No one knows more about managing superstars than Terry Blamey AM. Terry managed Kylie Minogue to international stardom. So, what quality do you have to have to be successful? Terry says: “You need to have drive and integrity. They’re probably the two most important things. You’ve got to be dedicated to do it. It’s a lot of work. You start with an artist who’s not known, and there’s a lot of work before you start to earn any money. So you’ve really got to want to do it.”
Many people don’t understand the difference between a manager and an agent. Terry spells it out: “The agent is responsible for getting gigs, pretty much. The manager is responsible for everything related to an artist’s business. There’s legal and financial advice, merchandising, publicity, travel, security, recording, performance, rehearsals, and employees such as tour managers – so the manager has to do everything with the business side of the art.”
Terry was pleased to receive an AM for his ‘Significant service to management in the music industry’ but was even more delighted to win the Peter Grant Lifetime Achievement Award, given by the Music Managers Federation of London. Terry says, “It’s the best award a manager can get. UK managers are among the best in the world. To be recognised by the UK music industry was a great honour.”
There to see him receive the award was long-time partner and friend, the late Michael Gudinski. They met when twenty-two year old Terry started as an agent in the early seventies, working from his bedroom in Armadale. Michael was a year younger.
“People would ask for big-name bands, and I would ring their agent. I rang the agent who represented Michael Gudinski’s bands, Barry Earle. One day, he said to me, ‘Do you want a gig?’ I want you to come and be my assistant here for a hundred dollars a week.’ I said, ‘Don’t be ridiculous, I earn more than that already.’ He said, ‘I’m going to leave with Mississippi (the band that became Little River Band), and we’re going to work on a ship to get the band to England.’ Nobody could afford to fly that far then, certainly not musicians. He said, ‘I haven’t told Michael because I need to work right up until we go, so if you’re my assistant, I can walk into his office and say, ‘I’m off tomorrow to England with Mississippi, but don’t worry, Terry can handle it.’ This was the biggest agency in Australia at the time – and that worked! Michael said OK – so I was running the agency.”
You’ve got to be able to stand up to them and argue on behalf of your artist
Terry had the confidence to do it, another essential quality for success, especially when negotiating international contracts with major record companies in the US. “You’ve got to be able to stand up to them and argue on behalf of your artist,” Terry says.
It’s just as well Terry loves contracts. He also loves travelling. Lynn and Terry move between three different homes: Mornington, Montreal; where Lynn comes from, and London. “Travel is constant. I love it. I’d miss it if we didn’t do it. I travelled for 26 years with Kylie – an unbelievable schedule all over the place.”
Terry’s grandfather, Sir Thomas Blamey, was a general in the First World War and, between wars, was Victoria’s police chief. He knew Sir George Tallis, “Who owned most of Mornington,” Terry says wryly. Sir Thomas would rent a house every summer on the corner of The Esplanade and Beleura Hill Road. He bought the land from Sir George, where Terry’s present property is, with a spectacular 180-degree view of the bay.
Terry says, “I don’t think I’ve missed a summer in my entire life when I haven’t spent time here on the beach . My father had that house (Terry points to the original house), and I used to come here all the time. I can’t imagine not spending some of my summer here in Mornington – or all of my summer in Mornington. The first time we came, we had no house, and we had a caravan because my mother said, ‘He’s not going to sleep in a tent.’ I was one year old. My mum, Georgia ‘Joy’ Blamey, was an interior decorator who decorated the law courts and the Brighton Yacht Club, which I remember because it was turquoise, her favourite colour.”
Terry’s association with Kylie Minogue began in 1987 when Kylie performed at a charity event for the Footscray Football Club at the Dallas Brooks Hall, and the audience asked for an encore. “Kylie said to the band, who were mostly from ‘Neighbours” including Jason (Donovan) and Guy (Pearce), ‘Does anybody know the Locomotion,’ because they hadn’t rehearsed an encore, and they went backstage and worked it out.
One of the line producers from Neighbours, Greg Petherick, was there, and he said, ‘You sang that so well, we’ll get you into a recording studio and record it.’ Amanda Pelman took it to Mushroom Records and convinced Gudinski to sign her. Her father came in with her to sign the contract. The business affairs manager convinced them to get a manager and gave three names – they all recommended me. I met her, and we got on instantly. I fully believed she could be very successful. I never anticipated how successful.”
“There’s never been a slump, she’s never slowed down, her popularity has never gone down, it’s only ever gone up, which is an incredible thing. We pressed pause for about nine months when Kylie had her breast cancer scare while she recovered, and thank God, she recovered successfully. And she just took up where she left off. She’s incredibly hard-working. I look at our schedule for the first ten years and say, ‘That’s impossible’. Three countries in a day for promotions and television. It was full on, but it’s her hard work that’s made it pay off so well.”
So, how did their association end? “We parted very amicably. She knew exactly what she wanted to do, and she knew how to do it, and there were enough good people around her: lawyers, accountants, and tour managers. She wanted to go on her own, and I respect that decision. She’s always been in control of the artistic side, which was the most important part. I still support her, and I love her.”
Terry will be backstage when Kylie plays Rod Laver Arena in late February. Perhaps she’ll sing Terry’s favourite song, ‘Put Yourself In My Place.’ Terry now gives talks to artist management students and consults to music industry professionals. He also currently manages Australian legend Richard Clapton.