Royston Eldridge
A student of Sir George Martin, Royston Eldridge spent his early years as a scribe on Melody Maker in the '60s and '70s, before going on to become Chris Wright's wingman during the golden age of Chrysalis Records. He played a key role in the rise of Jethro Tull, Billy Idol, Sinéad O’Connor and many more. As A&R Director at the label in 1979, he signed the Specials and their 2-Tone label to a ground-breaking deal that gave the Coventry group not only their own label identity, but the right to sign and release 10 other singles. More recently, he and his son Sam have managed the likes of Liam Gallagher, pop powerhouse Jess Glynne and BRIT-winning singer/songwriter Tom Odell.
68 articles
List of articles in the library
The Small Faces: 'Lazy Sunday' The Hit Stevie Didn't Want
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 4 May 1968
WHAM! — It's the Small Faces screaming back up the chart with one of their best-ever singles, the fun-packed, all-action 'Lazy Sunday', now at number ...
Eire Apparent: Revolution Club, London
Live Review by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 21 December 1968
EIRE APPARENT were in trouble from their opening number at London's Revolution last week. First they were told to turn the volume down and then ...
Marmalade, winners of 'Ob-La-Di' chart race
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 21 December 1968
MARMALADE WOULD have covered 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da', moving up the MM Pop 30 this week, even if it had been taken off a double album by ...
Johnny Johnson & the Bandwagon: "British People Great"
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 4 January 1969
"THE MOST out-of-sight thing about Britain is the people. They are so warm, they get right down in with you." That's the Bandwagon's reaction to ...
Love Sculpture Write To The Russian Embassy
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 4 January 1969
THE COMRADES at the Russian Embassy could help three boyos from Cardiff follow up one of the most unusual hits of 1968. ...
Sergio Mendes: Brasil '66 Bring A Taste Of Latin Rock
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 18 January 1969
WE'VE HAD just about every kind of rock you can imagine — rock and roll, rocksteady, hard-rock... but now there's a new one and it's ...
Barbra Streisand: Face To Face With The Funny Girl...
Report and Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 25 January 1969
SHE SWEPT into her press reception at London's Dorchester Hotel like a queen. ...
Randy Newman: The Man They All Dig Doesn't Dig Himself
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 25 January 1969
BEATLE PAUL McCartney phoned to say how much he likes his work; Frank Sinatra wants him to write an album but the man himself doesn't ...
Savoy Brown Take on a New Identity
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 1 February 1969
WHEN THE Savoy Brown first started the only other band on the British blues scene was John Mayall... but that was four years ago before ...
Fleetwood Mac: Sold Out? Gerroff!
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 1 March 1969
PETER GREEN defends Fleetwood Mac ...
The Hollies, Graham Nash: Fingers are crossed for Hollies "stopgap" single
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 8 March 1969
POP'S MOST consistent hitmakers, the Hollies, are back on the chart trail for the first time without Graham Nash but feeling more of a group ...
Peter Sarstedt: Girl Dentist Put Peter On The Road To Fame!
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 8 March 1969
PETER SARSTEDT would probably still be tramping footsore and penniless around Europe if it wasn't for a Danish dental student named Anita who stopped songwriter ...
STEVIE WONDER explains the latest sound from Tamla... FUNKEDELIC!
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 15 March 1969
AT THE AGE of 19, Stevie Wonder is something of a soul business veteran. But after meeting and seeing him in action, it's easy to ...
Live Review by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 15 March 1969
Stevie's a big star now ...
Marv Johnson: Part-time Hitmaker from the Grocery Shop
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 22 March 1969
THE STORY behind the success of Motown man Marv Johnson — one of the host of Tamla invaders in the chart — reads like a ...
The Foundations: Foundations Aren't Going To Desert The British Public
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 29 March 1969
THE FOUNDATIONS aren't going to permanently desert these shores for the richer pickings across the Atlantic even though they're only now losing the title of ...
Marvin Gaye, Tammi Terrell: Marvin Gaye: With The Solo Success Comes A Little Sadness
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 5 April 1969
MARVIN GAYE PHONES FROM DETROIT AS 'GRAPEVINE' HITS No. 1 ...
Nina Simone: Nina's The Medium For The Message
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 19 April 1969
NINA SIMONE, the artist, is the High Priestess of Soul, the blues singer and the jazz pianist. Nina Simone, the person, is compelling, formidable, and ...
Johnny Nash: Wise Guy With A Difference
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 26 April 1969
POP IS A precarious business as so many artists will tell you. The fame and fortune that arrives overnight can disappear at an even faster ...
Bob & Earl: Bob and Earl Mystery is Solved
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 10 May 1969
AS THE ancient 'Harlem Shuffle' made pop history by jumping into the top ten six years late, American due Bob and Earl arrived in Britain ...
Mary Wells, Cecil Womack: Mary Wells: Mother-To-Be Mary Comes Back
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 10 May 1969
MARY WELLS, onetime Beatles' favourite and million-seller singer, is back in Britain to prove she's still one of the world's most talented female vocalists. ...
