1. A lesson in PR
by lon Gittins
IUl4:d*k#H:rordson rccognisad o glorin! hole
in the music businesc Promotons
ssaor *'hile wo*iog for o concerl
;r"d; vi:iling
-univecity ond
[onrl.trriic rtudCnH unioni. She
krita th"m "dullond drob Ploces",
dssoemte 6or record comPonY ol'
tgntion. Ihe record comPonies,
however, were ignoring lhem.
-S""s
iictorUson: "So I stoaed
t""R-,itring ond gMng lhem o fuw
records
-
ond lheY were rc grole-
tu[.
"l thought This seems o good
ideo. Why oren'l record comPon-
ies dcinq lhisT'
A"d 6 StreebAheod wos bom.
Now the Soulh London PR firm oc-
curies o unique ploce in lhe Pre'
mifions set up, by concentrcting
outclv on lhe colleqe circuit
' drtrst'Cothy found moior lobels
relicent to dip inl,o the new oreo;
Sheets Aheod wete on unknown
ouonlitv.
'.'Ro{,.t lhon using us, rheY [the
lobelsl oreferred lo put money
stroight
'into oa od in lvlelodY
lAoEer or NME."
Beooors Bonouei ond lslond
borhiHowed on Lorlv inierest Yel
il wos Grco, o Vrgin offshoot,
u,hich first took the
-plunge. We
worked on Neneh CherrY, ond
hove since done SYdneY
Younoblood. Hue & CrY, Julio
Fordh-om ond Poul Hoig f6r lhem.
For Neneh's olbum, we set uP o
whole series of lounch nighh, using
obout 30 sfudent unions, ond the
response wos greot!
"Movbe the record comPonY
wouldri't hove oimed ot the studenl
mo*et, but it suited her PerfecflY,
A lol of oirls ore inio her woY ot
thinking; leing o girl ond being
skong.-And we sow thol. Il wos o
reol successl"
Sheets Aheod's ethos is to keot
the sfudent mo*et os o sePorote
ond poten$olly lucrolive one
-with the some resources ond Pro-
fessionolism os for other quorters.
Primorily, ifs o motler o{ moking
sure studenk ore owore of the new
r6leoses
- ond thot lheY get to
heor them.
Richordson poinh to ih com-
poign for Phonogrom bond Texos
os on exomDle.
'The bond hod orronged show-
cose oios round lhe colleqes. One
montf irior to this, we hoil Product
which we sent on lo sfudent Press
for review. We olso did leofeh for
distribution on compus highlighting
the gig. ond olso their single. Stu-
dent-ridio stotions were supplied
with ohotos, biogs ond Produci, os
werethe press, ond Enh Secs were
orovided'wiih copies o{ the seven-
inch single br the union
iukeboxes."
' One Saeeb Aheod innovolion is
the inkoduction oI lounch nighh in
sfudent unions. Wth o guoronteed
oudience of oboui 500 studenh, it
will orovide Dre-releose cossettes
for student discos for DJs to PloY
ond hiohliohh. Meonwhile, Streeh
Aheod"sio* iolk to studenh ond fill
in forms gouging their reoclions.
They ihen-go-botk lo the record
commnv ond moke o oresentotion
on lhe success, or otherwise. of lhe
oroiect
' Skeeh Aheod keeps college in-
fomed of new producl with rePs
who visit the colleges regulorly on
o two-week cvcle. Thev will visit the
Ents Secs orid suPPlY them 'with
oroducf. ond tell them who(s hoP-
Lnino in the press ond rodiol
' He Lr she will reieive o coPY for
the iukebo+ plus some for lhe stu-
deni DJs tooether with reoction
sheeh, ond ibpies {or the student
o."o iot review. "lfs o nice little
irckooe!" declores Richordson.
' So ilre colleges get o comPre-
hensive informotion ond Producl
service which the/d othemise miss
out on.
Other octs which Streets Aheod
hos wo*ed on lolelY include the
Weddino Present, Jesus Jones, Elvis
Costelloi the Primilives ond The
Fomilv Cqt.
Yef isn't it the cose they only exisl
throuoh olhers' ine{ficiencY? lf
lobels- did their iob PtoPedY,
Streeh Aheod wouldn't be there?
'1#ell. if record comPonies,
ooenk. oromoters ond so forth did
"Er
tteii ocl looether ond did the
iLings they sho-uld, there'd be no
need for us," she ogrees-
"Unlike us. thev con'l send rePs
oround every college like we do,
becouse lhev need o certoin com-
olement of oroduci lo moke it Pro{-
itoble," she odds, rising to Streets
Aheod's de{ence.
"Also, of course, colleges Per-
ceive record componies os iust lhot
-
bio coroorotibns which might
leove"behind two or three good
sinoles ond o lot of rubbish. And
the-y reoresenl the Estoblishment'
''So we irv to keep o degree o{
ouolitv contiol obout il; we don'l
toke on eveMhing. l'd rother tum
people dowri. onil woit for better
product "' Yel Skeets Aheod hos olso been
bronching oul. As well os colleges,
they've fumed theiroftention to on-
othlr neolected promolions oreo
-
the intrie clubi.
'This is something else we felt
wos sorely neglected. Our rePs go
to the clubs, ge1 responses from DJs
ond compile regionol resPonses
which we-then collote. We db this
obout four weeks oheod of releose
dotes, which leh us tell lhe com-
ponies where their weok or shong
t.*r ore. Then their strike force
or rodio people con copitolise,"
she sovs.
A prime exomple of the strength
of this tvoe of oromotion wos lhe
rrccess 6I Jesus'Jones' lnfo Freoko.
'W'e sewiced it to clubs o full five
weeks before releosg ond Provid-
ed cluba with I 2 inchers, Posters
ond bioos. A lot of promolions
oeoole Jon't do thot, but il helPs
keei people clued in, especiolly
with o new orlist. Nolionol re-
soonse wos enthusioslic, ond due
ti lhe tenocitv of lhe DJs ond lhe
speciolised rolio interesl, the single
inlered the chorts ot 50 ond built
to o resoectoble 41."
The fiim choroes €250 o week
for lhis service,
-ond
will run it for
three or four week uPfront ond
one week ofter releose. For
el-000. it comoores to o decent
od'in one of dre music weeklies.
Sheeh Aheod is now looking to in-
hoduce o college chorl showing
whofs going down well on notion-
ol compuset ond on olternotive
donce thort to do the some for
indie clubs.
O Skeeh Aheod is bosed ot 8
Gronville Pork London SE l 3 7EA
Tel: Ol-852-8836.
STREEiS AHEAD'i Crtv Richadson fti11ht) ond ossistont Stephonie Reid:
-tl'ii",i ii iwnies, ogienb, promotersZid so forlh got thei oct togerher
thate'd be no need for us'