Tom Vickers is a lifelong music fan who started as a journalist for Rolling Stone magazine. After an article on George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic, he became Minister of Information for Clinton’s PFunk empire. From there he worked at A&M as West Coast Publicity Director, Almo Irving Music as a Professional Manager and onward to A&R stints at Capitol and Mercury Records. At A&M, he met legendary record executive Harold Childs, whose life and career he will help commemorate in April.
Here is Vickers’ appreciation of Childs as well as information on the event.
Known affectionately as “The Chief” by the many radio promotion people who worked with/for him, Harold Childs was a bigger than life figure. He personally hired many of the men and women who became legends in the field of record promotion. Some went on to head the promotion departments at major labels, and some were even elevated to President, like Al Cafaro and Phil Quartararo.
Childs started his career as a local in Philadelphia for RCA Records where he worked with many of the MOR torch bearers that RCA was known for back in the day. Artists like Arthur Fiedler, Peter Nero, Henry Mancini, Perry Como all knew Harold, and looked forward to seeing him when they were in Philly.
He was hired by Jerry Moss in 1969, first as the promotion man for Creed Taylor’s CTI Records, which A&M distributed. When the CTI deal lapsed, Moss hired Childs on as National Head of Promotion and then upped him to Senior Vice President of Sales and Promotion in 1979.
During this period, Childs was instrumental in breaking many of the top A&M acts including Peter Frampton, the Carpenters, Captain and Tennille, Supertramp, the Police and more. Childs’ sense of humor and style made him the consummate promotion man during radio’s heyday, beloved by all who encountered him.
I first met Childs in 1981 when I was hired to do West Coast Publicity for A&M. Another promotion legend, Jheryl Busby, introduced us and we became fast friends. His first question to me was, “You seem like a right-minded young man. Tell me, are you a Democrat?” When I went on to name JFK’s entire cabinet, we became fast and lifelong friends.
After leaving A&M in the mid-1980’s, Childs went on to head up Urban Promotion at Polygram, and then was made President of Qwest Records by Quincy Jones. After a few years there, he was hired by Warner Brothers as Head of Jazz Promotion, sort of full circle from his days with CTI.
Harold was known as the dean of national promotion people, and he proved that title to me one night when we had dinner with Ken Barnes, former editor of Radio and Records [now editor for the Ross On Radio column]. They spent the evening playing “Name the Station” by calling out a station’s call letters, and then where that station was located. Not only did Harold know every station’s calls, but he also knew the PD, the MD, and could name many of the station’s disc jockeys.
Unfortunately, Childs passed away at the age of 80 on August 27, 2023. A small group of Harold’s hires in the promotion world and people who worked with him at various labels have put together a GoFundMe Campaign to create a celebration of his life planned for April 21 at L.A.’s Moss Theater from 5-8 p.m.
For all of you who were ever touched by Harold’s generosity and the joy that he shared for life and music, please consider contributing to the memorial through the GoFundMe campaign and come and celebrate with all of us who knew and loved him. (RSVPs can be sent to Childs4724@ gmail.com.)
