Don Arden (born Harry Levy; 4 January 1926 – 21 July 2007) was a music manager, agent, and businessman best known for overseeing the careers of the rock groups Small Faces, the Move, the Electric Light Orchestra, and Black Sabbath. He achieved notoriety in Britain for his aggressive, sometimes illegal business tactics; which led to his being called “Mr Big”, the “Yiddish Godfather” and the “Meyer Lansky of Pop”. (More from Wikipedia)
After auditioning the Klubs at a nightclub called the Pink Flamingo, Vic Smith signed them to a management deal with Don Arden’s company Aquarius. As a result, in early 1968, the Klubs again sort of followed in the Beatles’ footsteps and arrived at Decca Records – actually, Decca had famously decided against signing the Fab Four – where four tracks were laid down according to company records. Two were covers of the Beatles’ “Drive My Car” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire” – the latter song (apparently recorded at a later time) is the only cover song on the Midnight Love Cycle CD – plus their own songs “Midnight Love Cycle” and “Ever Needed Someone”. “Midnight Love Cycle” also became the title of their retrospective albums.
Don Arden insisted that the Klubs change their name to Revolution – perhaps he got the idea from another single by Tomorrow called “Revolution” that came out the year before the song of that name, “Revolution” by the Beatles. When the band refused to bow to this demand and arrogantly stood their ground, Arden heaped abuse on the young bandmembers. Don Arden, who was once called “the Al Capone of pop” by critic Johnny Rogan, was not used to taking any lip from the bands that he signed; Arden tore up their recording contract in front of the Klubs and vowed that their Decca recordings would never see the light of day.
(July 2013)
