User:Francis O'Neill/About NAMA

Back in 1990, 10th of May to be precise, the New Age Music Association of UK was formed in London. This under the lead of Richard Austin, with Clifford White the acting Secretary. By July of that year it had attracted over 40 members. These included a number of artists producing new age or ambient music - Clifford White, Chris Michell, Tim Wheater, Mark Ives, Nick Ashron, James Asher, Asha Quinn, Annie Locke, Clive Williamson, Nigel Shaw, Phil Thornton, Mark Jenkins among them.

What it was all in aid of
The first NAMA Newsletter said all that was needed: NAMA is, ''a professional Association of people involved in the field of New Age music. This includes musicians, composers, writers, lyricists and performance artists as well as record companies, publishers and groups whose aims are similar or sympathetic to the New Age scene''. The intention was to help put new age music and the writers/musicians involved in it, on the map in the UK - to help artists get the exposure and deals they deserved and for that matter build links with other artists and other fields akin to the spirit of the New Age. The Association was also a member of the International New Age Music Network - based in California.

The launch stirred a lot of interest. Regular meetings began to take place - on a memorable barge in London - with the first proper AGM taking place on the 5th December 1990.

Just prior to Christmas that year NAMA put on a concert. This was promoted by one of the founder members, Lawrence Ball. The concert was attended by some 300 people and got some good reviews. Later, the album, Lucid Dreaming (subtitled NAMA 2001), was released - a selection of 18 tracks by NAMA artists.

Unfortunately by the summer of 1991 the Association had all but folded. There are no doubt a number of reasons for its sudden demise, but probably the biggest reason was that the Recession (in the UK) of the early 1990s was already starting to bite and a lot of people at this independent record label or 'cottage industry' level of the music business were losing money - or worse their homes - as happened to Annie Locke. Had the World Wide Web been around at that point who knows how things may have been turned around for the organisation...

NAMA - fond memories!
The idea of NAMA was a brilliant one. It brought together a lot of people with a shared vision that was more than just making a buck or two, rather a real desire to help others through music - whether for relaxation, healing, generating a calming or inspiring atmosphere.

But all is not lost; most of the artists mentioned above can now be found on the Web - check out their links below.