Richard Cole

Richard Cole (2 January 1946 – 2 December 2021) was an English music manager, who was involved in the rock music business from the mid-1960s to 2003. He is most known for having been the tour manager of English rock band Led Zeppelin from 1968 to 1980. Early career Cole was born in Kensal Rise, in the north London borough of Brent. His father was an architect who worked for Rolls-Royce vehicle design, and later in aircraft assembly during World War II. At the age of 12, Cole became interested in music after hearing Elvis Presley and The Everly Brothers. He left school aged 15, and from his first job, working at a dairy factory in Acton, earned enough money to purchase a drumkit, on which he practiced along with Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa records. The low wages forced Cole to take up an apprenticeship in sheet-metal working whilst also working as a scaffolder on construction sites. He was also very interested in the fashion industry, at one point harbouring plans to be a fashion designer, and he claimed to have designed the shirts worn by John Lennon and Ringo Starr on the Revolver album cover, and to have contributed to the album's graphics. Cole was drawn into the music business after meeting Richard Green, journalist for the Record Mirror, at the Marquee Club in 1965. Green suggested that Cole contact John Barker, the manager of pop band Unit 4 + 2, for a job as their road manager. Barker gave Cole the job, and he soon became one of rock's most respected tour managers, working for The Who in 1965 and The New Vaudeville Band in 1966. In 1967 Cole moved to the United States and worked for Vanilla Fudge as a sound engineer. When he heard that The Yardbirds were coming to the US in 1968, he contacted their manager Peter Grant, whom he had previously known when Grant was the manager of the New Vaudeville Band, and became their tour manager. When The Yardbirds dissolved shortly thereafter, Grant and Cole became the manager and tour manager respectively of Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin Cole was one of the first tour managers to specialise in the American tours of English bands. Instead of hiring equipment in the United States and using an American crew to service the band, as was the custom until that point, Cole implemented the new practice of bringing over all the equipment and an entirely English crew. Cole claimed "I fucking reorganized that very sharply. I said 'Fuck that.