Alan Whitehead is a British musician and businessman. He started his career in the music industry in 1966 as the drummer for

Crispian St. Peters Crispian St. Peters (born Robin Peter Smith; 5 April 1939 – 8 June 2010) was an English pop singer-songwriter, best known for his work in the 1960s, particularly hit record, hit songs written by duo The Changin' Times, including "The Pied Piper ...

, but is best known as a member of

Marmalade Marmalade is a fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water. The well-known version is made from bitter orange. It is also made from lemons, limes, grapefruits, mandarins, sweet oranges, bergamo ...

, whose most successful single in the UK was a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

song "

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album ''The Beatles'' (also known as "the White Album"). It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. Following th ...

". In 1969, Marmalade were signed to

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

and their next song "

Reflections of My Life "Reflections of My Life" was a 1969/1970 hit single for the Scottish band, Marmalade. It was written by their lead guitarist Junior Campbell, and singer Dean Ford (born Thomas McAleese). Released in late 1969, it was the band's first release on ...

" became a number 10 hit in the US. Whitehead left the band in 1978 and set up his own management company, negotiating his first production contract with

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

. Groups that he successfully managed were

Lipps Inc. Lipps Inc. ( , a pun on the phrase "lip sync") was an American disco and funk group from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The group is best known for the chart-topping 1980 worldwide hit single "Funkytown", which hit No. 1 in 28 countries and was cert ...

Mel and Kim Mel and Kim (stylized as MӗL & KIM) were an English pop duo, consisting of sisters Melanie and Kim Appleby. Originally managed by Alan Whitehead, they achieved success between 1986 and 1988, before Melanie died of cancer in January 1990 at the ...

, Modern Romance and Rikki Peebles. He later went on to manage all girl groups

Amazulu Zulu people (; zu, amaZulu) are a Nguni ethnic group native to Southern Africa. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, with an estimated 10–12 million people, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal ...

and Belle Stars. He also played with a band called The Attack in 1966, featuring guitarist and trumpeter

David O'List David O'List (born 13 December 1948) is an English rock guitarist, vocalist and trumpeter. He has played with The Attack, The Nice, Roxy Music (before being replaced by Phil Manzanera), and Jet (replaced by Ian Macleod). He also briefly deputi ...

(later of

The Nice The Nice were an English progressive rock band active in the late 1960s. They blended rock, jazz and classical music and were keyboardist Keith Emerson's first commercially successful band. The group was formed in 1967 by Emerson, Lee Jack ...

with

Keith Emerson Keith Noel Emerson (2 November 1944 – 11 March 2016) was an English keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. He became ...

), Richard Shirman on vocals, Bob Hodges on piano and organ, Gerry Henderson on bass and Alan Whitehead on drums. They released four singles in all, three in 1966 "Try It" / "We Don't Know", "Hi Ho Silver Lining" / "Any More Than We Do", "Created by Clive" / "Colour of my Mind" and one in 1967, "Neville Thumbcatch" / "Lady Orange Peel". Several compilation albums have been produced which featured the band, ''Magic in the Air'' in 1990, ''The Complete Recordings From 1967-68'' in 1999, ''About Time! (The Definitive MOD-POP Collection 1967-1968)'' and ''Final Daze'' in 2019. He currently runs Chubby Lama Management with Sasi Langford, representing the indie rock band Shoot the Preacher, who won The Global Song Writing Competition. He has also managed

strip club A strip club is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease or other Erotic dancing, erotic or exotic dances. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or Bar (establishment), bar style, and can also ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, Alan British rock drummers British male drummers Living people Year of birth missing (living people)