Has the beat boom really gone BUST? (Melody Maker - November 14, 1964)
By RAY COLEMAN
Sitting in your 7s 6d seats at a pop concert, you might not realise you are contributing to a multi-million pound industry.
And this week, pop concertgoers become national news. The ultra-important world of records took a temporary back-seat as a talking point as the influential backroom boys pondered these questions:
Have beat concerts saturated the pop fan’s pockets? Is the boom bursting? Are there enough teenagers to meet the pop package shows being launched so regularly? And what can we do about it?
A remarkable meeting took place in the London flat of veteran promoter Larry Parnes. Agents and managers, some of whom never speak about their business with friends - let alone rivals - talked over the serious problems confronting show-biz moguls.
When that happens, something is going drastically wrong with the well-oiled pop machine that is geared to every breakdown or new road on an ever-changing map.
Clearly, the men of power are worried. They fear that the enormous spending spree by fans may halt unless they link up to prevent, for example, so many shows visiting the same towns too close together.
There is even talk of a promoters’ guild to plan pop tours centrally and to consider reducing ticket charges.
What is really going on? We canvassed the views of the people who are involved - the impresarios. They say:-
ARTHUR HOWES (he put on the Beatles, Billy J. Kramer, and Gene Pitney-Gerry and the Pacemaker shows and is one of the most experienced and respected promoters):
Promoters have got to get together to organise tours. We need an agreement that if one of us is taking a tour to a certain city, there’s a barring clause on other shows going there.
One reason why some tours lose money is because artists are asking too much in fees.
The new beat boom produced a lot of new managers who were interested simply in making quick money for their artists and themselves while it lasted.
Their fees were sky-high. They weren’t interested in long-term build-ups, which we had before.
But I think there are just as many people going to pop shows, overall - It’s simply that there are more shows on the road, so the audiences are spread out.
We didn’t do too well with Billy J. Kramer and the Ronettes but this new Gerry-Gene Pitney tour is going to be a big success, financially.
HAROLD DAVISON (man behind Britain’s major jazz tours, agent for Dave Clark Five, Applejacks and others):
When people say the bottom’s falling out of pop, they are presumably talking of everything from Cliff to the Beatles, so they’re wrong.
There will always be a market for big pop shows. Beat is different: lots of promoters put the nails in the coffin themselves. Now the horse has bolted they’re shutting the stable door.
If someone had a record in the hit parade, some promoter put him out on tour as top-of-the-bill, and then they wondered why they were in trouble.
My jazz shows are totally different - we charge a lot more for tickets, and though we never make a fortune we don’t lose.
TITO BURNS (doyen of the promoters, agent for Searchers, Dusty Springfield, Eden Kane):
I attended a gathering at Larry Parnes’ flat. I have no comment to make on the subject.
BRIAN EPSTEIN:
I don’t consider it true at all that the bottom is falling out of the business. Through my association with Arthur Howes we will have promoted three very successful tours.
Gerry’s tour, for instance, will go like a bomb - because, I feel, Gerry and Gene Pitney are real stars, and I say that poignantly.
I think its a good idea to sort out the business of venues. It is rather hap-hazard at present, with tours visiting the same city about the same time.
(Epstein was reported in the Daily Mirror last week as having lost £2,000 on recent Sunday pop shows at London’s Prince of Wales.)
ROY TEMPEST (he books about 400 groups into ballrooms and reports an annual profit of £250,000):
We’re doing three times the business of three years ago. I refused to be drawn into contracts because I could foresee this slump. I feel sorry for those losing money. I shall stick to ballroom bookings and continue to make money. I handle 90 to 100 shows a week.
One thing many people forget is that the kids can see the big stars so much on TV nowadays. So concerts suffer. Dances don’t because everybody likes dancing, and if you throw in a live artist as well, you’re okay.
I can afford to laugh at them all.
ROBERT STIGWOOD (promoter of Rolling Stones tours and the man behind Chuck Berry’s scheduled British tour next January):
There are no slumps on my tours. But I know other promoters have had a very bad year. There must be much more co-ordination and co-operation.
I shall lose £10,000 on the tour due to start last Friday - the P.J. Proby one that was to have become Chuck Berry, that didn’t materialise.
I don’t see how much can be done over artist’s fees, which are too high, because promoters are always bidding over each other to get the stars.
Presumably Arthur Howes has signed Orbison for next year for the same reason I have got Chuck Berry: he offered him more money. So the prices must stay up, and that cannot help audiences if they are slipping.
Promoter DON ARDEN was reported as having lost £7,000 on a recent tour starring the Animals and £5,000 on the Bill Haley-Manfred Mann tour.
What is the future for British pop shows?
At present the question is unanswerable. Promoters disagree about tactics but agree something has to be sorted out to prevent more big losses.
ONE THING IS CERTAIN: THEY ARE HAVING TO VIEW THE SCENE MORE SCIENTIFICALLY THAN EVER.