Eddy Grant pays tribute to former business manager

Reggae star Eddy Grant has paid tribute to his late business manager Tony Calder, following the Brit’s death on Tuesday (02Jan18).
The I Don’t Wanna Dance singer tells WENN he knew Calder had been ill and he had trouble walking when they last met for lunch at the beginning of last year (17), but the news of his death was still a big shock.
Paying tribute to the late music mogul, who partnered with music industry visionary Andrew Loog Oldham on a series of projects in the 1960s and 1970s, the reggae singer says, “He was one of the last of the great music business institutions and was part of the industry when all was innocent.
“He possessed all the guile and street smarts you needed to outwit the bosses of the major record companies.”
Remembering his friend as a great storyteller, Grant reveals Calder was also a hardcore businessman.
“I recall him flying to Argentina with me to do a show, taking care of a little business en route and then catching the return flight back to the U.K.,” Eddy adds. “He was that type of guy.”
The manager, talent-spotter, promoter, and publicist was instrumental in scoring the Rolling Stones, The Small Faces, and Grant hits with songs like Paint It Black, Itchycoo Park, and I Don’t Wanna Dance.
He started his career at Decca Records, where he was hired to help promote the Beatles’ Love Me Do.
Reports suggest he died of pneumonia at the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital in London on Tuesday (02Jan18), aged 74.