Gail Colson
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In Autobiography, Morrissey says of her:
"I am approached with an offer of management by Gail Colson, a forthright Londoner who manages Peter Gabriel, and who is unlikely to take anything on the chin. Although she has never been further north than Watford, I quite like her combination of gruffness and Emma Hornett agitation. I tell Gail that I will sign a management contract if she also agrees to manage Stephen Street. ‘I don’t want Stephen fuckin’ Street!’ she rattles. But with a bellowing sigh she took him on, and twenty-two years later she smiles: ‘I was offered a job lot.’"
At the end of Dave Simpson's "Manchester's Answer To The H-Bomb" (Uncut, 1998), Gail says the following about her working relationship with Morrissey:
"I managed Morrissey during the "Viva Hate" period, for about a year. I met him and I found him fantastic. We didn't talk about anything to do with The Smiths. We talked about the Sixties, "Coronation Street", nothing to do with music.
"But working with him was very difficult. He's hard to contact. I used to have to rely on him calling me, cos he doesn't really answer his phone. There'd be periods of months on end when I never heard from him. He disappeared on me for about a month from the day I told him the album had gone in at Number One. That was very frustrating, because everyone wanted to do interviews, and so on. He's very, very difficult to manage, but on the other hand he can be very charming, good fun.
"At that time, he never toured and didn't have a band. I didn't try to get him to tour because I'd seen what happened with The Smiths. He cancelled enough tours, didn't he?!
"Why did I stop managing him? He sacked me! He sacked me, his accountant and his lawyer on the same day. No idea why. It was bizarre, but then again nothing's bizarre with Morrissey. That's why I'm being a bit guarded. It's so sad. He's his own worst enemy. He's cut everybody out and is back where he was before fame, only stuck in a hotel room, not a bedroom.
"And he's still got his Mum running everything. Ooh, there's lots more I could tell you!"
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Artist manager. Date of birth: July 1946
Former personal assistant to record producer Shel Talmy, later joining Charisma Records Ltd. and becoming joint managing director alongside Tony Stratton-Smith. Established Gailforce Management Ltd., a London based management agency in 1979, her clients included Peter Gabriel, Peter Hammill, Random Hold, Jesus Jones & Morrissey
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Gail Colson is a retired music manager, whose company Gailforce Management Ltd. represented clients including Peter Gabriel (until December 1989), The Pretenders, Morrissey (briefly), Alison Moyet and Peter Hammill. Colson initially worked as personal assistant to the record producer, Shel Talmy, then joined Tony Stratton Smith at Charisma Records, as label manager and joint managing director. She left to form her own company in the late 1970s, and retired in 2012. She served on the advisory board of Music Managers Forum. Her other clients included Random Hold, whose first album was produced by Hammill at her instigation, and the record producer, Stephen Street. Hammill has stated that:
Gail and I never had a contract. Everything has been on the basis of trust.