It is with huge sadness that Music Week can report that beloved music manager/label marketing legend Nigel Templeman passed away suddenly this past weekend, aged 65.
Templeman's illustrious career in the music business began in the late ’80s at Arista Records, and included successful stints at London Records in the ’90s. Through his career, he brought his huge managerial expertise and personality to bear on artists that included Dexys, Graham Coxon, The Cribs and countless more.
Most recently, Templeman had been guiding the careers of rising star Blues guitarist Toby Lee and trip-hop legend Tricky, showing just how diverse his skill set was.
Here, Templeman’s management partner at Sound Advice, Hugh Phillimore, and director/author Matt Winn share their reflections on the life of "Uncle Nige" with Music Week:
"I’m utterly devasted by the passing of my dear friend and business partner Nigel Templeman.
We met sometime in the early 90’s at my favorite Chelsea Italian Ziani’s. As he blasted into the restaurant – horrendous Hawaiian shirt and hair down to his bum – I prayed that he wasn’t the man I was due to meet. He told me the band I needed his help marketing were crap and we became best friends for over 30 years.
The list of artists Nigel worked with, mentored and threw his arms around, both metaphorically and physically, was endless
Hugh Phillimore
I believe he was a bit of a marketing genius, from his early days working in The Moody Blues record shop, Threshold, in South London through to Our Price and HMV. From there he joined Arista where his first campaign was the launch of Whitney Houston. At London Records he marketed everyone from Fine Young Cannibals to Faith No More and created the campaign for Bananarama as ‘the highest selling UK female group ever’ – though there may have been some poetic license there!?
Nigel with Hugh Phillimore
Together we managed Moodswings, Drizabone, James Taylor Quartet, Spooky, Coldcut, Raw Stylus and others. Recently, he was successfully looking after Graham Coxon & Rose Elinor Dougal’s band The Waeve and helping relaunch Tricky. We had just started working together again on pop blues star Toby Lee whose sold out tour starts this week.
The list of artists he worked with, mentored and threw his arms around, both metaphorically and physically, was endless. He played the role of Uncle Nige impeccably and everyone always felt better having sort his counsel. I was his best man and he was certainly mine." Hugh Phillimore
Nigel was so much more than just a manager
Matt Winn
"I started working with Nigel in 1993 when I directed a video for the James Taylor Quartet, who he was managing. I was also working on my own music so when I was approached by Virgin, who were offering a recording deal, it was Nigel I contacted straight away, not just because I knew he was a good negotiator (he doubled the deal straight away) but because I knew we could work together.
But what made Nigel stand out in this business is that he was so much more than just a manager. He loved music, all types of music, from rock'n'roll, to electronica, funk and jazz.
He had a vision for the music I was working on and for the music of everyone else he worked with.
He was also an inspirational big thinker with big ideas. He knew I was a filmmaker and one day, out of the blue, he just said, 'We should make a film, get Virgin to pay for it and it will be a totally different way of promoting the album.' Luckily for us Andy Thompson, the music loving A&R manager, and Ray Cooper the visionary head of marketing (a man who took risks if ever there was one, sadly missed as well), loved the idea. Together we made Coming Down, a film about the clubbing experience which seemed to really connect with electronica and club kids around the world. But it was Nigel who had the inspired idea to make it and the conviction to make it happen.
He was also a great friend. He was someone I, and all of his artists, could share the ups and downs of their lives with: the intimate details, the struggles. We could do that because we knew that he created a safe space in which to be truly honest. Nigel exuded a quality that you knew meant he would never hold anyone in judgement. We were rigorously honest with him and he shared back with us the ups and downs of his own life. He was a friend, a confidant, a therapist and a great fun guy who made any evening out more fun by his presence. He was one of those rare people who could instantly connect with a king as with a homeless person.
Above all, he had a great passion for music. It was his life. He told me that when he was working for a major label, they pulled him aside one day and suggested maybe he’d be better suited as a manager. 'Why do you think that?’ The reply was very telling. ‘Because when we’re negotiating with artists and trying to screw them on the deal, you’re always taking their fucking side and it’s making our job impossible’.
Nigel was a remarkable man. I never heard of anyone who he didn’t get on with. He had a deeply special quality, a remarkable intimacy. I cannot believe he is no longer with us. My heart goes out to his son Otis, Sarah, his son’s mother, and Sam his girlfriend. But most of all my heart goes out to me because I’ll never meet another Nigel. He made a profound impact on my life and I will miss him deeply. The fucker!" Matt Winn
The Music Week team would like to extend its deepest condolences to all of Templeman’s family, friends and colleagues.
