Don Arden (born Harry Levy; 4 January 1926 – 21 July 2007) was an English music manager, agent, and businessman. He managed the careers of rock acts such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Gene Vincent, Air Supply, Small Faces, the Move, Black Sabbath, Electric Light Orchestra, and Trickster.
Arden gained a reputation in Britain for his aggressive, sometimes illegal business tactics which led to him being called "Mr Big", the "English Godfather" and the "Al Capone of Pop". His success story turned sour when his violent 'negotiating' methods and questionable accounting caught up with him, and he became estranged from members of his own family.
He was married to Hope Shaw, a former ballet dancer/teacher, who died in 1999. He was the father of David Levy and Sharon Osbourne.
Early life and career
Arden was born Harry Levy on 4 January 1926, into a Jewish family in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, the son of Sarah "Sally" (née Black, later Urbanowitz) and Lazarus Levy, a factory machinist. Arden began his show-business career when he was 13 years old as a singer and stand-up comic after (allegedly) briefly attending the Royal College of Music. In 1944, he changed his name from Harry Levy to Don Arden. Arden also appeared as a guest with the Black and White Minstrels. In 1954, he became a showbiz agent, after realising it would be more profitable. He began his career organising Hebrew folk song contests, For a short period of time in the early 1960s, he worked with the British singer Elkie Brooks at the start of her career. During 1964, Arden moved into beat group pop management with The Nashville Teens, who secured chart hits with "Tobacco Road", "Google Eye" and "Find My Way Back Home". According to Johnny Rogan's book Starmakers & Svengalis, the group's earnings from those hits was £3,513. When group member John Hawken confronted Arden about some confusion over monies to be collected, his manager told him: "I have the strength of ten men in these hands" and threatened to throw him from an office window.
In 1965, Arden met aspiring rock band Small Faces in his office in Carnaby Street. Half an hour later, he had signed them up. Arden was immediately struck by the potential of Small Faces: "I thought at that time, on the first hearing, I thought it was the best band in the world". Kenney Jones, Small Faces' drummer, said: "He was kind of a Jewish teddy bear I suppose. You liked him immediately because he was enthusiastic and he talked about what he could do and what he couldn't do and whenever he said – 'I'll do this, I'll do that' – he did and it came true." The band's debut single, "Whatcha Gonna Do About It", was ushered into the hit parade by "chart-fixing", Arden denied it was cheating: "I had a saying, you can't polish a turd. In other words, if the record's no good to begin with it still won't be any good after you've wasted your time and money getting it played".
Business methods
In 1966, Arden and a squad of "minders" turned up at impresario Robert Stigwood's office to "teach him a lesson" for daring to discuss a change of management with Small Faces,
The band were never entirely convinced that Arden had paid them everything he owed them. Kenney Jones has mixed memories of the band's stormy relationship with Arden:
Arden tried to rekindle his former glories as a family entertainer by releasing a single of his own in 1967: "Sunrise, Sunset", from the musical Fiddler on the Roof, but it failed to chart. He returned to music management in 1968 when he signed The Move. He struck gold when two groups formed by ex-Move members, ELO and Wizzard (1972), started having international hits: Wizzard with "See My Baby Jive" and "Angel Fingers" (1973), and ELO with "10538 Overture" (1972) and "Roll Over Beethoven" (1973). With later albums like Out of the Blue (1977) and Discovery (1979), ELO became a prominent act. In 1973, Arden took over management of singer-songwriter Lynsey de Paul. In the following year, she provided the first hit on his new Jet label, "No Honestly", which was also the theme tune to a hit ITV comedy, No, Honestly. By 1976, Arden was embroiled in a lawsuit with the distraught singer over what she claimed was late payment of money owed to her. De Paul commented: