HARLEY MEDCALF
Managing Director
KEVIN DONALD RITCHIE
Founder of Duet – 1929-2013
Kevin Ritchie was amongst the forefront of the modern era of Australian Concert Promoters.
He possessed a unique gift for building enduring relationships with the worlds leading Artists, based on integrity and trust, backed up with his wicked humour and his encyclopaedic knowledge of music and entertainment.
A true gentleman, throughout his life Kevin maintained a low and private profile, never seeking recognition or coverage of his achievements.
Born in Sydney in 1929, he first joined S. Hoffnung and Company in 1948. The company was a distributor of EMI manufactured gramophone records in NSW, and Kevin was employed to assemble record orders for the wholesale dealers in the City and Country outlets.
In 1949, when EMI, known as EMI Sales and Service Pty Ltd, decided to start its own distribution service, the employees in the Hoffnung Gramophone Division were offered to option to transfer over to EMI, Kevin made the move.
In 1950 he became a Special Sales Representative for EMI, on the road visiting the wholesale dealers and record stores around the country.
In 1959 the sales division was restructured, and in 1960 Kevin was appointed Manager of PR and Promotions, and subsequently National Manager. His duties included touring with all EMI artists in Australia, which included The Beatles, in 1964.
In 1973 EMI, looking to the future, started a concert promotions division, Act One International, with Kevin at its Head. Tours with EMI artists Marc Bolan and T.Rex, Buck Owens, Suzi Quatro and Elton John, were subsequently staged in 1973-4 under the Act One banner.
On the Elton John tour Kevin developed a strong relationship with Elton and his manager John Reid. Subsequently, Ritchie departed EMI in 1975, and formed his own promotional company with Reid, Duet Productions, to manage Rocket Records and promote concert tours. Duet’s first undertaking was “A Night at the Opera” tour with Queen in 1976.
Kevin and Duet then staged successful tours with Harry Secombe, Cliff Richard, Rod Stewart “The Concert”, then Elton John with Ray Cooper in 1977.
For the return Rod Stewart “Blonds Have More Fun” tour in 1978, Duet became embroiled in the Computicket ticketing company crash, losing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Following this catastrophe, Reid, also recognising a potential conflict of interest from his stable of artists, stepped back from his co-ownership of Duet.
John Reid correctly commented, “The integrity, competence and incredible humour that Kevin brought to the otherwise hard nosed business of touring stood him in good stead to attract first class Artistes for years to come”.
Reid’s vision was on target, and many successful concerts followed, with his “close mate” Slim Dusty, the first of seven wonderful tours with Billy Connolly, an amazing fourteen tours with Suzi Quatro, and Lionel Richie “Outrageous Tour” in 1987. It was however the relationship with Elton John, lasting through eight sold out tours from 1974 to 1998 that defined Kevin’s career.
In 1989, after several operations to counter heart problems, Kevin retired to Bowral. He became “Senior Consultant” to Duet, building on a special relationship with Harley Medcalf, whom he had hired as his Tour Manager in 1976. This partnership continued beyond Kevin’s last on the road adventure with Duet, with his favorite Artist, Billy Connolly, in 2011
Stories about Ritchie abound, from the time he delivered a refrigerator to the dressing room of Judy Garland at the Sydney Stadium in 1964 to save the day after Ms. Garland refused to perform without “cold drinks”, to appearing at the Elton John end of tour dinner in Auckland in 1984, wrapped head to toe as the “Invisible Man”.
Responding to Elton John’s comment “How can we ever top that”” referring to the record breaking success on the “To Low for Zero Tour” in 1984, Kevin responded, “with a symphony orchestra next time, dear”. Subsequently the 1986 Elton John “Tour De Force” followed, with an 86-piece ABC Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in tow, the largest, and most successful tour ever staged in Australia at that time.
In 1986 Kevin’s old office car, a Holden Kingswood, christened “Rex” was stolen and trashed. Elton John tracked down a replica car, had it restored, plated as REX-2, gift wrapped with a huge yellow bow and delivered it with considerable fanfare outside the Sebel Town House. Kevin was mortified with the fuss, and made a quiet aside, that he been “trying to get rid of the car for years”.
Billy Connolly best summed up the reaction from all to Kevin’s death, saying, “My heart is broken. We will never see the likes of him again.”
Kevin is survived by his wife Betty. They first met at EMI in 1957, and formed a strong, loving and special life-long partnership.
