Gordon Mills They Sold a Million

# She was my woman... #

RADIO CRACKLES

# My, my, my Delilah... #

You can't categorise it. You can't write a book

and say...write about the functions of a manager and what he should do.

You cannot delegate management. You cannot train a man to be a manager.

It's a personal involvement, it's a thing that you feel,

you grow up with the artist.

You just look at the person, you hear them sing.

And you like it, and if you like it enough, you'll go with it.

It's like anything in life.

INTERVIEWER: My guest tonight is Gordon Mills,

a multi-millionaire Welshman,

chairman of a vast public company whose interests range

from aviation to property and music publishing to artist management.

He's the man who's totally responsible for the worldwide

success of Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck and Gilbert O'Sullivan.

Now, I've read that Gordon Mills is a man who pays the most minute

attention to every detail of his artists' image.

I met him at a 21st birthday, and he arrived at the party

with Engelbert, who was then Gerry Dorsey.

Soon I was engaged and, erm, we married in London.

A very cold day like today, actually, but...yeah.

Gordon had something about him. What can I say?

It was just...you felt sure that he was sure about his life. Or I did.

He was a positive man, you know? And I loved him...completely.

GORDON: 'I always had pipe dreams as a child.

'I always wanted to go to Africa.

'I was interested in animals and wildlife.'

I would look at a car and I would say, "I would like that car."

I wasn't jealous of the man driving it.

I would say, you know, "Why should he have that one and not me?"

It was, I wanted that. Or a house.

I'd see a beautiful house in the country in an illustrated magazine.

-I'd say, "One day I'd like one of those."

-Yes.

So, I think it's in the back of your mind all the time.

You want your place, corner in the sun,

and you want it to be as rosy as you can make it.

Yeah.

JO: The first good thing I bought him as a present was a piano.

And he was so delighted with this piano.

He used to enjoy plonking around on the piano.

-# I wanna know

-I gotta know

-# Baby, I gotta know

-I gotta know

-# Baby, I gotta know

-I gotta know

-# I gotta know

-I gotta know

-# I wanna know

-I gotta know

# I wanna know, easy now

-# Tell me one more time

-One more time

-# Tell me one more time

-One more time

-# Tell me one more time

-One more time

-# I said one more time

-One more time... #

Back then, there was this kid, Tommy Scott,

who was making a bit of a noise down in Pontypridd and Tonypandy.

And Gordon heard about him,

came down, managed to get the message to Tom.

And they had to beg to get Gordon into the working man's club

Tom was playing in.

They had to beg so hard that Gordon was told to stand at the bar,

not be a nuisance and not drink anything.

-# Tell me what I say

-What I say

-# Tell me what I say

-What I say... #

'The place was heaving.'

This boy had a great following, even then, in the clubs around Wales.

He came on and halfway into the first number,

it was the greatest think I've ever seen, that was Tom.

-# I gotta know.

-I gotta know... #

Gordon played it cool, said, "You're OK." I thought, that's fine.

Apparently in the car on the way back to London, he told Jo,

"That's it, I've found him,

"I've found the guy who's going to make my fortune."

JO: Suddenly Gordon pulled the car over. "Halt!"

I said, "What's the matter?"

And he said, "I've got to do something with him."

I said, "Oh, wonderful, got to, yes."

The rest of the journey was us excitedly making plans, you know.

"You've got to bring him up to London."

Got to do this, got to do that.

It was just a wonderful, wonderful journey.

TOM JONES: He said he saw in me something that he didn't have.

That he would've liked to have had. He would've wanted...

Cos he did sing with a group himself.

But he felt that he didn't have the voice for it.

And he saw... When he saw and heard me, he felt that I did, you know.

GORDON: I'd no idea that I'd become a manager. I'd no intention in my mind.

All I knew is that, I said to him,

"I think you should have to come to London."

Then he came up and lived with my wife and I in Bayswater.

I used to take him around the odd bookings I'd get for him.

And nobody could see anything, they all said...

Plenty, millions of auditions we used to go to for clubs.

They said he shouted, he screamed and he moved, he was old-fashioned,

when in fact, he was ahead of his time.

# Chills and fever

# Chills and fever's what you give to me... #

ROBIN: He had a broken nose,

terrible teeth. He looked like a bricklayer.

It was scary for girls,

who were used to seeing rather insipid pretty boys.

Tom was not that at all. He was something entirely different.

# Yeah, chills and fever

# Wow, baby, chills and fever

# Chills and fever's what you give to me... #

When Gordon first brought Tom to London, Tom got terribly

depressed and Tom tried...came close to committing suicide,

by throwing himself under a tube train at Notting Hill Gate.

Because it wasn't happening, he was terribly hungry,

he had no friends here. He wasn't, at that stage,

particularly attractive to women.

And, erm, they were tough times. And Gordon had to fight.

He had to bang down doors.

But Gordon wouldn't give in, he had great tenacity.

Gordon was desperate.

He decided he needed to write a song to keep Tom Jones,

as he then was, going.

It had to be this record that opened all the doors.

And I wrote a song called...

Actually my wife came up with the title, It's Not Unusual.

# It's not unusual to be loved by anyone

# It's not unusual to have fun with anyone... #

JO: Once It's Not Unusual came out,

life changed dramatically.

There were reporters round the door nine in the morning, if not earlier.

Oh, nobody could move for reporters.

# But when I see you hanging about with anyone

# It's not unusual to see me cry... #

With a hit song, it hits you.

You can never say, well, "What are the ingredients that go

"into a hit song." You can only know when you hear it.

And that was it. When I heard it, I thought, "My God, this sounds

"commercial enough and good enough." It was a good song, yet commercial,

and it had everything in it that I would want to say.

SHE PLAYS PIANO

'That piano is THE piano

'where Mum and Dad wrote It's Not Unusual.

'She was there when they first... the first draft, if you like,

'of It's Not Unusual. But, at that time,

it was all about... it was all about Dad, really.

And my mum has always been like that.

She has always been, um, very much,

a, sort of, a person to frame my father.

'Musically, he was just brilliant.

He was an entrepreneur, he really was, you know.

'I think music men appreciated his talent.

'They understood what he was about.'

'Gordon taught Tom about what to eat, what to wear,

'how to look, what to say, what not to say.

'So Gordon controlled Tom in that way.'

Tom was happy to be controlled. They were always very close.

He knew how to manage a singer, from the singer's point of view.

He knew how the music should be, he knew how they should dress,

he knew how they should appear on stage, he knew the lighting,

he knew the orchestrations. He was the Simon Cowell of his day.

Every artist, I believe, needs a mirror.

If they are in the dressing room, there is a mirror there and they will

and they will look carefully and even stand up

and make gestures. They can see themselves.

Not when they are on stage. If there are any mistakes,

that is where I think the manager is very important.

He sees these mistakes and he tells his artist.

Gordon and Engelbert Humperdinck - well, he was Arnold George Dorsey

when he was Gordon's friend.

They were friends long before Tom Jones came on the scene

and Gordon shared a flat, or a bedsit, with him in London.

And they were good friends.

And Gordon always promised Gerry Dorsey

that he would make him a star one day.

Then, along came Tom Jones and Gerry Dorsey said, "Well, you promised me."

# Please, release me, let me go... #

When he found the song, Release Me, he gave it to Humperdinck.

I think that rather peeved Tom a bit, because Tom liked the song, too.

And that record went to number one round the world.

It stayed there for a long, long time.

And Gordon had proved to his friend -

because he was enormously loyal to those two men -

he proved to his friend that he would keep his promise.

And he did keep his promise. It made Engelbert Humperdinck a massive star.

# Please, release me, can't you see

# You'd be a fool to cling to me? #

'He had mature men taking what we call

the middle-of-the-road market and selling their records

to housewives and people in their 30s and 40s.

# She was my woman... #

And suddenly, Gordon has the two biggest artists of the time.

# Went out of mind... #

I mean, they used to be selling 68,000 A DAY.

# Why, why, why, Delilah? #

'He suddenly said,

"We could afford to move to a much bigger place than this."

'So he got an agent'

and he came back to me and said,

"I have seen THE one - Little Rhondda."

