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Electric Factory Concerts Promoter Larry Magid
May 27, 2020
PT Barnum has nothing on Larry Magid. As one of the nation’s premier concert promoters Larry has sold more tickets and brought more people together in the shared experience of live performances than Barnum ever imagined. As co-founder of Philadelphia’s fabled rock&roll venue, The Electric Factory to Bob Geldof’s iconic “Live Aid” charity concert to Broadway’s bright lights, Larry Magid has done it all.
He’s our guest this time on BehavioralCorner where he’ll tell us of those past achievements and how soon we will be able again to come together and make a joyful sound.
Episode 1 - Larry Magid Interview Transcript
Hi, and welcome. I'm Steve Martorano and this is the BehavioralCorner. You're invited to hang with us, because we've discussed the ways we live today. The choices we make, the things we do, and how they affect our health and wealthy. So you're on the corner, the BehavioralCorner, please hang around a while.
Hi everybody, let me welcome you to the inaugural program of BehavioralCorner My name is Steve Martorano. I'm gonna be hanging with you. And that's what we like to think of this as as a hang. The behavioral corner is a podcast dedicated to taking a look often a deep look at well the way we live and how our behavior affects our emotional or physical and even our spiritual lives. The behavioral corner is a work in progress. We hope you will find us wherever find your podcasts are found, and help us with your feedback to make this program, informational and helpful. BehavioralCorner is underwritten by our great partners and friends from retreat behavioral health, and we'll tell you about them a little bit later. So that's that's sort of the premise here. And of course it it launches the program that behavioral corner launch is set against the backdrop of the Coronavirus pandemic. So we were going to examine various things that we are all familiar with and took for granted for a very long time that have been very often unalterably changed, and what we can expect in the future when we get back to something that looks like normal.
So that's the program that's what we're going to try to do and we couldn't be more delighted to begin this this effort with the dear friend that I've known for longer than I care to admit. Larry Magid is our guest, Larry Magid is what the media over the years loves to describe a s an impresario, a rock and roll a music impresario he has put more people in more venues of various sizes over over a half century now, then many other people, maybe most other people to catalogue his resume would take the better part of the program. But just some of the highlights. Larry was a co founder of Philadelphia's famed electric factory back in 1968. And, and through that period of time promoted programs or shows and concerts, through every venue you can imagine if you're from that area, you were at many of them remember them at the spectrum at the at ballparks at stadiums. And of course, he was the guiding light behind the legendary American portion of 1985 Live Aid which he did a great service to the city of Philadelphia by by managing that epic concert. He has as I said, over
The time I've known him, brought more people together in more ways to share music, which is fundamentally and critically important. If we want to get back to anything that looks like normality, that we begin doing that again. So Larry's gonna take us through his history as as I said, a rock promoter. And and then later on the program, will will ask him to guess and we're talking about guesses here because nobody knows what's going on with this. But what we can expect looking looking ahead, when we do get back into the clubs and the concert halls, to enjoy ourselves again. Oh, by the way, he's also a Tony Award winning Broadway producer, Larry Magid, welcome to the program. Thanks so much for your time.
Sure, Steve. Always, always good to talk to you.
I have. I have said this phrase to Larry. More times, and I'm almost embarrassed to admit but it's usually Hey, Larry. Thanks for the tickets to the show. I'm telling you, so what's the first ticket you ever sold to a show and you know when was that?
The first ticket I ever sold was to a college mixer. I had two of them one on temples campus at a fraternity was two bucks all you could drink all the beer you could drink. A nd we had a band girls came for free. And I had one at Morris Arboretum up in Bridal and the same thing two bucks. All the beer you could drink girls free. And then it's it started from there. But the the first actual concert I ever did was an other than Electric Factory which opened February 2 at 68. We did a concert with Judy Collins at the Academy of Music in September 24 of '68. So they're the first real shows that were-publicized more than two college students.
Yeah, when I went when I'm gonna probe your motives here in a second, most people just wanted to go to dances. Not many of them decided they would throw them. But I want to just remind you that the chambers brothers opened the electric factory. Am I right?
Yes, the Chambers Brothers Were opening act. We looked for an active bridge, a lot of areas that Philadelphia in the late 50s, early 60s was a-haven for R&B and urban music in Philadelphia was one of those one of the cities that mixed their music well, so we look for something that was really cool. And the chambers brothers came to mind. I had known them. I'd worked in New York for three years as an agent. They were starting to break and I thought that that would be the best fact that they would be entertaining we we thought we were gonna do well and we did great we had I think was six shows in three days you know obviously brand new to the city and they were spectacular.
