0:00:02 > 0:00:04This programme contains some strong language.
0:00:04 > 0:00:07There was once an old-fashioned British gramophone company
0:00:07 > 0:00:10who would go on to change popular culture forever.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12It launched The Beatles
0:00:12 > 0:00:15and gave Queen the freedom to make Bohemian Rhapsody.
0:00:17 > 0:00:22We wanted it to be massive, and big... Wow factor, you know?
0:00:22 > 0:00:25They enabled Pink Floyd to create Dark Side of the Moon
0:00:25 > 0:00:28and hired and fired The Sex Pistols.
0:00:30 > 0:00:35Why did McLaren take The Sex Pistols to EMI? It is the establishment.
0:00:35 > 0:00:39There were times of incredible success and hedonistic excess.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42And they thought, "Oh, we'll go broke making this video."
0:00:42 > 0:00:46They gave us original talent like Kate Bush, The Pet Shop Boys
0:00:46 > 0:00:47and Blur.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52EMI was the place to go.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55They were the big thing, and they were after us.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59It's the tale of economic peaks and troughs,
0:00:59 > 0:01:02creative triumphs and rock and roll scandals.
0:01:03 > 0:01:07NME used to refer to EMI as "Every Mistake Imaginable".
0:01:07 > 0:01:13It later became home to Radiohead, Coldplay and Emeli Sande.
0:01:13 > 0:01:15New acts refresh a record company.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19It makes everybody from the secretary to the CEO get excited.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21This is the story of EMI,
0:01:21 > 0:01:25one of the greatest British bands in recording history.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40Formed in 1931, Electric and Musical Industries, EMI,
0:01:40 > 0:01:44had its origins in the pre-war world of sound recording.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51It pioneered stereo sound and developed the tape recorder.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56It had 20,000 employees, manufactured gramophones
0:01:56 > 0:02:00and produced music on shellac discs.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03It's early contracts were with classical artists
0:02:03 > 0:02:04such as Sir Edward Elgar.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10For the first 30 years, EMI was run as a very traditional business
0:02:10 > 0:02:14where men in power wore suits and women were in the typing pool.
0:02:14 > 0:02:15EMI was very structured
0:02:15 > 0:02:18and it was terribly bureaucratic.
0:02:18 > 0:02:19You had a sheet you signed
0:02:19 > 0:02:21to go and get records out of the record library.
0:02:21 > 0:02:23You couldn't just go and nick them.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25Petty cash closed at three o'clock.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30Joan was in charge of the stationary
0:02:30 > 0:02:32cupboard and if you wanted so much
0:02:32 > 0:02:34as a pen or a piece of paper,
0:02:34 > 0:02:36you had to get that signed off.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39The girls obviously did all the work
0:02:39 > 0:02:42and the typing on our little manual typewriters,
0:02:42 > 0:02:45only the managing director's secretary
0:02:45 > 0:02:50was allowed an electric typewriter. She had an electric Olivetti.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52It was immediately obviously a class-ridden place.
0:02:52 > 0:02:54- LONDON ACCENT: - "Yes, guv, what you want?.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56- POSH ACCENT:- "I'm here to see..."
0:02:56 > 0:02:58"Oh, yes, sir, come on."
0:02:58 > 0:03:00You got the right voice, you got in the door.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11This corporate culture with its posh voices
0:03:11 > 0:03:14and typically British class structure reached out
0:03:14 > 0:03:18far beyond EMI's head office in London's Manchester Square.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23It also owned its own recording studios in St John's Wood.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27Abbey Road was a large operation,
0:03:27 > 0:03:30similar to the BBC, in a way,
0:03:30 > 0:03:32That you had all sorts of different
0:03:32 > 0:03:36strata of employees there.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38You had white coats for the engineers.
0:03:38 > 0:03:39If you were a technical engineer
0:03:39 > 0:03:41and you fixed things,
0:03:41 > 0:03:43cos a lot more things went wrong
0:03:43 > 0:03:45back then, they wore brown coats.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49EMI staff wore suits and ties and there was a big sign
0:03:49 > 0:03:53that said that sports jackets and casual trousers
0:03:53 > 0:03:55may be worn at weekends.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58That separation wasn't much to do the with the job,
0:03:58 > 0:04:00it was to do with the schooling.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02Anyone who wore a suit was a public schoolboy,
0:04:02 > 0:04:06anybody who wore a brown overall talked in a regional accent.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16Before the '60s,
0:04:16 > 0:04:19music wasn't the only lucrative part of EMI's business.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23They also manufactured cameras for the new television industry,
0:04:23 > 0:04:27early computers, and even radar for the Ministry of Defence.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30Golf, Charlie, Delta...
0:04:30 > 0:04:32Music was just one of many commodities
0:04:32 > 0:04:34on the EMI production line.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38In the '50s, when an artist went to the studio to make a record,
0:04:38 > 0:04:40he was told to go in the back door.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42He would go in the back of the studio,
0:04:42 > 0:04:44he'd walk down to the studio, get to the microphone,
0:04:44 > 0:04:46sing the song from the vocal booth through the glass,
0:04:46 > 0:04:49the producer would say, "Yes, good take. You can go now."
0:04:49 > 0:04:51He would go out again. He wouldn't hear what he'd recorded.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54He wouldn't even meet the people in the vocal booth.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56I think perhaps a little bit more echo on the voice.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58- Oh, you'd better give him a bit more echo.- Yes, OK.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01The artists were treated with...not contempt,
0:05:01 > 0:05:05but there was a point where you were told what to do
0:05:05 > 0:05:08right through the '50s and into the '60s.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12With the rise of the teenager
0:05:12 > 0:05:15and the success of Elvis Presley's early singles,
0:05:15 > 0:05:17which EMI had licensed and released in the UK,
0:05:17 > 0:05:21suddenly the music business was booming.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24# Set my dreams afloat.... #
0:05:26 > 0:05:30EMI had signed British artists like Alma Cogan and Adam Faith,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33but other record companies such as Pye and Decca
0:05:33 > 0:05:36were competing against them, and the race was on to find new talent.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42EMI were constantly looking for the next money-making opportunity.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45All ready to try one? Let's go.
0:05:46 > 0:05:51# Funny but it's true
0:05:51 > 0:05:56# What loneliness can do
0:05:56 > 0:06:00# Since I've been away
0:06:00 > 0:06:03# I have loved you more each day
0:06:03 > 0:06:05# Walking back to happiness
0:06:05 > 0:06:07# Woopah, oh, yeah, yeah... #
0:06:07 > 0:06:11Abbey Road ran a strict three-hour recording session.
0:06:11 > 0:06:12She ran from 10-1.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14# I never knew I'd miss you... #
0:06:14 > 0:06:17Artists would go into the studio and make three sides
0:06:17 > 0:06:18and they would have no idea
0:06:18 > 0:06:21which was going to the A, B or the discarded record.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23It was nothing to do with the artists at all.
0:06:23 > 0:06:24It was to do with the producer.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27He would go, "That's the A side, that's the B side,
0:06:27 > 0:06:29"and I'll put that one on the album. Off you go."
0:06:29 > 0:06:31# And mistakes to which they led
0:06:31 > 0:06:33# Woopah, oh, yeah, yeah. #
0:06:33 > 0:06:36EMI had three lucrative record labels.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39Columbia, home of Helen Shapiro and Cliff Richard...
0:06:41 > 0:06:46His Master's Voice, HMV, with acts like Manfred Mann...
0:06:46 > 0:06:50and Parlophone, mainly releasing comedy records
0:06:50 > 0:06:53by the likes of Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59But the whole music recording world, and Parlophone in particular,
0:06:59 > 0:07:02was about to change dramatically.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06In 1962, a public school educated music entrepreneur
0:07:06 > 0:07:11brought a young mophead Liverpudlian band to Parlophone and EMI.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14MUSIC: From Me to You by The Beatles
0:07:17 > 0:07:19The Beatles were just one more of the many groups
0:07:19 > 0:07:20which were going around.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23They'd been turned down by a few companies.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25They came to EMI through their manager Brian Epstein.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27Epstein found himself welcomed,
0:07:27 > 0:07:32and with people of his own background and way of speaking.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36Actually I've been very fortunate in the case of every artist
0:07:36 > 0:07:38they have bettered themselves.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47To people in the building, he was the right chap,
0:07:47 > 0:07:50"He's got a group, oh, let him do his group."
