by C Harrison
Lance Beauly
"Whatever the reason for their secrecy now it was always the same back then. I had very limited time with the band, you know. You'd do a photoshoot and that was it. In, out, no time to set things up, talk to the band, discuss things with them."
Mark Lawson
"And who was behind that? Who was controlling access to them?"
Lance Beauly
"The band were. Initially it was Micky Redwall, he did everything, but he was slowly squeezed out of decision making and left to deal with the administration. He managed the affairs of the band, but by the end of 1976 I think the public face, the publicity and what have you, all came down to the band and in particular Susan Bekker."
Anna Parkinson
"I think you can see why the Sony deal may have gone bad. If the band still had that attitude, that desire to control things, I think they would have found it very difficult to deal with the highly detailed intricate management systems that labels have in place for major artists. No label like Sony is going to give a band carte blanche in the way that Toten Herzen enjoyed in the 1970s. Nobody has that these days. Whatever happened to sour that relationship was either unexpected or calculated."
Mark Lawson
"You mean the band deliberately engineered the fall out?"
Anna Parkinson
"I don't know for sure, but it's not impossible. They're not the only major label and the others might be looking on now and thinking we can handle them. I think what they do next will give us a big clue. If they disappear again it didn't work, someone pulled the plug, but if they walk into a bigger deal then it was a clever piece of gamesmanship. Quite remarkable actually."
Mark Lawson
"Lance Beauly, are the band capable of that? Are they clever enough, or should I say, are they informed enough to string out a major label like Sony?"
Lance Beauly
"Susan Bekker certainly is. It wouldn't surprise me. If you knew her you'd realise straight away what she's capable of."