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Daniel Boone and "Beautiful Sunday"
The two writers, Daniel Boone and Rod McQueen, had been signed to us for some time, and one morning they came into my office saying "We've written this great song". And I said, "Sure, fine sit down and have a cup of tea". And they said, "No - really, we've got to play you this song".
So I buzzed Larry and he said, "I'm coming up". Now we used to have a little room with a piano in it, and it really was little. The four of us went into this room and it was crowded. And Daniel Boone sat down at the piano and started thumping out this tune, and they both sang, although some of the lyrics weren't finished, and Larry was just standing there, and when it was finished, he said, "That's a hit, I'm going to record that next week".
And he turned to me, and I said, "Yeah, I think it's a smash". And I really did; it was the excitement of the whole thing. We were in a tiny confined space; Daniel was really banging away at the piano; they were singing out really loud; you could tell it, you could feel it, the little hairs on the back of your neck were standing out.
And there was the speed of the whole thing; we'd heard it one week and it was recorded the following week. Then Larry decided to rush it out.
The Jimmy Webb catalogue
I was told that his catalogue was going to be available for the UK and given the phone number of his American attorney Jerry Rubenstein. So I called Jerry one evening, and he was already dealing with a lot of very big publishers, and he said, "What have you got to offer?"
And I said, "I can' t offer you an advance because we re a small outfit, but I guarantee you a lot of hard work." And I also said, "I know you're coming to London -please meet me." And we did meet: Jerry, one of Jimmy's right hand men, myself, and Larry all went to lunch, and it was one of those things; all four of us "clicked" immediately, and we got on great. And afterwards, Larry said to me, "If you get the Jim Webb catalogue, it will be a great feather in your cap".
Now English people can sometimes be very cold to visitors; so I just said to Rubenstein, "If there's anything you want or anything I can do for you while you're here, please let me know". And there were a few things, like getting theatre tickets, which was no problem. And then he came to the office, had a look around and met everybody and said, "I'm very interested".
But I knew ATV Music had offered quite a good deal, so we just didn't know. Anyway, I got a phone call several days later from America, and Jerry said, "OK, we'll do a deal". He also said, "I look after a band called Poco, I'll give them to you as well. And if you do a good job on Jimmy's main catalogue, I'll put you in touch with the people who have another catalogue of his called Canopy Music".
Well I really did work very hard on Jimmy, and I got Canopy Music, and that reminds me. When I first joined. Larry, he told me that his publishing company was going to be called Page Full Of Hits. And at first, I used to be very embarrassed about that name. I'd phone up someone and say, "Hello, Terry Noon here at Page Full Of Hits", and they used to laugh, and say, "What hits have you had?", and I'd have to say, "None yet".
The Page Full Of Hits
But within two years of setting up the company, Larry was actually able to take a page advert in "Music Week" and we literally had a page full of hit songs to list in that ad, a lot of them Jimmy Webb's of course, which was marvellous.
Jimmy came to England to do a concert at the Albert Hall, so I met him at the airport, travelled with him back to London, where I'd arranged a suite for him at the Inn On The Park, which had to have a grand piano for him, and I found him fantastic. Very shy, very quiet.
At that time, he was going through a hippie stage and it was also difficult to place some of his songs at that time.
But then I'd get Andrew Oldham (the first manager of the Rolling Stones) phoning up and saying, "I love these songs of Jimmy's you've sent me, I'm going to record a couple".
And Jimmy was knocked out with that. He also did a TV show which he wasn't all that sure about, but the BBC wanted it, an "Evening With Jimmy Webb" type of thing, and Warner Brothers, for whom he recorded, wanted it, and through Jerry, I'd persuaded them that it would be great idea.
It wasn't just an administration deal, it was a case of promoting Jimmy Webb's material and, when he came over here, promoting Jimmy Webb. Mind you our percentage wasn't much, because we weren't paying money up front, and we were unknown to the American people.
Enhancing Our Reputation In The USA
But although we worked very hard on Jimmy for a fairly low percentage, we were enhancing both my reputation, and the publishing company's reputation, plus Larry and I were able to go to America, and meet very important managers, producers, people like that, through the Rubenstein connection.
And that's how we managed to break into the American wheeler dealer type thing. We did this "terribly English" act when we went to the States, Larry and I; we both wore dark glasses and we set up a bit of an image, which the Americans love. So we were able to get "Beautiful Sunday" happening over there, (it went Top 20), and the Fortunes were having their second run of success there, and we also had the "B" side of "Storni In A Teacup" which was a very big American hit, through a deal I'd done with them; and all these nice things were happening basically because of our Jimmy Webb deal, really.
