Ten Years After's early success gave Ellis the funds to put Jethro Tull in the studio to record their
This Was debut album, the first Chrysalis Production, issued via a licensing deal with
Chris Blackwell's
Island Records in 1968. "It was the foundation of the Chrysalis organisation,” said Wright. In the 1970s, Wright was particularly instrumental in the renewed success of
Procol Harum, the emergence of their former guitarist
Robin Trower as a solo artist, and the worldwide popularity of another Chrysalis signing,
Leo Sayer. While attending a series of concerts by Sayer at the Roxy in
Los Angeles in November 1976, Wright suggested that the soaring saxophone solo featured in the live version of "
When I Need You" should be added to the album cut for its release a single. The new recording of "When I Need You" went on to top the UK and US charts the following year. With Ellis concentrating on running Chrysalis in the US, Wright backed his hunches and made a raft of UK signings that paid huge dividends and proved culturally significant. In 1979, he offered
The Specials a label deal for their
2-Tone imprint, and helped spearhead the ska revival which put them,
Madness,
The Beat and
The Selecter in the charts and on
Top of the Pops. The Specials' run of major hits included "
Too Much Too Young", "
Ghost Town" and "
Free Nelson Mandela", three epochal records reflecting the turmoil and political changes and challenges of the late '70s and early '80s. In 1980, Chrysalis became a key name for
New Romantic music when Wright signed the reinvigorated
Ultravox with new lead vocalist
Midge Ure, and then
Spandau Ballet – the London band who came to epitomise the genre even more than their rivals
Duran Duran. "We were cutting edge. We were able to pick up on everything – we kept our ears close to the ground," Wright told
Classic Pop magazine in December 2013. By the mid-1980s, Wright's partnership with Ellis had run out of steam. A mooted but costly move into films favoured by Ellis became a bone of contention and the eventual catalyst for their split. Wright bought his partner's 50% stake in Chrysalis and set about reinvigorating a company that was now listed on the London stockmarket. The subsequent signings of
Go West,
Paul Hardcastle and
Living in a Box and the development of the
Cooltempo subsidiary for dance and rap proved Wright still had his finger on the pulse of popular culture. The distribution deals Wright offered
Go! Discs and
China Records coincided with both imprints scoring major hits with
The Housemartins as well as
Art of Noise and
Labi Siffre. By then, the huge overheads involved in running a world-size independent company and the under-performance of several releases, notably Billy Idol's much-delayed
Charmed Life album, had forced Wright to sell 50% of Chrysalis Records to EMI. The next year, EMI exercised its option to buy the other half, just after Wright's company topped the singles chart for the last time with a one-hit-wonder "
The One And Only" by
Chesney Hawkes. Wright held on to Chrysalis Music Publishing, representing not only some of David Bowie and
Paul Anka's biggest hits but also
Rod Temperton's compositions for
Quincy Jones,
George Benson and
Michael Jackson. Over the next two decades, shrewd acquisitions and the nurturing of singer-songwriters including
David Gray,
Nerina Pallot,
Ray LaMontagne,
Rumer, Natasha Kan (aka
Bat For Lashes) and
Laura Marling turned Chrysalis Music into a very desirable catalogue of more than 50,000 songs. It was eventually acquired by
BMG Rights Management for £107 million at the end of 2010. == Sports ==