Tony Calder was an English record manager, impresario, talent-spotter, promoter and public relations agent.
12 Facts About Tony Calder
1.
2.
Tony Calder was Andrew Loog Oldham's business partner from 1963 to December 1969.
3.
Tony Calder's grounding in the music industry began in the early 1960s at Decca Records under the direction of Edward Lewis.
4.
In 1962, Tony Calder was hired by Brian Epstein to promote The Beatles single "Love Me Do", which he did successfully by sending free copies to the top fifty Mecca Ballrooms and the opposition Top Rank ballrooms, in order to persuade the local independent record shops to order the record.
5.
In early 1965, Tony Calder did his first and last record production, taking over from Oldham producing Marianne Faithfull, producing her biggest hits "Come and Stay With Me", which reached Number 4 in the UK Singles Chart and "This Little Bird", which reached Number 6 in 1965.
6.
Tony Calder worked with Vashti Bunyan for the label, although it was not until the 2000s that she became a cult hero.
7.
In 1975, Tony Calder was appointed CEO of NEMS Records, where he signed Black Sabbath, Pluto and Marianne Faithfull.
8.
In 1982, Tony Calder hired Bob Newby, a Music Publishing veteran [ex-Business Director of ATV Music] to manage the back office of Tony Calder's businesses to allow him to mastermind Eddie Grant's successful 1982 Comeback Tour return including chart-topping 'I don't wanna dance' and 'Electric Avenue'.
9.
Tony Calder formed the Big Wave Group in 1988, in partnership with Bill Kimber, and had worldwide success with Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers, who had three consecutive number 1 singles in the UK and throughout Europe and the Number 1 single in the US with "Swing the Mood".
10.
In November 2002 Tony Calder formed the licensing company Plan B Audio Ltd which represented a catalogue of world-wide master recordings.
11.
In December 2007, Tony Calder was re-hired by Eddy Grant as business manager after Tony Calder negotiated on a new production deal for Grant's Ice label with Mercury Records.
12.
Tony Calder was survived by both children of his second marriage, daughter Georgie, son Anthony and his stepdaughter, Harriet.