MIKE GORMLEY
As President of his own management firm, L.A. Personal
Development Mike now oversees the careers of such
international artists as film
composer/arranger/producer Paul Schwartz (http://www.paulschwartz.com),
as well as Aria, who have set the ambient/New Age music
field on its ear. Also Lisbeth Scott (http://www.lisbethscott.com)
who co-wrote the lyrics and was soloist for the film
"The Passion of the Christ". She recently had Macy Gray
singing her song "Real Love" in the film "Domino" and
will be represented as singer and writer in the upcoming
Spieleberg film "Munich". Mike also works with
composer/writers Clair Marlo (http://www.clairmarlo.com)
and Ronny Cox (http://ronnycox.com
) a well known actor and life-time musician.
Mike has managed several major acts from their early
days through to major international recognition. The
Bangles (with three top ten singles and over ten million
records sold) and Oingo Boingo, a major alternative act
that consistently sold out venues with capacities
ranging from 5,000 to 15,000. Oingo Boingo front man
Danny Elfman has become a major film composer with help
from Gormley, who convinced him to do the music for "Pee
Wee's Big Adventure" many years ago and proceeded to
find him four more films, getting his career under way.
Danny is now one of the top five composers in the film
world having scored such gems as "Beetlejuice," the
first two Batman movies, "Spiderman," "The Red Dragon"
and "Chicago." His work on "Good Will Hunting" and "Men
In Black" each earned Danny an Academy Award nomination.
Other popular artists Mike has managed include Wall
Of Voodoo (who had top 40 hits such as "Mexican Radio"
and other major success throughout Europe and
Australia), African star Angelique Kidjo and Concrete
Blonde. The latter, a multi-platinum act in various
parts of the world and best known in the U.S. for their
Top 20 hit "Joey."
More recently Mike helped the multi platinum band
Filter in their early days by introducing them to Warner
Bros. Records where they signed a major deal leading to
their hit “Hey Man, Nice Shot.” In another part of the
musical world, Mike guided the career of Paige O'Hara,
best known as Belle in the Disney "Beauty and the Beast"
films. Paige starred in several Broadway plays
including "Les Miserables" and for two years headlined
the "Radio City Music Hall Extravaganza" at the Flamingo
Hotel in Las Vegas
During much of this time Mike also served as
President of the Conference of Personal Managers and is
on the board of the Music Managers Forum and L.A. Women
in Music. He also lectures at Universities, Business
Conferences and seminars on careers in the music
business.
It was many years as a musician and journalist in
his native Ottawa, and as a columnist/feature writer and
editor with the Detroit Free Press (the fifth largest
morning newspaper in North America at the time) that
lead Mike to the music industry. By age 25 he was
Director of Publicity for Mercury Records eventually
overseeing the North American campaign establishing
Polygram, Inc.
Although not in the A&R field, Mike was instrumental
in the signing to Mercury of the legendary New York
Dolls and Kraftwerk. He also oversaw the campaigns for
The New York Dolls, Rush, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, The
Runaways, The Ohio Players, and many others before
moving to Los Angeles with A&M Records in 1979.
At A&M Mike rose to the post of Vice-President of
Publicity and Assistant to the Chairman. During this
time, he continued to help shape the careers of some of
music's biggest stars including The Police, Supertramp
and his boss Herb Alpert.
While his management interests continue Mike has
established the publishing companies, Zamboni Songs and
78 Fifth Ave. Songs and both reflect pride in his
Canadian heritage. The Zamboni cleans the rink during
breaks in hockey games and 78 Fifth Ave. is where he did
a lot of growing up in Ottawa.
Several years ago Mike established a publication
called The Music Report. The latter, now part of
Breakdown Services International reports on the musical
needs of Film, TV, Interactive Media, Commercials and
Record Companies to publishers, managers, and music
supervisors. On line it is called TuneData. Mike also
founded and ran Wildcat Records distributed by Universal
which experienced success in several genres including
Top Ten on the AC charts with Michael Damian and AAA
success with The Boomers. In the process he discovered
comedian Craig Shoemaker and released his CD which
continues to sell several years on. Craig has gone on
to be named Comedian of The Year and had his own show on
VH1.
Mike also has served in the capacity of Music Supervisor
on several films and TV shows, including the first
season of “The Equalizer” as well as the film
“Adventures In Baby Sitting” and a little movie called
“Head Office,” where he gave the then unknown James
Newton Howard his first shot at scoring a film.
Mike's motto is "activity breeds activity" and sees
to it all clients have the opportunity to carry their
talents to the public. With almost thirty years in the
music industry he has long since learned you never give
up.
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Activity Breeds Activity
818-783-7372
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