The former music supremo from Hartlepool who has worked with megastars including Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey
Not many people who hail from Seaton Carew can claim to having worked with music megastars such as Paul McCartney, Mariah Carey and Michael Jackson.
But that is the case for former music publicist, manager and record company executive Richard Ogden.
He has worked with more than 200 artistes, from some “never-heard-of no hopers” to a handful of the biggest names in music.
Richard has now put pen to paper for new book Bigger than The Beatles, a tongue-in-his-cheek look at his 60 years spent working in the international popular music industry.
It includes chapters on stars including Shirley Bassey, Black Sabbath, Ted Nugent, Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, Mariah Carey, Ricky Martin and more.
“I’ve had a very colourful and entertaining career, no doubt about it,” said Richard, now 76.
Born on The Cliff, in Seaton Carew, he left Hartlepool in 1971 aged 21 and moved to London to be in show business.
He got a job at Liberty United Artists where the first artist he worked with was Shirley Bassey.
In 1974 Richard started his own public relations company where he represented Black Sabbath and Aerosmith.
Between 1987 and 1993 he was Paul McCartney’s manager and in the second half of the Nineties ran Sony Music’s European operations.
During this time he came up with idea of placing giant statues of Michael Jackson at national landmarks to promote his album HIStory, including one floating down the Thames.
Richard, who now splits his time between Henley-on-Thames and Brazil, said: “We made 11 of them. No one knows the real story so I tell that in the book.”
Whilst at Sony, he was also given the tricky task of trying to keep Mariah Carey signed to them, even though she had just split up with the head of the company.
Richard’s other claims to fame include writing the Hartlepool United anthem Never Say Die released in 1972 and again in 2007 when the club were promoted.
Most recently, he has worked as a concert promoter in Poland and Brazil where his wife Thelma is from.
Bigger than The Beatles - Sixty Years in Showbusiness is available online through The Great British Book Shop and Amazon, plus local libraries and from Northern Rocks Vinyl in Kiwi Trading, Osborne Road, Hartlepool.