Ed Bicknell end of contract with MK

[jbaent]

I

[Pottel]

I

[Jackal]

And the more successful Mark would be, the more $$$ would come Ed's way.

[jbaent]

And the more successful Mark would be, the more $$$ would come Ed's way.

Obviously. Thats the difference between a manager that always wants to go further and one that stay content with what he has. The first one will win more money, the other one will live in a fine way 

[jbaent]

damm... I wrote a very very long post answering TWM but when I hit the post button it dissapeared!!!!

Just in some words, from my very bad memory, Ed and MK broke their relationship because they had different point of views about the direction MK career should take. PC was assisting Ed with stuff from the STP promo and live tour, and as long as PC main groups (Tear for fears and Level 42) were separated at that time PC had time to take care of MK career. I guess that Ed suggested MK about PC as he really was working on everything so it was an easy change.

The approach is obviously very different. Ed made DS and MK a big name and wanted MK to stay at a high profile, PC just only have to make that MK name stays big with with a lower profile, as MK wish. Probably Ed said MK what and how to do in order to stay in high profile, and probably PC doesnt dare to say MK to do anything he doesnt ask to be done.

About MK and Ed relationship. Maybe it was so dramatic, but obviously Ed was left apart from MK in all terms, not only managerial but also as the NHB drummer (in 2002 Danny Cummings was the drummer during the NHB set) and probably their relationship as friends and neighbours took time to heal.

However, I miss Ed as manager. He really was more fans friendly, and if any of you had the chance to meet and talk with him, you know how different ED and PC are!!!! Ed its a very funny man!!

[Tally]

Something missing in the MK/Bicknell story is GH - what about years of recording, Irish influences, a limited tour? What did Ed feel at that point, considering they later parted on the question of ambition (in one sense)?

[herlock]

I guess Ed wanted to resurrect DS.
STP was Mark's most "DS-sounding" solo record. It was also the most sucessful, maybe the 2 are related. Maybe Mark started to get pissed off because he realized he could'nt do what he wanted of his very own record, despite being a worldclass artist and a millionnaire. Maybe the last stroke was Ed suggesting to put the DS name on the record and present it as a DS come back ? No doubt that doing so would have made the record sell 20 million units rather than 6... but that's not what Mark wanted. He wanted to ressurect his NHB side, not his DS side, and this is what he indeed achieved with TRD...

[jbaent]

Something missing in the MK/Bicknell story is GH - what about years of recording, Irish influences, a limited tour? What did Ed feel at that point, considering they later parted on the question of ambition (in one sense)?

Maybe thats the reason why Ed and MK disagreed. I guess that Ed didnt wanted MK to go further in that musical path and return to the DS sound after that GH record with irish and country sounds. And I bet thats the same reason the record took so much time to be ready.

[DIFFICULTTOBELIEVE]

I

[dmg]

I guess Ed wanted to resurrect DS.
STP was Mark's most "DS-sounding" solo record. It was also the most sucessful, maybe the 2 are related. Maybe Mark started to get pissed off because he realized he could'nt do what he wanted of his very own record, despite being a worldclass artist and a millionnaire. Maybe the last stroke was Ed suggesting to put the DS name on the record and present it as a DS come back ? No doubt that doing so would have made the record sell 20 million units rather than 6... but that's not what Mark wanted. He wanted to ressurect his NHB side, not his DS side, and this is what he indeed achieved with TRD...

Exactly my thoughts.  PC is more a passive manager in a musical sense and MK likes that these days.  Ed kept Mark's level high in my opinion with him thinking "he'd better not want to cut this from the album!". PC on the other hand just goes along with any rubbish and even tries to fleece the fans with poker chips and songs like Good as Gold...

[Love Expresso]

PC on the other hand just goes along with any rubbish and even tries to fleece the fans with poker chips and songs like Good as Gold...

 

LE

[herlock]

It may be worthwhile to note that, whatever Mark have said in the past about the STP record, he stills favors it very much these days. In the Get Lucky Tour no less than 4 songs from the record were played (WII, STP, SAN and PW); it seems that together with TRD it is the album he likes the most, both SL and KTGC having a very modest live treatment (almost non-existent for KTGC). And GL was somehow more similar to both STP and TRD than to KTGC and SL. Probably Mark realized that with SL and KTGC he pushed his country/folk side a little bit too far and that now he is back to a nice synthesis between his DS (or STP) and NHB (or TRD) sides. And maybe, that he made peace with Ed, who was not so wrong after all. Probably by now Ed has understood that DS is never to return as a brand (and band).

[Tally]

It is also worth noting that as much as I like GH, it is a very mixed bag; sounds like three different albums on top of each other. That may reflect all the different wills involved.

[Jackal]

GH is a VERY mixed bag. But I seem to remember that that's what they used to promote back then - the voice and guitar of Dire Straits going back to explore his roots. A lot of interesting roots, but not a very coherent record. I haven't heard the whole album from beginning to end for a while, but it's pretty longish. That's a funny thing, though - I used to love very long CDs (bang for the buck ), but now I prefer shorter ones, for the sake of coherence. The album feels more like a unit and it doesn't get boring. A perfect example, in my humble opinion of course, is Paul Simon's album last year, So Beautiful or So What. It's under 40 minutes, but it feels just right. Great songs, great themes that make a perfect unit. Speaking of which, here are couple of interesting comments from Paul Simon himself:

 

Sorry for the diversion. Back to Ed and Mark.

[Best Brown Baggies]

I met Ed & had a great chat with him at the RAH last year when the 'Straits' debuted.
A really nice, funny man. I also met him after a couple of NHB gigs. Once in Colchester UK, & once at Ronnie Scott's jazz club in London.
A massive part of Dire Straits history.

Cheers BBB