Booking Pioneer Copeland Dies At 57.

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Author: Waddell, Ray

OBITUARY

One of the most colorful careers in music came to a close May 23, as pioneering booking agent Ian Copeland died in Los Angeles of melanoma. He was 57.

In his heyday, Copeland helped to cultivate the new wave movement and the U.S. club circuit for fledgling bands.

Copeland and his brothers, the sons of a CIA agent, were part of a self-described "law enforcement" clan in the music business: Ian created Frontier Booking International (FBI), younger brother Stewart was the founder/drummer of the Police and older brother Miles started International Records Syndicate (IRS), a record label whose acts included R.E.M., the Go-Go's and Black Sabbath.

"I was the luckiest kid brother in the world," Stewart Copeland says. Miles Copeland adds: "He was not only our brother, but a maverick partner to Stewart and I, and so many others in this crazy world of entertainment."

In 1967, at the height of the Vietnam War, Copeland joined the Army and was awarded a Bronze Star. After his discharge, Copeland moved to London, where, with Miles' help, he landed a job as a booking agent.

With Southern rock ruling the U.S. concert box office in the mid-'70s, Copeland moved to Macon, Ga., where he worked for Phil Walden's Paragon Agency, which booked tours for the Charlie Daniels Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers Band, among others.

Paragon president/co-owner Alex Hodges, now executive VP for House of Blues Concerts, says he talked Copeland into moving from London to Macon. "He never regretted it," Hodges says. "Ian was a bright spot on a team that will likely never be duplicated."

While at Paragon, Copeland helped develop a U.S. club circuit for rock acts by booking British act Squeeze, a strategy later employed with the Police and the B-52's.

When Paragon folded, Copeland and former Paragon agents Buck Williams and John Huie opened FBI in New York. The agency helped break the Police, which became one of the biggest live acts of the 1980s.

As one of the top agencies of the '80s, FBI acts included R.E.M., Sting, the Bangles, the Go-Go's, the Smiths, the Thompson Twins, the Fixx, UB40, Joan Jett & the Black Hearts, Oingo Boingo, the Dead Kennedys and the Cure.

Williams says Copeland's mark on the music world transcends touring. "His contribution was to the development of modern music," Williams says. "He was the driving force behind the new wave movement. He was the 'go-to' man for young new wave bands in Europe, developing a [U.S.] circuit in which most young European acts could come over, work and go home not in debt."

FBI merged with InterTalent, which disbanded in 1992. In 1995, Simon & Schuster published "Wild Thing: The Backstage, on the Road, in the Studio, off the Charts Memoirs of Ian Copeland."

In recent years, Copeland opened popular Beverly Hills spot Backstage Café.

In addition to his brothers, Copeland is survived by his two daughters Chandra and Barbara, his mother Lorraine and his sister Lennie.

Funeral services are private. Memorial plans are pending.

PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): COPELAND

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By Ray Waddell