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Gary Kurfirst was an American music promoter, producer, manager, publisher, and record label executive. Kurfirst founded Radioactive Records, whose acts included Live, Black Grape, Ramones, Big Audio Dynamite, Talking Heads, Eurythmics and Shirley Manson. He managed a variety of artists including Manson, Blondie, Tom Tom Club, the Ramones, Jean Beauvoir, Eurythmics, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Toots and the Maytals, and The B-52s.

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Gary Kurfirst (July 8, 1947 – January 13, 2009) was an American music promoter, producer, manager, publisher, and record label executive. Kurfirst founded Radioactive Records, whose acts included Live, Black Grape, Ramones, Big Audio Dynamite, Talking Heads, Eurythmics and Shirley Manson. He managed a variety of artists including Manson, Blondie, Tom Tom Club, the Ramones, Jean Beauvoir, Eurythmics, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Toots and the Maytals, and The B-52s.\n

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Early years

Kurfirst was born in Forest Hills, Queens. He started promoting dances while he was still a student at Forest Hills High School in Queens. He rapidly moved on to organizing and promoting shows at the tennis stadium at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills and moving across the East River to promoting gigs in Manhattan. Kurfirst helped arrange the first East Coast performances of acts including Jimi Hendrix and The Who.\n

Career

He established the Village Theater in the East Village at Second Avenue at Sixth Street in 1967, which a year later became the Fillmore East under the management of promoter Bill Graham. In August 1968, Kurfist organized the New York Rock Festival at the Singer Bowl in Flushing Meadow Park, an open-air concert with 18,000 in attendance that featured performances by The Chambers Brothers, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and the Soft Machine. In his obituary, The New York Times credited Kurfirst's success at the New York Rock Festival with inspiring the creation of the Woodstock Festival in Bethel, New York in August 1969.\n

While negotiating a contract for the group Mountain in the late 1960s, Kurfirst developed a close relationship with Chris Blackwell, his counterpart at Island Records. Blackwell, quoted in Kurfirst's obituary in The New York Times, described him as \"one of the first managers who basically built the rock business\", stating that Kurfirst \"stayed below the radar and once refused the cover of Rolling Stone because he felt it was not the right time for his band\".\n

Kurfirst managed reggae artists The Wailers founder Peter Tosh and Toots & the Maytals. His reach spanned new wave, reggae, punk, rock and pop. His client list as manager included the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, the B-52's, Eurythmics, Jane's Addiction, Holly and the Italians and Shirley Manson (Angelfish).\n

Talking Heads

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Gary Kurfirst began managing Talking Heads in 1977 after attending their show at CBGB in New York. He remained their only manager. Talking Heads were an American new wave band formed in 1975 in New York City. The band was composed of David Byrne (lead vocals, guitar), Chris Frantz (drums), Tina Weymouth (bass) and Jerry Harrison (keyboards, guitar). Described as \"one of the most critically acclaimed bands of the '80s,\" Talking Heads helped to pioneer new wave music by combining elements of punk, art rock, funk, and world music with an anxious yet clean-cut image.\n

Awards

Gary was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at The 36th annual Pollstar awards show on April 16, 2025, at The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, California. The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes those who have influenced and led the live entertainment sector for decades. Gary's son Josh Kurfirst was also in attendance at the event as a guest speaker and accepted the award on Gary's behalf.\n

Films

Kurfirst produced True Stories and Siesta and executive produced Stop Making Sense.\n

Death

Kurfirst died at age 61 on January 13, 2009, while he was vacationing in the Bahamas.\n

References

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External links

Official website

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Gary Kurfirst

Broadcast History