Tom Watkins (music manager)
Tom Watkins is a pop impresario, writer, composer, designer and fine art collector.
Early Career
Watkins studied at the London College Of Furniture and worked as a designer for Terence Conran. Later he worked with graphic designer Mark Farrow on famous minimalist Pet Shop Boys album covers including Please, Actually and Introspective.
Songwriting
A prolific songwriter, Watkin's concentrated on composing pop music and his credits include 'When Will I Be Famous', I Owe You Nothing and 'Drop The Boy' for Bros, 'Stay Another Day' for East17 and 'Heartbeat' for Jimmy Somerville. "I Owe You Nothing" was boyband Bros's sole UK number one single, spending two weeks at the top in June 1988.
Music Management
In the 1980s and 1990s Watkins managed numerous successful pop bands including Pet Shop Boys, East 17 and Bros. He has also worked with a wide number of musicians including Wham!; Billie Piper; Art of Noise; Faith, Hope & Charity; Martine McCutcheon and Grace Jones. In 1989 he worked with the Pet Shop Boys and Liza Minnelli on her breakthrough album Results.
Design
Watkins is a prolific fine art collector, specialising in works from Memphis Group which was an influential Italian design and architecture movement of the 1980s. In 2003 he designed and built The Big White House in Pett Level, East Sussex which was featured on the Grand Designs television show.
Later Work
In 2008 Watkins teamed up with newspaper art director and journalist Julian Bovis to create TV production company Jules & Fatty.
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