I was fat, gay & lucky... pop Svengali left £ 3.5m in will
PET Shop Boys mastermind Tom Watkins lived and died by the maxim “Let’s Make Lots of Money” – and left £ 3.5million in his will.
The brash svengali, who also propelled Bros and East 17 to stardom, died from cancer aged 70 in February.
And Tom – who dubbed himself a “rich, fat, gay, lucky b******” – left his estate to his partner, theatre manager Marc Evans.
The South London coalman’s son will be best remembered for his chart- topping success with the boy bands of the Eighties and Nineties.
He managed Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe to a dozen number ones. Their single Opportunities ( Let’s Make Lots Of Money) gave Tom his autobiography title Let’s Make Lots Of Money: Secrets Of A Rich, Fat, Gay, Lucky B******”.
He wrote in it: “I never wanted to be the faceless manager, pulling the strings from behind the scenes. I wanted to be an impresario, as famous or infamous as my charges, maybe even more so.”
His awkward relationship with the Pet Shop Boys led to them sacking him in a Pizza Express after five years together. But with Bros – Luke and Matt Goss and their friend Craig Logan – he bounced back by masterminding Brosmania. It saw them take No1 with their 1987 smash When Will I Be Famous? Luke later claimed that Tom’s contract gave him 20 per cent of their earnings, so the group pocketed just £ 4,860 from a tour which grossed £ 1.6million.
Tom also had hits with 1990s boy band East 17 – until Stay Another Day frontman Brian Harvey talked openly about drug use.
The svengali’s few flops included Deuce, a band featuring Ant McPartlin’s ex- wife Lisa Armstrong, who peaked with a No10 hit.