He said, "It's like a bit of Wales. Come on."

And called it Little Rhondda, which was lovely.

CHILDREN SHOUT EXCITEDLY

'During a ten-year period, I would say, at Little Rhondda,'

when we first moved there and everything had taken off

in such a big, fast way, it was like a big family.

And I am not just talking about MY family - my kids, my husband,

myself and the children.

I am talking about Tom and his wife, Linda, Engelbert...

We WERE like a big family.

'It was very much, you know, a busy household.

'and lots of music always going on.'

And lots of people visiting. Mum would always cook too much dinner,

because there'd be an extra few to feed.

And she welcomed everyone in.

'To us, it was Uncle Tom and Uncle Eng.

They weren't... We didn't see them as these famous stars.

They were just our parent's friends.

I was in love with my dad, like every little girl is.

I thought he was ever so good looking and, you know,

we all loved him, you know, as little girls.

He was always a person that instilled in us, erm...

..that we could do anything we wanted, you know.

Everything is possible.

He was a complete dreamer and he wanted us to dream.

-Gordon, you have a slice of jungle here in your garden.

-Yes.

Why have you got these animals?

Well, I am trying to breed them.

I hope to breed them.

'Sometimes, I would just go and take my homework and sit next to the tiger cage

and just do my homework next to Horace

and potter back in. Or if we went swimming,

even that wasn't normal, the setting of the pool, it was spectacular -

Roman pillars and portholes and looking into the changing rooms.

We would go and do moonies through the portholes!

And then the gorilla and orang-utan cages were behind the pools,

so I would go with my friends and, before jumping in the pool,

we'd jump up onto the cages

and try and kiss them through the cages. The orangs loved that.

They'd put their lips through the cages and kiss you.

You surround yourself with animals, you work from your office here at home, surrounded by your family.

Now, why is that?

Well, I get more done here.

If I was to work in town in an office,

there would be long lunch breaks and the office would close at six,

then somebody would invite me to a club or invite me here or there. I'd never get anything done.

-I like it here.

-But you have got four gorgeous children - all girls!

Yeah! They've learnt that when I'm busy, they don't bother me.

# I've even wrote to Marjorie Proops

# But she can't help

# The best that she could offer me was, "Disguise yourself"... #

'I was going to stop after Engelbert came along,

'because it was too much. And then, of course, Gilbert came up

'and I just couldn't ignore him. You can't ignore a great talent, if you believe in it.'

Gordon is my manager and he produces my records, as well.

He's had an awful influence on me, because he was the very first person

to say, "change that",

and the very first person that I actually did it for.

'When Gilbert came along, I don't know,,

looking back, whether Tom and Engelbert really got him,

you know, got what he was about.

I think they used to think, "What is Gordon doing with him?", because he really was unusual.

'I wonder how you recognise a talent, Gordon? Is it an instinct?'

I think so, yes. Yes.

You just look at the person, hear them sing, or their writing or whatever it may be,

and YOU like it and if YOU like it enough, you'll go with it.

It's like anything in life.

Gordon had to be in control. He always had to be.

All his life, he had to be in control,

He couldn't bear the idea of anybody else being in control.

So he would choose the songs, he would choose the arrangements,

he would find people to write the songs, he would sit in

on the recordings. From the early '70s on, he produced Tom's albums.

I know what I want. It is clear cut.

That's what I go after and I either get it or I don't.

Whereas, certain other businesses have various tactics and underhand methods,

it is straight and simple, but it is a jungle - showbiz.

How much higher can you go? Do you want to go?

Myself, personally, it is whatever I wish to diversify into,

is the only way I'll get it.

Other than that, it's keeping these artists at the top.

And that's the toughest thing.

It was very important for Gordon to break America,

because that was a much bigger market.

If he could crack it there, he would have a massive, massive

star on his hands, and massive, massive earnings and success.

He signed a deal for Tom to appear at the Copacabana in New York.

That was... I think Tom had to do five shows a night.

He had to go out five times a night and it was exhausting.

And it reached a point where he couldn't do it any more.

So, he persuaded them to transfer the contract from the Copacabana

to the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas.

