Jake Riviera
Encyclopedia
Jake Riviera is a music business entrepreneur best known for his management of such performers as Elvis Costello
and Nick Lowe
and as co-founder (with Dave Robinson
) of pioneering British indie
label Stiff Records
.
Riviera was in school bands and local groups in north-west London in the 60s, and became road manager of pub-rock act Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers
in the early 70s.
Assuming the role of manager, he engineered a street-level marketing campaign on behalf of the hard-gigging group by working with the late graphic designer Barney Bubbles
.
In 1975, Riviera organised Naughty Rhythms, a package tour featuring Chilli Willi, Dr. Feelgood
, and Kokomo
. When pub-rock failed to make the leap out of smaller venues, Chilli Willi split and Riviera became tour manager for Dr Feelgood. Touring with the group in the US he encountered independent local record labels in used record stores and was inspired on his return to the UK in spring 1976 to found Stiff (music business parlance for a flop) with Robinson, then manager of Graham Parker
& the Rumour.
Riviera signed The Damned
- who he also managed - to Stiff in September 1976, ensuring that the group was the first punk group to release a record with their October 1976 single 'New Rose
'.
Riviera also managed other early Stiff signings Elvis Costello
and Nick Lowe
, who was also in-house producer. He recruited Barney Bubbles into the fold, where the designer worked with Riviera on an impressive run of record sleeves, posters, badges and adverts for Lowe, the Damned, Costello and such singular performers as Ian Dury
, Wreckless Eric
and the veteran music hall star Max Wall
.
In autumn 1977 Riviera left and moved on to a deal with new label Radar Records
, set up by former UA Records executives Martin Davies
and Andrew Lauder
.
Costello and Lowe scored successes with such respective albums as This Year's Model
and Jesus of Cool
(released as Pure Pop For Now People In the US) before they joined Riviera at his and Lauder's new label launch F-Beat in 1980. As at Radar, Bubbles was the label's art-director.
With F-Beat also releasing new music by contemporary artists such as Lowe's wife Carlene Carter
and Clive Langer
& the Boxes, Riviera, Lauder and Costello pioneered appreciation of archive music by reissuing albums by a range of artists on their Demon
and Edsel
imprints, including classic albums by Al Green
, The Pretty Things
and The Merseybeats
.
F-Beat folded in the mid-80s, by which time Demon had developed into a large specialist label with several offshoots. It was acquired by Crimson productions in 1998 and now lays claim to being Britain's biggest independent music group. Riviera worked with Costello until 1993 and still manages Nick Lowe.
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
and Nick Lowe
Nick Lowe
Nicholas Drain "Nick" Lowe , is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer.A pivotal figure in UK pub rock, punk rock and new wave, Lowe has recorded a string of well-reviewed solo albums. Along with vocals, Lowe plays guitar, bass guitar, piano and harmonica...
and as co-founder (with Dave Robinson
Dave Robinson
Richard David Robinson is a former professional American football player in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins.-Early life:...
) of pioneering British indie
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
label Stiff Records
Stiff Records
Stiff Records is a record label created in London in 1976, by entrepreneurs Dave Robinson and Andrew Jakeman , and active until 1985. It was reactivated in 2007....
.
Riviera was in school bands and local groups in north-west London in the 60s, and became road manager of pub-rock act Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers
Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers
Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers were one of the main British pub rock groups of the early 1970s. Later managed by Jake Riviera, who first worked for the band as a roadie, they reached their peak as part of the "Naughty Rhythms Tour" of 1975, along with other stalwarts of the same scene, Dr...
in the early 70s.
Assuming the role of manager, he engineered a street-level marketing campaign on behalf of the hard-gigging group by working with the late graphic designer Barney Bubbles
Barney Bubbles
Colin Fulcher aka Barney Bubbles was a radical English graphic artist, whose work primarily encompassed the disciplines of graphic design, painting and music video direction. He is most renowned for his distinctive contribution to the graphic design associated with the British independent music...
.
In 1975, Riviera organised Naughty Rhythms, a package tour featuring Chilli Willi, Dr. Feelgood
Dr. Feelgood
Dr. Feelgood may refer to:In music:*Dr. Feelgood , an album by American band Mötley Crüe**"Dr. Feelgood" , a single and the title track from that album*"Dr. Feel Good", a song by Travie McCoy on the album Lazarus...
, and Kokomo
Kokomo (band)
-Career:Formed in May 1973 by ex-members of the pop group Arrival , Kokomo's ten-piece line-up became: Dyan Birch , Frank Collins , Paddy McHugh , Tony O'Malley , Alan Spenner , Neil Hubbard , Mel Collins , Jody Linscott , Terry Stannard and Jim Mullen...
. When pub-rock failed to make the leap out of smaller venues, Chilli Willi split and Riviera became tour manager for Dr Feelgood. Touring with the group in the US he encountered independent local record labels in used record stores and was inspired on his return to the UK in spring 1976 to found Stiff (music business parlance for a flop) with Robinson, then manager of Graham Parker
Graham Parker
Graham Parker is a British rock singer and songwriter, who is best known as the lead singer of the popular British band Graham Parker & the Rumour.-Early career :...
