Marc Nathan, the promotion and A&R government who in his 55-year profession helped Barenaked Women, 3 Doorways Down and extra get document offers, has died. He was 70.
He handed away earlier this week at Vanderbilt Medical Middle in Nashville, a consultant says. A press release stated Nathan had “been sick for a while and he lastly succumbed to quite a lot of afflictions.”
Nathan bought his foot within the door within the music business at simply 15 years outdated, when the then-Queens, New York, child wrote a letter to Todd Rundgren and acquired a reply from Ampex Information’ Paul Fishkin, with regard to a observe itemizing anomaly he discovered on Rundgren’s Runt album.
“He simply so occurred to open a stack of Todd’s fan mail that day. If he hadn’t opened that stack of mail that day, you understand … My life would have been altered ceaselessly,” Nathan stated in an interview in 2019.
Nathan quickly landed his first business job in radio promotion at Ampex, which led to him constructing a profession with roles in promotion at labels together with Bearsville, Casablanca, Playboy, Sire and Atlantic.
“I misplaced my greatest buddy of 55 years,” Fishkin famous following his demise. “Marc Nathan walked like he talked in addition to anybody I’ve ever recognized. His irascible, acquired style persona was what I loved probably the most, regardless that maddening at instances. We had a lot in widespread chiding and deriding phonies and pretentious fools in sports activities, politics, however most significantly, the music enterprise. We often loved busting one another as properly. We delighted in having our personal generally hilarious shorthand placing us on the ground at instances with uncontrollable laughter. He was an incredible document man, and a baseball and hockey chronicler supreme, amongst his many abilities and passions. And sure, I’ve tales! However most vital was his loyalty and help for all the suitable individuals and points. And he by no means let me down in all these 55 years.”
Over time — with stints in New York, Los Angeles and, most not too long ago, Nashville — Nathan additionally labored in A&R, having a hand in Common’s acquisition of Money Cash Information, and in expertise improvement for Common, Capitol, Atlantic/ATCO and imprints.
Among the many artists he bought signed had been the bands 3 Doorways Down (at Common) and Barenaked Women (at Sire). He later established a label, Flagship Information, to launch solo work from Barenaked Women co-founder Steven Web page.
“Marc was a document particular person of the best order,” Web page wrote following his demise. “He was completely and passionately obsessive about music and amassed an encyclopedic reminiscence for songs, charts and artists. He performed an enormous position in my profession and in my life — a job that arced throughout our complete shared timeline. Marc was a man who liked large, emotional music and in addition too-smart-for-its-own-good pop and had an enormous smooth spot for foolish novelty songs too. We form of match the invoice completely for him and he bought us. Marc took our demo tape to Seymour Stein at Sire data, and, fortunately, Seymour bought it. Whereas everybody else was calling us a throwaway, Seymour checked out Marc and stated, ‘They’re a Simon and Garfunkel for the ‘90s.’ Marc was at all times particularly happy with his involvement, and I’m eternally grateful to him for it.”
Web page added, “He was among the many first and most persistent of my pals to lend me help, recommendation and solidarity. He might be a nudge, however that’s solely as a result of he had an enormous coronary heart and he actually, actually cared. There have been many, many individuals in his life that he would counsel and coach and cajole and mentor by means of their darkest hours — he’d been there and again a number of instances himself — and I’m proud and grateful to be a kind of pals. I’m fortunate to have recognized him.”
