My friend Andy Ross, who has died aged 65 after treatment for cancer, was a hugely respected music industry executive. He worked with some of the biggest names in the business and was instrumental in the famous Blur vs Oasis chart battle in the 1990s, when the Britpop bands released new singles on the same day in a race for the No 1 slot.
The elder son of Ian Ross, a draughtsman in the oil industry, and Marlene (nee Bates, now Williamson), a secretary at the London Management entertainment company, Andy was born in Upper Norwood, south London, and gained a scholarship to Dulwich college. He and I met in 1977 in Leicester, where he was studying social and economic history at the university, while I was at the poly. His band the Disco Zombies were looking for a singer and I was looking for a band.
We became enthusiastic sparring partners, champions of sarcasm and irony, Andy utilising his skills as a mimic to amuse. We moved to London and he got a job in a record shop in Forest Hill, quickly followed by a stint as manager of the bookies next door.
He launched the indie label South Circular Records with our single Drums Over London in 1978; his lyrics way too clever for our own good. Andy was obsessed with music, always enthusiastic for something new, and could spot a tune from the briefest of listens.
He wrote under the pseudonym Andy Hurt and joined me in the mid-80s at Sounds magazine, where he excelled in punning and later invented the phrase “shoegazing” to describe bands who stared at their feet rather than the audience. He was introduced to (the ex-Teardrop Explodes member) Dave Balfe, who recognised Andy’s understanding of how songs work and partnered with him in 1986 in Food Records, which became one of the biggest “indie” labels of its time.
They then did a groundbreaking deal with EMI and had huge success with artists such as Jesus Jones, Diesel Park West, Shampoo, Dubstar and Idlewild. Most famously, Andy discovered Blur in March 1990, after seeing them play the Powerhaus in Islington the previous November – he persuaded them to change their name from Seymour to Blur. The band would go on to sell millions of records worldwide.
The label released 100 consecutive top 100 singles, an outstanding achievement, and their roster achieved many No 1 records and awards. Andy loved the art of the song, and his advice and pontifications on how they should sound inspired a host of bands. He stayed with Food until EMI/Parlophone took full control in 2000.
In the early days of the label he met Helen Potter, and they had a wonderful 30-year relationship, enjoying travelling as well as socialising with their huge circle of friends.
The Disco Zombies had reunited in recent years and we played our last show at the Dublin Castle pub in Camden in 2018, a little older, none the wiser. Andy was also involved in band management, enjoyed football and quizzes – he even appeared on Only Connect – and had a show on Boogaloo Radio in north London.
He is survived by Helen, whom he married in 2004, his parents, and his brother, Simon.
