Miles Copeland III

Miles Copeland III (born May 2, 1944 in London , England , actually: Miles Ax Copeland ) is an American music manager and producer . He became known as the founder of the music label IRS Records and manager of the band The Police . Copeland also works as a film producer.

biography

Copeland was born in London, the son of former Glenn Miller trumpeter Miles Copeland junior from Birmingham , Alabama , and the Scottish archaeologist Lorraine Copeland Adie . Miles is the oldest of four siblings: his younger brother Ian Copeland - a music agent, author of "Wild Thing" and 'pioneer' of the New Wave in the USA - died in 2006. His brother, Stewart Copeland , who is eight years his junior, is the founder and drummer of The Police, and Lorraine (Lennie) Copeland is a writer / film producer.

When he was born in London on May 2, 1944 (although the passport states April 2, 1944), the British capital was under the bombardment of Nazi weapons of retaliation . His father was stationed in London as a member of the Office of Strategic Services , and after the war the family moved to Washington, DC

As a CIA agent, Father Copeland was actively involved in the overthrow of the Syrian government at the time - Mother Copeland was also active in the military intelligence service, the Special Operations Executive , in a leading role during the Second World War.

In 1948 the Copelands moved to Damascus ( Syria ), in 1953 to Cairo and in the late 1950s to Beirut . The Copeland siblings spent their youth here and got to know the Arabic language and culture. Like Stewart, Miles probably attended Cairo American College , at least temporarily , before beginning his studies at Birmingham-Southern College in 1962 and graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1966. He continued his education at the American University of Beirut , with a Master of Arts in Economics in 1969.

Adriana Corajoria , an artist and model from Argentina , has been married to Copeland since 1989 and they have three children together: Miles Ax IV , Aeson Armstrong and Axton Emerson .

Professional background

Music management and punk movement

When the Copeland family returned to England from the Middle East around 1969, Miles organized his first concert, quickly met musicians and was among other things. a. Involved in the formation of Wishbone Ash , became its manager and within a very short time had Climax Blues Band , Renaissance , Al Stewart , Joan Armatrading , Curved Air (with his brother Stewart he was briefly a member of the band) and Caravan under contract. At that time Miles organized several tours through the USA and gained important experience that also benefited his later 'top act' "The Police".

“BTM Records” became his first own record label, he was a partner in a concert agency in which his brother Ian , who was returning from the Vietnam War, found his first job, and founded a specialist music magazine - “College Event”. In this medium he again promoted the music groups he oversees, but also simplified the tour administration in general considerably. As a kind of 'side effect', music legal advice with Allen Grubman , which was well-known at the time, was created .

1975 followed with "Startrucking 75" a music festival, with musicians supervised by him as well as Tina Turner , Lou Reed and John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra . As a concept a success, financially a disaster, he had to dissolve the companies he had built up and start over.

Miles Copeland became one of the most important promoters of the punk and especially New Wave movement, which was expanding in England at the time, because of the circumstances: in 1977, with the founding of the independent music label Illegal Records , he took on such well-known names as The Sex today Pistols , The Clash , " Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers", Cherry Vanilla , Generation X (with Billy Idol ), Blondie , John Cale , Lou Reed , Patti Smith and more, and brought "Sniffing Glue", the music magazine of the Punk movement out.

At the time he was the manager of Squeeze , producing John Cale , Wayne County & The Electric Chairs , Chelsea , The Cortinas , Sham 69 , The Cramps , The Fall and Alternative TV , as his "little brother" Stewart with his new band in January Approached him in 1977.

The Police

Main article: The Police

Steward Copeland was looking for a concept for a new band when the punk wave began in England . He met Gordon Sumner aka Sting at a jazz club in Newcastle . In January 1977 they founded “The Police” together with the Corsican guitarist Henry Padovani and in the same year they had their first success with the single “Fall Out / Nothing Achieving”. In June 1977 Andy Summers , an experienced and versatile musician, joined "The Police" - in July 1977 they briefly toured as a quartet - and Andy Summers replaced Henry Padovani as guitarist from August , bringing the line-up of "The Police" to the next Success years remained unchanged until 1986.

Miles gave his younger brother a loan for the production of the first "The Police" single, financed the subsequent US tour and helped the trio to get their first record deal with "A&M Records".

With the resounding success of the second studio album - "Reggatta de Blanc" (October 1979) - Miles Copeland organized an unusual tour for the time, through countries rarely visited by "top acts" such as Thailand , India , Mexico , Greece and Egypt , what contributed significantly to the worldwide popularity of the band.

In 1981 'The Police - with XTC , UB40 , Wall of Voodoo , The Go-Go's , The Fleshtones , Joan Jett and the Blackhearts , Devo , Oingo Boingo , Gary Numan , Klaus Nomi - entered Urgh! A Music War , a music documentary produced by Miles Copeland III about punk, new wave, reggae and techno bands from Europe and the USA.

