I have been confirmed to attend the MPG Awards in London on February 7th, two weeks before the Brits.

To say that it will be a special night is an understatement. The Guild is honoring its greatest member and founding patron Sir George Martin. Arguably the greatest record producer of all time and without question the guiding steward of the greatest band in history, Sir George will receive the “Outstanding Contribution To British Music Award” (The MPG’s highest honor).

George Martin is not only one of the most talented persons in the history of popular music, but one of the most generous, interested and nicest people one could ever meet.

It has been one of the great privileges of my musical life to have had the interaction I have had with him, and I along with everyone else am very excited and look forward to seeing him again on the 7th.

I have had to give up my Grammy Tickets for the second year in a row as I will be in London from February 7th forward, for work, meetings on my film, and the Brit Awards on the 20th, and beyond.

During Grammy Week in LA, The Producers and Engineer’s Wing of the Recording Academy is honoring Quincy Jones, one of my greatest heroes. I would have loved to be there but London is calling.

I’m very happy to announce that the BPI has confirmed and seen fit to allocate two industry VIP tickets to me for the 2013 Brit Awards and BPI After Show Party. I must be doing something right.

I will also be on the guest list for at least two major label group parties following the official BPI gig.

My Lawyers, Agent, Manager, and everyone surrounding me in the music industry know to never ever doubt my Rolodex or my relentless determination.

Report on the night to follow. Can’t say more than every beautiful woman I know in London could be in the same room at the same time.

I’m quite fortunate to have been in and around the major fashion world for many years now by virtue of the intersection of orbits surrounding the music business. I’ve been to two major fashion shows in my life, Herve Leger (when Herve owned it) and Dolce and Gabbana. I’ve have had the surreal experience of getting into it with Suzy Menkes on one occasion in Paris. I’ve also been invited to many smaller shows over the years that showcase rising fashion talent. It’s no secret that I have more than a passing interest in fashion photography and that  I’ve spent a significant amount of time at Central St Martins over the years and was pleased to do so again in 2012 at the stunning new campus in King’s Cross.

I don’t know what comes first, the relentless hard work or the magic. Or do they exists as one?  Then forcefully finding the reasonable balance between art and commerce without destroying artistic vision. If one thing is certain it’s that some of the most brilliant artists in fashion design history have become close to fully formed at St Martins.

David Koma is one of these designers. I was aware of David right after his graduate showcase at St. Martins, long before Kylie came calling.

His stunning, jaw dropping sculptural designs and modern baby-doll dresses make a woman look so good that it hurts. I’ve rarely seen a designer hit so hard right out of the gate.When I saw Kylie at the amfAR inspiration gala 2010 in LA she was wearing a stunning dress that David had made.

I’ve contacted David about the possibility of dressing a new girl group.

David Koma is a stunning visual force and inspiring artist.

2013 London Fashion Week show in February .

Guess who’s coming with me?

I will now be meeting with the brilliant Emeli Sande’ on January 15th before I leave for London.

Emeli  is a unique and exceptional organic talent that I have been touting from the very beginning. The broader public in the States is probably most familiar from her performances at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, resulting in the biggest selling album of the year in the UK.

Adrian has done a remarkable job in keeping Emeli above the fray and letting her be herself, much as Richard and Jonathan have done with Adele.

I couldn’t possibly more highly advise lovers of real talent to support this singer.

Adele Adkins on Emeli….”How incredible is she?”

My A & R Rolodex Card from 1979.

September 30th 2012 By George Glennon

Note: Phil Ramone’s legendary A & R Studios in Mid-Town Manhattan were in the building at the corner of 52nd St and Seventh Ave that was torn down to build the Equitable Tower.

When I was still a teenager I went to New York City in a quest to meet the Great Phil Ramone because at the time I thought in my teenaged head that I was going to be the next Billy Joel, and who better to help me than Phil. When I walked into the administrative offices of A&R Studios, which were at 322 W 48th Street back then, I guess my blind naivete must have been oddly charming or else they thought I was someone else because they sent me over to the studio at 52nd Street and Seventh Ave.  Of course I just thought this was normal at the time, and only looking back realize how absurd it was for them to just send me over.

This was the first time I was going to step foot in a real recording studio in my life. This famous studio had played host to Sinatra and Streisand before Phil took a Billy Joel who was all over the place and focused him into …well… Billy Joel. When I entered the lobby on the ground floor on Seventh Avenue it was really dirty and there were cardboard boxes thrown everywhere. There was trash on the stairs as well and I started to wonder if I was in the right place. Then I saw a small display case with fogged up glass that contained  Phoebe Snow and Steve Forbert albums, one of which had fallen inside the case. I knew I must be in the right place now and I started to get a serious reality check.

