Stanley Herbert Polley (April 7, 1922 – July 20, 2009) was an American

entertainment manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee the day-to-da ...

and fraudster active in the 1960s and 1970s. His clients included rock band

Badfinger Badfinger were a Welsh rock band formed in Swansea, who were active from the 1960s to the 1980s. Their best-known lineup consisted of Pete Ham (vocals, guitar), Mike Gibbins (drums), Tom Evans (bass), and Joey Molland (guitar). They are rec ...

, musician

Al Kooper Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt; February 5, 1944) is a retired American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears, although he did not stay with the group long enough to share its popularity. ...

, and singer

Lou Christie Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco (born February 19, 1943), known professionally as Lou Christie, is an American pop and soft rock singer-songwriter known for several hits in the 1960s, including his 1966 US chart-topper "Lightnin' Strikes" and 1969 ...

. Throughout his career, Polley defrauded a number of clients and associates, most notably Badfinger.

Biography

Polley was born on April 7, 1922, in New York City. After serving as a corporal in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he practiced law and worked in retail shops before beginning his managerial career in New York's garment industry. He began artist management after he met Lou Christie in the mid-1960s. It was through his association with Christie that he met and began working with other artists in the New York and Los Angeles entertainment fields. In 1968, Polley formed a company called ''Five Arts Management,'' for his work with singer

, musician

, arranger

Charles Calello Charles Calello (born August 24, 1938) is an American arranger, composer, conductor, record producer, and singer born in Newark, New Jersey. Calello attended Newark Arts High School and the Manhattan School of Music, in New York City. His track ...

, TV director Michael Cooper, composer

Sandy Linzer Sandy Linzer (born 1941) is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer, who is best known for his songwriting collaborations with Denny Randell and Bob Crewe in the 1960s and 1970s. He co-wrote hits including "A Lover's Concerto", "Let ...

and WABC disc jockey Bob Lewis. He formed further companies for legal and accounting purposes to manage artists including composers

Irwin Levine Irwin Jesse Levine (March 23, 1938 – January 21, 1997)
- accessed April 11, 2012 was an American songwriter, who co-wrote ...

and Larry Brown. In 1970, Polley registered ''Badfinger Enterprises, Inc.'' as a corporate entity for management of the Welsh rock group

, which had no American representation at the time. In 1971, Polley was named during

US Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

investigation hearings as an intermediary between unnamed crime figures and a New York Supreme Court judge. Most of Polley's American clients said they were already suspicious of their manager by this point, but the publicity of the hearings convinced several to sever ties with him. The following year, in 1972, Polley negotiated a record contract with

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

for Badfinger, which called for advances to be paid into an

escrow account An escrow is a contractual arrangement in which a third party (the stakeholder or escrow agent) receives and disburses money or property for the primary transacting parties, with the disbursement dependent on conditions agreed to by the transacti ...

. In 1974, Warner's publishing division filed a lawsuit against Polley when it was unsuccessful in locating the funds. The legal morass crippled Badfinger financially; band leader

Pete Ham Peter William Ham (27 April 1947 – 24 April 1975) was a Welsh singer, songwriter and guitarist best known as a lead vocalist of and composer for the 1970s rock band Badfinger, whose hit songs include " No Matter What", " Day After Day" and " ...

died by suicide on April 24, 1975, leaving behind a note directly blaming Polley for his financial ruin. Bandmate Tom Evans died by suicide on November 19, 1983. In 1991, Polley pleaded no contest to charges of misappropriating funds and money laundering in Riverside County, California. Aeronautics engineer Peter Brock accused Polley of swindling him out of $250,000 () after the two set up a corporation to manufacture airplane engines. Polley was placed on probation for five years and ordered by the court to return all missing funds to Brock, although the complainant said the restitution never materialized. Polley died in

Rancho Mirage, California Rancho Mirage is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 17,218 at the 2010 census, up from 13,249 at the 2000 census, but the seasonal (part-time) population can exceed 20,000. Incorporated in 1973 and locate ...

, on July 20, 2009. He is interred in the

Riverside National Cemetery Riverside National Cemetery (RNC) is a cemetery located in Riverside, California, dedicated to the interment of United States military personnel. The cemetery covers , making it the largest cemetery managed by the National Cemetery Administratio ...

in Riverside, California.

Clients

Polley's clients included singer-producer

Hank Medress Henry "Hank" Medress (November 19, 1938 – June 18, 2007) was an American singer and record producer, best known for his taking part in the American band The Tokens. Biography Medress was born in Brooklyn, New York City, where he attended "Abra ...

, the rock band Badfinger, musician

, singer

, Michael Cooper,

and Bob Lewis. Multiple financial dealings by Polley were found to be irregular and to the detriment of his clients, scamming them and causing the acts to fall apart.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Polley, Stan 1922 births 2009 deaths American money launderers American music managers American fraudsters American male criminals Badfinger Businesspeople from New York City Burials at Riverside National Cemetery Criminals from New York City United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews