Patrick Meehan (producer)

Patrick Anthony Meehan is a British record producer who is best known to have worked with English heavy metal band Black Sabbath until he was fired in 1975 by the band.

Meehan founded Worldwide Artiste Management at No. 4 Leicester Street, London, in 1970 along with his father (also called Patrick), Wilf Pine and Malcolm Koss. Meehan Sr was a former stuntman who had roadied for Gene Vincent and worked with Small Faces manager Don Arden. As well as Black Sabbath, the group managed the progressive rock band Gentle Giant (remnants of 1960s pop band Simon Dupree and the Big Sound), Snafu (featuring original Procol Harum drummer Bobby Harrison), Black Widow, the Dutch band Cobra, Catapilla, Redbone and Mama Lion.

The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange in late 1970 after Black Sabbath became commercially successful. In 1971, Worldwide Artiste Management merged with Hemdale Ltd (named after founders, actors David Hemmings and John Daley) and moved to Mayfair.[1] In 1973 Meehan launched the World Wide Artists (WWA) record label, which released albums by Black Sabbath, Gentle Giant, Snafu and The Groundhogs, with distribution by Phonogram. After 36 releases, the company closed in 1975.[2]

Meehan fell out with Black Sabbath in the late 1970s after a commercial and critical slump, and branched out into other areas of the entertainment business.[3] He acquired HandMade Films in the late 1990s,[4] becoming its executive chairman.[5]

In 2017, following an investigation by the Insolvency Service, three HandMade Limited directors were disqualified from acting as a director of a company: Patrick Anthony Meehan for 13 years, David Bernard Ravden for five-and-a-half years, and Peter William Parkinson for four years. The directors misused funds to "pay off relatives" and "on matters undisclosed to advisers, shareholder or potential investors".[6]

References
  1. "Hemdale buys NEMS, Sabbath's Disk Pact". Billboard. 2 Sep 1972. p. 54. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  2. "Labels > WWA Records". Rateyourmusic.com. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  3. McIver, Joel (2006). Black Sabbath: Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Omnibus. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-85712-028-1.
  4. Wray, Richard (14 January 2010). "HandMade Films replaces chairman". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  5. Allen, Katie (23 October 2009). "HandMade and duchess join forces in children's TV venture". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  6. The Insolvency Service (14 February 2017). "Handmade film directors disqualified for misleading investors - GOV.UK". Retrieved 12 October 2021.
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