0:07:50 > 0:07:52If Epstein hadn't been who he was and been to public school
0:07:52 > 0:07:54and spoke the proper way,
0:07:54 > 0:07:56The Beatles wouldn't have got a deal.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01If Brian Epstein was the right man for EMI,
0:08:01 > 0:08:04it also helped that at Parlophone there was another smartly dressed
0:08:04 > 0:08:09chap, label boss and producer George Martin.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12People have always done slightly different things.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15I'm sure even the old composers, Bach and Mozart,
0:08:15 > 0:08:17were always up to new sounds, new tricks.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22Realising they had struck gold,
0:08:22 > 0:08:25EMI's production line went into overdrive.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28Releasing eight singles and four studio albums
0:08:28 > 0:08:32in The Beatles' first two years on Parlophone.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34There was also a whirlwind of live performances,
0:08:34 > 0:08:38media appearances and photoshoots.
0:08:38 > 0:08:42The demands on The Beatles were enormous.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45These guys were in the studio making one single, two singles, albums,
0:08:45 > 0:08:48and that routine of work was delivered by George,
0:08:48 > 0:08:51and they didn't miss a recording date.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55The Beatles famously made the first album in a 12-hour session.
0:08:55 > 0:08:57# Can't buy me, love
0:08:57 > 0:09:00# Love
0:09:00 > 0:09:03# Can't buy me love... #
0:09:03 > 0:09:08The Beatles became the dominant force in global pop music.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13Parlophone were now the most famous record label on the planet -
0:09:13 > 0:09:16a multi-million pound money-making machine.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18# I don't care too much for money
0:09:18 > 0:09:20# But money can't buy me love. #
0:09:20 > 0:09:21It was a lot of money.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23You have to remember that a record was
0:09:23 > 0:09:26made from something like a halfpenny's worth of vinyl.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30But if a pop song hits, the demand comes big and fast and sometimes
0:09:30 > 0:09:3440 pressers are switched to one record to produce 30,000 a day.
0:09:34 > 0:09:38A halfpenny's worth of vinyl pressed into a record
0:09:38 > 0:09:39produced five shillings.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43Five shillings from a halfpenny is 12,000% profit.
0:09:43 > 0:09:48Record companies had huge amounts of money. No-one more than EMI.
0:09:51 > 0:09:55EMI were able to get records into every outlet
0:09:55 > 0:09:57that sold records in England,
0:09:57 > 0:10:01and with The Beatles they were growing all around the world.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03EMI was the place to go.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06They were the big thing, and they were after us.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13By 1967, there was growing pressure within EMI
0:10:13 > 0:10:17to sign the next great band in popular music.
0:10:19 > 0:10:20They found the answer
0:10:20 > 0:10:23in London's blossoming underground psychedelic scene.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27Well-spoken young gentlemen,
0:10:27 > 0:10:30Pink Floyd clearly fitted the traditional EMI mould.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35We were the people who had our fingers on the pulse of the nation,
0:10:35 > 0:10:38as far as EMI was concerned - they were very nice to us
0:10:38 > 0:10:42because they were these young guys who, furthermore,
0:10:42 > 0:10:44were not spivs from the East End - we weren't...
0:10:44 > 0:10:46- COCKNEY ACCENT:- "Cor, blimey,
0:10:46 > 0:10:48"I've got this great deal for you boys."
0:10:48 > 0:10:52We were nice chaps from public school, and in my case, Cambridge.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58Why has it got to be so loud, so amplified?
0:10:58 > 0:11:00Well, I don't guess it has to be, but,
0:11:00 > 0:11:01I mean, that's the way we like it.
0:11:03 > 0:11:08# Jupiter and Saturn Oberon, Miranda and Titania... #
0:11:08 > 0:11:12We were subversive, but we weren't offensive.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19EMI beginning to understand that youth culture involves
0:11:19 > 0:11:22marketing or selling something which is a little bit
0:11:22 > 0:11:27outside of their own approval area, so your upper middle class corporate
0:11:27 > 0:11:33people are actually having to sell or get involved in psychadelia.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36Here came this group, Pink Floyd, talked to the manager,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39"Oh, nice chap, public school, yes, he'll be all right.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41"What are they doing? Psychedelia. What's that?
0:11:41 > 0:11:44"They take drugs and that." "Really? They take...?"
0:11:44 > 0:11:47And EMI persuaded themselves this was an act, this was theatre,
0:11:47 > 0:11:50this was a play on the stage that the group didn't actually do it,
0:11:50 > 0:11:52this was something they performed, it was selling,
0:11:52 > 0:11:55and that way they could finance it and help it
0:11:55 > 0:11:58and promote it without feeling that they were approving of it.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02They all thought in terms of theatricality rather than reality.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07Psychedelia wasn't necessarily
0:12:07 > 0:12:09anti-establishment - I think people were more alarmed
0:12:09 > 0:12:12at the prospect of it being pro-drug.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14But of course no-one really knew what it meant,
0:12:14 > 0:12:18it was one of those words that was bandied about.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23We got exposed in the News Of The World
0:12:23 > 0:12:27for being a band that was simulating drug experience -
0:12:27 > 0:12:29and nothing happened.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31There was not a peep anywhere else,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34cos I was still teaching at the LSE and I was thinking, "Oh, my God!
0:12:34 > 0:12:37"That's going to be a bit difficult to explain."
0:12:37 > 0:12:38Not a word anywhere.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43It was an establishment company,
0:12:43 > 0:12:47and they can absorb something like which is all about sex and drugs
0:12:47 > 0:12:49and rock and roll.
0:12:49 > 0:12:55No problem. The whole establishment thing just keeps these things cool.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12Like The Beatles before them, all new artists were expected to
0:13:12 > 0:13:16work with the EMI staff producer who had signed them.
0:13:20 > 0:13:22Norman Smith was that man.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26Norman Smith we were happy to take,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29because he had been an engineer with the Beatles.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33And they let us record in the studios in Abbey Road
0:13:33 > 0:13:35where The Beatles recorded.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39And, you had a job number, you could get anything -
0:13:39 > 0:13:43and if I needed a Hammond organ and they didn't have one,
0:13:43 > 0:13:44they would ship it in.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46If I needed a choir, they'd ship it in.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49If I needed a Salvation Army band, they'd bring it in.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51So we were made up.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57The Beatles were actually working on Sgt Pepper's down the hall,
0:13:57 > 0:13:59and that was a big deal.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02A very big deal, and we were invited in to see them,
0:14:02 > 0:14:07it was a bit like being asked to go and meet God, or gods.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12The extraordinary wealth generated for EMI by The Beatles
0:14:12 > 0:14:15had a positive impact on Pink Floyd.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19By 1967, the Fab Four had stopped touring
0:14:19 > 0:14:23and were spending more and more time in the studio.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25Asserting control,
0:14:25 > 0:14:30experimenting with sound and pushing the boundaries of popular music.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33The way The Beatles worked in the studio suddenly EMI went,
0:14:33 > 0:14:36"Oh, well, this is obviously the new model,"
0:14:36 > 0:14:40and the answer was, you spent as long in the studio as you needed
0:14:40 > 0:14:44rather than being given three sessions to make a single.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49This new climate of artistic freedom suited Pink Floyd.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51But it wasn't an overnight change
0:14:51 > 0:14:55in the traditional working practices inside Abbey Road.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00It was a slightly uncomfortable period of transition
0:15:00 > 0:15:04because I was once reprimanded by a man in a brown coat
0:15:04 > 0:15:07when I was caught editing tape.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09Well, that was seen as something
0:15:09 > 0:15:12that the tape ops and the engineers did.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18It was a time when artists were being allowed to take longer
0:15:18 > 0:15:19and being allowed to develop
0:15:19 > 0:15:21and because a band was signed to
0:15:21 > 0:15:24a record company for three albums,
0:15:24 > 0:15:26five albums, they became family
0:15:26 > 0:15:29and hopefully not pressure madly put on them.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33Can I put this down?
