Dave Robinson – The Stiff Records Story.

An evening of anecdotes and music with Dave Robinson who brings The Stiff Records story to Liberty Hall.

Dave Robinson brings The Stiff Records story to Liberty Hall Theatre on Saturday 29 February 2020.

As a teenager Dave was a photographer in Dublin and helped to open the first Beat Club in Ireland, Sound City. Taking pictures for Rave Magazine at The Cavern with The Beatles, and on The Rolling Stones first tour of Ireland, he befriended Van Morrison, and briefly managed him.

He has toured with Jimi Hendrix, The Experience, Eric Burden & The Animals, The Young Rascals and Vanilla Fudge and partied with The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Who, Jim Morrison and the Doors.

He then returned to London and started managing bands like Brinsley Schwartz, Graham Parker, Nick Lowe, Dave Edmonds, Ian Dury and Elvis Costello.

Dave created a network of 35 pubs where bands could play what they wanted and this became the forerunner of punk. He built a recording studio above the legendary Hope and Anchor Pub in Islington and, with Jake Riviera, he started Stiff Records. They signed The Damned, Motorhead, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Tracey Ullman, The Plasmatics, Jona Lewie, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Kirsty McColl, The Box Tops, The Adverts, Lene Lovich, The Pogues, Madness and many more.

After Stiff Records, Dave became president of Island Records, where he oversaw the careers of famous names such as U2, Robert Palmer, Stevie Winwood, & Frankie Goes to Hollywood. He personally compiled and marketed Bob Marley’s 44 million selling LEGEND album. The biggest selling reggae album of all time.

He represented Rick Rubin running Def Jam Records and American Recordings outside North America working with Johnny Cash, the Black Crows, Slayer, Danzig and the Jayhawks. He settled the vicious two-year litigation between Rick Rubin and Roger Ames, Chairman of PolyGram and signed American Recordings to BMG. Dave then ran The Famous Blue Note Club and Acid Jazz Label in London helping to launch the Drum and Bass dance movement.

Dave has been at the helm or in the mix of the most exciting and important musical developments and he is still active in the music industry as a consultant for various labels and projects – from Van Morrison for EMI to The Dubliners & Paul Carrack.- as well as keeping an eye on some of the most enduring repertoire the music industry has even seen.