Mike Edgar remembers Steve Strange: "He was a true force of nature"

Music
06 Oct 21

As part of our tribute to legendary agent Steve Strange, who recently passed away, Mike Edgar remembers his good friend...

The loss of Steve at this time seems totally unreal and devastatingly sad.

Our paths weaved in and out of each other’s worlds for almost 35 years. We shared a common love of all things loud and the energies that surround a great live band. Many’s a conversation rotated around our memories of Mamas Boys, Lizzy, the Stiffs or a mad Therapy gig!

Steve was always destined for great things. Initially, like so many, it was the dream of sitting behind the drums on the world stage.

Although in part his accomplished musicianship was rightly recognised on many great stages with No Hot Ashes, Fastway and others, it was his music business acumen that was to excel.

When collective jaws dropped at the unreal moment that Eminem stepped onto a stage in Bangor County Down, more than a few folk may have wondered 'How the hell did that happen?' The answer, of course, was the force of nature that was Steve!

He guided the careers of incredible international acts like Coldplay and Queens Of The Stone Age. However it was his dedication and love of Irish bands, and this place, that truly marked him out as a remarkable individual.

More than a few tears will rightly have been shed by all he worked with, including Snow Patrol, Ash and SLF – all of which he was fiercely loyal to.

As I am sure Gary from Snow Patrol or Tim from Ash would whole-heartedly agree that Steve wasn’t just the agent; he was that other member of the group – that friend for life!

Despite his incredible success, he was always looking for the next thing – the next band that made the hairs on the back of the neck stand up. His desire to help young groups was born out of the sheer hard work he put himself through in his early years.

On more than a few occasions, Steve would have flown halfway round the world to support one of his acts or someone who just needed a bit of his knowledge and a guiding hand.

We enjoyed taking a hand out of each other on every occasion on subjects that included ’80s lycra leggings, poodle rock haircuts and Steve’s first office, which was adjoined to the women’s toilet in the Limelight Bar in Belfast. Fast forward from the ’80s by over 30 years and the hard work had built a business empire that straddled London to Los Angeles – and deservedly so!

Who would have thought it? And all achieved by, as they would say, ‘a wee lad from Carrickfergus’. Success like this is rare in these parts but not unremarkable if you have drive, and a dream – which Steve had in abundance. He was a true force of nature!

I never saw him happier than the night he picked up his award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Music’ at the Ulster Hall, in Belfast in 2019 – made all the more special be the fact that his father was there to witness it.

I texted Steve on the day he left us – it was simply to say ‘Love Ye’!