Paragon Booking Agency

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Paragon Booking Agency
Industry Talent management
Headquarters
Macon, Georgia
,
United States

Paragon Booking Agency was a musical talent management company based in Macon, Georgia, United States. It was one of the largest booking agencies in the Southeast. In the late 1970s, Ian Copeland, a music promoter, and Bill Berry, future member of R.E.M., worked for the company.

Contents

History

Paragon took advantage of the success of Capricorn Records, [1] which was founded in Macon, Georgia, in 1969 by Phil Walden and Frank Fenter. [2] [3] Alex Hodges, who founded Paragon, met Walden at Mercer University. [2] Hodges saw new wave music arriving and said, according to Mike Mills, future bassist with R.E.M., 'We don't have anybody here who understands that. Find my somebody that knows this stuff.'" It is believed that Buck Williams found Ian Copeland, who was managing bands in the United Kingdom at the time. [4] After joining Paragon in 1977, [5] Copeland arranged to have Squeeze tour the U.S. by booking them into small venues, with the hope of word-of-mouth doing the leg work for their popularity. He did the same for the B-52s and the Police, for which his brother Stewart was the drummer. [1]

Artists represented by Paragon included the Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Charlie Daniels Band. [6] They also booked shows for the Climax Blues Band, who were managed by his other brother, Miles. [5]

R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry, who worked for Paragon in the late 1970s Billberry.jpg
R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry, who worked for Paragon in the late 1970s

In the late 1970s, Bill Berry, later the drummer with R.E.M., became employed by Paragon as a gopher. [4] [7]

Copeland and Berry left Paragon in 1979; Copeland to form Frontier Booking International (F.B.I.) with Buck Williams [5] [8] and Berry to move to Athens, Georgia, to begin at the University of Georgia. [9]

The company's office was at 560 Arlington Place in Macon. A plaque on the building denotes it as the "booking agency for R.E.M., the Police, the B-52s and other New Wave bands. [2] The former home of Bill Berry and Mike Mills, next door at 572 Arlington Place, also has a plaque. [10]

Personnel

Rodgers Redding, brother of Otis, ran the company's rhythm and blues department, while John Huie, a Davidson College alumni, ran the college-music division of Paragon. [11] [12]

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References

  1. 1 2 Sweeting, Adam (May 30, 2006). "Ian Copeland". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 "Paragon Booking Agency Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Capricorn Records founder Phil Walden dies". Today.com. April 24, 2006. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  4. 1 2 Rick Beato (June 14, 2024). Mike Mills: The Story Of R.E.M. Retrieved July 1, 2024– via YouTube.
  5. 1 2 3 Campion, Chris (January 7, 2010). Walking on the Moon: The Untold Story of the Police and the Rise of New Wave Rock. Turner Publishing Company. ISBN   978-0-470-62783-9.
  6. ↑ X (May 25, 2006). "Ian Copeland, 57; Booking Agent for New Wave, Punk Bands, Including the Police". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  7. ↑ Buckley, David (May 31, 2012). R.E.M. Fiction: An Alternative Biography. Random House. ISBN   978-1-4481-3246-1.
  8. ↑ Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. July 4, 1992. p. 13.
  9. ↑ Hale, Grace Elizabeth (February 13, 2020). Cool Town: How Athens, Georgia, Launched Alternative Music and Changed American Culture. UNC Press Books. p. 95. ISBN   978-1-4696-5488-1.
  10. ↑ "Mike Mills and Bill Berry Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  11. ↑ "After Hours: Those who have inspired Georgia Music" – The Macon Telegraph , October 3, 2015
  12. ↑ Waddell, Ray (December 2, 2005). "CAA Ups Music Agents". Billboard. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
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