In At The Sharp End (Stories From The Front Line Of The Music Business)

Anyone interested in music will consider this to be essential reading! Covering every genre, it provides intimate inside stories about many artists, songwriters, and music execs never previously documented. Those included are KYLIE MINOGUE, BURT BACHARACH, GEORGE MARTIN, BOB GELDOF, STOCK/AITKEN/WATERMAN, SIMON COWELL, RONNIE WOOD, JUSTIN HAYWARD, GRAHAM GOULDMAN, LEO SAYER, PAUL JONES, JASON DONOVAN, SINITTA, ALLAN CLARKE (The Hollies) and many more. Revelations: How Kylie nearly missed her big chance; when Simon Cowell lost it all; how George Martin signed The Beatles out of pure sympathy; the rise and subsequent disappearance of Clive Calder – the wealthiest man in music; what motivated Bob Geldof to stage the greatest show of all time; where the classic songs originated from: Burt Bacharach, Elton John, Lieber and Stoller, Neil Sedaka, Gene Pitney, Randy Edelman, Tony Hatch, Tony Macaulay, Roger Greenway, Les Reed/Barry Mason plus modern day songwriter of the year, Jamie Hartman.

Ron McCreight is the longest serving “plugger” in the history of the music business, starting in a Tin Pan Alley music publishing house during the 1960s and working through the next 7 decades adopting various roles. His joint venture Promotion/PR company, with Pete Waterman, Sharp End, went on to become the most successful of its kind, representing over 200 top 40 hit singles in its 15-year history. In the 70’s McCreight combined his promotion and publishing activities with writing a weekly column for US trade magazine, Record World, when he interviewed some of the world’s top stars. More recently, he has operated independently for various record companies and publishers including Eagle Rock and Cherry Red.