Client profiles:
Stuart Littlewood
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I am very lucky to be getting paid for something which is my hobby.
The seventies disco show Oh What a Night! starring Kid Creole had audiences dancing in the aisles at Manchester’s Opera House and theatres nationwide. The impresario behind the smash hit show was local lad Stuart Littlewood. Stuart has had the talent-spotting knack since he started as a DJ at his local youth club in Saddleworth in the 60s. Since then Stuart has arranged shows for 70s megastars Abba as well as discovering and representing comic talents such as Cannon and Ball, Mike Harding and Max Boyce.
Thirty-five years at the top and Stuart is as hungry for new talent as ever. He is also refreshingly unaffected by success.
It all started when the 17-year-old Stuart was asked to manage a band – The Dawn Breakers. By the time he was 21 he had his own band agency. The first big concert he produced was in 1972 with the Count Basie Orchestra at the Free Trade Hall. This time he got it wrong and the show lost £1,500!
Like everyone of his generation, he was inspired by The Beatles. He was instrumental in establishing Manchester bands of the period such as The Hollies and Herman’s Hermits. Mud, of Tiger Feet fame, and Sweet, whose hit Ballroom Blitz became a 70s anthem, all have Stuart to thank for their start in the business.
In the 70s he teamed up with Danny Betesh of Kennedy Street Enterprises and promoted concerts for Abba at the Free Trade Hall, as well as acts such as 10cc and Dr Hook. Looking back on this era he says: “Abba was much maligned and not acknowledged at the time.” Twenty-five years later he was quick to latch on to the appeal of tribute band Abba Mania.
He teamed up with Laurie Mansfield in the 80s to create the rock musical Buddy. The idea of doing a biographical musical was another totally new idea at the time. Buddy ran in the West End, Broadway and Australia as well as Manchester’s Opera House.
After a foray in London Stuart is back on home ground. He admits to being “as hungry for ideas” as ever. He discovered Russell Watson while he was “singing in a maroon velvet jacket” at Styal women’s prison Officers’ Club. Stuart also spotted Jamie Cullum, the young jazz sensation.
He says: “I am very lucky to be getting paid for something which is my hobby.”
Contact
Stuart Littlewood
T: 0161 833 9838
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