Starting Noon Music
Working for other people, I'd either found certain copyrights that were successful, or found an act that became successful, which generated a lot of income.
Now I was being paid a wage, which I am in no way saying is wrong, but I was paying my way, and I thought, "This is fine, but if I really want to make my own decisions or do things a different way, I should stand up and be counted and do my own thing".
And that was really the gist of it. And I remember leaving Larry and having two incredible offers coming through immediately it was announced in the press, which really threw me. I honestly didn't know that anyone thought I was that worthwhile. And I thought, "Shall I take the money?"
But I decided not to. If you have got a lot of self-drive,.then you've just got to try your own thing or else you're always going to look back and say, "I should have tried it". So I decided to have a go.
When I left Larry, I was going through a hard time. My marriage had just broken up. I'd left my wife the house and everything in it, and I'd moved to a horrible little flat in Fulham that somebody else had arranged for me. The only thing I had was an E-type Jaguar, which was my pride and joy. I absolutely doted on that car, and I sold it, to start Noon Music. It was the hardest thing I'd ever done, but it was the only way I could raise money.
And April Music (the publishing arm of CBS Records), were one of the companies who offered me a job. They said, "We're not even going to talk wages; tell us what you want and we'll give it to you".
Now, if you can imagine, I'm in a little one-room flat in Fulham, the worst place I've ever lived in, with no carpets, no nothing, just about to sell the most prized possession I'd ever had, and they were saying, "Write your own cheque".
But it wasn't really a difficult decision to make. No, I had no financial backing, and I never have had, in my whole career. I had to keep to a strict rule that I don't spend too much money buying catalogues or copyrights.
I've only succumbed a couple of times, and on both occasions I've lost money. I would much sooner find a writer and put money into developing that writer.
"Beach Baby"
I had a Pete Dello song called "Working Class Man" which we'd demoed, and in fact the second song I signed was a big hit, "Beach Baby". I'd been in operation a few months and I met the writer John Carter at MIDEM, and I knew John from my Larry Page days, and he said, "I've got a master. If you're interested perhaps we can do a deal".
So we went off and played it, and it was "Beach Baby", which I thought was fantastic, and there and then on a handshake, we struck up a 50-50 company, John Carter Music. Jonathan King took up the record and made it is own crusade, as Jonathan does (it was issued on King's own UK Records label in England), and I placed it with all the other companies around the world, and we had a fantastic hit with it all over. (It was a big English hit in 1974 and a massive international hit, reaching No 3 in America).
Sacha Distel
Later, John said, "If we can get any covers, get them" because although we had a group called First Class, it was in fact a studio band led by John, and so it was more or less a one off situation. And I was very lucky. I went to Paris and fell in with a publisher there who was looking for product for Sacha Distel. And I played him "Beach Baby" and he said, "Sacha will do this, and it will be a smash". I thought, "I can't quite see Sacha doing this", but I didn't say so, and it was a smash, and sold 400,000 copies in France.
George Baker and "Una Paloma Blanca"
The first thing I heard of George Baker was via my connection with Shocking Blue. Their record company in Holland, Dureco, sent over something by him after we'd had "Venus". The band was then called George Baker's Tea Set, or just the Tea Set, and I think Larry had put something out by them.
But it wasn't very good, and nothing happened. Now by the time I'd started on my own, I was already making periodic visits to Holland, and on one of them, someone played me the original version by Baker. I then rang EMI Music over there and said, "I've heard 'Paloma Blanca' and I think it's fantastic"; and they said, "Well, we can't get any action at all in England, nobody's interested". So they let me have the publishing for the UK, where Warner Brothers had the record.
I remember flying home, getting off the plane at Heathrow at lunchtime, and going to my office which was then in Maddox Street, where a few publishing friends of mine were waiting to see me. I can remember every moment of this so clearly.
I came in, I was really excited. I put "Paloma" on, and said, "Listen to this, this is a smash". And they all rolled about laughing, they couldn't believe it. "You're mad", they said. "That won't do a thing here". Now I won't tell you who they were because they're quite well known.
But I thought to myself, "Crikey, are my ears going?" And I got a phone call from a guy called Theo Roos, who worked for EMI in Holland -he was the International Manager, and he said he was responsible for making that record a hit all over the world, and he added, "I'm going to be on your back every day until that record is in the UK charts".
However, nobody wanted to know. I remember Warner Brothers hated it and at times, I used to think, "They're right. Perhaps it isn't a hit. Perhaps I'm the only one who thinks it is".
But then, Theo would call again, and tell me it was big in Holland, it was No. I in Germany, or something like that, and I'd start thinking, "Perhaps I'm right after all".
Continued
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