Manfred Schütz is dead, he died on 3rd of January 25 after a long, serious illness. Manfred was my “record boss”, to whom I was connected since my first debut album “Lüül” in 1981 and to whom I owe a lot. That was the starting signal for my solo career as a singer-songwriter. He was a loyal business partner of the old school for decades. We worked together for over 40 years. It wasn’t always easy, there were ups and downs, but Manfred always believed in me and supported me. He also released the Nico album “Fata Morgana”. With Agitation Free, our entire back catalog is with M.I.G. Music. And if he hadn’t said in 2013: “Guys, we need another studio album from Agitation Free!” our current album “Momentum” would never have been made. Thanks for that too! What I always admired about Manfred, whether it was in his heyday with SPV – when he rose to become Germany’s biggest independent label – or in recent years with MIG music, he was passionate about music like no other and did so every day, even at weekends from early in the morning until late at night. And he was always on the lookout, always curious and always enthusiastic. It was also great how he supported Klaus Schulze in his final years. He also had a sense of humor. One of my favorite stories was how he planned a project with Keith Richards for a long time and when he finally reached him by email, he just wrote: “No.”
Manfred was a controversial spirit who didn’t hold back with his clear opinions and sometimes overstepped the boundaries in his tone of voice, sometimes getting so hot-tempered that he had to be put in check.
But he was also able to apologize and recognize and correct mistakes.I have to say that I always got on well with his pragmatic, direct manner and really appreciated him as a doer.It was also nice that we were able to immortalize him with his dog Otto in the video “Good to know” by Steph von Beauvais.He liked that.In any case, I am infinitely grateful to Manfred for his commitment, with which he has always supported me (and his team around Tanja Michaelis) over the years.He was, as they say, “one of a kind”.My condolences go out to his family and his team. I hope the music continues to play, that would be in his spirit.The photo shows Manfred with Otto and the Lüül Band in 2018 during one of our many visits to his headquarters in Hanover.
