Spice Girls creator tops the charts of UK managers

Published on Monday 19 May 2008 22:37

IN DAYS gone by rock managers were like an extra member of the band – cigar chompers who steered artists through life, nurtured their talents and negotiated the best deals.

But the likes of Brian Epstein, who managed the Beatles, and Peter Grant, who looked after Led Zeppelin, have been usurped by a new style of impresario typified by the Spice Girls creator, Simon Fuller.

Fuller, who invented Pop Idol, the world's most franchised television format, has been named by Billboard magazine as the most successful British pop manager of all time.

Acts managed by Fuller – including The Spice Girls, Annie Lennox and American Idol winner Carrie Underwood – have sold 116 million units (including individual single and album sales and paid-for downloads) in the United States.

The magazine said he was responsible for more than 500 number one singles globally, and more than 240 number one albums.

Peter Grant, the Led Zeppelin manager who revolutionised the deals artists could negotiate with promoters, was calculated as being responsible for 110.5 million units and Epstein, who helped the Beatles conquer the world, was responsible for 106 million sales.

In the worldwide managerial hall of fame, Fuller is in third place behind American promoters Colonel Tom Parker, who oversaw Elvis Presley's career, and Irving Azoff, who managed the Eagles and Stevie Nicks.

Bruce Findlay, the former manager of Simple Minds, who currently works with Aberfeldy, said he was "flabbergasted" that Fuller could be named the most successful manager of all time.

"It may be that he has sold the most units, but I think to be called the most successful manager of all time you need to have that inspirational quality," he said.

"Brian Epstein has always been my inspiration. People say he didn't get the best deals for the Beatles but they were ten times better than the deals anyone else was getting at the time. And a year after he left they split up, which I think speaks volumes.

"The Beatles were the biggest group of all time – they changed the world – so to me their manager was the greatest. None of Simon Fuller's artists are the best in that way, particularly the Pop Idol crowd."

As well as creating The Spice Girls and discovering Amy Winehouse, Fuller also manages David and Victoria Beckham and works with dress designer Roland Mouret. The Pop Idol format has been sold to 40 countries. Fuller has also managed Annie Lennox's solo career.

Mr Findlay said: "(Fuller's] association with Annie Lennox is the one thing that gives him credibility. Annie is her own woman and the fact she has stayed with him for so long shows he must have some qualities as a manager."

Music journalist Paul Lester said Fuller's ascendency showed how the music business had changed.

"At least 10 per cent of records in the charts are from reality television people. The charts are full of clean-cut, 1950s-type acts like Shane Ward. You would never get a weirdo like David Bowie any more.

"People like Grant and Epstein were almost like the fifth member of the band – you get the feeling Simon Fuller just stays in the office watching it all on television."

PROFILE

ONE of the projects Simon Fuller is said to be working on is a new version of the television series The Monkees, with the help of some of the writers behind The Simpsons.

It is typical of the cross-media genius which has made him one of the most powerful men in television and music.

The Hastings-born impresario began his career with Paul Hardcastle, whose chart-topping single about Vietnam, 19, became the name of Fuller's management company. He went on to create the Spice Girls, having an affair with Baby Spice along the way.

Although music industry professionals admit he's done his time as a manager, Fuller's rise to worldwide domination came through the success of the Pop Idol format.

He has also made inroads into the worlds of fashion and sport – helping to make Roland Mouret's Galaxy dress a worldwide phenomenon via their shared company, 19RM.