Goldsmith Still Wants To Run London

Legendary live music promoter Harvey Goldsmith still wants to be mayor of London, according to a recent interview he did for The Guardian.

He told the UK daily that he believes that he, and not current mayor Boris Johnson, is the person to lead the English capital out of what he predicts will be “a terrible post-Olympic malaise.”

“We need to prepare for that and we need to start preparing for it now,” he said. “Boris Johnson is clearly doing some good, but I don’t really feel that he’s doing enough. London is the greatest city in the world, but it’s in a bit of a malaise at the moment, even though we have got the euphoria of the Games coming up.”

This isn’t the first time Goldsmith, who is known worldwide for producing the 1985 Live Aid concert in London’s Hyde Park, has admitted he’d like to run the city.

On the eve of the 2006 ILMC, he told the same paper that the then Labour Lord Mayor of London Ken Livingstone was a “disgrace” and hinted that one day he may make an independent stand for the post.

“At this moment I’ve got enough to do in my life that I’m enjoying, so I don’t want to stick my neck out in any other way,” he said at the time. “I might do it in the future though. I don’t think I’m ready for it just now.”

“There is no realm on this planet where you have to fill in so many forms or have so many demagogues looking over you. Get rid of all the bureaucrats. Let them get a real job,” was as near as he came to making a policy statement.

The next elections for Mayor Of London will be in 2012, coinciding with the Olympic Games, which would mean Goldsmith would be running for office in time to clear up the malaise he’s predicting.

Apart from Johnson trying to get a second term in the post, the other candidates will be Livingstone, who Johnson ousted in the 2008 election, although there have also been stories saying former Labour government business secretary Peter Mandelson may challenge Livingstone for the party ticket.

Goldsmith is currently the subject of a documentary drama being filmed for BBC2. It’s called “When Harvey Met Bob” and details the lead-up to the Live Aid concert. Domhnall Gleeson plays Geldof and Ian Hart appears as Goldsmith.

He had also been tipped as the likely contender to promote F1 Rocks, a series of concerts staged around Formula One races, but that gig’s gone to Enterprise Entertainment.

The shows have been run by All The Worlds – a Universal Music Group joint venture – but it pulled out. The show it did do at last year’s Singapore Grand Prix was a success, pulling 30,000 to see Beyoncé, Black Eyed Peas, and ZZ Top, but apparently it began struggling to pull in the sponsorship to cover the artist fees and decided to put the project on ice.

John Simidian, who has switched from All The Worlds along with former Live Nation press chief Christine Gorham, will be the executive producer and John Giddings of Solo will player a wider role regarding sourcing talent and selecting promoters and venues.

“Personally I enjoy it because of my interest in Formula One and I can see the synergies between motor racing and music,” he told Pollstar. “The racing drivers are like pop stars and fans turn up in their thousands to see him.”

Enterprise Entertainment was formed to manage F1Rocks.