The “gangsterish” charm of Andrew Loog Oldham and Immediate Records, by Simon Spence

The godfather of British independent labels, Immediate, was started in 1965 by the Stones’ manager Andrew Oldham and Tony Calder, its winning slogan: “happy to be part of the industry of human happiness”. As Simon Spence correctly puts it, “it all got very messy”. Oldham tended to fall out with people and then threaten to kill them. Simon’s excellent book, ‘Immediate: the Rise And Fall of the UK’s First Independent Record Label’ has the details (he also co-authored Oldham’s two memoirs, ‘Stoned’ and ‘2Stoned’). Immediate has been a touchstone ever since and their roster included the Small Faces, PP Arnold, the Nice, the Who, Fleetwood Mac, Twinkle, Scott Walker and various others discussed here. Also includes …
… “no Andrew Oldham, no Rolling Stones.”
… the part played by Tony Hancock’s doctor.
… “if you didn’t want to be ripped off, why are you in the music business?”
… the range of Immediate’s catalogue from Nico and Rod Stewart to the Turtles and Jimmy Tarbuck.
… an advert for the Nice involving three assassinated politicians.
… the time Oldham left his hairdresser in charge of A&R.
… Don Arden, the Small Faces and £25,000 in a paper bag.
… a secretly recorded blues album and why Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page fell out.
… why Oldham wanted to poison the Nice and murder Amen Corner.
… invaluable advice from Phil Spector.
… and why Immediate finally fell apart.
Order Simon’s book here …
www.backstage-...
Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21 Soho on Oct 30th here: www.tickettext...
Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: / wordinyourear

[@levitation25]

Very interesting and entertaining great guest.

[@alexrose9487]

a brillant interview, thank you simon !

[@familydogg1234]

Simon Spence- I love your books!! Have Immediate Records, both Stoned books and Steve Marriot. You are the Man!! I went on Amazon- it lists being released Sept 7 - but says it's " not for public sale". What?

[@paulcoleman3081]

What a fantastic guest Simon Spence is: hip, wise, eccentric as hell and funny as f*ck! Loved this one even more than usual.

[@helmutsecke3529]

Love all the clobber festooning the gaff.

[@stagaz]

very good , enjoyed that

[@colinfuidge8660]

Stoned and 2Stoned are cracking reads. This one is a bit pricey so I'll wait until the price drops...

[@michaeldunne3379]

I’d be interested to know about the contribution of Tony Calder.

[@JimBush-ie8iw]

Reflecting back, the world was a better place when organized crime ran the world, before they decided to go legit by investing in gambling and politics.

[@arricammarques1955]

Bi-polar induced mania had its advantages.