0:15:34 > 0:15:37- Just a second.- OK.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41One of the things we did do after two years,
0:15:41 > 0:15:48we renegotiated in order to have absolute unlimited studio time.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52Looking back on it,
0:15:52 > 0:15:55it probably meant we wasted more time than we should have done.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58But on the other hand, we never had that conversation about,
0:15:58 > 0:16:00"Oh, well, if we spend another day in the studio
0:16:00 > 0:16:03"it's going to cost us however much money."
0:16:03 > 0:16:06MUSIC: Mr Soft by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
0:16:08 > 0:16:13# Mr Soft turn around and force the world... #
0:16:13 > 0:16:18Increasingly aware of the power of their great British brand, in 1972,
0:16:18 > 0:16:23the recording company formed a label simply called EMI Records.
0:16:23 > 0:16:28And its artists and repertoire department, A&R, were given the cash
0:16:28 > 0:16:34to recruit glamorous new artists like T-Rex and Cockney Rebel.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37EMI as this monstrous machine,
0:16:37 > 0:16:41this huge cooperation, had the wherewithal -
0:16:41 > 0:16:43maybe it was Beatles' money,
0:16:43 > 0:16:50but they had the income to share with young, developing acts.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53# You, so slow, shift your ideas make your mind up
0:16:53 > 0:16:56# In a jiffy, let's be fair... #
0:16:56 > 0:17:00The first Cockney Rebel album was produced by a man
0:17:00 > 0:17:03only his 20s himself, Neil Harrison,
0:17:03 > 0:17:05an EMI in-house producer.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09The first thing they released was my song Sebastian.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11# Generate me limply
0:17:11 > 0:17:13# Cos I can't seem to place... #
0:17:13 > 0:17:18Neil had the idea of an orchestra and choir being added.
0:17:18 > 0:17:23And I'm 22 and I walked in, ten o'clock one morning,
0:17:23 > 0:17:25and there's a 40-piece orchestra
0:17:25 > 0:17:28and a 30-piece choir to be added to my little song.
0:17:28 > 0:17:33And that what was EMI were allowing us to do.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37# Somebody called me Sebastian... #
0:17:37 > 0:17:39By the early '70s,
0:17:39 > 0:17:42the EMI cooperation had expanded its interests further.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46They were pouring millions into a new medical division
0:17:46 > 0:17:49after an EMI scientist had developed the first CAT scanner,
0:17:49 > 0:17:53a machine that would revolutionise medical imaging.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56They had also bought their way into a television studio
0:17:56 > 0:18:00and had become the owners of a cinema chain.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04They were now Britain's biggest entertainment organisation.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06The '70s itself, it was an era
0:18:06 > 0:18:10where EMI was built on excess, but its success, I mean,
0:18:10 > 0:18:11we had a lot of money.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14You know, your A&R budget went up
0:18:14 > 0:18:18and your marketing spend went up and your fund spend went up.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25My job was to organise the parties, spend money
0:18:25 > 0:18:29and buy birthday presents, Christmas presents for all the artists.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32I bought a horse for Elton John,
0:18:32 > 0:18:34so I had to go and obviously
0:18:34 > 0:18:38test drive various horses for him.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41We were wooing him, I don't think we'd actually signed him.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46I think it was Freddie Mercury's 26th birthday party.
0:18:46 > 0:18:47A lady come in and she took
0:18:47 > 0:18:51all her clothes off and then several well-known
0:18:51 > 0:18:53notable people opened bottles of champagne
0:18:53 > 0:18:56and squirted champagne all over her naked body.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59I had never seen anything like that before.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03The alcohol consumption was enormous, without question,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06taking bands out for dinners and lunches and things.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08You're not going to buy Freddie Mercury
0:19:08 > 0:19:09a bottle of Lucozade, are you?
0:19:09 > 0:19:11If he wants a bottle of red
0:19:11 > 0:19:14it's going to be 60 quid a bottle or more.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18I think my world record was £325 for a bottle of red wine.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24Even if people were doing nothing, it seemed busy.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26Because people were allowed to sit around
0:19:26 > 0:19:29and think of creative ideas.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34During my time in EMI Records the profits were growing
0:19:34 > 0:19:37and so there was not an emphasis on cost,
0:19:37 > 0:19:41probably there should have been, but I was much more interested
0:19:41 > 0:19:45at that time in trying to build the business.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48I cared less about the cost being high
0:19:48 > 0:19:53than about developing new artists and seeing the revenue grow.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01If the '60s had been the decade of pop singles,
0:20:01 > 0:20:05the '70s became the era of mass-selling albums.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08For record companies it was win-win.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12LPs generated huge profits,
0:20:12 > 0:20:15and for EMI groups like Pink Floyd and Queen,
0:20:15 > 0:20:17the album became an artistic statement.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22# I was told a million times
0:20:22 > 0:20:24# Of all the troubles in my way
0:20:24 > 0:20:25# Might you grow a little wiser
0:20:25 > 0:20:28# Little better every day
0:20:28 > 0:20:31# But if I crossed a million rivers And I rode a million miles... #
0:20:31 > 0:20:33You know, we were going through a very creative period,
0:20:33 > 0:20:36Freddie especially, and we were trying to use the studio
0:20:36 > 0:20:40to its absolute optimum and fullest extent.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45We were very much into multi-tracking,
0:20:45 > 0:20:50complicated harmonies, complicated instrumental things.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53And we wanted it to be massive and big and...
0:20:53 > 0:20:55Wow factor, you know?
0:20:55 > 0:20:58- # Keep yourself alive - Come on
0:20:58 > 0:20:59# Keep yourself alive
0:20:59 > 0:21:02# You take your time and take my money
0:21:02 > 0:21:03# Keep yourself alive. #
0:21:04 > 0:21:09Not really the most modest of aims, but Freddie always thought big,
0:21:09 > 0:21:14and he always used to say things like, "Talent without debt."
0:21:14 > 0:21:17# Take you all your time and money, honey
0:21:17 > 0:21:21# You will survive # Shake... #
0:21:21 > 0:21:24EMI realised that some bands did have creativity
0:21:24 > 0:21:27to really steer their own career.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35It's all about albums and that sort of gave the artists more power
0:21:35 > 0:21:40and more creative steerage over their own directions.
0:21:43 > 0:21:48By 1973, with eight successful albums behind them,
0:21:48 > 0:21:50Pink Floyd had gained total creative control
0:21:50 > 0:21:55and had long since moved away from working with in-house EMI producers.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58As long as the album sold in their millions
0:21:58 > 0:22:01the creatives could be in charge.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07If Pink Floyd were happier being produced by Pink Floyd,
0:22:07 > 0:22:09hey, if you make a record, do we care?
0:22:09 > 0:22:12If you're going to make a rubbish record we might care,
0:22:12 > 0:22:14but they didn't. They made things like Dark Side of the Moon.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18And we went, "OK, you know how to do this as well."
0:22:21 > 0:22:27# And if the dam breaks open many years too soon
0:22:28 > 0:22:32# And if there is no room upon the hill
0:22:35 > 0:22:41# And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too
0:22:42 > 0:22:46# I'll see you on the dark side of the moon... #
0:22:48 > 0:22:50It went gold, platinum,
0:22:50 > 0:22:52sold a million copies, all that stuff,
0:22:52 > 0:22:54so it was a successful record of its time -
0:22:54 > 0:22:56of course there was a follow up.
0:22:56 > 0:22:57It was the elephant in the room -
0:22:57 > 0:22:59you never went into a meeting with Pink Floyd
0:22:59 > 0:23:02and said, "What's the follow up to Dark Side of the Moon?"
0:23:02 > 0:23:05You were like, "No." No idea how to follow it up.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09But because they were now very famous, very powerful,
0:23:09 > 0:23:14they basically were able to live in Abbey Road studios and play.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18They then sat about making a record
0:23:18 > 0:23:21which consisted of no instruments at all.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23And it was called Household Objects.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29Well, this was simply a continuation of unlimited studio time.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33I think we went in with a vague idea of something
0:23:33 > 0:23:36that we then persevered with for far, far too long.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40They created the sound of a bass guitar by stretching a rubber band
0:23:40 > 0:23:42across the table with two things on it
0:23:42 > 0:23:45and they had egg slicers and they had pencil sharpeners
0:23:45 > 0:23:46and they banged glasses.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50And after about six months they got bored shitless with it.
