Manager Spotlight:
Alan Wolmark of
C.E.C. Management

by Jack Bookbinder

"If we're going to work together, no electric keyboard ever, only a real piano"

- manager Alan Wolmark to future client and major label recording artist Ben Folds Five.

Riding the latest success in the making with Ben Folds Five (550/Sony), this issue's manager spotlight focuses on the 21-year career of Music Managers Forum (MMF) member Alan Wolmark. Wolmark considers the MMF as "the first opportunity for managers to formally interact." He cites the organization as critical to establishing ties between once disparate managers at different points in their careers so all can communicate regularly and become more informed in their field. Thus, new managers can be more effective in creating, maintaining and developing their artists. As a manager, "one is always learning something", Wolmark continues, "and managers are quite often winging it". Such is the need for an organization such as the MMF for new managers. But Wolmark's career began without such an establishment so he spent his time working a variety of situations to learn his craft.

Wolmark started teaching at college, then broke into the music business by writing for the trade publication Record World Magazine (Billboard's competitor in the 1970's). His writing assignments centered on the usual album reviews but would also include the burgeoning FM radio airplay charts which kept Wolmark in contact with 50 stations across the country. With a respected taste for music and the ability to relate with radio programmers in the same age group, Wolmark then caught the attention of the music industry's leading major record label for Album Oriented Rock (AOR) music - Atlantic Records - the label then home to such legendary acts for the format as the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Yes, AC/DC, Blues Brothers, Pete Townshend, Genesis, Foreigner and so on - a music enthusiast's dream.

His five-year stint at Atlantic with radio promotion ended in 1983 when he took the helm of the album promotion department at RCA Records. In the early 1980's, music was emerging that did not easily fit into tried and true radio formats, but Wolmark stuck to what would become a backbone of his management philosophy to seek out and promote artists with "great songs, drive and great performance skills that break new ground" - the key ingredients of any artist's long-term career. Such genre-bending acts as the Eurythmics, Blow Monkeys, Love & Rockets, Mr. Mister, and even Bruce Hornsby were at RCA to break and they did before alternative music even had a name-tag. Many acts on the RCA roster were British, and to Wolmark - the Anglophile, he would keep in close contact with managers from the U. K.

In the aftermath of RCA Record's corporate shakedown, Wolmark broke into the field of artist management in 1988 starting the Management Consulting Team (MCT) on his own offering U.S. representation to overseas acts and then in partnership with noted manager Barry Taylor. Their roster included Pere Ubu, Firetown (including half of what today is multi-platinum Almo act Garbage), among others. Wolmark furthered the U.K.-U.S. worldwide management concept by joining forces with Peter Felstead (currently in MMF-U.K.) to form a true international management company that continues today as C.E.C. Management. From Felstead's early roster success with Deacon Blue (20 top U.K. hits and many million selling albums), they have expanded to today's impressive line-up including Ben Folds Five (550/Sony), Lush (4AD/Reprise), the Boo Radleys (Creation/Mercury), Kenickie (Warner Bros.) and new signing Pete Wylie's Wau! Wolmark also cites the strong development of new bands breaking out of the U.K./C.E.C. office including Ballroom (Mother/Island) and The Montrose Avenue (Columbia). A challenging and comprehensive roster for which Wolmark has assembled a solid New York based team with day-to-day management and tour coordinator Jessica Nathanson (ex-William Morris) and Tim Broun (ex-MBJ Management and Setanta Records).

The company also consults and represents U.K. based indie label Nude Records, whose roster includes Suede (Nude/Columbia), Geneva (Nude/Work), and new signing Ultrasound.

The entire modern day C.E.C. Management team defines hands on, worldwide artist representation - ready to handle and break new talent destined for greatness. One example of focus in this spotlight - the continuing success story of Ben Folds Five featuring singer, songwriter, accomplished pianist Ben Folds who Wolmark remarked upon first witnessing as "somebody really incredible".

As many new music fans know, Ben Folds Five is a Chapel Hill, NC trio featuring drums, bass and that now infamous baby grand piano. Wolmark's approach, development, patience and belief in BFF should serve as an excellent case study for any new manager. Wolmark professes one has to work for "a band you believe inŠthat you honestly believe can reach the massesŠand then have the patience even when those around you may not." By example, Wolmark illuminates the successes of a legacy of bands from the Beatles to the Police, to Dave Matthews Band - all working hard from the earliest stages by touring incessantly and building their audiences grass roots style.

Ben Folds left the small clubs of New York City (Bitter End, Café Sine) to put together a permanent band in North Carolina by finding Robert Sledge (bass) and Darren Jessee (drums). New manager Alan Wolmark and the band all agreed to pursue music in which the real piano element was critical in all recordings and performances, no exceptions. Soon some rehearsals led to a string of eight North Carolina gigs, all booked by Wolmark, starting at The Blind Tiger in Greensboro, NC.

