Andrew Ian Ross (31 January 1956 – 25 January 2022) was a British music executive, influential in the history of
Britpop
Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...
in the mid-1990s.
Early life and education
Ross was born on 31 January 1956. He came from south London and attended
Dulwich College
Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...
. He studied economic and social history from 1975 to 1978 at the
University of Leicester
The University of Leicester ( ) is a public university, public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park, Leicester, Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, Univ ...
, gaining a BA degree. At university he formed the band
Disco Zombies.
[Kellman, And]
"Disco Zombies Biography"", Allmusic
. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
Career
Ross started working in record shops. He worked for the Inland Revenue">Allmusic">"Disco Zombies Biography"", Allmusic
. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
Career
Ross started working in record shops. He worked for the Inland Revenue for two years to get a mortgage. Through a friend he became a part-time music journalist. He left the Inland Revenue around 1986 to head Food Records in central Camden, whilst still a part-time journalist for ''Sounds (magazine), Sounds'' magazine. Food Records had been formed in the mid-1980s by David Balfe.
Ross saw Blur (band), Blur at the Islington Powerhaus in November 1989; of live music in pubs he said that "it's essential for any artist to play in front of a live audience for interaction". Blur also played at the
Bull and Gate
Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England, in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town, close to Hampstead Heath.
Kentish Town likely derives its name from Ken-ditch or Caen-ditch, meaning the "bed of a waterw ...
in
Kentish Town
Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England, in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town, close to Hampstead Heath.
Kentish Town likely derives its name from Ken-ditch or Caen-ditch, meaning the "bed of a waterw ...
. He signed Blur on 7 March 1990; the band were given a small advance and a celebration was held at a pizza house on
Beak Street
Beak Street is a street in Soho, London, that runs roughly east–west between Regent Street and Lexington Street.
Location
On its south side, Beak Street is joined by Warwick Street, Upper John Street, Upper James Street, Bridle Lane and G ...
.
Ross said that the
Reading Festival
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading, Berkshire, Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend ...
in August 1993 (where they headlined the ''
Melody Maker
''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...
'' stage on Saturday) was the turning point of Blur's career.
EMI
EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
bought out Food Records in early 1994. He often went to the Good Mixer pub in north London, an Irish bar on Inverness Street, which had been developed by Bal Croce of
the Sting-rays
The Sting-rays (often credited The Stingrays) were a British rock band from Greater London which recorded on Ace Records' garage and psychedelic subsidiary Big Beat and Joe Foster's '' Kaleidoscope Sound'' in the 1980s.''Maximum Rocknroll'' No ...
;
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey ( ; born 22 May 1959), known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 198 ...
was one of the regulars, with
Pulp
Pulp may refer to:
* Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit
* Pulp (band), an English rock band
Engineering
* Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper
* Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture
...
and
Menswear
Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...
.
With
Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn (, ; born 23 March 1968) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman, main vocalist, and lyricist of the rock band Blur (band), Blur and the co-creator and primary musical con ...
, Ross decided to bring forward the release of Blur's 1995 single "
Country House
image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...
". The album ''
13'' was the last Blur album associated with Food Records. He also signed
the Supernaturals
The Supernaturals are a guitar-based indie rock band from Glasgow, Scotland. The band signed to Parlophone in 1996, and had a string of singles which were taken from their three albums and four EPs. Other members included Mark Guthrie, Derek ...
from Glasgow and worked with the Bluetones.
Personal life and death
Ross died from complications following treatment for cancer on 25 January 2022, at the age of 65, just six days before his 66th birthday.
See also
*
John Robb
* Saul Galpern of
Nude Records
Nude Records is an independent record label, established in August 1991 in London. The label was set up and operated by Saul Galpern, who had previously worked with artists such as Simply Red, The Fall, Julian Cope, The Triffids, The Slits ...
, who signed Suede
* ''
Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Brit Pop'', 2003 film
*
Mike Smith also signed Blur for publishing
References
External links
NMEBBC 6 Music April 2014One Better Day - 6 Music February 2020
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Andy
1956 births
2022 deaths
People from London
Alumni of the University of Leicester
Blur (band)
Britpop
English music journalists
English music managers
People educated at Dulwich College