& the Rumour.
Riviera signed The Damned
The Damned
The Damned are an English gothic punk band formed in London in 1976. They were the first punk rock band from the United Kingdom to release a single , an album , to have a record on the UK music charts, and to tour the United States...
- who he also managed - to Stiff in September 1976, ensuring that the group was the first punk group to release a record with their October 1976 single 'New Rose
New Rose
"New Rose" was the first single by British punk rock group The Damned, released on October 22, 1976. It was the first single by a British punk group, and was released in the Netherlands, Germany, and France in 1977....
'.
Riviera also managed other early Stiff signings Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
and Nick Lowe
Nick Lowe
Nicholas Drain "Nick" Lowe , is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer.A pivotal figure in UK pub rock, punk rock and new wave, Lowe has recorded a string of well-reviewed solo albums. Along with vocals, Lowe plays guitar, bass guitar, piano and harmonica...
, who was also in-house producer. He recruited Barney Bubbles into the fold, where the designer worked with Riviera on an impressive run of record sleeves, posters, badges and adverts for Lowe, the Damned, Costello and such singular performers as Ian Dury
Ian Dury
Ian Robins Dury was an English rock and roll singer, lyricist, bandleader and actor who initially rose to fame during the late 1970s, during the punk and New Wave era of rock music...
, Wreckless Eric
Wreckless Eric
Wreckless Eric is an English rock and roll/new wave singer-songwriter, best known for his 1977 single " Whole Wide World" on Stiff Records. More than two decades after its release, the song was included in Mojo magazine’s list of the best punk rock singles of all time...
and the veteran music hall star Max Wall
Max Wall
Max Wall , was an English comedian and actor, whose performing career covered music hall, theatre, films and television.-Early years:...
.
In autumn 1977 Riviera left and moved on to a deal with new label Radar Records
Radar Records
Radar Records was a UK-based record label formed by Martin Davis who had previously worked at United Artists Records, and Andrew Lauder, who had previously been head of A&R at the UK divisions of Liberty Records and United Artists...
, set up by former UA Records executives Martin Davies
Martin Davies
Sir Martin Davies CBE FBA FSA was a British museum director and civil servant.Davies read mathematics and modern languages at Cambridge University. He first joined the staff of the National Gallery, the institution to which he was to devote his career, as an attaché in 1930...
and Andrew Lauder
Andrew Lauder
Sir Andrew Lauder of Fountainhall, 5th Baronet was a Burgess of the Royal Burgh of Lauder , and also of Musselburgh ....
.
Costello and Lowe scored successes with such respective albums as This Year's Model
This Year's Model
This Year's Model is Elvis Costello's second album and his first with The Attractions, released in 1978 . It was recorded mainly at Eden Studios in West London....
and Jesus of Cool
Jesus of Cool
Jesus of Cool is the 1978 solo debut album by British singer-songwriter Nick Lowe who left Brinsley Schwarz in 1974. Produced by Lowe, it was released in March 1978 by Radar Records in the UK...
(released as Pure Pop For Now People In the US) before they joined Riviera at his and Lauder's new label launch F-Beat in 1980. As at Radar, Bubbles was the label's art-director.
With F-Beat also releasing new music by contemporary artists such as Lowe's wife Carlene Carter
Carlene Carter
Carlene Carter is an American country singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of June Carter and her first husband, Carl Smith....
and Clive Langer
Clive Langer
Clive Langer is a British record producer active from the mid 1970s onwards. He usually works with Alan Winstanley. He composed the music for the films Still Crazy and Brothers of the Head. Prior to his record producing career he was a guitarist with the British cult band Deaf SchoolLanger...
& the Boxes, Riviera, Lauder and Costello pioneered appreciation of archive music by reissuing albums by a range of artists on their Demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
and Edsel
Edsel
The Edsel was an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company during the 1958, 1959, and 1960 model years. The Edsel never gained popularity with contemporary American car buyers and sold poorly. Consequently, the Ford Motor Company lost millions of dollars on the Edsel's development,...
imprints, including classic albums by Al Green
Al Green
Albert Greene , better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as "You Oughta Be With Me", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Love and Happiness", and "Let's Stay Together"...
, The Pretty Things
The Pretty Things
The Pretty Things are an English rock and roll band from London, who originally formed in 1963. They took their name from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing" and, in their early days, were dubbed by the British press the "uglier cousins of the Rolling Stones". Their most commercially successful...
and The Merseybeats
The Merseybeats
The Merseybeats are a Merseybeat band that emerged from the Liverpool scene in the early 1960s, performing at The Cavern Club along with The Beatles, Gerry & The Pacemakers and other similar artists....
.
F-Beat folded in the mid-80s, by which time Demon had developed into a large specialist label with several offshoots. It was acquired by Crimson productions in 1998 and now lays claim to being Britain's biggest independent music group. Riviera worked with Costello until 1993 and still manages Nick Lowe.
External links
- Article about Jake Riviera. Melody Maker 1977-08-01