Tony
rang me one day and asked if he could buy
some of my records. I was 16 and my band had just released
our
own indie single. Tony asked
me if I could bring the singles through to
York and he would pay for the
singles and my train fare. I got on a train
that
afternoon. He met me at the station and took
me to Red Rhino Records,
his shop, near the castle wall. I spent the
afternoon browsing through the stock, talking to the
staff
and Tony.
Later we went to his favourite pub with his
wife Gerri. It was 1980.
Tony
and I became firm friends and five years later
he convinced me to leave RCA records and start my
own label and a retail
promotion company. He lent me £1000 without
blinking and just said do it.
He
lived for music. Music of all kinds. And he gave
unhesitating support to hundreds of musicians. He changed
the face
of the
UK music scene by organizing the indies
almost single handedly. Without Tony, the major labels
would still dictate
the types of
music that we listen to.
To
say I will miss Tony is far to simple. He was my friend,
an inspiration and my colleague.
He's
probably telling Elvis, Hendrix and Moon to form a band
right now!