I was at two of those shows and they were the last time I ever gave you money to see a show because I didn't know you in those days. And I was also at the last show and again correct me if I'm wrong but my memory remember recalls Van Morrison and closing the Electric Factory Is that right?
Right. Boy, you're almost as old as I am.
Larry, I was at both those shows I went to I went to see the chambers brothers because you know you're right. We love the Chambers Brothers. And then and then we were there at the end sitting in the sound booth that elevated sound booth watching Van Morrison and I remember when he finished his set and if you have ever seen Van Morrison you know you got your money's worth. He finished the set. And he stunned us by saying, "Hey, they're closing this place this weekend." Yeah.
There was a gasp.
It was twofold situation First, we had rented the club from a developer who wanted us to, to get out of there so we could develop the property for what sits now townhouses. It wasn't in good shape. He wouldn't fix it. And then he tried to double our rent. The Factory never made money, but it built acts. And that was that wasn't the idea at the time. But that wasn't our ulterior motive. But as it grew, we started doing bigger shows, and then we decided that was going to be the future and then everybody was going to want to play that. Those bigger than, you know, Academy of Music or Irvine Auditorium, Spectrum.
That's kind of interesting, because we can get into that a little bit because you guys, you and your Bill Graham's on the west coast, and the guys that were doing it in New York and Boston, you really were in the forefront of bringing artists along that way. It wasn't like everybody was sitting around trying to be Rolling Stones at a big at a big indoor barn. But finding these little acts and then growing them into bigger acts, because we saw at the Factory in the, in the earliest days, stars in a very small venue.
That was that was the idea. And then later on, we use that as the Bijou Cafe as a launching pad for a lot of a lot of careers. That the ironically, although this wasn't our intent, there were five or six of us, including a major agent in New York that started this crazy business and but as I said, it wasn't our intent. Our intent was to make money and to...well, that's it
Well for me that was my had been my life I have been in various forms of business for six years but February 2 the factory opened that was my my dream. That was a special night.
Yeah, so beyond the obvious every but everybody's ultimately doing everything they do to you know, pay the rent. Back at Temple when you when you were a student and you were doing those, those mixers that fraternity house is way beyond you know, let's make a couple bucks while I'm going to college, because I've seen you backstage watching a show, and it's a big responsibility when you bring people together. You've got to be inclined to want to bring people together to see a concert Did you feel that when you were young man that this might be a good way to make a living by watching people?
Well, actually, I thought that there was a need for things like these mixers are these little dances. I had been selling bands to fraternity parties, and then later on the concerts and on college campuses, but the thing that I always thought it was there was no live music venue that could play explosively places it opened with dance clubs, or that places that were bars that had cover bands. And the big thing in Philly, maybe because of Bandstand , maybe because of other things, but the disc jockeys were the big deal whether it was a black disc jockey, white disc jockey, they had dances and followings. And we just felt that there was a need and I had gone to the Showboat and and to Peps and the Cadillac Showbar when I came home from New York and I've even before that, to see my friends or whatever, and always felt that that club could break it could break the city open and Herb Spivak alone The Showboat said to me how asked me how I got into the white rock business. He had done that jazz concert very successfully. And then I took it on. I just happen to say, Well, the first thing you want to do is open up a club and have some some of the acts but the way to do it is what was happening where all the the newer acts like Big Brother Holding Company.
The places you mentioned were for people who might not know where legendary jazz venues.
This was a big, big jazz city with a lot of great jazz acts to come from here. It lived in Philadelphia. Yeah, it was great.
JOHN Coltrane is a native son.
John Coltrane. Dizzy Gillespie lived here. McCoy Tyner live-around the corner from the growing up.
When you guys get into the you know, the pop music arena, you you really broke the mole on what a jet for instance, a jazz program for the most part took place in smaller smoky bar like settings with a couple of hundred people if they were big, maybe it was a bigger venue, you envision something that might begin like that, as you say with the big cafe, but but it over almost overnight, this business exploded, and suddenly the smaller venues, were feeders, but you had to you had to accommodate much, much larger crowds. You know, people made a lot about a lot of your environment Live Aid. And of course, it's you know, just a sort of error defining concert as big as that was two continents, loads of talent, satellite hookups and amazing men. What do you remember from Live Aid? I mean, did you at some point did you look at Live Aid and say, Oh my god, I can't believe I'm you know, I used to be doing mixers at Temple Look at this. What do you remember about Live Aid?
