Derek Shulman
Encyclopedia
Derek Shulman is a British
musician
and singer, multi-instrumentalist, and record executive. From 1970 to 1980, he was lead vocalist for the band
Gentle Giant
.
band Simon Dupree and the Big Sound
, with Pete O'Flaherty, Eric Hine, Tony Ransley, and his brothers
Phil Shulman
and Ray Shulman
. Recording in the late 1960s for Parlophone Records, the band struggled with creative difficulties after experiencing some commercial success with several top 40 hits, including the top 10 hit "Kites". The band finally dissolved in 1970.
The three brothers went on to form progressive rock
band Gentle Giant
with guitarist
Gary Green
, keyboardist
Kerry Minnear
, and drummer
Martin Smith
(later replaced by Malcolm Mortimore
, who was himself replaced by John Weathers
). In Gentle Giant, Shulman became known as a dynamic frontman in the live environment and recorded twelve albums with the band over ten years. While the band secured a loyal following of fairly devout fans, they never experienced wide commercial success and, with their popularity waning slightly in the late 1970s, they disbanded after the release of the 1980 album Civilian.
Like his band members, Shulman was quite adept on several instruments, including saxophone
, recorder
, bass
and their own Shulberry
representative at PolyGram Records, where he rose to the ranks of Senior Vice President, he signed Bon Jovi
, Dan Reed Network
, Cinderella
, and Kingdom Come
, among many others. in 1988 he became President and C.E.O of Atco Records
(where he signed the progressive metal band Dream Theater
as well as Pantera
). He also re-established the careers of AC/DC
and Bad Company
both of whom sold multi-platinum albums under his watch. He then went on to become President of Roadrunner Records
overseeing signings like Slipknot
and Nickelback
. In March 2010 Derek Shulman established a new venture with international music impresario Leonardo Pavkovic called 2PLUS Music & Entertainment.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and singer, multi-instrumentalist, and record executive. From 1970 to 1980, he was lead vocalist for the band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
Gentle Giant
Gentle Giant
Gentle Giant were a British progressive rock band active between 1970 and 1980. The band was known for the complexity and sophistication of its music and for the varied musical skills of its members. All of the band members, except the first two drummers, were multi-instrumentalists...
.
Career
Shulman began his recording career as the singer of British popPop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
band Simon Dupree and the Big Sound
Simon Dupree and the Big Sound
Simon Dupree and the Big Sound were a British pop band formed by three brothers, Derek Shulman, born 1947 , Phil Shulman, born 1937 , and Ray Shulman, born 1949 .-Career:...
, with Pete O'Flaherty, Eric Hine, Tony Ransley, and his brothers
Sibling
Siblings are people who share at least one parent. A male sibling is called a brother; and a female sibling is called a sister. In most societies throughout the world, siblings usually grow up together and spend a good deal of their childhood socializing with one another...
Phil Shulman
Phil Shulman
Phil Shulman , was a member of the progressive rock group Gentle Giant from 1970 to 1972 and performed on their albums Gentle Giant, Acquiring the Taste, Three Friends and Octopus....
and Ray Shulman
Ray Shulman
Raymond Shulman is a British musician, and the youngest of three brothers in progressive rock band, Gentle Giant.Born in Portsmouth, Shulman's father was a trumpet player in a jazz band, and that was the first instrument he learned to play...
. Recording in the late 1960s for Parlophone Records, the band struggled with creative difficulties after experiencing some commercial success with several top 40 hits, including the top 10 hit "Kites". The band finally dissolved in 1970.
The three brothers went on to form progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
band Gentle Giant
Gentle Giant
Gentle Giant were a British progressive rock band active between 1970 and 1980. The band was known for the complexity and sophistication of its music and for the varied musical skills of its members. All of the band members, except the first two drummers, were multi-instrumentalists...
with guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Gary Green
Gary Green
Gary Green is a British musician. During the 1970s, he was the guitarist for the progressive rock band Gentle Giant. Green was with the band from the debut album Gentle Giant all the way to the last album Civilian. Green's style was different from most of his peers, being a more "blues" based...
, keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
Kerry Minnear
Kerry Minnear
Kerry Minnear is a classically trained multi-instrumentalist who played in the innovative progressive rock band Gentle Giant during the 1970s....
