– BIOGRAPHY
MY STORY
Behind the Music
Tony’s Journey
Tony Michaelides is a true ambassador of Manchester’s creative spirit. From the rain slick streets of Manchester to the sunlit stages of the world Tony Michaelides has walked a path, paved in music, passion, and possibility. A voice behind the voices, he helped shape the soundscape of generations.
Explore the years of Tony’s contribution to the Music Industry by clicking on the eras below.
1970s / 1980s
From Record Sales
to Radio Waves
He began his career in 1974 working in sales for Transatlantic Records, and then ABC Records. In 1978 he transcended into PR with Island Records as their Regional Promotion Manager and began working with Steve Winwood, Robert Palmer, Grace Jones. After a stint at Charisma Records, working with Genesis and Peter Gabriel he founded his own promotions company, TMP with Island and A and M Records as his first clients.
Together with running his own PR company he became a prominent radio personality in 1984 hosting his own show ‘The Last Radio Program’ on Piccadilly Key 103 for 12 years under the pseudonym ‘Tony The Greek’ where he championed emerging talent earning him Sony Music Award Nominations for ‘Best Specialist Show.’ With a ‘full on’ regional promotion company and an extensive range of clients Tony took on mentoring sessions in Canada and the UK. In 1989 he managed New Order’s Peter Hook and his new band, Revenge.
1990s
Bowie, Boybands
& Breakthroughs
The 90’s saw TMP forge a long-standing relationship with BMG lasting through to the millennium and enjoying one of their most successful periods ever with Annie Lennox, Whitney Houston, Take That, Natalie Imbruglia, N Sync, Westlife etc. During that period he also spent several years working with the ‘two Simon’s’… Fuller and Cowell.
1997 marked a personal highlight in Tony’s career when he was asked to be the publicist for David Bowie’s ‘Earthling Tour,’ responsible for all press, radio, and television. The following year TMP expanded their operations into working with more American clients , most notably Lippman Entertainment, one of the world’s most successful management companies and the opportunity to work with multi platinum act, Matchbox Twenty. They also became UK consultants to Warner Chappell’s LA office and also began working with Atlantic Records in New York.
Pioneering artist development Michaelides’ approach went beyond simple promotion, focusing on long term artist development. He played an integral role in the early successes of U2 when he got them their first network TV and national radio session outside of their native Ireland together with Neneh Cherry, Simply Red, Massive Attack, The Stone Roses and Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
2000
New Millennium, New Horizons, From The Brits to the USA
The new millennium dawned, record companies were downsizing and as Tony says “If I can no longer do it the way I want, then I don’t want to do it all.” Emulating Bono’s famous words at the Point Theater in Dublin as U2’s Rattle & Hum tour came to a close, “It’s been a fantastic journey, we’re going to go away now and dream it up all over again.” Tony’s new journey was about to take him to America. In the time spent waiting for the paperwork to be completed he acted as an advisor to The Music Managers Forum, “Master Classes,’ a became a consultant for the Manchester Business Consortium. He also became a regular panelist and moderator at the UK’s major music conference, “In the City.” During that time Tony was also a founding member of ‘The Manchester Music City Network’ and a trusted member of The Brits Voting Academy, the UK’s equivalent of The Grammys.
In 2004 Tony was granted a Green Card from the US Government as an “Alien of Extraordinary Ability,” for services to the music and arts and relocated to the USA. After a little down time it seemed natural to document his journey in the music industry and to write a book, “Insights from the Engine Room, Lessons Learned from Rock n Roll.”
2010 - 2020
A New Stage: From Magic Leap to TEDx and Brit Week
In 2010, he was approached by Rony Abovitz who was planning the launch of a new tech start up called Magic Leap. Tony came on board to introduce Rony to his peers in the music industry. In 2012, Tony was appointed Chief Evangelist, where he remained until 2018. before moving on to take an advisory role for another 12 months.
In that time he was approached to do a TEDx talk and then came an invitation from the British Consul General in Miami to present a Keynote Speech at Brit Week.
2020+
FROM BACKSTAGE TO CENTRE STAGE
With never the threat of retirement he takes his stories to corporate America, colleges and beyond, sharing those insights through public speaking, TEDx talks and his ‘Moments That Rock’ podcast, which is also the title of his latest book. He is also releasing a series of E Books centered around his first book ‘The Insights Collection, Lessons Learned from Rock and Roll.’ He also produces and presents his own radio shows, ‘The Promised Land’ on both Fab Radio International and Radio Free Marseilles.
Over numerous decades, Tony was the choir architect of fame, we think artist and audience together through the magic of radio, and the pulse of promotion. Now our storyteller speaker and author Tony shares the wisdom of a life, lived backstage, where dreams are tuned, amplified, and set free, he is Manchester’s gift to the world, a curator of culture, a keeper of moments, and a reminder that behind every great artist is someone who believed in the music before the world ever heard.
