Rick Lennox - Manager, TV Presenter, Journalist & Former A&R, Spring 2001
By: Toby L
'I don't really see it as a career,' Rick muses, before smiling, 'I see it more as my life...' And - with that - a large, yellow, bound folder is opened, the contents of which show newspaper-clippings, stickers, original photos and documents, representing over a decade of a man's endeavours to make a dent in the UK music industry - all unveiled before my very eyes.
A 'dent', however, in this case, could be an understatement. Rick Lennox is a man that may well have had an effect on your taste in music without you even knowing it. During his time in A&R, Rick signed up bands such as Skunk Anansie - who went on to sell over 6 million albums worldwide - but this is only part of the story. For the record, Mr Lennox has been involved in vast amounts of musical work-roles, including - more recently - journalism, yet he is also known for speaking out at lectures, where he talks of his times in the music-world. However, at the age of 34, he hasn't given up yet; Rick still has a lot more to bring to the consumers and lovers of new music - and time will prove this.
It's for all of these reasons, therefore, that it seems odd for him to say that he actually 'fell' into the industry, rather than consciously deciding to get into it. 'I had always loved music ever since I could remember; I was buying records when I was five years old! I used to tape the charts (from the radio) and I can remember things from back in 1972 because of that,' he lingers.
On the question of what material he listened to, he utters, amidst the hustle and bustle of a busy public house in the Capital, 'Obviously, you get influenced by your parents. So, I guess I was into Roxy Music, Sweet and dare I say a bit of David Essex, as it goes! It was that whole kind of early, early glam scene; even at the age of seven, I knew certain things, like the fact that the Bay City Rollers were uncool, you know what I mean?!
'But, as far as the music goes, like a lot of people, I wanted to be a pop star.' Rick then advances on this thought and reveals more. 'I was always a little poet at school and I joined Wymondham Abbey Choir, so I became a singer!
For those of you that are geographically unaware, Wymondham is based in the Norwich County within England. A sleepy and quite out-of-the-way location, surely being brought up in such a background is difficult for a creative and active mind?
'I come from Norfolk and it is boring; if you want to do something and if you've got any kind of brain-cell which says, 'I need to expand my horizons,' then you move to London... There aren't many cockneys anymore in London - it's made up of people like me who come from outside!
'To find my feet, I was dispatch-riding for ages. Eventually, you come across your own people and - in about 1986, when I was 20 - I moved into this squat down the Old Kent Road. Basically, I was just around loads of really interesting people and in about '88, I formed a band, and we were gigging for about a year, maybe a year and a half. At the time, I was involved in this thing called the Musician's Network and that was self-funded, designed for musicians to help themselves. I was one of the co-ordinators and I met this landlord in a pub in North London and managed to persuade him to put a benefit gig on...'
From there, it all kicked off. Regular newsletters were composed and sent out on tie dye-esque, coloured paper, with a theme of helping the underground. A 'Declaration of Intent' clearly specified its long-term aims and goals:
To improve communications between existing community groups;
To enable the realisation of large-scale community projects by accessing the skills and resources available through the network;
To promote the activities of network members and associated groups through the regular publication and distribution of free open access newsletters;
To campaign for better working conditions and rates of pay for musicians, technicians and performance-artists right across the musical spectrum. We will pressure record companies to increase the percentage deals offered to bands under contract and will pressure promoters and agents to offer a guaranteed minimum for performing live;
To reinforce the commitment of artists and performers to accessing musical, social and cultural ideas to the widest possible audience using LIVE events as a cultural showcase.
... And who said that after the late '70s punk could never be reborn?
... Which is kind of ironic in a way, for, in person, Rick certainly does appear similar to a pioneer of the whole punk-rock movement - Johnny Rotten. However, as times have progressed and as fashions have moved in and out, Lennox has been a member of a large variety of looks - whilst initiating one himself - the 'Crusty' (according to the 'Melody Maker', it was he that actually originated the term). Further to that, though, it was epitomised in the form of his concert promotion company, which formed in the early part of the 90's.
Entitled the Tortoise Liberation Front (TLF), it specialised in the cultivation of putting on live shows with a difference; the créme de la créme of the up and comings would be given a spotlight, on bills in dingy, small venues or even large-scale events with up to 1,000 people in attendance. During his time in this, artists such as Ween, The Levellers and Chumbawamba were caught up in a whirlwind of exciting and thriving times for the 'toilet circuit', but things moved on to yet another level when Rick saw a special band sound-check for a set they were due to play later that evening.
'They were called Daisy Chainsaw and they were simply incredible,' remembers Rick in a warm recollection, who immediately approached the band to manage them. Comprised of a rowdy bunch of young rockers and an enigmatic female singer, in the form of Katie Jane Garside, their potential power on the scene seemed significant when their debut release reached the top 30 in 1992. It was the fruition of a hard and arduous schedule of overseas dinner-dates on the other side of the Atlantic and enough tours and low-key gigs to send any sane person into an asylum. However, its life span soon wore thin for Rick on the eve of real success. 'We were offered the chance to do 'Top Of The Pops' - but they didn't want to do it. It just really pissed me off that after all this hard work we had done, they weren't prepared to take the rewards, so I quit.' Following this, the band gained some exposure, but effectively their career was over. Some members of the original quartet can now be seen parading around as Queen Adreena. Still, Rick loved every minute spent with the band and has many fond memories to this day.
