Barry Clayman Barry, Linda, and daughter Sarah, with Neil Diamond
Testimonials When he was dealing with Michael Jackson’s first world tour, I ‘only’ offered two stadium shows. Barry Clayman pushed very hard for three. I have never been so happy to give in! Every inch a gentleman. Hard and fair! Leon Ramakers, Mojo Concerts
“Even when we did the first big Jackson tour, it was all hard tickets. Can you imagine what that was like? 80,000 people, times seven. And they went like hot cakes – 10,000 people queuing up at the Wembley Arena box office…” He finishes with acknowledgements to two men who stand out as the best he has encountered in the business: the late film producer and arena tour pioneer Jerry Weintraub (“incredible guy, one of the best I have ever come across”); and Live Nation powerhouse Michael Rapino (“he is still so young – it is frightening to think where he is going to go”). A phone call from Portugal two days later brings one final tribute: to Linda. “For promoters in this business, the wife is a very, very big asset,” says Barry. “First of all, they put up with you being away at very unsociable times. I don’t know how many kids’ birthdays I missed. Linda has been fantastic with that, plus she got on well with the artists, the managers, the agents. Without her, I don’t know how it would have worked out.”
I got to know Barry well when he was promoting Michael Jackson and I volunteered to run the box office for the Aintree Racecourse show. I was the first venue manager in the Apollo group to have a fax, so that we could send over the sales numbers at least twice a day. My boss, Paul Gregg, would constantly call to ask how many tickets had been sold. The licence capacity started at 85,000, so when we reached that, Paul said to get another 10,000 tickets printed. Then Barry would call to say the same thing, but usually after those tickets had been sold and we’d moved on to the next 10,000. In the end, we sold 115,000 tickets and it was the first time I saw what a machine Barry Clayman is when it comes to such a big event. Even now I say that Barry is the sharpest promoter in the Live Nation office – and he remains a pleasure to work with. Paul Latham, Live Nation UK I first started working for Barry in 1977 when I was freelance, and then became full-time at MAM in 79. When Barry formed BCC in 85, I went with him and stayed with him when SFX bought the company. So I’ve been working with him on a daily basis for nearly 40 years and, without question, I value every minute that I’ve worked with him – I still phone him all the time to ask for advice and I value his counsel enormously. He included me in the negotiations for Michael Jackson when I was just 28 or 29 and that kind of meeting set me up well for my future. He’s been a second dad to me. I did my first ever stadium show with Barry and I’ve just done my 30th show at Wembley Stadium alone, so being given the knowledge and the benefit of his experience has been a huge part of my career. Barry has a problem with his hearing nowadays, but he is still very sharp on numbers. So he doesn’t hear ‘one million’ very good; at ‘two million’ his hearing begins to recover; ‘three million’ and he’ll start to get excited; and you can whisper ‘four million’ and he’ll hear you perfecly… Phil Bowdery, Live Nation When Barry sold his company to SFX, he was asked to submit financial projections showing 20% profit growth year on year for the next five years, to which he responded, ‘If could make that, do you think I would have sold my company to you?’ Barry is one of the most astute people who has ever been in the business. He straddles the days of variety coming into our area of contemporary music and he was one of the first to recognise the burgeoning power of the artist. He’s an absolute gent and whenever you meet him, he has a smile on his face. But don’t ever get on the wrong side of Barry Clayman – you’ll be chopped liver. I am in total awe of him and always will be. He’s been an amazing mentor for anybody on my side of the business. Neil Warnock, United Talent Agency
Barry’s £100 contract with The Beatles for their first ever London concert
IQ Magazine July 2016
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