0:23:50 > 0:23:55Can I have eggs, sausage, chips and beans and a tea?
0:23:55 > 0:23:58And Dave Gilmour said to me, "Do you know we can create a bass guitar
0:23:58 > 0:24:00"by picking up a bass guitar and going boing."
0:24:00 > 0:24:02And they abandoned the entire project.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04Never to be finished, never to be released.
0:24:04 > 0:24:05But no-one at EMI was chasing them,
0:24:05 > 0:24:10cos they were given the freedom - which didn't happen in the '60s.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15By the early '70s the lunatics had taken over the asylum.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17The bands were now in control,
0:24:17 > 0:24:20and I say lunatics in the nicest possible way.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27The UK's company's great commercial success continued,
0:24:27 > 0:24:31and artists like Steve Harley of Cockney Rebel took full advantage.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34He knew that if he got the performance
0:24:34 > 0:24:35and the production right,
0:24:35 > 0:24:40EMI's formidable marketing machine would do the rest.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44One of the executives was Bob Mercer and he came into Abbey Road
0:24:44 > 0:24:48at about 10pm and he said, "What have you got?"
0:24:48 > 0:24:51And we said, "Well, actually,
0:24:51 > 0:24:54"we think we can play what we imagine should be
0:24:54 > 0:24:56"the first single from the album."
0:25:00 > 0:25:06# You've done it all you've broken every code
0:25:08 > 0:25:12# And pulled the rebel to the floor... #
0:25:12 > 0:25:17He heard Make Me Smile once and he said to me, "Number one."
0:25:19 > 0:25:24And I said, "Well, that would be nice, Bob. I swear, number one."
0:25:26 > 0:25:27And he knew he could do it.
0:25:30 > 0:25:31They could move mountains
0:25:31 > 0:25:34if they really, really believed in something
0:25:34 > 0:25:36and put their hearts into it.
0:25:38 > 0:25:44# Come up and see me, make me smile
0:25:45 > 0:25:50# Or do what you want run on wild... #
0:25:51 > 0:25:54He knew that he could organise the troops.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56And when you get those men out there -
0:25:56 > 0:25:59they called them the lunatics in their Mondeos, or something -
0:25:59 > 0:26:02guys who drove around the country, flogging into record shops
0:26:02 > 0:26:04and stuff trying to get you in the charts and that.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07- Good evening, sir, how are you? - All right.- All right, he said.
0:26:09 > 0:26:15In February, 1975, Make Me Smile did make it to number one.
0:26:22 > 0:26:23Throughout the '70s,
0:26:23 > 0:26:27over ten million people regularly listened to the Radio 1 Chart Show,
0:26:27 > 0:26:32and at its peak, over 15 million watched Top Of The Pops.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38Persuading DJs and producers to promote and play EMI artists
0:26:38 > 0:26:40was the job of the record plugger.
0:26:42 > 0:26:43They were characters.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46Men with wild personalities, real salesmen
0:26:46 > 0:26:49and one was Eric Hall, was my main plugger,
0:26:49 > 0:26:54and Eric was just wonderful, eccentric, crazy, funny character.
0:26:56 > 0:26:57When people say to me,
0:26:57 > 0:26:59"Was it driven by money?"
0:26:59 > 0:27:00"Was it driven by profits?"
0:27:00 > 0:27:02Probably was, yes,
0:27:02 > 0:27:04but not at my level.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06I was driven by bands, by artists,
0:27:06 > 0:27:09by the songs, by the music, that's what drove me.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16He was known as Eric "Get Me A Limo" Hall.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19And we'd go and meet him at EMI to go to dinner
0:27:19 > 0:27:21and he'd call a limousine.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24A Daimler limousine would take us a mile round the corner
0:27:24 > 0:27:28to the restaurant and wait for us for four hours and take us back.
0:27:28 > 0:27:30Completely mad.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34His attitude was,
0:27:34 > 0:27:36you got the money there,
0:27:36 > 0:27:38we want to give the artists a good time,
0:27:38 > 0:27:39spend it!
0:27:46 > 0:27:49I didn't believe in not spending money.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54You took somebody out for lunch you ain't taking them to Joe's cafe,
0:27:54 > 0:27:56you take them to a nice restaurant.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58I let Eric do his thing.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02I can recall on one occasion we had a very expensive meal for Queen,
0:28:02 > 0:28:06and Eric was organising all of that.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10And I happened to see a picture on the wall
0:28:10 > 0:28:13which reminded me of my first ever girlfriend.
0:28:13 > 0:28:18And I said to Eric, "I do like that picture. I do like it."
0:28:20 > 0:28:21It's on my wall today.
0:28:21 > 0:28:27One time I remember his expenses went over £1,000 for the month.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31And the then man who had to sign off said, "What?! How much?!"
0:28:31 > 0:28:34And Eric's going, "Come on."
0:28:34 > 0:28:37Cliff Richard made a great remark about me.
0:28:37 > 0:28:38He said,
0:28:38 > 0:28:42"Eric Hall had to leave EMI cos the expense account went platinum."
0:28:45 > 0:28:48# Is this the real life?
0:28:48 > 0:28:51# Is this just fantasy? #
0:28:51 > 0:28:55In late October, 1975, Queen released a six minute single.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57Twice as long as most standard 45s,
0:28:57 > 0:29:02it was the most sophisticated, most expensive single ever released.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05Some feared it would fail commercially
0:29:05 > 0:29:07because radio DJs wouldn't play it,
0:29:07 > 0:29:09but it went to number one for nine weeks
0:29:09 > 0:29:11and sold over a million copies.
0:29:11 > 0:29:15# I'm just a poor boy I need no sympathy... #
0:29:15 > 0:29:18It was definitely a pivotal moment for Queen
0:29:18 > 0:29:22because it sort of catapulted us onto another level,
0:29:22 > 0:29:26especially with the video promo that we made,
0:29:26 > 0:29:27which at the time was a new thing.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30# Thunderbolt and lightning
0:29:30 > 0:29:32# Very, very frightening me
0:29:32 > 0:29:34- # Galileo - Galileo
0:29:34 > 0:29:36- # Galileo - Galileo
0:29:36 > 0:29:39# Galileo Figaro Magnifico... #
0:29:39 > 0:29:42Music was becoming more complex, more elaborate.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51While the record industry became increasingly extravagant,
0:29:51 > 0:29:55British society in the mid-'70s was suffering financially.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59With industrial disputes, electricity blackouts
0:29:59 > 0:30:00and rising unemployment,
0:30:00 > 0:30:05it was a world away from the self-indulgent excess of prog rock.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09The record industry had lost touch with reality.
0:30:09 > 0:30:11It needed to reconnect.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14MUSIC: Anarchy In The UK by the Sex Pistols
0:30:14 > 0:30:16This group are leaders of a whole new teenage cult
0:30:16 > 0:30:18that seems to be on the way
0:30:18 > 0:30:21to being as big as mods and rockers were in the '60s.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24The cult is called punk and the music punk rock.
0:30:24 > 0:30:27# I am an antichrist
0:30:27 > 0:30:31# I am an anarchist
0:30:31 > 0:30:34# Don't know what I want But I know how to get it
0:30:34 > 0:30:37# I wanna destroy passer-by
0:30:37 > 0:30:40# Cos I
0:30:40 > 0:30:43# I wanna be
0:30:43 > 0:30:47# Anarchy... #
0:30:48 > 0:30:51Malcolm McLaren, you discovered and manage the group.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53Now, what about the accusation
0:30:53 > 0:30:56that you're more into chaos than anything else?
0:30:56 > 0:30:58Well, that's an accusation by people
0:30:58 > 0:31:00who really don't understand what kids want.
0:31:02 > 0:31:04Having launched the Beatles
0:31:04 > 0:31:08and struck gold with the likes of Pink Floyd, T Rex and Queen,
0:31:08 > 0:31:12EMI were again looking for the next big thing.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15A group who would strike a chord with the nation's youth.
0:31:16 > 0:31:21In October 1976, they signed the Sex Pistols.
0:31:22 > 0:31:23This was something else.
0:31:23 > 0:31:25This is going to be good.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27Cos I'd heard a couple of hit songs,
0:31:27 > 0:31:28I thought Anarchy In The UK...