Rather than causing disillusionment at this stage, though, instead Lennox was more energised than ever. He realised that the largest thrill he had got up to this point in being involved so closely with the industry was the process of discovering new talent; the idea of seeing a diamond in the rough and signing it up to a record label was appealing. This was how he became an A&R man - involved in Artist & Repertoire (the guy responsible for tempting a band to the bigwigs - or an indie - and ensuring their welfare is peachy).
It was the signing of Skunk Anansie to One Little Indian that sparked mayhem. Laying his hands on such a hotly tipped act immediately pushed him up from Division Two to the Premier League in one sensational swoop. And it didn't end there. Before long, hopefuls such as Compulsion - who went on to secure a cult status for the period - were snapped up by the talent-spotter with brightly coloured hair. To top it all, the top-10 Sneaker Pimps were even helped formed after he found their singer, Kelli Ali.
Evidence that it was transcending into a success story of manic proportions was when he was 'poached' from said independent label to the internationally renowned, Polydor - published for all to know on the front page of leading trade-paper, 'Music Week'. 'I was given a fat pay-cheque, got myself a mortgage, as well as a flashy car - and I couldn't even drive,' Rick comments on the time. Indeed, there was a period where three of his acts were in the indie top-30 in exactly the same weeks as each other. Par contre, this is not to mention the moment when the Anansie scored not just a number one independent, second album (their debut LP still in the top-10 too), but also a top-20 single - all in the same week as each other. Clearly, when we're talking hitting the big time here, we're talking hitting the mega-time.
You'd think that at this stage - just when Lennox was mentioned on another front page of 'Music Week', this time shown celebrating the news that Polydor had won the paper's prestigious A&R award - he'd have been completely secure with the environment he'd created for himself. Not so.
'At the end of '97 - early '98 - there wasn't a lot going. It was a really dead time for new talent and the industry was depressed. Everyone was like, (Groans) 'Oh, there's nothing good going on.' Certain labels wanted to go pop and I had had enough.'
With that thought in mind, Rick left Polydor and - effectively - the industry for seventeen months. 'I had to have a break; everyone needs to - it becomes quite difficult to get impressed sometimes,' he notes.
'I sat on my arse a lot and contemplated. I watched a lot of television. I didn't play a lot of music, I didn't pick up the music papers and I didn't listen to the radio.' Something he did embark upon, however, was a return to the familiar and reassuring comfort of dispatch riding, acting as the courier he had once been around ten years prior to this time. Also, he confesses, 'To be honest, I wanted to be a TV presenter. I thought I was still young enough (for the job).'
This prompted the presenting of several evening programmes for Channel Four. The shows he fronted were 'Control Freaks' and 'Dirty Weekend', the latter providing late night coverage from all of the major festivals of 1997, giving Rick the opportunity to interview artists for the first time ever - a stark contrast to his usual job of luring them to put pen to paper for record deals. This stint even rewarded him scarily obsessive fan mail, with one viewer of the programme - one Miss Catherine Taylor - raving, 'You are amazingly good looking - your hair is the best ever!'
Something must have clicked in Rick's brain to make him interested in resuming time in the industry again. Or - instead - whetted his appetite to continue. And something did - in the form of a West Country three-piece. 'Dennis Smith - who owns the Sawmills Studios (based in Cornwall) - sent me a demo tape of Muse and I heard 'Muscle Museum'; I thought it was absolutely out of this world.
'I got a call from a guy called Safta Jaffery that runs a company called SJP - who manage producers, some really good ones - so I got back into it by working for him for about four months, until I got the job at Channelfly.'
Working at Channelfly marked another stab at presenting - this time in front of an Internet audience - and also gave Lennox a regular column in its monthly magazine, 'The Fly'. It soon pushed Rick back into the swing of things. 'All of a sudden, I was discovering all of this music that I hadn't picked up on from the beginning because I wasn't listening to it. There were bands like King Adora, My Vitriol and Badly Drawn Boy and it made me think, 'This is brilliant! This is really healthy - there's loads of really great British bands again!'
Channelfly even gave him a chance to do some directing, allowing Rick to really test out his full range of abilities - and evaluate what he's been through in the past.
'Yeah - so it's promoting, band management, A&R, presenting, directing... I've got a kind of good overview on the whole thing now!' He grins smugly, fully aware that his career - or, excuse me - life in the industry, was, although at times slightly volatile, a very rewarding and rich set of experiences.
However, why speak as if that's the end - cos it ain't over yet. Rick has since moved on from Channelfly and - although he'd rather us think that for the next few months he has 'gone to the moon' - he'll obviously be working on something new. And - if the content of his yellow folder is anything to go by - it's looking likely that he's about to add even more sparkle and glamour to what he's achieved already.
What he does next: bigger and better? Of course - and make sure you're aware of it; after all, it will undoubtedly be to your benefit as a music fan. Just remember his next tips - Kinesis and Serafin, for they could be forming a large part of your CD collection in the very near future.
Artists in this article: Rick Lennox