“We lost Chris this morning…”
That’s how it came. A message from a mutual friend – someone whose heart had just been broken – appeared in my inbox yesterday. It wasn’t unexpected. He’d been ill for some time but even so it hit hard when I read it. Too fucking sad.
Chris York was a promoter. Gigs, shows, concerts, festivals. We worked together often and for a time. When we met Chris he was at SJM alongside the company founder Simon Moran. Back then a young company based in Manchester (very much an important city in the Heavenly story), they were the sharpest promoters in the business. They were quick at spotting potential and they acted on their instincts in a flash. Heavenly Recordings and most of our artists at the time benefitted not only from this talent but also from the deep support and resulting friendship which followed. Chris became a dear friend to us all.
This remained the case for a lot of us forever. Chris was one of the good guys – kind, thoughtful, daft for a while (but weren’t we all?), hugely generous in every possible way, and, as I just said, supportive. We loved the guy and we’ll never ever forget him.
Of course we weren’t alone in this. Chris helped hundreds of folk along the way such as Primal Scream, Underworld, Tom & Ed, Charlatans – all really important friends and family during the mid 90s. Yesterday I read a lot of lovely words on social media until I just had to stop but reading the tribute from Andy Williams of Doves planted Chris’s voice in my mind with total recall. “You lot should sign Doves”. He said this to me one night as we were going through the door into The Social, just weeks or months after it had opened. The Cedar EP had just been released on our mate Rob Gretton’s label. Rob had died. The album which would become Lost Souls was almost finished. They needed to find a home for it (which we weren’t aware of). The very next day Martin and I made the call and took the train to Manchester. That meeting changed our lives.
Thank you Chris.
•••
“Very sad to hear of Chris York’s passing. An old friend of the band and our guy at SJM Concerts. A great guy Chris… a big supporter of Doves right from the early days.”
– Andy Williams –
“Chris was a great supporter of Saint Etienne right from the beginning, not only promoting our shows but usually in the audience and hanging out back-stage afterwards. It was always fun times when Chris was around and he’ll be missed by every single person who knew him.”
– Sarah Cracknell –
“A brilliant, beautiful man, one of the really good guys and a vital part of the Heavenly family. Forever in our hearts.”
– Martin Kelly –
“I’m sure everyone who worked at Heavenly from the mid ’90s through to the ’00s thought of Brixton Academy as their second home (for better or – when trying to get back to West London – for worse). I must have rattled around those backstage corridors hundreds of times, pinballing off the walls between the dressing rooms like a pissed up ghost. One night – probably my 200th visit to the venue – I bumped into Chris, who asked if I fancied a drink. He then led me away from the post gig chaos to an inner, inner sanctum, an oasis of calm that I had no idea existed. His own room in venue we’d known and loved for so long. Inside, a few familiar faces, a pool table, a well stocked bar, fridges full of beers, lots of flat surfaces. Absolute paradise. God knows if it actually existed or if I dreamt it. Anyway, if I’m picturing Chris now, it’s in there.”
– Robin Turner –
Our hearts go out to those nearest and dearest.
All of us at Heavenly.
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– Fundraiser for Teenage Cancer Trust in memory of Chris York –
“This charity was close to Chris’s heart and he has done a lot of work arranging fund raising gigs on their behalf.” – Natalie York –