# Your love is lifting me higher Like I've never been lifted before

# Keep it up! Fetch my desire... #

'Word got to Elvis Presley.'

I phoned Colonel Parker and said, "Can Elvis come?"

"No way," he said. "My boy doesn't go to see anybody else.

But then I phoned "Diamond Joe" - Joe Esposito - and said, "Have a word with Elvis.

"Why doesn't he come up?"

Elvis came up, the story broke all around the world that this was

Elvis's favourite new singer and, from that point on,

Tom never played to an empty seat in Las Vegas.

'Linda, Tom's wife, and I used to go'

after the show - and the ovations he would get - and we'd go to the ladies' loo,

because we were bursting by that time, and go to the ladies' loo

and you had to queue for miles to get in there and to listen

to the chatter of the people about the show was the greatest entertainment for Linda and I.

We would laugh our heads off,

or just in awe, of what we heard, because he moved people.

They just could not get over what they had just seen in that theatre.

Every night, there would be 120 pairs of underwear,

in various states of chaos, used or unused, best not to ask,

which had to be pushed off the stage with a shovel.

He was the biggest star in the world

and Gordon had given him the opportunity to do that.

Gordon was powerful. Suddenly, he realised that he could

pull a lot of rank over various people

and as, you know... he managed to make sure

that his artists were treated number one.

That had a disadvantage, in that,

when Humperdinck opened at the Riviera Hotel in Vegas and everybody came in -

Cary Grant, Sinatra, Sammy Davis, we got them all there for the opening night.

And Gordon disappeared. He went on the tables. He was quite at keen gambler.

# And then I saw you out the corner of my eyes... #

Gordon was always a gambler.

He understood the fundamental human condition,

that is probably why we are not still in the trees,

that if you take a gamble, you may eat and you may live.

Gordon always gambled.

He played heavy poker, but what he never knew was, when to fold.

He ran out of money that first night.

And someone who worked for Gordon went to Dean Martin,

who half-owned the hotel and said, "Can Gordon have..?"

"Ah, no worries." And he gave him credit.

And Gordon lost a lot of money that night,

and in successive months and years he lost even more.

If he had one weakness, it was gambling.

But it was part of his spirit of adventure.

Gordon would chance on an awful lot of things, he was very brave.

Unfortunately, his bravery on the roulette tables didn't pay off.

His game of choice was baccarat, and that is you against the dealer.

That's the only battle going on.

It was an absolute metaphor for Gordon's life,

him against the house, him against God.

'I never kept track of how much Gordon gambled.

'I would go on a 21 table

'and play for a few - the least amount possible.

'And thoroughly enjoy myself!'

So I am not about to say that I know whether he lost or won

each time we went out, because I really don't know.

'There were very strong rumours that he was 1 million in debt to

'Caesar's Palace,

'which meant that Tom had to keep going and playing there.

'He needed the commission that he earnt from Tom Jones's appearances

'in Las Vegas to quite often pay off the table.

'There were occasions when he would lose not just all

'the commission he had earned, but sometimes as much as they earned.

'He was a dangerous gambler, Gordon.'

'When he moved to the States - because he had to be there,

'she was in the UK a lot of the time with the kids -

'I think it probably didn't help

'Gordon's relationship with Jo.

'When there's 3,000 miles between you

'and some seriously beautiful women on offer, that's what happens.'

'It is lonely, and you can't trust them completely,

'because of the situation in show business.'

People are there for the taking.

And so distrust comes in and it's very difficult, over the years,

to remain...together, with a good marriage.

It is difficult.

'I remember times when there were newspaper clippings,

'like front-page news, centre spreads, and my mum

'taking us aside because of school and showing us the newspapers.'

And saying to us, "You know, you need to see this,

"because you may get teased at school about it."

And those were always over women.

'He then said, "No, we are going to move out there",

'so he went...

'and I can't remember the time spent,

'but I then thought, "No, I've got to go.

'"I've got to make the decision, yes," and so I went.

'And it was almost like a last ditch attempt to mend our marriage.

'But it didn't work out.'

At one point, he asked me to think again. Anyway, I refused to...

On those terms, no. No.

I refused to just live a sham, I couldn't.

You know?