, and drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Martin Smith
Martin Smith (musician)
Martin Smith , was a drummer for Gentle Giant and Simon Dupree and the Big Sound. He played on the first two Gentle Giant albums, Gentle Giant and Acquiring the Taste, before being replaced by Malcolm Mortimore...
(later replaced by Malcolm Mortimore
Malcolm Mortimore
Malcolm Paul Mortimore , is a drummer who has played with Gentle Giant, Spike Heatley, Tom Jones, Troy Tate, Ian Dury, G.T. Moore, Mick and Chris Jagger, Frankie Miller, Oliver Jones, and Barney Kessel.-External links:*...
, who was himself replaced by John Weathers
John Weathers
John Patrick 'Pugwash' Weathers is a drummer, best known for playing with the innovative progressive rock band Gentle Giant.-Early life:...
). In Gentle Giant, Shulman became known as a dynamic frontman in the live environment and recorded twelve albums with the band over ten years. While the band secured a loyal following of fairly devout fans, they never experienced wide commercial success and, with their popularity waning slightly in the late 1970s, they disbanded after the release of the 1980 album Civilian.
Like his band members, Shulman was quite adept on several instruments, including saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, recorder
Recorder
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
, bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and their own Shulberry
Record executive
Following his recording career, Shulman became a prominent record executive. Starting as an A&RA&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
representative at PolyGram Records, where he rose to the ranks of Senior Vice President, he signed Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...
, Dan Reed Network
Dan Reed Network
The Dan Reed Network is a funk rock band formed by Dan Reed in Portland, Oregon, United States, in 1984. Dan Reed lended his vocals to a 1990 rap rock collaboration with the Portland Trail Blazers, "Bust a Bucket".-Breathless beginnings:...
, Cinderella
Cinderella (band)
Cinderella is an American heavy metal band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They emerged in the mid-1980s with a series of multi-platinum albums and hit singles whose music videos received heavy MTV rotation. They were famous for being a glam metal band, but then shifted over towards a more hard...
, and Kingdom Come
Kingdom Come (band)
Kingdom Come is a hard rock band fronted by Hamburg-born vocalist Lenny Wolf. The group's first album, Kingdom Come was that band's only international hit. It currently consists of an entirely German line-up.-History:...
, among many others. in 1988 he became President and C.E.O of Atco Records
Atco Records
ATCO Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, currently operating through WMG's Rhino Entertainment.-Beginnings:Atco Records was founded in 1955 as a division of Atlantic Records. It was devised as an outlet for productions by one of Atlantic's founders, Herb Abramson, who...
(where he signed the progressive metal band Dream Theater
Dream Theater
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would...
as well as Pantera
Pantera
Pantera was an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas. Formed by the Abbott brothers, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell in 1981, bassist Rex Brown would join in late 1981 with vocalist Terry Glaze. Looking for a new and heavier sound, Pantera had Terry replaced in 1987 with Phil Anselmo as...
). He also re-established the careers of AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
and Bad Company
Bad Company
Bad Company were an English rock supergroup founded in 1973, consisting of two former Free band members — singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke — as well as Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs and King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell. Peter Grant, who, in years prior, was a key component of...
both of whom sold multi-platinum albums under his watch. He then went on to become President of Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records is an American record label that concentrates primarily on heavy metal bands. It is currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.-History:...
overseeing signings like Slipknot
Slipknot (band)
Slipknot is an American heavy metal band from Des Moines, Iowa. Formed in 1995, the group was founded by percussionist Shawn Crahan and bassist Paul Gray...
and Nickelback
Nickelback
Nickelback is a Canadian rock band from Hanna, Alberta. Since 1995 the band has included guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist and back-up vocalist Ryan Peake and bassist Mike Kroeger.. The band's current drummer and percussionist is Daniel Adair who has been with the band since 2005....
. In March 2010 Derek Shulman established a new venture with international music impresario Leonardo Pavkovic called 2PLUS Music & Entertainment.
External links
- http://www.wewillrockyoublog.com/2009/10/27/interview-with-derek-shulman-of-gentle-giant-part-one/ Shulman interview October 27, 2009 - Part One.
- http://www.wewillrockyoublog.com/2009/10/29/interview-with-derek-shulman-of-gentle-giant-part-two/ Shulman interview October 27, 2009 - Part Two.
- http://www.archive.org/details/DerekShulmanOnOutsightRadioHoursJune302010 Shulman interview June 30, 2009 - Outsight Radio Hours.