Strat!: The Charismatic Life & Times of Tony Stratton Smith

by Chris Groom, Chris Charlesworth (Editor)

A quietly spoken, true English eccentric with something of a rebellious streak, Tony Stratton Smith initially charmed and blustered his way into the music business as a manager during the early 1960s and a few years later, when the record labels stopped playing by what he believed to be the rules, he simply went and formed his own -The Famous Charisma Label - and set about spinning the record business on its head. An independent label like no other, it is fair to say that without Strat's total belief and unwavering long-term support there would be no Genesis - Phil Collins has said as much - and a long line of artists owe Tony a similar debt of gratitude, from Monty Python to Malcolm McLaren, Lindisfarne to Sir John Betjeman, Vivian Stanshall to Julian Lennon. A former sports journalist and close friend to Jimmy Greaves and Sir Matt Busby (Strat narrowly missed a seat in the Munich Air crash) he later became a popular figure in the horse racing world. But making money was never very high on Tony's agenda, simply a means to an end that enabled him to fund the music and mayhem that brought him so much enjoyment. Strat was never happier than when the artists that he had so carefully nurtured were fulfilling their creative potential, delighting in working with the talents of Peter Gabriel, Alan Hull, Clifford T. Ward, Howard Werth and Peter Hammill. Ultimately, what he really cared about were the people, the creativity, about imagination, inspiration and risk, and the sheer joy to be had in bringing all those elements together, lighting the Charisma-pink touch paper and standing back, glass in hand, to watch what might happen when the sparks began to fly.

Genres: Music

352 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 11, 2021

Reviews

[Ray Smillie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will be honest with you in that all I knew about Tony Stratton Smith was he owned Charisma records home of Monty Python, Genesis and Peter Gabriel, with the famous Mad Hatter label, so I went into this with an open mind. He wasn't your archetypal business man. Comes over as a likeable gentleman much loved by, well, most of those he came into contact with, and lived a life and a half. Starting off as a sports reporter, getting into the horse racing game and then setting up a record label. Liked a drink and a smoke. A very interesting chap indeed.

[Per-Olof · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fascinating read about a truly amazing guy! The fact that he managed many of my favorite artists on the Charisma label obviously made the book even more interesting to me. It's difficult not to like Strat after reading this and that seems to be true for nearly all the people he worked with.

[William Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read