Sensing the band was getting tight, Wolmark chanced two low-key showcase gigs back up in New York but he did not invite any record labels. "I invited journalists, Ben's publisher, booking agents and mostly friends," claims Wolmark, "and told them they were going to see something amazing" So the buzz of amazement began on May 21, 1994 at the Greenwich Village jaunt friendly and familiar to new talent, the Lion's Den. Wolmark is still so struck by the band's live show he swears he "conducts no business when the band plays - I just don't want to miss anything" which reveals that there is always time to schmooze before and after the performance and the band will also appreciate their manager's full on-stage attention. Wolmark worked BFF's strengths to an advantage in the developmental stage by booking the band solid in New York (New Music Seminar, Brownies), the Carolinas and all in between - as well as investing the band's early gig stash in a Ryder Truck big enough to ensure the delivery of the piano to every performance. By Spring 1995, BFF headlined their way through small clubs and found a devoted audience. By creating a live demand for the band, the record labels perked up with interest, though Wolmark never pitched the band and only sent out a few tapes, declaring victory for the piano in a world of alternative guitars - and for the concepts of hard work and patience.

"Caroline Records was the most excited and interested in the band and had the most effective way - on an indie-vibe level - to distribute, publicize, and support the live touring in an organized fashion" so they decided to 'go indie' for the fist couple albums and then look for a major", exclaimed Wolmark. By the time the band's self-titled debut release on Caroline came out July 25, 1995, William Morris Agency's Marsha Vlassic was on the team and the buzz had grown so huge that Wolmark had to begin steps to negotiate out of the indie deal for the long term interest and security of BFF. Vlassic was booking headline gigs in support slots with Better Than Ezra and Heather Nova. BFF remained constantly on the road (one month off in a thirteen month stretch in 1995), they became understandably tired but had the will to continue - a key success ingredient Wolmark points out. With major label A&R flying in to all shows in the second half of 1995, Wolmark took his time deciding on a major to recommend to his client. He still took into account the sentiment of the band's original supporter Caroline Records. Caroline basically put the decision into Wolmark's hands to choose the most appropriate label for them to negotiate with.

By January 1996, BFF and Wolmark chose 550/Sony, the major that convinced them they would not interfere with the band's steady development. 1996 became the most successful touring year for BFF, still on the strength of their first album, with the first three months hitting the U.S., Europe and surprisingly Japan. In Japan, the band received huge retail backing (via the HMV chain) and support from their publisher Sony/ATV Music leading to - get this in the 90's - unsolicited commercial radio airplay. Touring highlights followed with the venerable Lollapalooza second stage, European festivals, and an east coast run supporting Neil Young.

With Sony/550 ready to break BFF to a wider mass audience with the second full length release, Wolmark cautioned that he had to carefully and politically reinforce to all involved in the project that the best approach was to pick up from where they left off, to "slowly build and understand where the band isŠbut now we had better distribution, a better sales force, were playing bigger venues, all the while radio was still not breaking the band into the top 20 in the U.S." With the new release Whatever and Ever Amen, in early 1997, Wolmark approached the world with BFF by staggering release dates territory-by-territory so the band can follow each release with tour dates. They actually took a chance on releasing first in Japan and they had a #1 debut album and single and quickly went platinum. Australia become a big market for the band as a radio poll of over 300,000 fans, the largest poll of its kind anywhere, voted BFF #3 best band and song of the year. BFF then released in Europe and calculated the timing right to follow up with a big tour. The net result, BFF has landed two top 40 U.K. singles thus far. Then BFF returned with a vengeance to the U.S. by breaking up tour legs, crossing the country one way, flying to foreign territories, then returning to the U.S. for another leg (including the HORDE tour) and cementing a cyclical touring process critical to breaking bands in America. Now the band was needing minimal tour support from their new major label so they sat in a healthy financial position. An album and a half later, BFF seems to finally be breaking in America with a gold record and momentum that only seems to be gathering. While the radio and MTV success of 'Brick' has helped, it seems more like an inevitable long term career success is in the making through hard work and proper guidance--and, perhaps most importantly, because of a strong contribution to the quality of music in an over-saturated U.S. rock market.

Alan Wolmark's bands do things to contribute to the industry and our musical culture, and so does he as a manager and his commitment to the MMF. "There's a need for it - I want to do things to contribute - it's the same reason I became a manager in the first place - to contribute in our shared world of music." He, and this writer, encourage all members to act and do the same - contribute, communicate, learn this management craft.

"I'm always learning something" - Wolmark ends the interview.

Both Alan Wolmark and Jack Bookbinder are dedicated members of the MMF and its Board of Directors.