Exposé Online banner

Exposé Online

Not just outside the box, but denying the existence of boxes.
Covering music from the fringes since 1993.

Reviews

Derek Shulman — Giant Steps
(Jawbone Press, 2025, TPB)

by Jon Davis, Published 2025-12-07

Giant Steps Cover art

Derek Shulman has a unique vantage point for talking about music, having been a member of Simon Dupree and the Big Sound and Gentle Giant, then an executive at various record labels. He has definitely seen it from both sides — creative and business. To briefly recap: Derek Shulman, along with his brothers Phil (older) and Ray (younger) grew up in a poor Jewish family in Portsmouth, England, and their father was a jazz trumpeter who wasn’t home much, and whose income was severely impacted by his vices. But he was supportive of his sons when they expressed an interest in music, and bought them their first instruments. As teenagers, Derek and Ray put a band together, and that eventually became Simon Dupree and the Big Sound, inspired largely by American rhythm and blues. Phil came on board, and the band started playing around southern England, building up a following in the area. They started recording, though their early singles didn’t go anywhere, and it wasn’t until their management brought in “Kites,” written by an outsider, that they made a national mark. The song was initially far outside their blues roots, so they took it apart and made it their own with quirky arrangements that took advantage of their fluency on multiple instruments. But after the success of that single, they were under pressure to generate more hits, and started to get disillusioned. They eventually broke up the band and retrenched, resolving to only make music on their own terms, and Gentle Giant was born. With a sympathetic and supportive Tony Visconti in the production chair, their debut album sounded like no one else, and that became their defining factor. They never repeated themselves, and they never thought about what kind of music the market or fans wanted to hear (at least not until much later, after the impact of punk rock). By 1980, interest in their music waned to the point where they decided to disband instead of touring as a nostalgia act.

Having learned the ropes as Gentle Giant’s manager and co-producer for most of their career, Derek’s move into label management seemed a good move, and his good ear and convictions served him well, though not without bumps along the way. He resolved to be the kind of management that puts the artists first, endeavoring to make them the best they could be without dictating to them, and building success that way rather than letting the balance sheet determine who gets signed. He had massive success signing Bon Jovi, Pantera, Men without Hats, Nickelback, and rapper Michel’le, as well as reviving the careers of AC/DC and Uriah Heep. But time and time again, success led to label owners getting greedy and pushing him out for not following the cash when he didn’t believe in the music.

Giant Steps is more than a recounting of Shulman’s career. It’s full of touching and amusing anecdotes both personal and professional, from the heartbreak Gentle Giant endured when older brother Phil decided to quit (a rift that lasted decades), to encounters with such musicians as Jimi Hendrix, Elton John, Black Sabbath, Don Henley, and Pink Floyd. Shulman is understanding and sympathetic, and the people he describes are treated fairly, while not shying away from flaws and bad behavior — something he witnessed a lot of. In the early days of Gentle Giant, there was a British rock critic who derided the band as “pretentious for its own sake.” In an act of defiance, the band adopted it as a sort of motto, placing it in neon over their stages and using it as the title of a compilation album, but pretentious is the exact opposite of what they were: they were talented musicians from humble beginnings who made the music that was in their hearts without any thought for what might be popular, only to try to produce the best music they were capable of.

The book is a testament to the advantages and disadvantages of trying to live a life of integrity in an industry (and a world) that often doesn’t acknowledge anything beyond finances. And what it’s like to hold onto your ideals in the face of both temptation and adversity. As such, it’s an enjoyable and informative read even for those who aren’t fans of Gentle Giant’s music — though I personally can’t imagine why anyone who’s heard it would feel that way.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): Gentle Giant, Simon Dupree & the Big Sound

More info
http://gentlegiantband.com/products/giantsteps

 

What's new

These are the most recent changes made to artists, releases, and articles.