You know what? It was a challenge obviously, in a lot of ways. First challenge was getting the city to allow us to put this on. And we got turned down by the mayor a couple of times and then someone in his cabinet might be exact thought that this was a great thing for the city. And obviously, this in Live Aid were monumental things for Philadelphia. Not that we needed to be put on the map because Philadelphia was the in the late 60s, early 70s was a leader in an arena shows. Yeah, we did bore arena shows than anybody in the country. And it stayed that way. Philadelphia was really the major city and and the whole thing with this whole scene. I know I'm digressing a little bit but this whole scene was built on newer acts that had happened in London, San Francisco. However, my feeling was that it had to break in the two biggest college towns in America to be really viable. Boston and Philadelphia. And if it hadn't happened in Boston, Philadelphia wouldn't this never would have gotten off the ground in New York wasn't happening in New York initially. Philadelphia - Boston embraced it. And that's still pretty much the two biggest music towns in America.
You know got to Philadelphia. Listen, Live Aid was big. And it could have been in a lot of different cities, but it's in Philadelphia now. And that's it, no small part to the reputation you had already built. They knew if you could get the city to come go along that they you could you could mount that show and you certainly did. You know, it's interesting...
But we were gonna do the show. Regardless
Were you always going to do it.JFK was that that was at the...
No, no, no when when I got the call to do this from Bob Geldof and the London promoter and Bill Graham they wanted to do New York or or North Jersey and that that wasn't really wasn't convenient for for for us to do and then little by little we sold we sold them on Philadelphia, obviously we had everything in our hand. We had done outdoor shows we had done a Pop Festival and we just thought this would be easier for us and it you know it just took a little little more convincing and you know we had the biggest stadium at the time and JFK stadium that old 90,000 people and and that and that, you know, we just
they just listen for some reason. And they couldn't do it in San Francisco because there was a hook up from from New York and they wanted to show both live and that, you know, the timezone wouldn't have worked. So we really had to be on the east coast
W e were fortunate enough to convince everybody and that was great for the city.
It really what it really was great for the city. I have a photograph that II didn't lift it, I had some of your guys reproduce it for me. I saw it hanging in the electric factory offices years after the concert, and it was a backstage candid photo. And it's got a Bob Dylan, Keith Richards and Jack Nicholson chatting and I looked at the photograph and I said, My God, that's three of the most famous people on earth. Hanging backstage at live eight. I still have that photograph is one of my it's one of my favorites.
Here's here's the ironic thing as at any concert they sell t shirts and books, whatever merchandise called and we set up a stand in backstage for anybody working or anybody from the band that wanted to buy shirts say live a dead nobody's name on it except live eight. And we had a continual line most of the day and you see x actually waiting in line to buy shirts for their kids and whenever and it's just a phenomena that never happened before this is this is the first thing since Monterey Pop Festival and 67 and and most people didn't even know there was show Monterey Pop Festival which introduced a lot of new acts to America. So that was that was just one of the ironies about the whole thing is it was an interesting, an interesting event. We didn't have a lot of time it's five weeks to do it and set right. And then we have book acts from those five weeks and build this and build this enormous stage. And you know, it wasn't anything that you got you. You would think that was overwhelming or you couldn't do it was just it was a lot. It takes a lot of people obviously to do any show. We brought in five major production coordinators, one who worked for me and for others, and they figured this this whole thing out how to do it, how to get X on and off and quickly we only had pretty much 15 minutes at knack will be on for 15 minutes then go to London. And then between some of the things we'd have MCs or we we'd have videos with with other major stars, talking about what we were trying to do, which was hunger relief in Africa.
Yep for good cause, like magnet is our guest. Larry is sharing with us his history as a music promoter and concert promoter for many, many years not only in Philadelphia but all over the country, as well as a stint on Broadway and award winning stint on Broadway a couple of times. We have more with with Larry and a look into whether we will ever see anything like this again once the current crisis, mercifully passes. This is the BehavioralCorner on Steve Martorano. Don't go away. We have more.
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Hi, welcome back to BehavioralCorner to place where we hang and try to discuss ways in which our lives impact for better or worse, our mental and physical well being. That's the definition of behavioral health. And that's what behavioral corners automatic. We've been talking to a very dear an old friend of mine, Larry Magid. He is one of the very, very small fraternity of people who really created the pop music scene in the middle and towards the end of the 20th century and into the 21st century. It's a small fraternity and Larry is, is right there at the at the head table with that, Larry, before we get into, you know what we can expect and I'm sure you have opinions about this business going forward. Take us to Broadway how you've done you've done some, some significant stuff on Broadway and Broadway is dark. So tell us about your Broadway stint.
Well, we got my partner and I got involved in Broadway read great about the time of of live at our first show was a a disaster as far as making any money. It was a great show but we we lost. We lost everything but little by little we invested in some shows co produce some shows and the the first show that I produced by myself was Billy Crystal 700 Sundays, which was a great hit. And then we toured often on for for nine years came back to Broadway to film an HBO special and and the last show I've been involved with is beautiful the Carole King, right?
