One Way or Another : My Life in Music, Sport & Entertainment (9781783230297) by Wright Chris

Author:Wright, Chris [WRIGHT, CHRIS]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781783230297
Publisher: Vearsa
Published: 2013-09-15T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

The One And Only

Dealing with our new partners at EMI was a whole new ball game for me. I had never really worked for anybody before: I had certainly never been part of a large company and I had never needed to play a game of corporate politics. Frankly, I went into our new venture like a babe in the woods.

There was very definitely a well-structured pecking order within EMI, with Jim Fifield at the apex, and I was quite confused myself as to exactly where I would fit into the scheme of things. After all the Chrysalis label was to be a joint venture between EMI and the Chrysalis group, of which I was still the executive chairman and responsible for the other businesses that it encompassed.

It was a while before I realised that for most people within the company their personal relationship with Jim was paramount to their continued existence and their career progress.

After we had announced the deal, late on a Friday evening at the Chrysalis offices in London, Jim Fifield suggested we ought to go out and celebrate. I said: “Absolutely. Where shall we go?” Jim doubted we could get a reservation in a good restaurant at this late stage. “What about Harry’s Bar?” I suggested.

Jim was somewhat surprised by the very idea that I would be able to secure a reservation at a few minutes’ notice for dinner at the hottest restaurant in London. Harry’s Bar was – and still is – a very upmarket members’ club in Mayfair. I picked up the phone, booked a table for six and said we’d be around immediately.

I was also able to arrange Jim’s membership to the club, which he had been waiting on for a couple of years or so. Although Jim was delighted I think he may well have been taken aback by my show of bravado and one-upmanship.

Perhaps in my own imitable way I was declining Jim’s offer of friendship and camaraderie. He and his then wife, Betsy, are avid skiers, and a few months later in 1989 they invited Chelle and I to go skiing in Chile with them that August. I declined because that month was always our family holiday in the South of France, and I didn’t really fancy spending my summer holiday skiing in Chile. Jim seemed very surprised, and only later did I realise no one ever turned down his invitations; on the contrary, they were desperately sought after.

The deal also brought other problems. As soon as it was announced, Bob Brown, the manager of Huey Lewis, went on the warpath. He and I had always been close and he was particularly supportive of me during my negotiations with Terry Ellis. He was therefore incensed that I had not kept him abreast of the negotiations between myself and EMI and even informed him of the deal before it was announced. He started calling Fifield at home late at night, threatening to sue to get Huey Lewis & The News out of their contract.

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