Keith Wood, former manager of LCD Soundsystem and co-founder and longtime head of Caroline Records, died Wednesday after a long struggle with ALS (motor neuron disease), according to a social media post from his family. “He managed well with this horrible disease for over four years, but in the last six months it got the upper hand,” the post reads in part.
Wood was born in London in 1948 and grew up in Newport, South Wales. He attended art school in Cardiff in the 1960s and spoke often of his experiences on the music scene of the era, which included attending and even helping to paint the sign above the stage at the legendary Isle of Wight festival in 1970, where Jimi Hendrix and the Who performed. However, his focus was primarily on art and theatre; he was the writer and director for “Highway Shoes,” an alternative theatre touring company based in Cardiff in the mid-‘70s.
He moved to New York in the early 1980s and began a long association with the Virgin Records family of companies, helping to found Caroline Records, Virgin’s U.S. independent label and distributor, which was initially based in the sweltering, un-air-conditioned upper floor of a Chinatown warehouse.
Originally releasing titles from Virgin U.K.’s extensive catalog — which ranged from progressive rock to electronic new wave — the company had a strong run of alternative hits in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, releasing albums by hard rock artists like the Bad Brains and White Zombie before finding major success with the Smashing Pumpkins’ debut “Gish,” Courtney Love’s band Hole’s “Pretty on the Inside,” and a distribution deal with Sub Pop Records that essentially saved the popular but financially struggling Seattle-based indie from bankruptcy.
Included in that deal was Nirvana’s 1989 debut album “Bleach,” sales of which skyrocketed after the band’s second full-length, “Nevermind,” lofted the band to global superstardom. (Disclosure: This writer worked for Wood and Caroline during this era.)
In the wake of that success, Wood was given his own imprint under Virgin, Vernon Yard (named after Virgin’s original London address), which released early recordings by the Verve and Low, among others. Wood returned to Caroline, which was enjoying roaring success with its electronic/dance-based Astralwerks label and hits from Fatboy Slim and Chemical Brothers, a few years later and remained with the company until 2001 before returning to Virgin as an EVP of A&R. He then took the helm of Rough Trade Records’ U.S. label — running it out of a suite in the Chelsea Hotel, in true rock and roll fashion — where he oversaw the domestic release of albums by the Libertines and others.
After leaving that company, he enjoyed a long run as manager of James Murphy and LCD Soundsystem during that group’s peak years, from 2004 to their initial “retirement” in 2012 (the group reunited five years later).
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After retiring from management, Keith returned to his first love, painting, working out of a studio in rural upstate New York.
He is survived by his wife, Laurie, son Charles, Charles’ wife, Sophie, and his granddaughters Stella and Theodora.
Donations in his honor can be made to Compassionate Care ALS, with a mention of family friend Chris Curtin.
From Variety US