Yeah, yeah. You know, I saw I saw, here's how long it's not an accident that you wind up producing his very successful Broadway run. You've known Billy Crystal for many, many years. I saw him at the Bijou.
Yeah,
You know, not a lot of people knew who he was them he was he was fantastic.
Yeah, he was. He's something special. He was actually in a, in a comedy trio and then who were very funny and then I and I like to lose very, very. He was he was cute. He was and then he called about a month later by himself and said, you know, Can Can we come back? And I said, sure, anytime and just in case I liked them. Yeah. And then we always use comedy as an opening act because it was easy. It was no setup. A guy walked on stage in front of a microphone, and called and then he said, What if I came as a solo and I said, Sure, what's the difference? So, opening act we played paid him 200 bucks a week anyway, he was great. And we became friends and our families became friends and we've stayed in touch Very closely and and we would always talk to his movie career about various things and then as it started to slow down you know we talked about possibly going to Broadway do a one man show and then 10 years later we got to do it and he asked me to produce it and...
Won yourself a couple of Tony Awards.
...amazing event and he's he's just a terrific performer.
Well, as you know your Bijou Cafe was my favorite spot I mean I enjoyed everything...
That was great. Yeah, a great place.
I love the Bijou you so I show every every legendary stand up comic from from Pryor to I mean just everybody and is of course Bette Midler in this tiny venue. What are the what are the Bijou seat downstairs? What is a couple hundred people?
Well, we had you know, we had a balcony which was standing room in the balcony and then the first floor. We sat on 270--250, you know, something like that. Well, you know, was a that we never made any money there as well. But, you know, the, the idea was it was a catalyst for people worked for us because we got chance to. The idea was, again based on the success of jazz accent, the Showboat and the Bijou had at one time was the Showboat. And we played an act for four nights. Two shows a night and it gave me a chance to get to know the axe get to see them get to feel what they were about and what the next step to take and a lot of great artists came out of that era and broke nationally in how to Philadelphia so and again, with two great two great moments that bring me to where I am today sitting on a couch with my dog and doing nothing.
By the way, just before we leave the bees, you and you and I reminiscing about this. As I said, I saw every great stand up comic there. I also saw Patti Smith performed at your at the club of the Bijou and what was cool about it was first of all, we're seeing her in this tiny place. And she's this phenomenon and her folks. We're all we're all over there from they came over from Jersey. I remember looking across that open space in the balcony at them sitting in a table, trying to imagine what they were thinking looking at their daughter from where Pittman New Jersey or somewhere just right.
Here's a little irony, one year -- he same year we played Jay Leno, played David Letterman, Garry Shandling and Jackie Mason. And they all had talk shows. Not not them, but they all know they all want to talk to us.
Yeah, amazing. Like this is a great moment to with the reminiscences about Live Aid, which was, as we said iconic and legendary and gigantic, to the bees, you which which had, you know, accent will become, you know, nationally famous, internationally famous and very tiny and intimate to talk about it and I know this is a moving target and you're guessing like the rest of us what the business will look like. Will we ever see the mega concert again, or tiny venues where people are packed in shoulder to shoulder that's coming back sooner or later, right?
Well, in the music, business, live music, any form of entertainment never gonna go away. It really drives a lot of a lot of things to say TV and and talk shows. So it'san it's a launching, you know, launching pad for music people to get into movies, and so it's never going away. That's that that live connection between the audience and the performers. will, will never die, it'll come back. That depends on how it comes back how strong it's gonna be, and what acts are going to be the driving force coming back is going to be it's going to be difficult, you know, it's music, and then Broadway are the last live things to come back to the world. But we'll come back and we'll be big, maybe bigger than before. But the question that I ask or people ask me, when are you going to feel comfortable allowing your children or your grandchildren to go to any venue, whether it's a small venue or a big venue, because you're going to be close together? You know, there's no social distancing. it's ever going to work. In a club. You can't control people you can have as a security guard for three people. We know it's they have to guard hundreds of people or protect them and keep order. So that's a question my feeling is that some of the evergreen acts the exit have made their living off of radio playing 60, 70s, 80s, 90s hits, they keep these acts going. I think some of them are going to disappear. I unless it's like a farewell appearance, which the last time you see them, but if you like an act, and you've seen them five or six times, what's the driving motivation to see them again? So that's it to me, broadly will be the absolute last thing to come back. You know, your average age is 45. You have a lot of older citizens 60-70 whatever 80 driving theater that support theater, they're not coming back so quick. And I can just imagine going into a theater and sitting there in a very small seat, shoulder to shoulder in the wintertime holding your coat with a very antiquated heating or air conditioning system and listening to the first person cough. Everybody round gets up and leaves forget what's on stage. Nobody wants to be around somebody that's gonna cough. Now, it's magnified now. So like, you know, Broadway as I, I think it's a good 18 months away. One way or the other thing that Broadway relies on is is tourists. You know if you're playing in the summertime, or even a Christmas, Thanksgiving or Christmas or really, really rely on people coming in to New York for that New York experience that you come in for a week you see a few shows you go to fear, there you go, you know, go to dinner. You bring the kids going to be difficult.