0:31:28 > 0:31:30and Vacant, I thought those were hit songs.
0:31:30 > 0:31:33# There's no point in asking you'll get no reply
0:31:33 > 0:31:37# Oh, just remember I don't decide
0:31:37 > 0:31:41# I got no reason, it's all too much... #
0:31:41 > 0:31:44Why did McLaren take the Sex Pistols to EMI?
0:31:44 > 0:31:46It is the establishment.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49It was everything that they were meant to be kicking against.
0:31:49 > 0:31:53# Oh, we're so pretty Oh, so pretty
0:31:53 > 0:31:55# We're vacant... #
0:31:55 > 0:31:58I think it suited Malcolm to be with EMI.
0:31:58 > 0:32:04You know, the big, respectable - respectable - company.
0:32:04 > 0:32:07You want as many people to hear your music as possible,
0:32:07 > 0:32:10so...you don't want the least or the worst,
0:32:10 > 0:32:11you want the best.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14And that's the way we saw EMI.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18People are going, "They can't play their instruments, this is crazy,"
0:32:18 > 0:32:20to people who were on it
0:32:20 > 0:32:24and understood what was going on on the streets of London.
0:32:24 > 0:32:29# And we don't care... #
0:32:29 > 0:32:31I remember going to my boss, going, "I don't get this.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33"I really don't get this," you know?
0:32:33 > 0:32:36And he said to me, "It's nothing to do with you.
0:32:36 > 0:32:40"It's for 17-year-olds who are unemployed - unemployable, perhaps.
0:32:40 > 0:32:43"It's something for them to grab hold of and be part of."
0:32:44 > 0:32:46I wanted to do something for me.
0:32:46 > 0:32:49Cos look at me now, I'm nothing.
0:32:49 > 0:32:51That's what punk is.
0:32:51 > 0:32:53MUSIC: Submission by the Sex Pistols
0:32:55 > 0:32:59I supported my A&R department,
0:32:59 > 0:33:02because they were excited, you know...
0:33:02 > 0:33:05Everyone kept saying, "We've got the new Beatles,"
0:33:05 > 0:33:07but, you know, you had to encourage people
0:33:07 > 0:33:10who thought they'd produce something new and good that would do well.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14# I'm on a submarine mission for you, baby... #
0:33:14 > 0:33:20In November 1976, EMI Records released Anarchy In The UK.
0:33:22 > 0:33:24As a last-minute replacement for Queen,
0:33:24 > 0:33:29the Sex Pistols appeared on Today, Thames Television's tea-time show.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34They turned up with a bunch of people who were their supporters,
0:33:34 > 0:33:36went on television with Bill Grundy,
0:33:36 > 0:33:39the most unqualified man in the world to interview the Sex Pistols!
0:33:39 > 0:33:42- I always wanted to meet you. - Did you really?- Yeah.
0:33:42 > 0:33:44We'll meet afterwards, shall we?
0:33:44 > 0:33:46You dirty sod.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48- You dirty old man.- Well, keep going.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51Go on, you've got another five seconds, say something outrageous.
0:33:51 > 0:33:53You dirty bastard.
0:33:54 > 0:33:56Many of us at EMI didn't see it.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58Cos we were either in the pub or on our way home.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01It was six o'clock television. It wasn't something you watched.
0:34:01 > 0:34:04- Go on, again.- You dirty fucker.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07- What a clever boy.- What a fucking rotter.- Well, that's it for tonight.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10Oh, my goodness, this has gone out live,
0:34:10 > 0:34:13and people were suitably shocked and...
0:34:13 > 0:34:16slightly horrified and slightly worried
0:34:16 > 0:34:18about what's going to be the ramification of this.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21I'll be seeing you soon. I hope I'm not seeing YOU again.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23From me, though, goodnight.
0:34:25 > 0:34:29Yeah, there was a bit...a deal of shock, I remember, in the building.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32I thought it was all very amusing, actually!
0:34:34 > 0:34:36Then you know something is really happening,
0:34:36 > 0:34:39when all the news sellers, Sex Pistols, Anarchy In The UK,
0:34:39 > 0:34:42all this sort of stuff going on when you're walking down the street,
0:34:42 > 0:34:44people talking about this band
0:34:44 > 0:34:46who are going to wreck the Establishment and the Queen,
0:34:46 > 0:34:48you know, and all this.
0:34:48 > 0:34:50And I thought, "This is great, this is fantastic.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53"This is what we should be doing now."
0:34:53 > 0:34:56It caused a huge amount of concern,
0:34:56 > 0:34:59partly because of course EMI as a diversified group, you know,
0:34:59 > 0:35:02had all these electronics companies.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05And the people in the electronics companies were saying,
0:35:05 > 0:35:08"We don't want to work alongside a company
0:35:08 > 0:35:11"that's got these kind of people involved with it."
0:35:11 > 0:35:13Our people, in the record company, said,
0:35:13 > 0:35:17"Yeah, but this is what the record business is all about," you know.
0:35:17 > 0:35:21These companies have echelons of layers of responsibility and stuff,
0:35:21 > 0:35:25and I'm sure the right hand don't know what the left hand's doing.
0:35:25 > 0:35:26Just as well!
0:35:29 > 0:35:33There was questions in the House of Commons, MPs writing letters,
0:35:33 > 0:35:37remembering EMI was a high-profile Tory company, if you like,
0:35:37 > 0:35:40and had contracts with the Government for defence things,
0:35:40 > 0:35:41so this was all being thrown about,
0:35:41 > 0:35:43and they didn't want to lose any of that,
0:35:43 > 0:35:46because of this behaviour by this strange pop group.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51The controversy had serious ramifications
0:35:51 > 0:35:52for EMI the record label
0:35:52 > 0:35:55and for EMI the big business corporation.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58Papers like the Daily Mail, for example,
0:35:58 > 0:35:59they did a whole page on me.
0:35:59 > 0:36:03They also walked up and down the street where I lived
0:36:03 > 0:36:04and in the town, saying,
0:36:04 > 0:36:07"What's it like to live next-door to this punk man?"
0:36:08 > 0:36:10I was given instructions that,
0:36:10 > 0:36:13as the EMI press officer who was dealing with the press enquiries,
0:36:13 > 0:36:16I was not allowed to deal with the press enquiries,
0:36:16 > 0:36:18it now had to be referred upstairs to corporate.
0:36:21 > 0:36:25I mean, at the time we had on the board Lord Shawcross,
0:36:25 > 0:36:28famous for the Nuremberg Trials.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31We had Sir Geoffrey Howe, other luminaries of that kind.
0:36:31 > 0:36:35So for them, you know, it was a real culture shock.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39And my boss told me to call the promotion manager,
0:36:39 > 0:36:42who was on the road with the Sex Pistols.
0:36:42 > 0:36:46He was in the room when we called, with the group,
0:36:46 > 0:36:49and we had to tell him to "just walk out the door,
0:36:49 > 0:36:51"get your stuff and come back".
0:36:54 > 0:36:58And in the end I was instructed by the chairman of EMI
0:36:58 > 0:37:01to go to Amsterdam to meet Malcolm McLaren,
0:37:01 > 0:37:04the manager, and fire them.
0:37:04 > 0:37:06# EMI!
0:37:07 > 0:37:08# EMI! #
0:37:08 > 0:37:12I went to a meeting and I was sitting on the floor
0:37:12 > 0:37:14and suddenly in the middle of the meeting they said,
0:37:14 > 0:37:16"Who is the disgusting, awful person
0:37:16 > 0:37:19"who signed this terrible, disgusting band, the Sex Pistols?"
0:37:19 > 0:37:23And I had to put my hand up like a naughty schoolboy
0:37:23 > 0:37:27and they just..."Oh, it was you."
0:37:27 > 0:37:29It was like, "You!"
0:37:29 > 0:37:33And, erm...I roasted there for the rest of the meeting.
0:37:33 > 0:37:37We had possibly the most important band of that movement
0:37:37 > 0:37:40and we had, you know, sacked them.
0:37:40 > 0:37:42I did feel sorry for some of the people there
0:37:42 > 0:37:45that we'd established a rapport with,
0:37:45 > 0:37:49because I knew that they were really into the band, had got it.
