The next few weeks has a few fairly random anniversaries with one central connection - and that seemed a good enough reason for our next In Depth essay to focus on the person in the middle of that.
Sixty years ago this week, a new pop duo knocked the all-conquering Beatles of the UK number one spot. Can't Buy Me Love was knocked off by World Without Love, ironically written by Lennon and McCartney (although strictly speaking it was probably just a McCartney tune).
The duo was Peter & Gordon, featuring a young Peter Asher, along with Gordon Waller.
Asher would also become an artist manager and record producer, which brings us to the second anniversary - that one of the albums he produced, Blind Man's Zoo by 10,000 Maniacs, will have its 35th anniversary in early May.
In the beginning:
Peter Asher was born in Middlesex in June 1944, which gives us a third link, as he will soon be turning eighty. His dad Richard was a consultant at the Central Middlesex Hospital (and also a broadcaster), while his mum Margaret was a professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He has two sisters, Clare and Jane, who became well known herself for acting and writing - as we will see, her story is closely linked with Peter's in the 1960s.
The young Asher turned his hand to acting at a young age - at 8 he began his career as a child actor in The Planter's Life, with Claudette Colbert and Jack Hawkins. He also became a day pupil at the prestigious Westminster School, which is where he met Waller. They became friends and formed a musical duo that played at local cafes.
Global Success:
The pair began their journey proper as Peter & Gordon in 1962, and million selling single World Without Love came along in 1964, bringing them several years of global fame. In fact, that single was one of three given to them by the Lennon / McCartney songwriting machine - they also got Nobody I Know (UK #10, US #12) and I Don't Want To See You Again (US #16). Why did they get these songs? Because from 1963 to 1968, Jane Asher was the girlfriend of Paul McCartney, with Macca living in the Asher family house for several years.
Peter & Gordon: World Without Love
(Audio with colour tv performance)
The hits kept coming, mostly from covers and workings of other people's songs. I Go To Pieces was written by Del Shannon, who they had just toured with. They also hit the Top20 in US and UK with their version of Buddy Holly's True Love Ways.
Woman is an interesting song as it was written by McCartney using a pseudonym, Bernard Webb, to see if he could have a hit record when his name wasn't attached to it (although initial US pressings had the writer listed as A. Smith). He needn't have worried - it made it to #14 in the US and #28 in the UK. To round off the Beatles connections - they also recorded a version of Lennon's If I Fell.
Peter & Gordon: I Go To Pieces
(B&W tv performance)
Their last big hit was Lady Godiva in 1966, which made the Top20 in US and UK. In total, across six years of activity, the pair managed ten US Top40 hits, seven in the UK, and four of which (World Without Love, Nobody I Know, True Love Ways, Lady Godiva) were million sellers.
Managing talent
In 1968, when Peter & Gordon finished, Asher became the Head of A&R at the Beatles fledgling Apple Records. Whilst there, he signed a then unknown James Taylor, producing his debut album. It wasn't a success, but Asher was convinced of Taylor's talent, and left Apple to follow him back to the US.
He would become Taylor's manager and produce most of his albums through the 70s and 80s, including Sweet Baby James, Mud Slide, JT and Flag. He was now heavily involved in the 'California Sound' and also became Linda Ronstadt's manager and producer, working on seven of her albums including Heart Like A Wheel, Simple Dreams and What's New.
James Taylor: Fire And Rain
(BBC In Concert, 1970)
The early 70s also saw him get involved in venues too, when he bought a stake in the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, partnering with the likes of Lou Adler and future record label bigwig David Geffen.
More producing, more management and a reunion
In the 1980s he produced albums for Cher and two for the aforementioned 10,000 Maniacs (In My Tribe and Blind Man's Zoo). The 90s saw him reach the top end of the artist management business; in 1995 he began a seven year stint as Senior VP at Sony Music Entertainment, before moving in 2002 to be the Co-President (and later President) of Sanctuary Artist Management. Lastly, he went to Strategic Artist Management in 2007, with his friend Simon Renshaw.
10,000 Maniacs: You Happy Puppet
(Official music video)
In 2005, Peter & Gordon reformed for some shows, starting with two benefit concerts in New York for Mike Smith of the Dave Clark 5, who had had a bad accident a few years earlier (the show also included Billy J Kramer, Denny Laine and The Zombies). They would go on to play at some Beatles conventions and the EPCOT Flower Power Series. In February 2009, they played a part in the 50th Anniversary tribute to Buddy Holly's death, at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake Iowa (the site of Holly's last ever show). It would also be one of the last for Peter & Gordon, as Waller died that July.
Peter & Gordon: True Love Ways
(B&W tv performance)
In more recent years, Asher has played in duos with British blues guitar legend Albert Lee and another one with Jeremy Clyde, who had performed in the early 60s duo Chad & Jeremy (who had a 1962 hit with Yesterday's Gone).
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