Jethro Tull: Now Jethro Tull Aim For The Pop Thirty
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 10 May 1969
UNDERGROUND GROUPS as a rule aren't concerned about the singles charts. ...
Joe South: A Kaftan and Cups of English Tea
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 24 May 1969
Royston Eldridge catches up with Joe South over breakfast at the May Fair ...
Steppenwolf: Stop the washing up... Steppenwolf are here
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 24 May 1969
THERE WAS a time when pop music was simply pleasant sounds. It was music to do things by, cheerful little tunes with happy lyrics, but ...
Tom Jones: Tom's the talk of the town — New York, that is
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 7 June 1969
"HE'S THE hottest artist in the world and Wales should be proud of him," said a jubilant Gordon Mills about Tom Jones, the man who's ...
Simon & Garfunkel: What friendship means to Simon and Garfunkel
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 7 June 1969
THE INFLUENCE of today's rock musicians is a very real one, and Paul Simon is a songwriter who reflects the times and society we live ...
The Rolling Stones, Mick Taylor: Mick Taylor: The Other Mick...
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 21 June 1969
MICK TAYLOR, 20-year-old ex-Bluesbreaker from Welwyn, and for just over a week the new guitarist with the group that first brought rebellion to pop. ...
Led Zeppelin: How They Got Led Zeppelin Off The Ground...
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 5 July 1969
OUT IN THE wilds of Willesden, a not-so-salubrious part of North London, Britain's heaviest band are cutting tracks for their second album before they return ...
The Rolling Stones: One Plus One (Dir. Jean-Luc Godard)
Film/DVD/TV Review by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 19 July 1969
SYMPATHY For The Devil, re-titled One Plus One, is the Jean-Luc Godard film which features the Stones as they were before Brian's death — enough ...
Desmond Dekker: What is the secret of rock-steady's success?
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 19 July 1969
THE SUCCESS of the strangely titled 'It Mek', which made a mammoth jump into the higher reaches of the chart last week, means that Desmond ...
Crosby Stills Nash & Young: Messrs Crosby Stills and Nash Enlarge the Company
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 9 August 1969
CROSBY, STILLS and Nash are no longer just the ex-Byrd, ex-Buffalo Springfield and former Hollie supergroup. They've added new partners to the rock band with ...
Erma Franklin, Wilson Pickett: Wilson Pickett/Erma Franklin: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 27 September 1969
A Vote For Wilson (Pickett That Is!) ...
Joe Cocker: Why Did Cocker's White Soul Fail?
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 18 October 1969
ROYSTON ELDRIDGE TALKING TO JOE COCKER ON THE EVE OF AN AMERICAN TOUR ...
Arthur Conley, Otis Redding: Arthur Conley: Soul's not dead, it's just changed
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 15 November 1969
OTIS REDDING and Sam Cooke, whose tragic deaths robbed the music world of two of its biggest talents, were both responsible for much of the ...
Gene Vincent: Vincent, The Great Rock And Roller is Back
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 15 November 1969
...
Jimmy Cliff: Respectability to Reggae
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 22 November 1969
JIMMY CLIFF is the hip young Jamaican who's brought respectability to reggae. His 'Wonderful World, Beautiful People' is a development of the simple ska sound ...
The Nashville Teens, Gene Vincent: Gene Vincent, Nashville Teens: Palladium, London
Live Review by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 29 November 1969
GENE VINCENT COULD DO NO WRONG ...
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 29 November 1969
...on the current Reggae boom ...
Live Review by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 29 November 1969
THERE AREN'T many groups in Britain who fans will queue in the rain for Taste, a trio of Irishmen formed a little over a year ...
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 6 December 1969
SELDOM HAS a group caused such a stir with a first album. America's Chicago became the most talked about band in Britain on the strength ...
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 6 December 1969
THREE YEARS ago an unknown singer recorded what was to become one of the greatest soul ballads of all time. ...
James Brown, Isaac Hayes, Taste: Albums from Isaac Hayes, Taste and James Brown
Review by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 10 January 1970
Isaac Hayes: Hot Buttered Soul (Stax) Tremendously successful in the States, this is the first solo album from Isaac Hayes, better known as the hit songwriter with Dave ...
Taste: A Taste of Free Form Rock and Roll
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 17 January 1970
THE ROCK revolution somehow missed France. While neighbours Germany and Scandinavia have followed similar lines to those developing here, the hip French have only recently ...
The Temptations: Temptations...
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 24 January 1970
...talking to Royston Eldridge ...
Chicago ...Moving From Jazz-Rock To Classical-Rock
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 31 January 1970
STEVIE WINWOOD'S 'I'm A Man', the 1967 hit for the old Spencer Davis group, has brought the jazz-rock combination of Chicago to the puzzling British ...
Live Review by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 31 January 1970
IT'S BEEN three years since a soul tour of such importance has been to Britain. Then, in the spring of 1967, it was Otis Redding ...