'I remember when he told me.

'He took me into the office

'and said, "I need to tell you something."

'And told me they were getting divorced.

'And he started crying.'

And I just went and put my arms around him,

I'd never seen him cry, you know?

And he just said, "I'll never love another woman

"like I loved your mum."

He obviously became more stressed - he had a lot more responsibilities.

He had problems in his personal life,

and he had to accept the fact that his artists, who had become

very hot very quickly, were cooling down at that stage.

He'd already had this bitter falling out with Engelbert Humperdinck,

who'd gone his own way.

He'd already had this terrible business clash

with Gilbert O'Sullivan,

over the music publishing, and Gilbert had gone his own way.

I think Tom Jones needed some fresh thinking.

Gordon would've been very loath to hand over the reins,

but I think he might have realised the time was coming.

It's a Citizen Kane scenario, he's all alone, the rooms are empty.

The money was running out, he was divorced from Jo and the kids,

he was lonely.

He is there confronting the end of everything he has built.

The dark side of Gordon could be very dark.

Gordon could be very low, he could get depressed,

he could get worried and he wouldn't tell you what he was worried about.

But he would get very angry and he couldn't do the kind of things

to people that some of those Mafia people in America

that he had to deal with could do,

but he would get even angrier than the angriest of them.

'He came to visit and see how things were this one time.'

And as I went out...

I went out onto the drive

as they were walking down -

they were walking down from the gate.

And I turned and looked at Gordon and he had a look about him

that I had never seen before.

Never seen before. And it shocked me.

I thought, "Good Lord, what is wrong with you?"

And I went up and I gave him a big hug. I...

I just hadn't seen him for...

I don't know - we were divorced by this time.

But I just said to him, "Gordon, are you all right?"

He said, "Yes, fine".

I said, "Are you sure?" "Yes, I'm fine."

He never said, but he had a gaunt look about him.

And it wasn't long after that that we got the shock news. Oh, gosh.

I was in shock over that.

It was terrible.

'We had all flown over to the States as a family

'because he was gravely ill.

'And it was about two days after we got there that they realised'

it was cancer, and my dad said to him, "Well, what are my odds?"

And he said, "50-50". And he said, "Well, I'll take those odds."

And I remember Tom coming to the hospital to say his goodbyes.

It was just an awful time for us all, you know?

He was only in hospital 10 days, I think, something like that,

before he died.

And so heavily medicated that there was no way

we could actually talk to him, you know?

So out of it.

'I do remember the day of the funeral.'

'Actually going, walking round with Tom,'

because he wanted to...

..find a rose, a specific rose, to put on my dad's grave.

And we had a rose garden,

so the two of us walked around and he chose the right colour and

the right rose, and we travelled in the car together, Tom and me.

'I remember actually pulling out of the little driveway,

'and this beam of light coming through the car.

'And we all just looked at each other - it was a weird experience,

'actually. It felt surreal,

'like a sign or something! It was weird.'

But it was all very emotional and...

Very sad day.

Oh, tell us, Mum!

I can't remember it all, excepting that this tiger wasn't in a cage.

It was literally just in the back of the car!

CHATTER

It suddenly came to me, a little memory. A story that Dad told.

It was a moment that changed his life.

He had gone to collect eggs, and his dad had always taught him

just to take one from the nest.

-Never to take them all.

-No, and then that would be OK for the bird.

"Don't be greedy, don't take more than one."

And this day he found this fantastic nest,

I don't know if it was a rare bird or... I don't remember the bird.

But he'd been greedy and he decided to take all the eggs

and put them in his schoolbag.

And he put them all the way and he was walking home

and this bird followed him all the way home.

Oh, I do remember that. Absolutely.

Over his shoulder, you know, peck, peck, peck. Making such a noise.

Followed him, I don't how long it was.

All the way home, and he just couldn't believe it.

I think he was broken.

By the time you got home, it had affected him

-so much that that would just be it.

-Did he take them back?

-Couldn't take them back.

-I can't remember.

But I think that sparked the interest in him about animals...

CHATTER FADES

'He felt sure that he was sure about his life.

'And...

'And I loved him.

'Completely.'

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