0:37:49 > 0:37:53And then it had been taken away from them by people above them.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55# Goodbye. #
0:38:00 > 0:38:02The sound of punk rock.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06The marriage lasted for only 90 days
0:38:06 > 0:38:08and the Sex Pistols ended up on Virgin,
0:38:08 > 0:38:11a small independent label which promoted itself
0:38:11 > 0:38:13as the polar opposite
0:38:13 > 0:38:17of a mainstream conservative corporation such as EMI.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20I think it's a hats-off to Virgin that they saw,
0:38:20 > 0:38:22"It doesn't matter how much problems they give us,
0:38:22 > 0:38:24"they're going to be really good for the label."
0:38:24 > 0:38:27Branson spotted that.
0:38:27 > 0:38:33It showed that EMI could not keep up with the shifting times.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37That, in a way, killed off EMI Publishing,
0:38:37 > 0:38:41EMI Records of signing any other punk band, pretty well.
0:38:41 > 0:38:45When I signed the Rolling Stones, what did Mick Jagger say to me?
0:38:45 > 0:38:48He said, "If we go on television and say the F word,
0:38:48 > 0:38:50"you aren't going to fire us?"
0:38:50 > 0:38:53I said, "No, no, no, no, no, of course not."
0:38:53 > 0:38:57MUSIC: Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush
0:39:01 > 0:39:03# Out on the wily... #
0:39:03 > 0:39:07Just when it looked as if EMI was a spent force,
0:39:07 > 0:39:10awkwardly out of step with youthful movements and changing times,
0:39:10 > 0:39:14they turned their attention to an extraordinary teenage artist
0:39:14 > 0:39:17they had put on a retainer as a 17-year-old schoolgirl.
0:39:17 > 0:39:19# How could you leave me
0:39:19 > 0:39:23# When I needed to possess you?
0:39:23 > 0:39:26# I hated you I loved you, too... #
0:39:26 > 0:39:30With her debut release in 1978, now aged 19,
0:39:30 > 0:39:33Kate Bush became the first female artist
0:39:33 > 0:39:36to top the UK chart with a self-written song.
0:39:36 > 0:39:40# ..my wuthering, wuthering Wuthering Heights
0:39:40 > 0:39:42# Heathcliff
0:39:42 > 0:39:45# It's me, Cathy Come home, I'm
0:39:45 > 0:39:48# So cold... #
0:39:48 > 0:39:51Even though the company had launched such an original
0:39:51 > 0:39:53and commercial musical talent,
0:39:53 > 0:39:57the music industry was about to fall off the dance floor.
0:39:57 > 0:40:011979 saw the world plunge into recession.
0:40:02 > 0:40:03Record sales slumped
0:40:03 > 0:40:06and EMI's medical division had spectacular losses.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11The great old corporation was in financial crisis.
0:40:13 > 0:40:16Salvation came from an unlikely source.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19Electrical business giant Thorn, the king of the light bulb,
0:40:19 > 0:40:22proposed a merger.
0:40:22 > 0:40:24Well, I thought, "Who the fuck's this?" You know.
0:40:24 > 0:40:26"Erm, they make light bulbs. Er...
0:40:26 > 0:40:30"What's that got to do with what we do?" You know.
0:40:31 > 0:40:36Thorn EMI was mainly involved in electronics, defence and retail.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41It soon sold off EMI's medical interests.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44The music side of the company would also be under threat,
0:40:44 > 0:40:48unless they could unearth and sell new talent.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52We were desperately waiting for the next big thing,
0:40:52 > 0:40:57and there might have been... slightly less extravagance,
0:40:57 > 0:41:00until the party started...anew.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03MUSIC: Chase by Giorgio Moroder
0:41:07 > 0:41:09It was 1979,
0:41:09 > 0:41:13Labour Isn't Working, Maggie Thatcher came to power.
0:41:13 > 0:41:17Punk was failing, people had lost interest, the girls in particular.
0:41:17 > 0:41:22There was change in the air. I think it was just perfect timing.
0:41:24 > 0:41:29Against the backdrop of Thatcherism and early-1980s austerity,
0:41:29 > 0:41:33a new scene suddenly developed, built on escapism,
0:41:33 > 0:41:36aspiration and dreams of material wealth.
0:41:38 > 0:41:40In Birmingham, Duran Duran,
0:41:40 > 0:41:43one of the New Romantic movement's unsigned bands,
0:41:43 > 0:41:47were looking to find a record company to launch them to stardom.
0:41:47 > 0:41:52We were not going to be your typical managers
0:41:52 > 0:41:55who take a half-honed act to a label
0:41:55 > 0:41:58to be taken in and then whatever the label decide
0:41:58 > 0:42:00to do with that act, they will.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03You have to control your own destiny.
0:42:03 > 0:42:08And we developed the act and we did the complete package.
0:42:08 > 0:42:14# Only came outside to watch the night fall with the rain... #
0:42:14 > 0:42:18Paul Berrow rang up out of the blue and he said,
0:42:18 > 0:42:20"I've got a band people are really interested in."
0:42:20 > 0:42:25I didn't know who the hell he was but he...he talked a good talk.
0:42:25 > 0:42:28# Looking for the TV sound... #
0:42:28 > 0:42:30Dave understood it.
0:42:30 > 0:42:34Dave understood it musically and understood it sociologically.
0:42:34 > 0:42:39He understood that the time had come for a band of this nature.
0:42:40 > 0:42:42# This is Planet Earth... #
0:42:42 > 0:42:44An Anglo-Saxon New Romantic band
0:42:44 > 0:42:48with a New York groove and glam-rock style would surely be perfect
0:42:48 > 0:42:51for thoroughly British EMI records.
0:42:51 > 0:42:53# This is Planet Earth... #
0:42:53 > 0:42:57But with the new movement gaining momentum, other UK labels
0:42:57 > 0:43:01were confidently competing with them to get Duran Duran's signature.
0:43:02 > 0:43:04I was in the van with Duran Duran.
0:43:04 > 0:43:07I remember when they had a better offer from Phonogram
0:43:07 > 0:43:10and they all moved to the other end of the Winnebago,
0:43:10 > 0:43:12they wouldn't speak to me.
0:43:13 > 0:43:16And it was terrible. We didn't have mobile phones then.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19So I had to jump out and get on the phone box and tell them,
0:43:19 > 0:43:21"For God's sake raise the offer!
0:43:21 > 0:43:24"No-one's speaking to me."
0:43:24 > 0:43:28I realised after punk we had to have something more musical.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31And I'd previously tried to get Spandau Ballet
0:43:31 > 0:43:34but unfortunately they wanted a huge clothes budget
0:43:34 > 0:43:37of about 70 grand, so that was out.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40New acts refresh a record company.
0:43:40 > 0:43:44It makes everybody from the secretary to the CEO get excited.
0:43:44 > 0:43:46It's the reason for them to be there.
0:43:46 > 0:43:49MUSIC: Girls On Film by Duran Duran
0:43:49 > 0:43:53When we finally got them, there was a tremendous atmosphere
0:43:53 > 0:43:54in the company that this...
0:43:54 > 0:43:57we were going to make this into the next Queen,
0:43:57 > 0:44:00this is going to be a big band, you know?
0:44:00 > 0:44:04For EMI the arrival of Duran Duran was perfect timing.
0:44:04 > 0:44:081981 saw the birth of a new music channel in America
0:44:08 > 0:44:11that propelled the recording industry into the video age.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16With the pioneering success of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody
0:44:16 > 0:44:19behind them, EMI knew the importance of the pop video
0:44:19 > 0:44:22and how it could be used as a marketing tool
0:44:22 > 0:44:25to buck recession and sell more records.
0:44:27 > 0:44:31In Duran Duran, EMI had the perfect act for the MTV generation.
0:44:33 > 0:44:35Duran Duran was a package.
0:44:35 > 0:44:37It was targeted at a specific audience,
0:44:37 > 0:44:38it was a lifestyle package,
0:44:38 > 0:44:41it was about hedonism and it was about glamour,
0:44:41 > 0:44:43and they wrapped it up really well.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46# Girls on film Two minutes later
0:44:46 > 0:44:48# Girls on film... #
0:44:52 > 0:44:56Duran Duran insisted on very extravagant videos,
0:44:56 > 0:45:01which were phenomenal for EMI at that time.
