become Head of A&R. He then came over to the UK to work for EMI at the legendary Abbey Road studios in London.

After leaving EMI, David formed his own company, June Productions Ltd. His first independent production, What Have They Done To My Song, Ma for the New Seekers, became a huge hit in the United States and began a successful association with the group that lasted three years. When the New Seekers re-formed in 1976 (minus Lyn Paul and Peter Doyle), the group was put into the recording studio with Phil Coulter and Bill Martin. It was fitting, however, that David should resume the role of producer for the group's last album and last hit single, Anthem (One Day In Every Week).

In addition to the records he produced for the New Seekers, David Mackay also produced Lyn Paul's first solo album, Give Me Love (1975), as well as the single Ocean And Blue Sky for Eve Graham and Danny Finn (1979). He has also worked with the Bee Gees, Cilla Black, Blue Mink, Eric Clapton, The Mixtures, Harry Nilsson, Billy Ocean, Cliff Richard, Demis Roussos, Dusty Springfield and Bonnie Tyler. David also arranged and produced the scores and theme songs for a number of television shows, notably As Time Goes By, Bread and Auf Wiedersehen Pet. The hit single from Auf Wiedersehen Pet, That's Livin' All Right by Joe Fagin, won him an Ivor Novello Award and a BAFTA nomination.

In 2002 David Mackay returned to the world of musical theatre, as Musical Supervisor for 125th Street, a new musical from the creators of Buddy and Jailhouse Rock. 125th Street played at London’s Shaftesbury Theatre from 17th September 2002 - 11th January 2003.

In 2005 David resumed his working relationship with Eve Graham, producing Eve's comeback album The Mountains Welcome Me Home.


Freya and Slim Miller

The New Seekers' UK bookings were handled by Freya and Slim Miller - described in Billboard magazine as "one of the most hard working and well-respected couples in the business." They were the exclusive booking agents for several of the top cabaret venues in the UK, including the Fiesta Clubs in Sheffield and Stockton and the 'Talk Of The South' in Southend.


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WEB LINKS

Glenn Wheatley

Wikipedia:
Glenn Wheatley



The Masters Apprentices

Masters Apprentices
and
Jim Keays
Official Website



Little River Band

Little River Band
Official Site



John Farnham

John Farnham
Official Website


Choice Cuts (album cover).

Masters Apprentices
Choice Cuts
(album cover)


A Toast To Panama Red (album cover).

Masters Apprentices
A Toast To
Panama Red

(album cover)


Paper Paradise (book cover).

Paper Paradise:
Confessions Of A
Rock 'n' Roll
Survivor

(book cover)


Jill Webster

Between 1972 and 1974 Jill Webster ran the New Seekers' Official Fan Club. Jill also wrote a regular fan club column for the UK pop magazine Superstar. Her real name was Christine Lowe and in the early '60s she had worked with Lyn Paul as one third of the all-girl trio the Chrys-Do-Lyns.

After the New Seekers split up in 1974, one fan club became four. Lyn's mum and her sister Mandi ran a fan club for Lyn, while Sandra Adams set up a fan club for Eve Graham. Jenny Walker ran another fan club for Marty, Paul and Danny while Peter Tempest established a New Seekers' Appreciation Club, which sent out news about all the former members of the group. When the New Seekers' reformed in 1976 Jenny Walker ran the Official Fan Club.


Glenn Wheatley

In 1972 Glenn Wheatley made the switch from playing with bands to managing them. Up until this point he had been a member of the Australian band The Masters Apprentices. Prior to that (1966-68) he had played rhythm guitar, and then bass guitar, for the Brisbane-based blues band Bay City Union.

Towards the end of the band's life-span The Masters Apprentices recorded two ground-breaking albums in England - Choice Cuts, described by Ian McFarlane in The Encyclopedia Of Australian Rock And Pop as "one of the finest Australian progressive hard rock albums ever issued", and A Toast To Panama Red, which McFarlane says was "simply too advanced for the local industry of the day to comprehend". Even before its release in January 1972 the band had split up.

Glenn Wheatley began working for the Gem-Toby Organisation, organising an Australian tour for Mick Flinn and The Mixtures before then becoming the New Seekers' tour manager. "Because I'd been a musician, I was good at my job as tour manager," he later wrote in his autobiography. "I could relate to what the group was going through on the road". (Paper Paradise, page 69). Having travelled around Europe with the New Seekers, Glenn Wheatley was then asked by David Joseph to run the new Gem-Toby office in Los Angeles.

"I felt that this would be my chance to really get involved in the music business. Before I left the London office I collected every publishing agreement, every management agreement, every recording agreement I could get my hands on and I studied them until I learnt it all, until I understood it." (Paper Paradise, page 70)

Glenn Wheatley had an uneasy relationship with David Joseph and a parting of the ways was inevitable. The beginning of the end came on the night the New Seekers performed for President Nixon.

"I had a major fallout with David when we did the presidential inauguration in January 1973 ... Something had gone wrong with his travelling arrangements. He was unhappy and dressed me down in front of everybody. I was shaken and close to breaking. I knew from that night on, it would only be a matter of time before our relationship disintegrated completely." (Paper Paradise, pages 72-73)

In 1975, after the New Seekers had split up, Glenn Wheatley set up the Wheatley Organisation and became the manager of a new Australian group, the Little River Band. He had begun to put the band together in 1974, when he introduced vocalist Glenn Shorrock to the Australian band Mississippi. The band was in London looking for a new frontman; Shorrock was also in London working as a backing singer for Cliff Richard.

"I brought Glenn and Mississippi together at New Seeker Marty Kristian's house. They sang the old Everly Brothers song 'When Will I Be Loved' and it was extraordinary. The blend of their voices was wonderful... We had the makings of a good band. We agreed to see each other in Australia in three months and take it from there." (Paper Paradise, page 76)

Peter Doyle, who was also managed by Glenn Wheatley, was invited to join the band but declined. Between 1976 and 1985 the Little River Band had sixteen hit singles in the USA, six of which made the Top 10: Reminiscing (1978); Lady, Lonesome Loser and Cool Change (1979); The Night Owls and Take It Easy On Me (1981). In 1983 Glenn Shorrock was replaced by John Farnham, who Wheatley subsequently managed as a solo artist.

Farnham (originally known as Johnny Farnham) had been a big star in Australia in the 1960s and early 1970s. He had since become a regular on the cabaret / nightclub circuit but Glenn Wheatley could see the potential for a comeback. He mortgaged his house to help finance the recording of Farnham's 1986 album, Whispering Jack, which went on to become the biggest-selling Australian album of all time. Farnham also had an international hit with the single You're The Voice (an Australian number 1 / UK number 6 / US number 82).

For a time Glenn Wheatley also managed the Australian actress and singer Delta Goodrem, but Goodrem split with Wheatley under acrimonious circumstances in 2003.

To find out more about Glenn Wheatley, read his autobiography:

Paper Paradise: Confessions Of A Rock 'n' Roll Survivor
Glenn Wheatley

Publisher: Bantam Books
ISBN: 0 733 80012 2
Publication date: 1999


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Biographies

Vivien Banks
Chris Barrington
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Eve Graham
Sally Graham
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Laurie Heath

Vikki James
Donna Jones
Nicola Kerr
Marty Kristian
Paul Layton
Peter Oliver
Keith Potger
Kathy Ann Rae
Francine Rees
Caitriona Walsh



Autograph.


 Page created:
060822
Last amended:
180101

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