Yeah. When's that coming back? So let me ask you this, because because I mean, you're you are just sort of the Emeritus in this position. I mean, you're not out there every day trying to do this. But But if you were if, if you were waiting for your business to come back, as you mentioned, unless people feel safe, they're not going to go to a show, no matter how willing a promoter is to put a show on. And people want to do this. I guess people think folks go to live music shows because they like the band. Well, certainly they do. But they like the connection. And certainly the musicians like that connection.
Yeah, what half of going to a show is socially. And then we would have an act and they do well. And three months later, we would bring them back and they would do well and it became would become an event. You had to go to see it. But anyway, that's that's my feeling. And here's an interesting thing that happened yesterday. I got a call from a from a manager in London, who manages Rick Wakeman. Everybody knows Rick Wakeman. But he a one of the foremost keyboard players in contemporary music anyway, he does a Christmas show every year 10 shows in the UK. So they went on sale this weekend. And they sold 25% more tickets than they had ever sold for for this tour, and it's a Christmas show. And it does 10 cities in the UK. So they're obviously there's, there's whether it happens or not, and maybe they have to postpone it because nobody knows what's really going to happen. But so he had called to see if he could go on sale for a tour in the US and one of my opinion which, which I gave them which nobody else is going on sale. They'd be the only ones and I amazed that at the phenomenon of this this audiences, generally 50 years or more, so there is a pent up demand and he again he's done this for years show sell out, but just floored me. I don't see any way that people are going to come out in the fall and and buy buy tickets now. Especially when they're trying to get refunds from shows right that they bought tickets for this summer.
Right. The Wakeman story speaks to one of the reasons we wanted to speak to you. It does demonstrate that people are desperate to engage together in some shared experience, whether it's sports in a live setting, or whether it's concerts or Broadway. People really are we can't go on like this. Unfortunately, it's going to take a lot of time before So, finally, I mean, you know, you don't you don't paint a, a totally doom and gloom picture because you're right music will always come back and people will always want to gather to see it. But we're not we're not close to a time when there will be 20,000 people in an arena watching a rock band, are we?
Not as I can see it. You know, we we work with Springsteen when it comes to Philly is one of the few shows that I continue to do in my old days. So, speaking to his manager and his good friend, he said, you know, Bruce is planning to come in 2021 recording an album. Now he does stadiums all across the world, playing the 40, 50, 60,000 people. Now you have a performer that's over 60 years old, standing on stage. It's got 40 or 50,000 people breathing towards him, as he appears on an elevated stage. And of course, you know, if you're in the front or the middle, there's people breathing down your throat. So he's planning coming out 2021. But he wanted to see 10 or 20 acts come out for sure he does decide to do it. I mean, that's the last thing you ever want is to somebody to get sick and die if one of one of the shows that you're performing at or you're, or you're promoting, you know, that's such a horrible feeling.
Larry, thanks so much. I mean, we'd love to have you back many, many times. I mean, this is great stuff. And it does fit right into the wheelhouse here on the program. We're trying to launch behavioral corner, we want to talk and we will over the next couple of episodes with more people in similar sorts of fields where the purpose was to have a shared experience. It's critically important to people's, you know, mental and physical health that we remain able to do that at some point in the future.
Larry, thanks so much.
Sure. My pleasure.
And thank you all for your patience and time look for us wherever your finer podcasts can be add. We've been hanging around the corner, the BehavioralCorner. See you next time. Bye bye.
That's it for now. And make us a habit hanging out at the BehavioralCorner. And when we're not hanging, follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter on the BehavioralCorner.
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On the next Corner, host Steve Martorano welcomes Jim Duffy, a beacon of hope and living proof of the possibility of long-term recovery from substance abuse. As the Business Development Manager at Retreat Behavioral Health, Jim shares his remarkable story of overcoming addiction and achieving an impressive 39 years of sobriety. The conversation highlights the critical importance of reminding those struggling with substance abuse that recovery is not only possible but also achievable.