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Part 1 ✔Part 2Biographical Context

Irish Entrepreneur Phil Solomon was a major player in the UK artist management/producing scene. Powerful would be an understated description of his standing in the business, with The Bachelors, Them (featuring Van Morrison) just two of the big names he had managed. In the 1960’s Phil had his own label Major Minor and was a major shareholder and influence on Radio Caroline. Phil and his wife Dorothy managed Lena Zavaroni.

  • Lena Zavaroni died in 1999 aged 35 after a 22-year battle with anorexia and after contracting pneumonia following an operation.
  • Am I right to say Phil Solomon was crooked? I certainly found him so. It was with interest I noted on an interview with influential record producer Shel Talmy that he made the following comment on his Phil Solomon experience:
  • “One of the first persons I ran into was Phil Solomon, who has quite a reputation in the English music business. He was one of the biggest crooks of all time. The Bachelors were his band. I had to sue Phil to get my royalties--although they were coming from Decca, part of them was coming from Phil. Dick [Rowe] tried to remain neutral, but things got difficult for him, and I said, fine, I'll go out and see what else I can hustle up. So I really became an independent producer, doing things for a couple of labels at the same time.
John McCready