Eric Hall (11 November 1947
[Elian Peltier]
''The New York Times'', November 23, 2020 – 16 November 2020) was a British show business and
football agent known for his flamboyant public persona, quick wit, unique fashion sense, and the catchphrase "Monster, monster ...".
[Presenter Profile: Eric Hall]
, BBC Essex, 31 July 2009, retrieved 2010-11-22[Soccer agent Eric Hall moved to specialist hospital]
, BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
, 19 December 1997, retrieved 2010-11-22
Biography
After an early career as a singer (he sang backing vocals for
Tiny Tim) and actor, in the early 1970s Hall became a publicist for
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 ...
. There, he worked in the
Artists and Repertoire
Artists and repertoire (colloquially abbreviated to A&R) is the division of a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists (singers, instrumentalist ...
department, where he met and befriended
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the ...
, he also claimed the song, "
Killer Queen
"Killer Queen" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by lead singer Freddie Mercury and recorded for their third album ''Sheer Heart Attack'' in 1974. It reached number two in the UK Singles Chart and became their first US ...
" was written about him, despite Mercury stating it was about a
call girl
A call girl or female escort is a sex worker who (unlike a street walker) does not display her profession to the general public, nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency.< ...
.
Hall arranged the
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...
' infamous, expletive-filled appearance on the ''Today'' television show in 1976 presented by
Bill Grundy
William Grundy (18 May 1923 – 9 February 1993) was an English journalist and broadcaster, best known for his work as anchor of ''Today'', a regional magazine programme on Thames Television in London.
In the latter role, Grundy gained ...
. Hall grew up in
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common land, Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heat ...
in the
East End of London
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
, and was a friend of
Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted int ...
. He had been with Bolan earlier on the night of the singer's death in a car crash in 1977.
Hall was once
tea boy to
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
and also worked
PR in the music business, promoting
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
,
the Sex Pistols
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
,
T-Rex
''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosaurus'' live ...
,
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
,
Steve Harley
Steve Harley (born Stephen Malcolm Ronald Nice; 27 February 1951) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as frontman of the rock group Cockney Rebel, with whom he still tours, albeit with frequent and significant personnel changes.
Ea ...
and
the Bay City Rollers
The Bay City Rollers are a Scottish pop rock band known for their worldwide teen idol popularity in the 1970s. They have been called the "tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh" and one of many acts heralded as the "biggest group since the Beat ...
.
In 1986, a chance meeting with
Steve Perryman
Stephen John Perryman MBE (born 21 December 1951) is an English former professional footballer who is best-known for his successes with Tottenham Hotspur during the 1970s and early 1980s. He has won the FA Cup, League Cup, and UEFA Cup all twi ...
led to him becoming a football agent, and within 10 years he had built up a roster of about 40 well-known clients, including
John Fashanu
John Fashanu (, born 18 September 1962) is an English television presenter and former professional footballer.
In his former career, he was a centre-forward from 1978 until 1995, most notably in an eight-year spell at Wimbledon in which he wo ...
,
Robbie Savage
Robert William Savage (born 18 October 1974) is a Welsh former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder, now a association football, football pundit and director of football at club Macclesfield F.C., Macclesfie ...
,
Tim Sherwood
Timothy Alan Sherwood (born 6 February 1969) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder.
As a player, he was a midfielder from 1987 until 2005, notably as captain of Blackburn Rovers' Premier League ...
,
John Scales
John Robert Scales (born 4 July 1966) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central defender from 1984 to 2001.
He notably played in the Premier League for Wimbledon, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Ipswich Town as well ...
,
Neil Ruddock
Neil "Razor" Ruddock (born 9 May 1968) is an English former professional footballer and television personality who is a club director at Enfield.
As a player he was a central defender from 1986 to 2003, and was voted the 17th "hardest footballe ...
,
Dave Beasant
David John Beasant (; born 20 March 1959) is an English football coach and former football goalkeeper.
As a player, he was a goalkeeper, who notably played top-flight football for Wimbledon, Newcastle United, Chelsea, Southampton and Nottingham ...
,
Paul Walsh
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
*Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
,
Dennis Wise
Dennis Frank Wise (born 16 December 1966) is an English former professional football player and manager who played as a central midfielder. He is the president of Serie B side Como 1907. He is best known for having spent the majority of his c ...
, and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
team manager
Terry Venables
Terence Frederick Venables (born 6 January 1943), often referred to as El Tel, is an English former football player and manager, and an author. During the 1960s and '70s, he played for various clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queen ...
.
[Ed Aarons]
"Eric Hall: ‘I had everything – my own radio show, a TV show. Monster, monster’,"
''The Guardian'', November 12, 2016. As an agent, Hall helped raise the status of footballers, negotiating for large salaries, appearance fees, branding rights and other commercial bonuses.
Hall fell out with John Fashanu over his decision to help his brother
Justin
Justin may refer to: People
* Justin (name), including a list of persons with the given name Justin
* Justin (historian), a Latin historian who lived under the Roman Empire
* Justin I (c. 450–527), or ''Flavius Iustinius Augustus'', Eastern Rom ...
sell his story to a national tabloid newspaper, in which he
came out
Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity.
Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
as gay. Fashanu was outraged and the pair never spoke again.
In 1996, Hall was a regular guest on ''Caesar's Rude Arena'' for
Television X
Television X (TVX) is a series of adult pay-per-view television channels in the United Kingdom owned by MG Global Entertainment (Europe) Limited. Until 2020, it was owned by Portland TV which was a subsidiary of Richard Desmond's publishing com ...
, hosted by
Caesar the Geezer, in which he referred to callers as "bubbeleh", thus revealing his Jewish roots.
Hall can be seen in the July 1973
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...
''
Man Alive'' documentary film "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", as one of a group of EMI men promoting 11 year old boy singer Darren Burn and his first single. The programme was first broadcast in October of that year.
Radio presenting
Hall presented regular radio shows on stations including
BBC Essex
BBC Essex is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Essex.
It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on New London Road in Chelmsford.
According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 160,000 ...
,
Phoenix FM
Phoenix FM is a community radio station serving the areas of Brentwood and Billericay, England on 98.0FM and online, covering an area of over 140,000 people.
History
The station was formed in 1996 and has been broadcasting full-time on FM since ...
and Time 107.5. Among the shows he presented was ''You Can Take The Boy Out Of The East End But You Can't Take The East End Out Of The Boy'', in which he traced his
East End
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
roots, and in 2002 he marked the 50th anniversary of the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, when he presented ''The First Ever Singles Chart.'' It featured interviews with all the surviving singers who were in the first Top 12 from November 1952.
Personal life and death
In 1997, Hall had a health scare when he was admitted to hospital for what at the time was believed to be
E.coli
''Escherichia coli'' (),Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. also known as ''E. coli'' (), is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus ''Esche ...
poisoning and
septicaemia
Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is follo ...
;
he spent eight weeks in a coma. Later, a blood specialist diagnosed him with the blood disorder
Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura
Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a blood disorder that results in blood clots forming in small blood vessels throughout the body. This results in a low platelet count, low red blood cells due to their breakdown, and often kidney, h ...
.
Hall died on 16 November 2020, at the age of 73, after contracting
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
Discography
*''Monster Cash'' (1997)
References
Further reading
*Hall, Eric (1998) ''Monster!: True Tales from a Show Biz Life'', Boxtree,
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Eric
English Jews
2020 deaths
1947 births
People from Bethnal Green
Association football agents
Music promoters
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in England
20th-century British Jews
21st-century British Jews