Among their clients was a young actor and singer called John Leyton, whose unexpected success as a recording artist made both Stigwood and his then associate Joe Meek into Britain's first independent record producers.

John Leyton was taken on by Robert Stigwood when he was building up his new theatrical agency.

" Johnny Remember Me " was the first of a string of British hit recordings from the Meek / Stigwood / Leyton team, and their success set a new pattern for the industry: according to Simon Napier-Bell, within a couple of years, over half the hits in the UK were independent productions.

By the time Leyton's seventh single was released Meek was out of the picture entirely and all subsequent John Leyton recordings credit Stigwood as sole producer.

From this point Stigwood recorded Leyton at EMI's Abbey Road Studios, but while the audio quality improved, the crucial ingredient — the excitement of the ' Joe Meek sound ' – was lost.

Under Stigwood's guiding hand, Leyton, Sarne and Berry were still scoring hits but there was a major flaw in the EMI deal: the minuscule percentage that EMI was paying meant that Stigwood was barely able to make a profit from these recordings.

Following the success of Biggles, Leyton was persuaded by his manager, Robert Stigwood, to audition as a singer for record producer Joe Meek, and subsequently recorded a cover version of " Tell Laura I Love Her ", which was released on the Top Rank label.

Arden reportedly threatened to throw Stigwood out of the window if he ever interfered with his business again.

He loved its trickery and tease, and the apparent ease with which money could be made ... And what made Robert Stigwood different from his predecessors is that he expanded laterally.

However, although Simon Scott finally scored a hit, the venture cost Stigwood a great deal of money which he could not afford to lose.

According to Gunby: "...( they ) could see the same problems arising, multiplied tenfold, when Stigwood moved in.

Stigwood wanted to remove dialogue scenes to include more music, so that the soundtrack could be expanded to a double album, but director Allan Moyle refused to make the cuts, so Stigwood fired Moyle ( who didn't make another film for ten years ) and made the cuts himself.

However, producer Robert Stigwood held out until Elton John agreed to take the part, reportedly on condition that he could keep the gigantic Dr. Martens boots he wore in the scene.

Baverstock also found the group an agent, John Gunnel, who had previously worked with the entertainment entrepreneur Robert Stigwood.

Grease 2 was produced by Allan Carr and Robert Stigwood, and directed and choreographed by Patricia Birch, who also choreographed the first film.

Despite the severe legal situation in Britain until the Sexual Offences Act 1967 decriminalised homosexual acts in private, it would not have been a disadvantage for Stigwood, as other important figures in the music industry were also gay.

Stigwood also promoted pop concerts " as a quick way to make a buck " and balance the books during slow periods.

" Epstein himself soon found himself at odds with his new partner — he was reportedly unhappy about Stigwood's spending, was upset by Stigwood renting a yacht for The Bee Gees, and was also angered by Stigwood's unilateral decision to send Alastair Taylor to America on a business trip, a plan Epstein overruled.

The area is also the main setting of The Cosby Show ( 1984-1992 ) TV show, where the Huxtable family resided in a two-story brownstone at 10 Stigwood Avenue.

Past and present residents of the building include such famous personalities as Stephen Sondheim, Tiger Woods, Steven Spielberg, Donna Karan, Tony Randall, Demi Moore, Glenn Close, Dustin Hoffman, U2 frontman Bono, Steve Martin, Bruce Willis, Trey Parker, Eddie Cantor, Robert Stigwood, Marshall Brickman, Jackie Leo, Don Hewitt, Billy Squier, and Texas natural-gas heiress Adelaide de Menil but also some businessmen: Dodi Fayed, Andrew Tobias, Aaron Spelling, Jack Sherwall, Hedy Lamarr.

Avildsen was the original director for both Serpico ( 1973 ) and Saturday Night Fever ( 1977 ), but was fired over disputes with producers Martin Bregman and Robert Stigwood, respectively.

* February 24 – The Bee Gees sign a management contract with Robert Stigwood.

In 1968, they recorded " First of May " with lead vocals by Barry, The flip side of the song was " Lamplight " on which Robin Gibb sang the lead, Bee Gees manager Robert Stigwood chose " First of May " to be the A-side, No other songs released on the album Odessa, and Robin quit the group.

In 1971 Elliman moved to New York City for the Broadway production of Jesus Christ, Superstar, where she met her first husband, Bill Oakes, who worked with Robert Stigwood as President of RSO Records.

Stigwood was evidently becoming dissatified with Meek's eccentric recording style and insisted that " Lonely City " be recorded at a commercial studio.

According to Tony Kent ( Meek's personal assistant at the time ), the session took place at London's IBC studios ; largely at Meek's suggestion, and at which Meek was present but with Stigwood assuming the rôle of dominant co-producer.

In late 1961 Stigwood had made a record production deal with Sir Joseph Lockwood, managing director of EMI, who proved to be the crucial link between the record company and the budding entrepreneur, just as Lockwood had been in the 1950s for Larry Parnes, and just as he would be a couple of years later for Brian Epstein and The Beatles.

Other artists Stigwood signed to a management / recording deal included Mike Sarne, whose Meek-produced " Come Outside " charted in 1962, and another Meek protégé, Mike Berry, who had scored a hit with the Geoff Goddard-penned " Tribute To Buddy Holly ".

1 ) and Stigwood had to negotiate with the band to get them back as part of the package.

Not surprisingly, Arden took exception to this, and in spite of the fact that Stigwood had never met the group personally, Arden decided to pay him a visit with some of his minders, to teach him a lesson:

The band recorded for Columbia ( the EMI label ) and the French Barclay Records, with one of its first releases being co-produced by Stigwood and Vicki Wickham.

He maintained a connection with Stigwood, performing in the London productions of Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar and Grease, and he played the sadistic Cousin Kevin in Stigwood's film version of The Who's Tommy.

Stigwood signed a much more advantageous deal with Polydor, with high percentages and substantial funding for his recording costs.

On 13 January 1967 Stigwood signed a deal with his friend and colleague Brian Epstein to merge their two companies.

He was keen to reduce his involvement in NEMS Enterprises, the company he had founded in 1963, so he decided to strike a deal with Stigwood.

Why Epstein decided to merge with Stigwood is uncertain.

There had been numerous other offers made for NEMS over the previous couple of years and Epstein is reported to have turned down more than one multi-million-dollar offer from American interests, so it is unlikely that he chose to become a partner with Stigwood simply for financial reasons.

Gunby says that Epstein told Derek Taylor that the merger with Stigwood would bring new talent into the fold and would strengthen the operation.

Stigwood had just begun his eleven-month perio with NEMS, and the boys ' father Hugh Gibb had already sent an LP and acetates of their demo recordings to Stigwood in an effort to sign the group to NEMS.

The brief partnership between Robert Stigwood and Joe Meek is claimed to have changed the British recording industry to a great extent.

Stigwood became extremely successful because of his control over all almost every facet of the business of his recording artists — agency, management, production, publishing and concert promotion.

Stigwood moved his recording activities to Polydor Records, where former EMI staffer Roland Rennie had recently been appointed as the new managing director.

The track was recorded on an Ampex Reel-to-reel audio tape recording by Robert Stigwood and John Timperley.