When I went up the old elevator to the studio they told me that Phil was not there but out of town. I told them the offices sent me over so they offered to show me around. The place seemed old to me. Could Sinatra have really laid down tracks here? …And Billy’s records which were still all over the charts at the time?  It was a real eye opener, and the reality of the place compared to what had been in my head, taught me my first great lesson about the music business.

Fast Forward: The first time I set foot in Number 2 Studio at Abbey Road I literally got down on my hands and knees and kissed the parquet floor. The same floor that has been in there for decades and was present on June 6th 1962. I excused myself to Samantha  (then the head of Abbey Road Interactive) who took me down to Number 2 that morning. The studio smelled old to me and looked smaller in person. The old blue double entry doors are the same. Could this really be the room the greatest songs in history were recorded in?

Both A&R Studios, and Abbey Road number 2 produced many of the greatest recordings in history, both were/are not technologically advanced, were/are old, and they had/have NO PARKING.

Many new multi-million dollar studios with fresh paint, lost of extra room, cutting edge technology, a bottomless checkbook, and “Plenty of free parking”….. come and go out of business quite frequently !  They usually die a downward death right from the day they open. Even with all the hired spin to say its not really so……the business dies.

While Abbey Road Number 2 is booked solid 365 at top rates, and continues to put out hits. Abbey Road endures because it has “It”…..and money can’t buy “It” and you can’t fake “It”, and spin can’t save you if you don’t have “”It” and  Free Parking has nothing to do with having “It”.

“In any creative art, there is nothing that can stop water from finding its own level……In the full measure of time the cream always rises to the top and the crap always sinks to the bottom. ”

Hal David, one of the most legendary songwriters in the history of popular music and one of my biggest heroes, has died.

When I was a kid growing up , my mother would incessantly play the records of Dionne Warwick and the Carpenters. As a kid I couldn’t stand these records for “Old people”.

Only when I started to make records and write songs for real did I come to understand how great these songs and records are. Certainly among the greatest pop songs ever written.  They hold up decades later.

The Beatles, Brian Wilson, Bacharach-David, Motown.  No Arguments, No Debate…….The Top of the Pyramid.

Anyone that is involved in the big time of the song business and music publishing in pop music, is standing on the shoulders of Hal David.

I bow down to Hal David. I will never come close.

George Glennon, September 2, 2012

There is confirmed talk that Richard Branson is looking at buying back Virgin Records from the EMI Group as part of EMI’s concessions to appease regulators on the proposed buyout of EMI by the Universal Music Group.

I expect to get a hold of Richard and some of his top people soon to see what structure the label would take on under his ownership. I can say without reservation that it can only be a good thing for music and real talent if this happens.

The massive worldwide success of Adele on a significant independent label with the guts to let her be herself shows there is a way forward for real artists to reach a large worldwide audience if the quality is there.

I spoke to Martin Mills this year months before he appeared before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee on the proposed merger of EMI and Universal. Martin’s independent thinking and the protection of his artists are a large part of what let Adele happen. His statements at the Senate hearing made the most sense of anyone.

I sincerely hope that Richard is able to buy back Virgin Records and join the powerful group of independents along with people like Martin that can allow an Album like “21” to be made without constraint.

I look forward to a very strong relationship with the new Virgin Records going forward, if Richard pulls this off.

George

August 9th, 2012

It was with great sadness that I heard of the passing of Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees. I met Robin in the fall of 1987 at the Berkshire Place in New York and he couldn’t have been more generous and engaging. I was quite young and quite starstruck at the time, and to get to talk music with a Bee Gee was surreal and unforgettable.

The Bee Gees were phenomenal musicians and their songs were steeped in melody, some of the greatest pop hooks of all time, and built on a foundation of arrangement that is rarely seen today. Songs played by brilliant musicians who were masters of their instruments, not the least of which were the voices of the three brothers Gibb. The build up in “Fanny” is a blueprint masterclass for arranging a pop song.

I had the privilege of meeting and speaking with Blue Weaver at the Producers Guild Awards this past February in London. Blue played keyboards on almost all the biggest worldwide hits of the Bee Gees, and was an integral part of their success for years. I told him I couldn’t imagine what it must have been like to be at Criteria in the seventies making those records that would go out to the world and break so many records…..and to be working with, observing and learning from the great Arif Marden.

Put on those records people! That is the biggest tribute we could give Robin…..besides the fact that they are they are just so damn good!