Tony Mantor has a history of new artist and songwriter development, producing projects with legacy recording artists and stars of TV and the big screen. He has worked with the legends who shaped the music industry as well as working with those who are shaping its future.
Prior to relocating in Nashville, Tony already had a successful career as an entertainer and recording artist. In the 80’s and 90’s he had multiple chart records including a top 50 Cashbox hit.
After moving to Nashville in the 90’s, Tony established Plateau Music. With this he shifted his focus to record production, management and mentoring aspiring artists…and has never looked back. It has been a successful venture, yielding many top 40 hit records.
A few years ago, Tony’s inner artist resurfaced. He began compiling tracks for a solo project. This would be for his own enjoyment to share with his kids, grandkids, friends and family. In the course of this process, he discovered a song “Why Not Me”. It is an anthem about hope and never giving up on your dreams. Tony says “I have always said never give up on your dreams. It doesn’t matter when it happens, as long as it does happen. So, this song was meant for me to sing.”
He had no intention of doing anything commercially with his forthcoming CD. But, after pulling together a group of Nashville’s top studio musicians, and recording Why Not Me, he couldn’t ignore the response from the musicians, background singers, and everyone who heard the song. “With all that we are going through in this country right now, the message of the song seems to be exactly the right one at the right time”.
The song has been successfully released in the United Kingdom and Europe. It will now be promoted nationwide to radio here in the U.S.
Concurrently, Plateau Music is releasing a video of the song which includes pictures and video clips submitted by and honoring our First Responders around the country. Tony says, “I am humbled and very grateful… not only to have their support, but to have them as part of this project. After a lifetime in the music business as a producer, manager, artist and record company owner, this might be my most important work ever.”
“The Moon is Pink” – a tribute to Nick Drake – leads off a unique 7-track EP completes two-year project that has seen Roger D’Arcy travel tens of thousands of miles across the planet, recording at some of his favorite studios – studios that he personally designed.
For the past two years – singer/songwriter Roger D’Arcy has been traveling the world recording 10 tracks and an “accidental album” along the way
From India to the United States and from Greece and Turkey to Ireland and the UK, D’Arcy has been taking his unique talent to each country and only utilizing local musicians and recording engineers, he has finally come to the natural end of the project with the release of “The Moon Is Pink” a tribute to UK icon – Nick Drake – and released on the anniversary of his death in 1974.
D’Arcy, of course used to perform and record before he settled on a “sensible” career – going to college to study architecture and as Recording Architecture becoming one of the world’s most renowned designer and acoustician – building some of the most iconic recording and broadcast facilities in the world.
He also made a big name for himself, as he became THE go-to guy by a large range of famous recording artists as the industry changed and instead of spending tens of thousands in big recording studios, these artists preferred instead to create personal studios in their own homes
RA specialized in creating wonderfully unique creative spaces for artists that include: Annie Lennox, UB40, The Cure, The Waterboys, The Kinks, Sade, Bryan Ferry, Ian Anderson, Steve Hackett and hundreds of other clients all over the world. D’Arcy continues to design a handful of studios each year for past clients.
But, finally, the pull was too much and after closing
Recording Architecture in 2012
D’Arcy returned to his roots and started writing and performing songs again.
Three albums were subsequently released (Crooked Tales (2016) House of Heads (2017) and Road To Stameen “2019)
D’Arcy now comes to the end of The World Recording Tour having completed ten new tracks – all recorded using local musicians and engineers he mostly meets for the first time in the studio the day of recording – giving everything a unique flavor.
Seven tracks from the World Recording Tour make up the new EP.
The Moon is Pink, The Shirt Upon My Back, Velvet Ghosts, Derbyshire, The King’s Shilling, Which Way Will The Wind Blow? and Fool Me Once.
You can readily hear the influences of local studios in Chester, Mumbai, Dublin, New York, Delhi and Kiev among many more unique places.
“The Road To Stameen” though was something of an “accidental” album.
Visiting “The Home of Irish Music” – Beechpark Studios – just outside of Dublin, D’Arcy was introduced to the musicians that the studio manager had gathered for the recording of what was meant to be just one track – but the band gelled so well that the tape machine was left to run as the guys recorded more and more tracks! At the end of the session – they had an entire album’s worth of material.
Realizing what they might have, they stuck with the recording for a day or so more, and then mixed it all and the result was the incredible
“Road To Stameen”
A great (and true) story that could only come out of Ireland!
So, now its time to just sit back and enjoy:
“The Moon is Pink” By Roger D’Arcy
(That ReverbNation has just added to their
“Chart-Topping Singer-Songwriter” playlist!)
To listen to the entire World Recording Tour 7-track EP visit:
Chicago, IL-based organization announces its latest class of honorees in the 6 major categories – as voted on by a world-wide panel of music, art and marketing experts in the area of album cover art & packaging – which represents a “who’s who” of creative and production talent, including many recognized names of craftspeople working in the worlds of fine art, graphic design and photography.
Since officially launching the site in 2012, we’ve previously enshrined eight classes of Inductees based on the results from the group’s yearly surveys, with the voting panel considering the creative output of all producers active any time since 1960. Dozens of additional biographies were added for consideration by the esteemed panel of writers, curators of galleries (retail and online) that focus on album cover imagery, art/design museum curators and music marketing experts.
Continuing on via our standard methodology, this year’s Class allowed for the consideration of any talent not previously inducted into the ACHOF’s six major categories. The people under consideration this year are people who BEGAN their careers in the field at any time during the period the ACHOF focuses its attention on (1960 – present). As you can figure, this was a very long list, but after a research, nominating and voting process that began in September and ended in mid-November with our final vote (with everyone participating safely from the comfort of their own homes), the ACHOF Voting Panel has selected a list of individuals and companies that very clearly represent the best examples of a large number of talented men, women and teams who’ve cumulatively created and published a huge portfolio of memorable album cover images and record packages.
The Album Cover Hall of Fame’s Mike Goldstein had this to say about this year’s efforts – “While 2020 has been a year like no other in recent memory, through the ongoing efforts of those who support of this Hall of Fame, we’ve been able to continue our work (online, to keep us all healthy) to recognize the contributions of those who have had a significant impact in the ongoing development and advancement of rock and roll album cover-related art direction, illustration, photography and package design, along with the record labels and musical acts who’ve supported great work in the field. Based on each inductee’s body of work in the field, we feel that their talents have exemplified the best possible efforts made to package and promote their clients’ recorded music, and so we’re privileged to have been able to include them in this year’s voting efforts and, ultimately, our new list of honorees.”
Goldstein added “I’d also like to note that this year’s voting showcases the great range of package and promo designs for musical acts popular in the many rock and pop music genres we focus our attentions on, showing fans that album cover imagery continues to be an important part of the relationship between musical acts and their buying/listening public of all ages and musical tastes. I’m happy to say that, while many considered the album cover as a relic of the music industry as it existed before its shift into the digital arena, the commitment shown by musical acts and their labels to continue to invest in the visual aspects of their products – vinyl records, web sites, merchandise, etc. – and to work hard to impress fans with the totality of their creative output is a true testament to the importance of this aspect of the recorded music business.”
Inductees have been divided into their respective categories so that fans can get to know each winner individually and within their group of peers. Below, one can find a summary of the winners in each category:
Album Cover Photographer Inductees
• Drew Carolan, Eric Meola, Stephen Paley, Mark Seliger and Mark Weiss
Album Cover Illustrator Inductees (inc. those specializing in logos and typography)
• Stefan G. Bucher, Nic Dartnell, Boyd Elder, Jann Hawworth and Raymond Pettibon
Album Cover Designer Inductees
• Susan Archie, Tracy Maurice, Mike Salisbury, Hugh Syme and Ed Thrasher
Album Cover Art Director Inductees
• Ron Coro, Rod Dyer, Bill Levy, Vaughan Oliver and Winston Smith
Inducted Record Labels with a long-standing commitment to great Album Cover imagery
• The Vinyl Factory and Smithsonian Folkways
Inducted Musical Acts with a long-standing commitment to great Album Cover imagery
• The Clash, The Decemberists and Cat Stevens/Yusuf
A more-detailed document that includes samples of each Inductees album cover credits, along with links to their respective web sites, can be found on the ACHOF site at:
Qualified individuals become eligible for induction 10 years after the publication of their first record album, CD, DVD or digital album cover image. Please note that some names will be seen in more than one category, as it is that certain individuals serve in more than one role in a project.
Going forward, the Voting Panel – currently consisting of over 75 experts in the fields of packaging design, illustration, photography and music product marketing – will continue the process each year (beginning again in late Summer 2021 to nominate the next class of Inductees representing those whose works were published any time during the period of 1960 – present) by selecting nominees in each of the featured categories for consideration by both that voting body and those nominees that receive the most total votes in their respective categories will be inducted. Panel members discussed the possibility of opening some aspect of next year’s voting to the public – we’ll notify fans and the press once any decisions have been made regarding this effort.
Please contact Mike Goldstein, Curator, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com with any questions or comments. He can be reached via email at curator@albumcoverhalloffame.com or via phone at 971-645-8958.
A comprehensive summary of news stories about album cover art and artists is added monthly (typically, on the first of the month) on our site (see the site index for our most-recent article postings) and also on the site’s Facebook page found at https://www.facebook.com/AlbumCoverHallOfFame
