Groupies, Hits And Idiots: A History Of Band Managers In The Movies


Being the guy or girl who can legitimately say “I’m with the band” is a lofty aspiration, but Stu McCullough has earned his spot in the green room after almost a decade running his artist management company. Being an artist manager is hard work: you’ve got egos, schedules and groupies to deal with, and you’ve got to be there when the shit hits the fan. Think you got what it takes? Sign up for our Artist Management 101 Pedestrian Coach session with Stu as your teach. In the meantime get an insight into the music industry (or not) with the band managers that fiction created…

ALMOST FAMOUS: DICK ROSWELL

Stillwater’s manager Dick
Roswell generally had the band’s interests at heart but you’ve got to
admit he was a bit of a questionable character, especially after he sold
the band’s groupies “Band-Aids” to UK rock band Humble Pie for fifty bucks and a case of Heineken during a poker match.

THAT THING YOU DO: MR WHITE
Becoming hometown famous off the
back of one song – ‘That Thing You Do’ – The Wonders were quickly signed
to Play-Tone Records by the man with no apparent first name, Mr White.
Purely off the back of that one song, they toured across America,
entered the Billboard 100 Charts and even appeared in a low-budget
beach movie – with Mr White milking them for all they were worth. When
the time came to finally record an album, White revealed they were
basically signed as a cover band. Understandably, everyone cracked the
shits, White terminated their contract and wrote them off as one hit
wonders.

DREAMGIRLS: CURTIS TAYLOR JR
With ambitious plans to make
black artists household names with white audiences, Curtis Taylor Jr did
what any heartless marketing man would – put the
ever-so-slightly-less-talented-but-slightly-more-voluptuous lead singer
in the back and put the babin’ Beyonce Deena in the front. Ex-lead singer Effie got mad, Curtis dropped her and replaced her with his secretary. #ouch

JOSIE & THE PUSSYCATS: WYATT FRAME
If the slimy long hair and the rose-tinted glasses don’t scream seedy-as-fuck, what does? Working with the United States government,
band manager / label promoter Wyatt Frame brainwashed teenyboopers to
spend their babysitting dollars on the latest trends through the
subliminal messages planted in sugary pop songs. And if an artist
happened to actually be smarter than they looked and questioned him?
They *mysteriously* disappeared..

ROCK STAR: MATS
Right so tour manager Mats was the good one here. He actually listened to lead singer Izzy and helped him stay grounded which then lead him to quit the band. :/

SPINAL TAP: IAN FAITH
Ian was probably the dude that OKed the all-black album cover – seriously, who in their right mind would think that’s a good idea?

SPICE WORLD: CLIFFORD
Clifford loves the girls like a wilderbeast loves five lionesses chewing at his legs but when it comes to the record execs, he’s putty in The Chief’s hands (and entirely clueless as to wtf he’s talking about). In his words: “Babies are allowed to be overdue, you’re not.”



THE COMMITMENTS: JIMMY RABBITTE

Jimmy had big dreams, man. He wanted to create the greatest soul band in the world. Modelling their sound on Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin, he pulled a ragtag bunch of peeps together and attempted to make the impossible possible. He almost pulled it off too, but then of course, that would’ve made for a boring movie.

If you’re interested in leading – not living – the rockstar life, sign up to be coached in artist management by Stu McCullough. After playing A&R Manager at Sony Music Australia, Stu stepped out on his own establishing his first artist management company, Amplifire Music, in 2004. Management clients include the multi-platinum singer-songwriter Pete Murray and multi-ARIA award winning roots band The Audreys. Most recently though, Stu’s merged his management expertise with events services company Treats Collective to bring you Alphabetics. With a management roster boasting some of Australia’s hottest indie talent (The Jungle Giants, Last Dinosaurs and one-man-party Muscles) plus the fact they handle half the venue bookings in Brisbane, these guys (and their clients) will no doubt soon be taking over the world. If you’re after management tips or if you just wanna know how Stu manages to stay looking so good under all the stress, sign up now.

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to change jobs two, three or more times in your working life. When you
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