Mike Smith, A&R man extraordinaire, was head of A&R for EMI music publishing before becoming Managing Director of Columbia Records, then Warner Chappell. Over this extraordinary career he signed an incredible roster of acts including Blur, Smashing Pumpkins, PJ Harvey, Supergrass, Arcade Fire, Manic Street Preachers, The White Stripes, Arctic Monkeys, Mark Ronson, Calvin Harris, Chemical Brothers and dozens more massive acts.

Mike talks of his rise from post boy at MCA, giving fascinating insights into the acts he signed (and some he didn't!) - talking at length about Damon Albarn and Blur, Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, Elastica, Julian Cope - and still keeping a record under your arm in later age.

This is a much abridged version of a longer chat (2hrs 20 mins!), the full version will be appearing on our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@Aarballs/videos very soon.

Please also check out and follow Mike's fabulous project on Instagram - an album a day - at https://www.instagram.com/65mikesmith

https://www.instagram.com/aarballs/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/316324227914376

https://open.spotify.com/show/7tUlryttCVAetrw6uB15qo?si=53d94455b43943fa

Many thanks to Mike for being so generous with his time - for music fans this is a real treat.

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