Under Miles Copeland III management, the "The Police" albums "and other compilations were created after the (for 21 years" temporary ") breakup of" his "successful band:" Fall Out / Nothing Achieving "(May 1977), Outlandos d'Amour (November 1978), Reggatta De Blanc (October 1979), Zenyatta Mondatta (October 1980), Ghost in the Machine (October 1981), "Synchronicity" (June 1983) and the 'final album ' Every Breath You Take - The Singles (October 1986) .

Founding of IRS Records

Between 1984 and 1994, Henry Padovani served on Miles Copeland's side as Vice President of IRS Records in Paris. In order to additionally support the artists supervised by the label, the label sponsored the weekly MTV show "The Cutting Edge" from 1983 to 1987 .

The artists included a. The Act , The Alarm , Animal Logic , The Bangles , Belinda Carlisle , Black Sabbath , The Buzzcocks , Camper Van Beethoven , Concrete Blonde , The Cramps , Doctor & the Medics , The Fleshtones , Fine Young Cannibals , Gary Numan , General Public , Oingo Boingo , William Orbit , REM , Stan Ridgway (formerly "WoV" singer), Squeeze , Timbuk 3 and Wall of Voodoo .

Music producer and manager

In addition, Miles became involved in the music video business - as early as 1983 Godley & Creme produced three music videos for The Police album Synchronicity - starting in 1981 with the music documentary Urgh! A Music War and other multimedia projects .

In particular, he made a name for himself in the film business as a producer of around 30 films between 1983 and 2006.

With his marriage in 1989, Copeland began to work increasingly with Latin American artists, such as Manu Chao , Heroes Del Silencio , Mano Negra , El Gran Silencio and Tomas Rodriguez .

In May 1994 - after the sale of IRS Records to EMI - he and his business partner and friend Henry Padovani met Zucchero and together they became Zucchero's manager from June 1994 to April 2000 . From 1984 he managed Sting's first seven solo albums, Squeeze as best known artist, for which Miles Ax Copeland remained active as a manager.

1997 - his childhood in the Middle East should have been helpful - Miles invested his expertise in world music artists, as a 'side effect' he founded the Ark 21 label in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles . Well-known “Ark21” artists were: Khaled , Cheb Mami , Faudel , Rachid Taha , Kathem Al Saher , Transglobal Underground , Hakim , Ragheb Alamah , Mohamed Mounir , Pentaphobe and Beats Antique .

In 2002 Miles Copeland founded the “ Bellydance Superstars ”, a professional American oriental dance group with borrowings from the Arab and Indian regions, which has toured extensively in North America and Europe. In the following years Copeland intensified its diverse activities, with a large number of other projects.

Filmography

Mentioned in the credits as Miles Copeland III, unless otherwise indicated.

• 1981: Urgh! A Music War - Creative Consultant
• 1981: BBC documentary about the recordings of "Ghost in the Machine"
• 1982: Police: Around the World - voice
• 1983: Rebellious Jukebox ( miniseries ) producer
• 1984: The Police: Synchronicity Concert - voice, executive producer , known as Miles Copeland
• 1985: The Rhythmatist by Stewart Copeland - executive producer
• 1987: Eat the Rich - Derek
• 1989: A Sinful Life - executive producer
• 1990: Cyberspace ( Circuitry Man ) - executive producer
• 1990: Genuine Risk - executive producer
• 1990: Wedding Band - executive producer
• 1991: The Love Drug: Blood, Drugs & Libido - Survival in LA ( Blood and Concrete ) - Executive Producer
• 1991: December - executive producer
• 1992: My New Gun - executive producer
• 1992: One False Move - executive producer
• 1992: Rage and Honor - executive producer
• 1992: Shakes the Clown - executive producer
• 1993: Bank Robber - TV preacher
• 1993: Rage and Honor II: Hostile Takeover - executive producer
• 1993: Sting: Bring on the Night
• 1993: The Music of Chance ( The Music of Chance ) - Executive Producer
• 1994: Plughead Rewired: Circuitry Man II - executive producer
• 1994: The Beans of Egypt, Maine - Forbidden Choices - Executive Producer
• 1994: Tom & Viv - executive producer
• 1995: Amanda & the Alien - Alien Love , TV movie - executive producer
• 1995: Cyber ​​Bandits - executive producer
• 1995: Dead Weekend (TV movie) - executive producer
• 1995: Leaving Las Vegas - love to death ( Leaving Las Vegas ) - special thanks, named Miles Copeland
• 1995: Aliens, Accordions and Loads of Trouble ( Out There , TV movie) - executive producer
• 1995: Venus Rising - executive producer
• 1996: Exit (Strip to Kill) - executive producer
• 1996: 2025 - Yesterday's Target (TV movie) - executive producer
• 1999: Big City Blues - executive music producer , known as Miles Copeland
• 1999: Hollywierd
• 2000: Top Ten (TV series, 1st episode, as himself)
• 2002: World Peace Music Award - voice, executive producer
• 2005: American Bellydancer - executive producer
• 2005: Urban Knockout: Self-Defense Exercise Program for Women - voice, executive producer
• 2006: Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out - executive producer
• 2006: The Sixth Element - music producer

literature

• Miles Copeland Junior: The Game of Nations: The Amorality of Power Politics. Simon & Schuster, New York 1970, ISBN 0-671-20532-3 .
• Miles Copeland Junior: Without Cloak or Dagger: The Truth About the New Espionage. Simon & Schuster, New York, 1974.
• Andy Summers: THROB. Sidgwick & Jackson, London, 1983, ISBN 0-283-99021-X .
• Miles Copeland junior: The Game Player: Confessions of the CIA's Original Political Operative. Aurum Press, London, 1989, ISBN 0-948149-87-6 .
• Ian Copeland: Wild Thing: The Backstage, On the Road, In the Studio, Off the Charts Memoirs of Ian Copeland. Simon & Schuster, New York 1995, ISBN 0-684-81508-7 .
• Christopher Sandford: Sting. The definitive biography. Publishing group KOCH, Hannibal 2000, ISBN 3-85445-180-6 .
• Andy Summers (text) and Ralph Gibson (photos): Light Strings: Impressions of the Guitar. Chronicle, San Francisco 2004, ISBN 0-8118-4324-6 .
• Didi Zill: The Police - Photos from 1979 to 1981. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-89602-492-2 .
• Sting: Broken Music. The autobiography. Fischer, 2005, ISBN 978-3-596-16249-9 .
• Henry Padovani: Secret Police Man. Editions Flammarion, Paris 2006, ISBN 2-08-068943-6 .
• Andy Summers: One Train Later: a memoir. , Thomas Dunne Books, New York, 2006, ISBN 0-312-35914-4 .
• Andy Summers: I'll be watching you. Inside the Police 1980-1983. , Taschen Verlag, London, 2007 (April 2007), ISBN 3-8228-2764-9 .

Web links

• Official website (English)
• Miles Copeland in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The Police To Reunite On GRAMMYs. January 30, 2007, archived from the original on February 10, 2007 ; Retrieved November 4, 2014 Official press release dated on The Grammy Awards website about the comeback of The Police. The Police reunited on February 11, 2007 in Los Angeles. Sting , Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers opened the evening with a revised version of their world hit “Roxanne.” From May 28, 2007, the “The Police Reunion Tour” took place: It started in Vancouver (Canada), followed by a tour of North America until August. "The Police" will perform in Europe in October 2007, followed by concerts in Mexico, South America, Australia and Japan, as well as an appearance at the " Live Earth " concerts on July 7, 2007. It will be celebrating the 30th anniversary give an album release, but “with already known songs” (interview in the New York Times on February 18, 2007). 
2. ↑ "Rogier's The Police Place" (English) contains a detailed list of the numerous bootlegs and EP 's from "The Police".
3. ↑ Like some other early songs and singles ( B-Sides ), “Fall Out / Nothings Achieving” - incidentally a live version of “Next To You” - is not on any of the five studio albums or as a 'studio version' (CD ) was first released on "Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings" on September 28, 1993.
4. ↑ In the course of 2003 "Outlandos d Amour", "Reggatta de Blanc", "Zenyatta Mondatta", "Ghost in the Machine", "Synchronicity" and "The Police Live" were released by A&M as Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD) released remixed .
5. ↑ In the fall of 1990 the album "Their Greatest Hits" was released - a new edition of the 1986 best of album "Every Breath you take" - which was also able to place itself very well in the album charts. More best of albums followed over the next 15 years.
6. ↑ On July 29, 1997, the label "Pangea Recordings" (Sting is the co-owner) released the album Strontium 90: Police Academy . This includes the first live recordings of "The Police" with the line-up of Sting / Copeland / Summers (and Mike Howlett ). The concert took place on May 28, 1977 in a big top in Paris. This CD also contains the "original version" of "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", recorded in February 1977: It is the first studio recording by the line-up of Sting / Copeland / Summers.
7. ↑ Shake, ripple and roll. (No longer available online.) In: Sunday Times . October 10, 2004, archived from the original on October 5, 2006 ; Retrieved November 4, 2014 (also available on the Sunday Times ). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.   
8. ↑ “Inside views of a legend: Steward Copeland's documentary about 'The Police'” ( Memento of the original from June 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , on 3sat online. Interview by Ralf Rättig (Kulturzeit) with Stewart Copeland on October 25, 2006. 
9. ↑ Stewart Copeland's music documentary "Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out" on "laut.de"
10. ^ "One Train Later". Archived from the original on January 13, 2007 ; accessed on November 4, 2014 (English, "One Train Later" on Andy Summers website, with a foreword by U2 guitarist The Edge " In this intimate, revealing work, Andy Summers writes fluidly about his first guitar, his experiences with earlier bands, his relationships and encounters with Eric Clapton , Jimi Hendrix , John Belushi , and 'The Police', and more. »). 
11. ↑ "I'll be watching you. Inside the Police 1980–1983 ”(incl. DVD): Andy's photographic diary - hand-signed and limited to 1,500 copies - with“ The Police ”has been announced for April 2007. Detailed presentation of the book "The insider: The Police on tour photographed by guitarist Andy Summers" ( Memento of the original from May 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) on the Taschen-Verlag website.