Norman Winter, heeding the old adage "go west, young man," initially headed from New York to Hollywood as a teen fanzine photographer. Lee Zhito, former Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Billboard, advised he'd make a "terrific" music publicist so Norm, trading on his caption writing skills and gift of gab, tossed his hat into PR. A year or so later Norman became a sought-after executive, eventually retained as MCA/Universal Records' publicity chief. There he enjoyed notable successes including the launch of Jesus Christ Superstar, the album, and the American debut of Elton John, whose start in the UK had led nowhere fast. These were stunning publicity achievements in every sense of the word. The groundbreaking rock opera's 1970 intro was an unusual assignment that led to a decades-long franchise built around the funkified story of Jesus and that catapulted Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice to their own superstardom. Elton John, co-writing with lyricist Bernie Taupin, was also an oddity. A classically trained pianist, Elton brought to the States the manic spirit of an outrageous Looney Toon at his Troubadour bow. Based on his past success and on the heels of a series of further PR coups, Winter agreed to jump ship to establish his own diverse indie PR/Marketing firm. He opened shop as chief tubthumper for his rising superstar, for its annual Pop, Motion Picture/TV, and R&B Music Awards presentations as well as annual events honoring such luminaries as Bob Dylan, Smokey Robinson, Dick Clark, George Michael, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Fred Astaire and Quincy Jones.