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: Smokey Robinson, Proving That Miracles Still Happen
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 14 February 1970
WILLIAM 'Smokey' Robinson is the lead singer of the Miracles, vice president of Motown Records and the man Dylan has described as "America's greatest living ...
Joe Cocker: Cocker and that Boogaloo Sound
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 21 February 1970
JOHN COCKER stopped fitting pipes for the Gas Board in order to exercise his own somewhat steely vocal tubes that were forged, in those early ...
Steve Cropper: Cropper: The Living Legend from Memphis
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 21 February 1970
A MELODY MAKER EXCLUSIVE BY ROYSTON ELDRIDGE ...
Blue Mink, Booker T & The MGs: Booker T. & the MGs, Blue Mink: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 28 February 1970
BOOKER T. JONES and his group of Memphis musicians don't belong in any bag. You have to forget the categories where they are concerned and ...
Profile and Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 14 March 1970
BLACK SABBATH, four unknown rock musicians from Birmingham have emerged from obscurity with what is probably the first true underground success since the days of ...
The Four Tops: Tamla's senior citizens
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 14 March 1970
THE SUCCESS of the Four Tops was instrumental in making the Motown sound of major importance in the development of rock music during the mid-Sixties. ...
Jimmy Page, Screaming Lord Sutch: Screaming Lord Sutch: Heavy Friends Help The Lord's Comeback
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 11 April 1970
LORD SUTCH is back! The perennial rocker has come screaming back on the rock scene, after two years of abdication in America, through the help ...
Brinsley Schwarz: From Kippington Lodge to the Empire State
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 18 April 1970
BRINSLEY SCHWARZ, the band born out of the small time frustrations of Kippington Lodge, are the outfit the whole of the rock media were taken ...
David Ruffin: Feelin' Good (Tamla Motown)
Review by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 18 April 1970
IT WAS expected that David Ruffin would be able to stretch out away from the confines of the Temptations and his first solo single and ...
Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick: Dionne Warwick — The Ability to Communicate an Emotion
Profile and Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 25 April 1970
DIONNE WARWICK'S beautiful performance in concert at London's Royal Albert Hall last week was a demonstration of how a rare talent overcomes any sort of ...
The Flock, Johnny Winter, Steamhammer: Johnny Winter, Flock, Steamhammer: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 25 April 1970
ANY AMERICAN rock act is guaranteed a standing ovation at London's Royal Albert Hall these days. Johnny Winter deserved one on Friday night at the ...
The Rolling Stones: Mick Taylor: A Year As A Stone
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Sounds, 10 October 1970
HATFIELD, Hertfordshire, is a long way from Altamont, California, and the Rolling Stones are a big step from John Mayall but Mick Taylor has made ...
The McCoys, Johnny Winter: Johnny Winter Speaking
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Sounds, 17 October 1970
THE IDEA of Johnny Winter, Texan albino, blues guitarist and underground legend, working with the McCoys, bubble-gum lightweights sold on their teenage looks, would have ...
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Sounds, 17 October 1970
ROBERT FRIPP doesn't look like a rock star with those funny little spectacles through which he watches a world that's still to feel the full ...
The Four Tops: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Royston Eldridge, Sounds, 17 October 1970
THE WORST part of growing up is that your teenage favourites tend to lose their magic as the years pass. Thankfully, whatever the Tops have ...
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Sounds, 31 October 1970
YES MADE the notional newspapers last week on the strength of their signing with Hemdale. They've been worthy of acclaim, however, during the past year ...
Creedence Clearwater Revival: Swamp Rock That Wasn't
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Sounds, 31 October 1970
The SOUNDS Talk-in — JOHN FOGERTY of Creedence Clearwater Revival: an exclusive interview by Royston Eldridge ...
Taste — the Split and the Future
Report and Interview by Royston Eldridge, Sounds, 31 October 1970
ROCK MUSIC today is schizophrenic. It's trying to be creative, an art form breaking through the barriers that have limited it for so long and ...
J. Geils Band: J. Geils Band (Atlantic 2400 105)
Review by Royston Eldridge, Sounds, 17 April 1971
VITALITY ...
James Brown: Superbad (Polydor 2310 089)
Review by Royston Eldridge, Sounds, 17 April 1971
HAVING ADMITTED that James Brown is the premier entertainer in soul after seeing him in concert at the Albert Hall, I thought that perhaps I ...
Jeff Beck, The Yardbirds: The Sounds Talk-in: Jeff Beck
Interview by Royston Eldridge, Sounds, 1 May 1971
IT'S BEEN a long wait but you've got a new group now. How long has it been together? ...
Stevie Wonder: Where I'm Coming From (Tamla Motown STML 11183)
Review by Royston Eldridge, Sounds, 31 July 1971
MOTOWN HAS always had a readily identifiable sound whether the artist be David Ruffin or the Four Tops. Until now, that is. ...
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