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12.1214 Music Week 13
he works hard, he believes in his acts. We’re so different - to look at, the way we work, everything we do. I work to live and he lives to work. I enjoy what I do and I’m lucky to be in this position. The great thing for me at ITB now is watching
the younger guys: Steve Zapp will come in with a band and tell me, ‘This is brilliant Barry!’ That’s what I still get a kick out of, that passion. That kind of thing keeps me young. When I go out with friends of mine who are the same age as me but don’t work in the music business, I think, ‘God, you look so old!’ It’s their demeanour. I know a guy who made a fortune out of investment banking. Sometimes you catch yourself thinking: “You’re so bloody boring!” I don’t want to hear about that crap. When Rod and I started working together a few people would say, ‘Christ almighty - I never thought you’d go into business with him, he’s not like you.’ You know what, it’s only great because we’re so different. If you’re both the same, what’s the point?
Everyone’s always asking you about retirement. I’ve told myself I wasn’t going to do that… It’s alright - it can’t be that far away. Three years, probably. Then again, I was planning to retire at 60 and that was seven years ago. My days are numbered, and I know that, because I refuse to become that guy that was f*cking great in 1984 and is treated like an old tosser now. I still love it. There’s a lot of stuff still coming through that I like - there’s some great talent out there. But I admit, I don’t get most DJs, personally. They used to turn up with records, now they don’t even do that: they turn up with an iPad. I mean, really? That’s live music? A song for me should have a lyric, a chorus and a melody - of some description at least! I saw Hot Chip, who my daughter Lucy looks after, and they were bloody brilliant. That’s dance music, but at least they played.
Your daughter Lucy and your son Jonathan both look after Adele, of course… Yeah, I gave Adele her first gig! I think she got
“When I go out with friends who aren’t in the music business, I think: ‘God, you look old!’” BARRY DICKINS, ITB
20 quid, and she didn’t play the guitar very well [laughs]. But I remember she had this great, great voice - and we all know what’s happened since. Jamie T I saw at the beginning and I thought he was amazing - I turned round and said, ‘He’s like The Clash’. And he’s proved it. He sold out Ally Pally this year before his album was even out. The encouraging thing about him is that he’s got a real fanbase. That’s the big problem [for the industry] these days, and what’s wrong with all the TV bollocks. I have friends say to me, ‘Did you see that girl
on X Factor? She’s got a great voice.’ Yeah, but so have loads of people! The funny thing is, it’s called X Factor, and none of them have bloody got it! You can’t give it to somebody - you’ve either got it or you haven’t. When I saw Adele that first time, there was something about her, something you can’t describe, something lovable. And she’s still the same now; she’s a multi-millionaire and she’s still [adopts Tottenham accent]: ‘Hellaaaw. How are ya?’
Both Jonathan and Lucy are hugely successful in their own right - carrying on the dynasty of the Dickins family. After all these years, are you happy your son and daughter followed your footsteps? My old man started in this business, my brother [Rob Dickins, former Warner Music UK boss] did pretty well in it and I’ve done pretty well in it. It’s very hard for your kids to do well in it. I’m thrilled, but I can’t take any credit - they did it all themselves. Everyone’s always taking credit all the time in this industry: ‘I made that band.’ Did you f*ck. They made a great record. Remind me: what instrument did you play again?
WHEN BARRY MET… JIMI HENDRIX
“Jimi Hendrix had an agent in the office, a guy called Dick Katz - he was one of my bosses at the time. Mike Jeffery, who was The Animals’ manager and Chas Chandler, came into the office. They showed this picture of Jimi to Dick, who was this typical Jewish agent - cigar, the lot. Jimi had this mad hair and this American Confederate jacket on. I just went: ‘Wow - that’s brilliant! What a great look!’ So I got called in to do it, as the young guy. These days it’s the other way round: we got an act in the
other day and I said, ‘I’m not doing that. Crock of shit. It’s just noise.’ But I played it to one of my young agents, and he went: ‘That’s f*cking brilliant!’ Okay, then you do it. “The first time I saw Jimi was in the Bag O’Nails, which was
a club in Kingly Street. I’ve never seen anything like it. To this day, I’ve never been sure if he really did play that guitar with his teeth. But he was seriously amazing - who had we ever seen do that before? The look of him! “And then Mitch Mitchell, who was a great drummer, was
going all over the place behind him. It was electric. I then got Jimi a gig at The Attic Club in Hounslow. It was over Burtons tailors shop. These clubs held 200, maybe 300 people. “At that time, that was quite a big gig. The typical big gig
wasn’t Wembley Stadium or the O2, it was the Odeon in Hammersmith. I got [the Jimi Hendrix Experience] £25 and they opened up for Eric Burdon and the New Animals.”
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