Brownstein: Legendary promoter Donald K. Donald loved music, and loved Montreal even more
Impresario nonpareil Donald K. Donald died Monday, a month before his 83rd birthday. But his legacy will last eons among music fans of a bygone era.
DKD — né Donald Tarlton — had been in ill health the last few years, suffering from the effects of Parkinson’s disease.
Tarlton was an indomitable figure on the local music scene. In a city of characters, there have truly been very few like him. The DKD mould has long gone missing.
During his heyday in the 1980s and ‘90s, he brought all the biggies to town — the Rolling Stones, Madonna, Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, AC/DC et al. But he always had an eye out for local talent. He produced Céline Dion shows. He was a mentor to April Wine and Corey Hart and signed them up to his Aquarius Records label.
While he booked tours across the country, his home and his heart was always in Montreal. There was no prouder citizen than Tarlton, always extolling the virtues of the city to rock ‘n’ roll royalty and commoners alike.
He brought the ebullience and enthusiasm of a circus carny to the job. No matter the venue, he was out there walking the floors, checking out the crowd with an ear-to-ear grin. And no matter the concert, he would call local media to pronounce what would become his mantra: “Lots of good tickets still available.”
It’s a different world today. The largely faceless mega-corps run the biz now.
“One of the main reasons that I opted out of concerts for records is that it’s no longer about relationships — it’s all big conglomerates running the concerts now,” Tarlton told me in an interview over two decades back.
“The reality of business today, whether it’s sports or music, is that prices have been driven up by greed and by the excessive competition for the right to present the star. And the victim is John Q. Public.”
Music was in his blood from the get-go. A Rosemere High School and Sir George Williams University grad, he spent his off-hours as a young hustler, organizing dances at youth clubs.
His big break came in 1972. The Rolling Stones had been slated to play the venerable Montreal Forum. Fate, however, intervened when the group’s speakers were destroyed in a bombing 24 hours before the show. Tarlton somehow managed to bring in replacements from Los Angeles and the show went on.
As a consequence, Tarlton went on to become a producer for the Stones’ Canadian shows for decades. And he never looked back.
Give DKD a little wiggle room and there was no stopping him.
In the ’80s, he took on Broadway, producing a series of shows including the Tony-nominated musical Black and Blue.
He took as much satisfaction in being named a member of the Order of Canada in 2000.
Apart from his wife, known to many as Annie K. Annie, there were few closer to Tarlton than Sylvie Brunetta, his director of marketing and PR from 1984 to 1998.
“I just couldn’t sleep after getting the news Monday night,” Brunetta says. “All the memories just kept flooding back. We did about 600 shows a year back then. Those were the heydays of stadium shows with Pink Floyd and Madonna. Donald was also committed to bringing these shows to the Maritimes. Only Donald could convince Tina Turner to open her world tour in St. John’s and bring Bon Jovi to Halifax.
“But nothing beat his commitment to Montreal. There were few Montrealers more in love with the city than him.”
Tarlton was akin to the patriarch of the Brunetta family.
“He taught me and my sisters everything we know about this business. He gave us all our starts and we managed to move on to some success as a result,” says Brunetta, noting that her sister Ghislaine moved to Vegas to work with Dion.
“It was just priceless to have a teacher like him, who was so thrilled to see us evolve. I don’t think my path will ever cross with a man like him again. I’ll be forever grateful for having him come into my life. Those were the days.”
Brunetta stayed in the business with her marketing company Brunetta Etc. for 20 years and then closed her career two years ago after working with Live Nation Global Touring.
“Sure, there were some dark days, like the Guns N’ Roses and Metallica concert riot in 1992 at the Big O,” she says, referring to a double bill where Metallica’s set was cut short when singer James Hetfield was injured by pyrotechnics, and then fans rioted after Guns N’ Roses also left the stage early. “That just devastated Donald, but he had so many more good days for which he will always be remembered.”
Local promoter Rubin Fogel knew Tarlton well. They were competitors on some levels, but they were also friends and golf buddies.
“When I started in this business, he was obviously the big rock promoter in town,” says Fogel, who just marked his 50th anniversary in the game. “He was smart enough to develop a relationship with the old Montreal Forum and was bringing in all the biggest acts there, until I was lucky enough to get in there later to bring my shows. He was always a competitor, but we had such an amicable relationship and even partnered together on quite a few shows over the years. We had great, friendly times together.
“In a way, he was simply a larger-than-life character. He definitely laid the groundwork for many in the business. And can’t forget the local talent in Montreal who he mentored.
“He had a great relationship with Toronto promoter Michael Cohl, with whom he did huge tours across the country. But as opposed to the giants in the business, he still operated his like a mom-and-pop operation. He was always hands-on and so loyal to those with whom he worked.”
But more than all his accomplishments, what stands out most for Fogel — as it does for Brunetta — was Tarlton’s civic pride.
“More than anything else, he was just so into being a Montrealer. He always wore a capital M for Montreal on his chest.”
There will be a private service in Montreal, with a celebration of Tarlton’s life and legacy at a later date. In lieu of flowers, his family asks those who wish to pay their respects to consider a donation to a Canadian charity of their choice in his honour.
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