Managerobit: Tommy Tee

Tommy Tee, who managed New Model Army and The Almighty, died shortly before Christmas.

Tee had worked his way up in the NMA organisation, starting as the band's driver back in 1982. He became their tour manager, a role he filled until 1990, when he quit to concentrate on managing The Almighty, but returned to manage the Army from 1996.

His instinct was to bet the band's future on the developing internet, and quickly set about reorganising the group as a full-service team, owning all aspects of their work - a modle that, twelve years later, is starting to become the norm. It was this self-sufficiency, and freedom from label "guidance", that has enabled the NMA to continue to thrive while actually enjoying what they do.

Justin Sullivan of the NMA said:

"Tommy's death leaves a huge hole in all our lives, not just professionally as the man who organised every aspect of the band's life but most especially as a friend and the best kind of road companion. And this sense of loss increases rather than decreases with each day that passes."

Tommy Tee was 46; he died after a thoracic aortic dissection on December 23rd.