Scott Piering (13 September 1946,

Duluth, Minnesota Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

– 22 January 2000) was a successful and influential American-born music publicist for many

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

music acts, including Pulp,

The KLF The KLF (also known as the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, the JAMs, the Timelords and other names) are a British electronic band who originated in Liverpool and London in the late 1980s. Scottish people, Scottish musician Bill Drummond (alias Ki ...

The Smiths The Smiths were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1982, composed of Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (musician), Mike Joyce (drums). Morrissey and Marr formed the band's songwrit ...

(who he also managed),

Stereophonics Stereophonics are a Welsh pop and rock music, Welsh rock band formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in the Cynon Valley. The band consists of Kelly Jones (lead vocals, lead guitar, keyboards), Richard Jones (Stereophonics), Richard Jones (n ...

The Orb The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential ...

Placebo A placebo ( ) can be roughly defined as a sham medical treatment. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. Placebos are used in randomized clinical trials ...

Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

and

The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboardist, and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured Rapping, MC and vocalist Maxim (musician), Maxim, dancer and occasi ...

. He ran the publicity promotions consultancy Appearing.

Career

Piering was a concert promoter in his native country, before moving to the UK in 1980 where he set up and ran the promotions and press department at Rough Trade. He left Rough Trade to become the manager of

over the period covering their first three albums, setting up his own promotions agency in 1984. During the course of his career, Piering promoted over 100 UK top 20 singles and won the "Plugger of the Year" award twice; his clients included New Order,

and

the KLF The KLF (also known as the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, the JAMs, the Timelords and other names) are a British electronic band who originated in Liverpool and London in the late 1980s. Scottish people, Scottish musician Bill Drummond (alias Ki ...

. In the book '' The Manual (How To Have a Number One The Easy Way)'', written by the KLF's creators

Bill Drummond William Ernest Drummond (born 29 April 1953) is a Scottish artist, musician, writer, and record producer. He was a co-founder of the late-1980s avant-garde pop group the KLF and its 1990s media-manipulating successor, the K Foundation, with wh ...

and

Jimmy Cauty James Francis Cauty (born 19 December 1956), also known as Rockman Rock, is an English artist and musician, best known as one-half of the duo the KLF, co-founder of the Orb and as the man who K Foundation Burn a Million Quid, burnt £1 million ...

in the wake of their chart-topping success as The Timelords, the authors state that "without ieringthis book would have to be retitled ''How to Get to Number 47 – With a Certain Amount of Difficulty''. Piering's work with The KLF also involved contributing a number of narrations and spoken lines to their productions, including the singles " Justified & Ancient", " 3 a.m. Eternal" ("Ladies and gentlemen, The KLF have now left the building"), and a long opening narration to " America: What Time Is Love?" Piering's voice announced the band's departure from the music industry as the curtain closed on their subversive appearance at the 1992 BRIT Awards ceremony: "Ladies and gentlemen, The KLF have now left the music business".

Legacy

Piering died from cancer on 22 January 2000, aged 53. In 2001, the British

Radio Academy The Radio Academy is a registered charity dedicated to "the encouragement, recognition and promotion of excellence in UK broadcasting and audio production". It was formed in 1983 and is run via a board of trustees, with a chair and a deputy chai ...

founded "The Scott Piering Award", "in memory of this great man who single-handedly did so much to improve understanding between the music and radio industries". On 18 April 2002, a gig in aid of

Marie Curie Cancer Care Marie Curie is a registered charitable organization, charitable organisation in the United Kingdom which provides hospice care and support for anyone with an illness they are likely to die from, and those close to them, and campaigns for better su ...

was held in Piering's memory at the Scala in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He married a 19 year old model, Calista Ann Miskimins, in the 1970s. The gig featured performances from many bands indebted to Piering for his promotional work, and a

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

of the performance, augmented by additional studio recordings including "Justified & Ancient", was released under the title ''4Scott'' in August 2002. The Stereophonics album, '' Just Enough Education to Perform'', was dedicated to his memory, as was the Placebo album, '' Black Market Music''.

Scott Piering Award winners

* Tony Wadsworth 2009 * Martin Nelson 2008 * Colin Martin 2007 * Gary Farrow 2006 * Geoff Travis 2005 * Feargal Sharkey 2004 *

The Bee Gees ''The'' is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the ...

2003 * Muff Winwood 2002 * Martin Mills 2001 Source: "The Radio Academy: Honours"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piering, Scott 1946 births 2000 deaths Deaths from cancer People from Duluth, Minnesota The KLF American public relations people 20th-century British musicians