0:45:01 > 0:45:05They thought, "Oh, we'll go broke making this video on Duran Duran."
0:45:07 > 0:45:11We informed a lot of the music industry about, there's a degree
0:45:11 > 0:45:14of sophistication in the way you take music to market.
0:45:14 > 0:45:18There's much more about the brand and how people make a connection
0:45:18 > 0:45:21between the music they hear on the radio and the video they might see.
0:45:21 > 0:45:23What's your target audience?
0:45:23 > 0:45:26People really didn't think in those terms, really, until then.
0:45:26 > 0:45:29I think it was just music.
0:45:29 > 0:45:30# Her name is Rio
0:45:30 > 0:45:35# And she dances on the sand
0:45:35 > 0:45:37# Just like that river
0:45:37 > 0:45:41# Twisting through a dusty land... #
0:45:41 > 0:45:44The imagery gave the public the thought and the feel,
0:45:44 > 0:45:48the awareness, that this was an industry out of control with money.
0:45:48 > 0:45:52And, of course, the videos were out-of-control expensive, it's true.
0:45:54 > 0:45:56We came along at exactly the right moment,
0:45:56 > 0:46:01when MTV had a hunger for music videos,
0:46:01 > 0:46:06and EMI fed it and wrote cheques out to whatever was required,
0:46:06 > 0:46:08in order to be in the game.
0:46:08 > 0:46:10# Her name is Rio
0:46:10 > 0:46:15# She don't need to understand
0:46:15 > 0:46:18# I might find her if I'm looking... #
0:46:18 > 0:46:21Producing great music wasn't enough any more.
0:46:21 > 0:46:24The importance of branding became central to the pop proposition.
0:46:26 > 0:46:32And, in 1985, a new duo emerged that would push that to its limits.
0:46:32 > 0:46:34It's time for pop now. This morning, we have a group
0:46:34 > 0:46:37who may not be household names at the moment, but who are being tipped
0:46:37 > 0:46:40for the top. They're called the Pet Shop Boys,
0:46:40 > 0:46:43and their new single is already doing very well, indeed.
0:46:43 > 0:46:45# I've got the brains
0:46:45 > 0:46:47# You've got the looks
0:46:47 > 0:46:51# Let's make lots of money
0:46:51 > 0:46:53# You've got the brawn
0:46:53 > 0:46:55# I've got the brains
0:46:55 > 0:46:58# Let's make lots of... #
0:46:58 > 0:47:02Pet Shop Boys had that kind of urban cool about them.
0:47:02 > 0:47:03It wasn't purely about the songs.
0:47:03 > 0:47:06It was the way those songs were presented and wrapped up.
0:47:06 > 0:47:08I think the Pet Shop Boys were the first artists
0:47:08 > 0:47:11who really understood the power of branding.
0:47:16 > 0:47:20Chris and I insisted on being on the Parlophone label
0:47:20 > 0:47:24cos EMI label had no real identity.
0:47:24 > 0:47:27I thought of it, actually, as being a bit naff,
0:47:27 > 0:47:30which is unfair cos, for instance, Kate Bush was on EMI.
0:47:30 > 0:47:33But it always seemed a bit generic,
0:47:33 > 0:47:37whereas Parlophone is the label that the Beatles had been on.
0:47:40 > 0:47:43When the Pet Shop Boys talk about signing to Parlophone,
0:47:43 > 0:47:47in a way, Parlophone signed to the Pet Shop Boys,
0:47:47 > 0:47:53because they breathed life into a brand
0:47:53 > 0:47:57which everyone remembered for the Beatles.
0:47:57 > 0:48:00And they were the first, really, that started to be
0:48:00 > 0:48:03the building blocks of a new future for that label.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06# In a west end town a dead-end world
0:48:06 > 0:48:10# The east end boys and west end girls... #
0:48:10 > 0:48:15They were passionately interested in the whole process of making records,
0:48:15 > 0:48:19both on the music side, but also releasing records
0:48:19 > 0:48:21and bringing them to the marketplace.
0:48:21 > 0:48:24So they had opinions about what we did.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27# The east end boys and west end girls... #
0:48:27 > 0:48:31Our first album cover, Please, if you look at it,
0:48:31 > 0:48:33it still looks strikingly minimal.
0:48:33 > 0:48:36It's a white cover with a tiny, square picture.
0:48:36 > 0:48:39If you were to look at that album against everything else
0:48:39 > 0:48:42being released at that time, it's quite shocking.
0:48:42 > 0:48:45Because it's so underselling it.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47It would be impossible to undersell it any more.
0:48:49 > 0:48:52We always wanted the purity of our ideas to be expressed.
0:48:54 > 0:49:00Their ideas were incredibly innovative, visually,
0:49:00 > 0:49:03in the way that their music was packaged,
0:49:03 > 0:49:06in the way that the videos were directed.
0:49:06 > 0:49:09They'd be using people like Derek Jarman.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12# When I look back upon my life
0:49:12 > 0:49:16# It's always with a sense of shame... #
0:49:16 > 0:49:20The toy box was wider than simply being a band that made music.
0:49:20 > 0:49:25It had a huge effect, I think, on the way the company worked.
0:49:25 > 0:49:29And that sort of arty way of doing things
0:49:29 > 0:49:33became Parlophone's way of doing things.
0:49:33 > 0:49:37# It's a, it's a, it's a
0:49:37 > 0:49:40# It's a sin... #
0:49:40 > 0:49:42Things have changed dramatically
0:49:42 > 0:49:45since the early days of EMI, when artists and records
0:49:45 > 0:49:48were treated as here today, gone tomorrow consumer products.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54The Pet Shop Boys had a huge impact on the artistic style,
0:49:54 > 0:49:57design and production of pop music in the '80s.
0:49:58 > 0:50:00They achieved global success
0:50:00 > 0:50:03and, at the time, became EMI's biggest selling artists.
0:50:05 > 0:50:06It was an interesting period.
0:50:06 > 0:50:08In the mid-80s, right into the '90s,
0:50:08 > 0:50:11there was lots of money washing around the business.
0:50:11 > 0:50:14If you wanted to have a big, excessive pop project,
0:50:14 > 0:50:17the majors are the place you'll go to.
0:50:17 > 0:50:21If you wanted to be cool and connect with the kids, you're an indie.
0:50:22 > 0:50:26# Sweetness I was only joking when I said
0:50:26 > 0:50:27# I'd like to... #
0:50:27 > 0:50:30The music industry was changing rapidly.
0:50:30 > 0:50:32Independent record labels were now leading the way
0:50:32 > 0:50:34in developing new talent.
0:50:34 > 0:50:38EMI had prided itself on signing the key British acts
0:50:38 > 0:50:40of each music movement.
0:50:40 > 0:50:43In 1986, they signed the Smiths,
0:50:43 > 0:50:45one of the most important indie groups.
0:50:45 > 0:50:49But they split acrimoniously before they could release anything.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54You had the likes of the NME, really used to target EMI -
0:50:54 > 0:50:58it used to be the butt of all their jokes,
0:50:58 > 0:51:00everything that was wrong in corporate music.
0:51:00 > 0:51:02NME used to refer to EMI as "Every Mistake Imaginable".
0:51:02 > 0:51:07The independents were sexier. It was against the Man and EMI was the Man.
0:51:07 > 0:51:10# Right here, right now
0:51:10 > 0:51:14# There is no other place I want to be... #
0:51:14 > 0:51:16Somehow, EMI desperately needed to shake off
0:51:16 > 0:51:19its corporate, uncool image.
0:51:19 > 0:51:23The radical solution in 1988 was to get into bed with Food Records,
0:51:23 > 0:51:28a rising young independent label with acts like Jesus Jones.
0:51:28 > 0:51:31We needed the association with someone like Food,
0:51:31 > 0:51:33who could be great at incubating talent
0:51:33 > 0:51:35under the guise of an independent.
0:51:35 > 0:51:38EMI could help fund that and help internationalise that.
0:51:38 > 0:51:42And they also had that air of independent cool that EMI needed.
0:51:45 > 0:51:49Our role with EMI was to act as a sort of renegade commando unit
0:51:49 > 0:51:52that could go off on secret missions,
0:51:52 > 0:51:59without any knowledge of our overseers back at EMI HQ.
