Tito Burns 1921 - 2010

[RayL]

Tito Burns, Cliff Richard's manager for a time died on 23 August . Spencer Leigh's obit in The Independent tells how although Burns "absolutely hated rock'n'roll' , he took over Cliff's management with the aim of making him into 'an all round entertainer'.

The end of this arrangement, says Leigh, came in 1960 when Derek Johnson, an editor at the New Musical Express booked Cliff Richard and The Shadows for a concert in Bexhill. Burns apparently told them it was for charity and they would receive expenses. Johnson told them it was a commercial event for which he's paid a full fee and this led to the group changing their management.

Tito Burns went on to manage many other artists in the sixties, seventies and eighties.

Ray L