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Stiff Records' figurehead Jake Riviera, who has been influential in steering the independent company to prominence in the past year, has resigned from the company.
Although details were sketchy as Music Week went to press, it seems Riviera will take over sole management of Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe, while Stiff partner Dave Robinson will assume overall control of the record company along with sole management of Clover, Graham Parker and The Damned. A staff re-shuffle is planned, but nothing has been confirmed so far. General manager Paul Conroy said:
"This was Jake's decision and the whole thing is completely amicable."
Explained Riviera this week: "Ever since hearing Anarchy In The UK by Johnny Rotten and his Sex Pistols, I have come to realise that the only validity in life is to build to destroy."
Riviera gained his early industry experience as a respected tour and personal manager under his given name of Andrew Jakeman. He formed the company in partnership with former Brinsley Schwarz manager Dave Robinson in August 1976 with the aid of a loan from Dr. Feelgood's Lee Brilleaux and top rock photographer Keith Morris. For many, his swashbuckling approach to the record industry and talent for coining snappy slogans (e.g. The World's Most Flexible Record Company) personified the atmosphere of the new wave.
As co-managers of The Damned, Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, Clover, Graham Parker and the Rumour, Robinson and Riviera's work load increased rapidly as the record company became more successful.
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