0:52:01 > 0:52:03The first act that Andy Ross and I saw,
0:52:03 > 0:52:06we went down to The Cricketers in the Oval.
0:52:06 > 0:52:13We came to see this fairly dodgy band called Seymour,
0:52:13 > 0:52:16who had one brilliant song called She's So High, at that time.
0:52:16 > 0:52:19And, of course, that band turned into Blur.
0:52:19 > 0:52:21# She's so high
0:52:21 > 0:52:23# She's so high
0:52:23 > 0:52:26# She's so high
0:52:26 > 0:52:31# I want to crawl all over her... #
0:52:31 > 0:52:33We got a lot of stick from our peers,
0:52:33 > 0:52:37and a lot of derision for selling out to the Man,
0:52:37 > 0:52:40the corporate. It was sucking the whatsit, whatsit.
0:52:40 > 0:52:42Corporate was one of those words.
0:52:47 > 0:52:49The deal with Food was working,
0:52:49 > 0:52:52and Blur's second single was a top ten hit.
0:52:52 > 0:52:55Things were looking good for the new relationship.
0:52:55 > 0:52:57# There's no other way
0:52:57 > 0:52:59# There's no other way
0:52:59 > 0:53:03# All that you can do is watch them play
0:53:03 > 0:53:06# There's no other way
0:53:06 > 0:53:08# There's no other way
0:53:08 > 0:53:10# All that you can do is watch them play... #
0:53:10 > 0:53:14But then the Americans came along and spoiled the party.
0:53:18 > 0:53:20# With the lights out
0:53:20 > 0:53:22# It's less dangerous... #
0:53:22 > 0:53:25The Blur camp hit back in true British style.
0:53:25 > 0:53:29Damon's always been quite a good judge of the climate.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32He reacted against the grunge invasion,
0:53:32 > 0:53:37and reacted quite vigorously in an opposite direction.
0:53:37 > 0:53:42# He's a 20th-century boy
0:53:42 > 0:53:45# With his hands on the rails... #
0:53:45 > 0:53:48Blur's second album, Modern Life Is Rubbish,
0:53:48 > 0:53:51was a celebration of where they lived.
0:53:51 > 0:53:54From the promo photos, through to the video imagery,
0:53:54 > 0:53:57they looked and sounded firmly in the tradition
0:53:57 > 0:53:59of EMI's Great British acts.
0:54:04 > 0:54:07By default, I think Damon took up this mantle of,
0:54:07 > 0:54:08"Let's be very British."
0:54:12 > 0:54:15They became definitively British, really, and set the tone of,
0:54:15 > 0:54:19"Let's revive the spirit of the Beatles and the Stones
0:54:19 > 0:54:23"and the glory days of Britain, irrespective of any jingoism."
0:54:23 > 0:54:27It was all about the Great British tradition of pop music.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30This ultimately, of course, led to Britpop.
0:54:37 > 0:54:41By the mid-90s, cool Britannia was confidently promoting
0:54:41 > 0:54:44our great art, fashion and music scenes to the world.
0:54:47 > 0:54:49Blur were at the very epicentre,
0:54:49 > 0:54:51with their special brand of Britishness.
0:54:51 > 0:54:55# All the people
0:54:55 > 0:54:59# So many people... #
0:54:59 > 0:55:01The '90s were good to EMI.
0:55:01 > 0:55:05They also snapped up their old punk competitor, Virgin Records,
0:55:05 > 0:55:07in a £500 million deal.
0:55:07 > 0:55:11Together, they would become home to acts such as the Spice Girls,
0:55:11 > 0:55:13the Rolling Stones and Robbie Williams.
0:55:15 > 0:55:19But before all that, a battle for number one between Blur
0:55:19 > 0:55:22and indie kings Oasis grabbed the headlines.
0:55:24 > 0:55:26Bucking all recent trends,
0:55:26 > 0:55:29the uncool corporate giant triumphed once more.
0:55:29 > 0:55:31Hello, we're Blur. We're number one,
0:55:31 > 0:55:34and we're going to be camping it up later on Top of the Pops.
0:55:35 > 0:55:40To me, it rubber-stamped the fact that we were the major label
0:55:40 > 0:55:42with the spirit of an indie.
0:55:46 > 0:55:48All of a sudden, EMI became competitive,
0:55:48 > 0:55:50in terms of signing talent.
0:55:50 > 0:55:54Artists were doing the rounds and had offers from competitors,
0:55:54 > 0:55:57but were waiting, holding out for the Parlophone offer,
0:55:57 > 0:55:59because that's really where they wanted to be.
0:56:02 > 0:56:04Not since the golden age of the Beatles
0:56:04 > 0:56:07would EMI and Parlophone have such relevance.
0:56:07 > 0:56:10They were once again at the forefront of British music,
0:56:10 > 0:56:15attracting new acts such as Supergrass, Coldplay and Radiohead.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18# Can't get the stink off
0:56:18 > 0:56:22# He's been hanging round for days... #
0:56:22 > 0:56:25But after a perfect storm of Great British music,
0:56:25 > 0:56:28dark clouds were gathering.
0:56:28 > 0:56:32The youngest guy who worked in our label came into my office
0:56:32 > 0:56:36and he showed me this shiny little disc, which looked like a CD.
0:56:36 > 0:56:40He said, "It's a CD-R." I said, "Oh, yeah. And?"
0:56:40 > 0:56:44He said, "I've burnt some tracks on it." I said, "What do you mean?"
0:56:46 > 0:56:49He said, "I copied some tracks on it."
0:56:49 > 0:56:52I said, "Right. And where did you get them from?"
0:56:52 > 0:56:54He said, "I downloaded it from the internet."
0:56:54 > 0:56:57I said, "So what's on there?" He said, "Beatles."
0:56:57 > 0:56:59I said, "Oh, which songs?"
0:56:59 > 0:57:01He said, "All of them."
0:57:01 > 0:57:04Piracy and file sharing swept the globe.
0:57:04 > 0:57:07New technologies would threaten the very existence
0:57:07 > 0:57:09of the music industry.
0:57:10 > 0:57:15Britain's oldest record company was struggling to survive.
0:57:15 > 0:57:16After a brief takeover,
0:57:16 > 0:57:19and following the financial crash of 2008,
0:57:19 > 0:57:23some of EMI's biggest acts, including the Rolling Stones
0:57:23 > 0:57:25and Radiohead, parted company.
0:57:26 > 0:57:30It increasingly looked as if the old-style record labels
0:57:30 > 0:57:31had had their day.
0:57:31 > 0:57:34The keys to the kingdom that the music industry held,
0:57:34 > 0:57:36is that if you wanted a career in the music business,
0:57:36 > 0:57:40you had to sign to a well-funded indie or a major label.
0:57:40 > 0:57:43They owned the factories who made the records,
0:57:43 > 0:57:45they put it into trucks, sent it to stores.
0:57:45 > 0:57:47Gone. Absolutely gone.
0:57:48 > 0:57:53Things had to change - and in 2013, Parlophone went its separate way.
0:57:53 > 0:57:56Virgin and EMI started a new chapter together.
0:57:57 > 0:58:00People began signing up to subscription services
0:58:00 > 0:58:03and finally started paying for music again.
0:58:04 > 0:58:08In business terms, 2015 was the most successful year
0:58:08 > 0:58:11for the music industry since the late 1990s.
0:58:12 > 0:58:15The EMI and Parlophone brands live on,
0:58:15 > 0:58:19and at the heart of it all, there is still one constant.
0:58:19 > 0:58:22Great British music.
0:58:22 > 0:58:25EMI was the company that brought the Beatles to the world,
0:58:25 > 0:58:27and, not only that, they brought Pink Floyd to the world,
0:58:27 > 0:58:29and they brought Kate Bush to the world,
0:58:29 > 0:58:32and they brought Blur to the world.
0:58:32 > 0:58:36Duran Duran, Radiohead, it goes on and on and on.
0:58:36 > 0:58:40When you put together the hall of fame of great British artists,
0:58:40 > 0:58:42I think you'll find a significant majority of them
0:58:42 > 0:58:44will have come through EMI.
0:58:44 > 0:58:47MUSIC: Pompeii by Bastille