Movers & Groovers
The One and Only Tony Byrne…

This week, the biggest record plugger on the planet, flash cars and fancy pads thanks this week to the one and only Tony Byrne…

Tony, you have been a part of promoting dance music (and chart music) for years, tell  us about your business world today…
“I have been running Single Minded Promotion since 1984 and although there has been huge changes in technology and advances at every level within dance music and the music industry in general,  for me it still boils down to one thing – that is essentially ‘the song’.  It doesn’t matter what the genre is, dance music is constantly changing and evolving, with new producers and dj’s consistently coming to the fore. In the same way, my business world today has to constantly expand into new areas and evolve to try to stay ahead and on top of the game and also to predict where new genres will surface. My philosophy has always been “taking specialist into the mainstream” – whether that has been with the early rave scene through to jungle and drum n bass, UK garage, trance, house, electro, etc. As a consultant with small independents to major labels and publishers, I am involved in not only radio plugging and TV promotions, but also in creating radio edits, remixes, as well as producing and directing the odd video. At Single Minded Promotions, it has always always been about finding artists and labels that we believe in and working with them closely and maximizing their success.”
 
You are probably the most famous record plugger in the music world today, so how did managing punk bands to this world ever happen?
“Err, it’s me Tony Byrne – King of the Big Ups!  Well actually I used to play in punk bands in 1978/79. I was still in nursery and only 2!  One of the bands who we used to support got a John Peel session and I came down with them in the back of the van to the BBC’s Maida Vale studios.  Looking back, that was my first real insight into the world of the music industry.  When I finished my degree in the summer of 82 I hitched down to London and started looking for a job which would combine music and computing.  After a few months of searching, I became involved in a new company – the Independent Record Labels Association. I then went on to set up my own company: Single Minded Promotions in 1984 to concentrate my energies on record plugging. By the late 80’s having worked with labels like Stiff, 2 Tone, Rough Trade, Mute, etc the transition to dance music was a natural one as I was at the forefront of the emergence of the early UK dance music scene with the independent dance labels who for me showed the same spirit and excitement of the earlier DIY labels of the punk days including Kickin ‘, Sub Base, Champion, Cowboy, Production House, Shut Up and Dance, etc. At that point I was the main plugger who was getting dance music playlisted on Kiss, Capital and Radio 1.
 

Tell us about your early Liverpool music life…
“For me, the music that really changed my world in my mid-teens was punk. I had left Liverpool and moved to Chester when punk happened  but I would spend every weekend going back to Liverpool to club Eric’s to watch my favourite bands like The Clash, The Damned, X-Ray Spex, 999, UK Subs, Ian Dury, Rezillos, Suicide,  Robert Rental & The Normal, Cabaret Voltaire, Devo, Kraftwerk, the Ramones, and early gigs by Joy Division, the Fall and John Cooper Clarke (who seemed to turn up as support every week). After I moved to London in 1982, I would always go back and still be involved in managing some of my friends who still played in bands at the time. That’s how it began…”

Who have been your best pals at Radio 1?
“The great thing about my job,  is that it’s not just about music – it’s also about people and your relationships with them. I have been really lucky to have been given the  pportunity of building up long term relationships, not just at Radio 1 but across the board at radio and TV and that’s what I value most of all.”

You are currently looking after ‘Paddy’s Revenge’ with Steve Mac, Saint Etienne, Moby v Freemasons, the Outsiders…what do you think is gonna be the biggest charter?

“Paddy’s Revenge is looking big…”
What has been your favourite ever clubbing moment?
“The first year I went to the Miami Winter Music Conference when it was still at the Fountainblue. Going to Raindance with Peter Harris – the Scientist, DJ Hype, Messiah and the Kickin’ Records crew back in the day. The atmosphere was amazing and the Kickin’ Squad never showed up so I ended up going on stage and giving it the full rinse”.

Tell us something DMC doesn’t know about you!
“Your dad Tony Prince came to see me with his very first issue of DMC Mixmag Magazine and I mailed it out to all my contacts in radio and TV. I never did get a subscription…”