DEREK SHULMAN

Every month we get inside the mind of one of the biggest names in music. This issue it's Derek Shulman. The Glasgow-born musician is best known as frontman of progressive rock trailblazers Gentle Giant and before that, the psychedelic pop outfit Simon Dupree And The Big Sound. But his career didn't end there - he went on to enjoy a hugely successful second chapter as a record label executive, playing a key role in signing and developing major acts including Bon Jovi and Dream Theater. Now, with a newly published autobiography, he looks back on six decades navigating both sides of the business, reflects on the importance of 'authenticity', and marvels that his music has found a new generation of listeners.

- Sid Smith

Derek Shulman's new autobiography, Giant Steps: My Improbable Journey From Stage Lights To Executive Heights, details his life as a musician and then his career as a successful record company executive. Having learnt his craft on the pop scene fronting Simon Dupree And The Big Sound while still a teenager, the band scored a hit with a Mellotron-etched cover version of the song Kites in 1967. Though now regarded as a psych-pop classic, Derek and his brothers Phil and Ray wanted to go in a different musical direction.

“We were making good money doing what we were doing, but that wasn’t the point for us,” said Derek when he spoke to Prog via Zoom from his US home. “We wanted to progress musically. But we also understood that you can’t do it with an audience who are eating chicken and chips and mayonnaise on the side.”

The result was the formation of Gentle Giant, whose popularity with fans old and new continues today. Writing in the foreword of Derek’s book, producer Tony Visconti, recalling his association with the group, observes: “I love Gentle Giant and album two, Acquiring The Taste, which was in many ways better than the first. But Gentle Giant, the first one, was my favourite because we broke so much fresh ground. It was so innovative.”

While other rock’n’roll memoirs come filled with tales of debauchery, Shulman readily admits that in the case of Gentle Giant, there’s little in the way of salaciousness, adding, “We were so unstoned most of the time.”

Instead, he deals not only with family matters and his years on tour but also with the numerous record company offices he occupied when Gentle Giant went off the road for good in 1980.

From his lowly start in promotions at PolyGram, Shulman became senior vice-president, signing Bon Jovi among others. More success awaited him as president and CEO of ATCO Records, incidentally the same US label that released the original version of