Ken Testi is British entrepreneur most notable for his involvement with the bands

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 ...

and Deaf School and with the Liverpool music venue

Eric's Club Eric's Club was a music club in Liverpool, England. It opened on 1 October 1976 in the basement of The Fruit Exchange in Victoria Street, with performances by The Runaways and The Sex Pistols (their only Liverpool gig) before soon moving around ...

Biography

In the mid-1960s whilst at school, Testi began promoting shows in venues as diverse as scout huts, youth clubs, schools, pubs and civic halls. In the summer of 1969, with a band formed at school, he went to London where he met Freddie Bulsara. A few weeks later Bulsara appeared on stage for the first time, fronting the band Testi had taken to London. Bulsara changed the band’s name from

Ibex An ibex (plural ibex, ibexes or ibices) is any of several species of wild goat (genus ''Capra''), distinguished by the male's large recurved horns, which are transversely ridged in front. Ibex are found in Eurasia, North Africa and East Africa. ...

to Wreckage and later changed his own name to

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 ...

. During 1970, as a college social secretary, Testi continued to follow Mercury’s progress with Roger Taylor and Brian May in the newly formed

and arranged three shows for the band; at a youth club in Potters Bar, at St Helens College of Technology and at Liverpool’s Cavern Club. Testi returned to London and spent 1971 encouraging Queen and generating interest from record companies. In mid-1972 Testi returned to Merseyside, working with local musicians until 1974 when he met members of a band from Liverpool College of Art who had taken their name from the building where they rehearsed – Deaf School. Deaf School became the spark that ignited a creative, musical explosion in Liverpool which had seen scant original musical output since The Beatles. During two years of tour management with Deaf School, Testi formed an alliance with Roger Eagle. The two first met in the 1960s at the Magic Village in Manchester. Together they established

in Mathew Street, Liverpool in 1976. The first band to play was Deaf School, followed by many of the leading acts of the day: The Stranglers,

The Runaways The Runaways were an all-female American rock band who recorded and performed from 1975 to 1979. The band released four studio albums and one live album during its run. Among their best-known songs are "Cherry Bomb", " Hollywood", "Queens of N ...

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 ...

, The Damned,

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police ...

, Ian Dury and the Blockheads,

Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and new wave,Dave Edmunds David William Edmunds (born 15 April 1944) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. Although he is mainly associated with pub rock and new wave, having many hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, his natural leaning has alwa ...

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...

The Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...

and

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talkin ...

, amongst others. Before it closed in March 1980, many new local acts had been encouraged to take to the stage for the first time including

Jayne Casey Jayne Casey (born 1956, in Wallasey, Cheshire) is an English artistic director who was known for being involved in the Liverpool punk and new wave scene in the 1970s and 1980s, with Big in Japan, Pink Military and Pink Industry. A Keychang ...

, Bill Drummond, Ian Broudie and Holly Johnson ( Big in Japan), Paul Rutherford and

Budgie Budgie may refer to: Arts * Budgie (album), ''Budgie'' (album), the debut album by the Welsh heavy metal band Budgie * Budgie (band), a Welsh heavy metal band from Cardiff * Budgie (musician) (born 1957), English drummer * Budgie (TV series), ''Bu ...

(

The Spitfire Boys The Spitfire Boys were the first Liverpool punk band to release a single (" British Refugee" c/w "Mein Kampf"). The Spitfire Boys were mainly notable for including in their line-up Peter Clarke, who went on to drum for the Slits and later Sio ...

) and

Pete Wylie Peter James Wylie (born 22 March 1958) is an English singer/songwriter and guitarist, best known as the leader of the band variously known as Wah!, Wah! Heat, Shambeko! Say Wah!, JF Wah!, The Mighty Wah! and Wah! The Mongrel. Career Early b ...

. In the 1980s, the UK and international record charts were dominated by talent that had emerged from Eric’s including, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, KLF, The Lightning Seeds, The Teardrop Explodes, Echo & the Bunnymen and

Dead or Alive Dead or Alive most commonly refers to: * Dead or Alive (band), a British pop band * Dead or alive, a phrase on a wanted poster Dead or Alive may also refer to: Film and television * ''Dead or Alive'' (1921 film), an American silent film dir ...

. In 1988 Testi persuaded Deaf School to reform for a series of shows, from which Clive Langer produced a live album, ''2nd Coming: Liverpool '88''. In 2008 Testi produced an Eric’s Show at Liverpool Academy featuring acts from the club. In the same year Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre produced “Eric’s, The Musical”. Testi currently runs a company called Eric's Productions Limited, where he produces a number of shows each year for Deaf School, and their celebrity guests who regularly include Suggs and Lee Thompson (

Madness Madness or The Madness may refer to: Emotion and mental health * Anger, an intense emotional response to a perceived provocation, hurt or threat * Insanity, a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns * ...

Kevin Rowland Kevin Rowland (born 17 August 1953) is a British singer and musician best known as the frontman for the pop band Dexys Midnight Runners (currently called ''Dexys''). The band had several hits in the early 1980s, the most notable being "Geno" an ...

( Dexys Midnight Runners) and Ian Broudie ( Lightning Seeds).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Testi, Ken Impresarios Businesspeople from Liverpool Living people Year of birth missing (living people)