Charles "Chip" Rachlin

Charles “Chip” Rachlin (born April 22, 1949, died January 25, 2023) passed away following a short illness. He is survived by his beloved wife, Wendy, his treasured sons Josh & Alex, Alex’s girlfriend Carson, and the boys’ mother Gaynor; his older brother Larry and younger sister Janie; his nephew Eric, Wendy’s daughter Brittany, her husband Chris and baby grandchild Robert. His entire family and the industry in which he spent his career deeply mourns this loss.

Born in Summit, New Jersey, Chip’s father Erwin (known as “Cookie) died in 1959; he and Chips’ mother Frances had worked together in a women’s specialty shop. Frances continued to run it after Erwin’s passing. That business gave Chip his first taste of what it was like to be near the flame of fame when he accompanied his mother to Oleg Cassini’s fashion house. His mother also provided the money that put Chip into the music industry.

Like so many of his generation, after seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show in February of 1964, Chip formed a band (The Gremlins). Ultimately, he realized that his talent was in presenting and showcasing artists.

In every career, there is a seminal moment and for Chip, it came in 1966. Chip wanted to present a real rock and roll concert, but he needed $2,000 to secure the hall and the act, the 1960s hitmakers, The Critters.

He asked his mother for a loan. She said, “Yes.” But you’ll have to sign a promissory note. “What’s that,” Chip asked? He soon found out. And he made good on it. The concert was a success and Chip was on his way, booking local shows in and around his hometown with such major acts as the Rascals, Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels and the Left Banke.

Chip was just getting started, and his career in the music industry was epic, spanning generations of great artists and legends both on stage and behind the scenes.

He got his most lasting lessons as an agent working for Bill Graham at the Fillmore East when Graham expanded into talent representation with the Millard Agency. Chip was a “junior agent” there, but as his dear friend Mark Spector points out, “Chip was never a junior anything. He hit the ground running. He knew what he wanted in life. It was as if he was born an agent.”

Rachlin and his Fillmore (and lifelong) friend Michael Klenfner were massive Beach Boys fans, but they couldn’t convince Bill Graham to present them at the Fillmore. So they went out on a giant limb and booked the group to headline Carnegie Hall in February, 1971. The group was at a low point in their career, and that historic show is considered to be a major turning point. Chip soon found himself representing the group as well as its angelic lead singer, the late Carl Wilson during his solo career.

By the mid-1970s, Chip was a major figure in ICM’s music department, where among a long list of artists, he proudly represented Billy Joel during his “Piano Man” days and the Beach Boys.

Chip’s love of the Beach Boys extended into the 21st Century when he produced a landmark show at Radio City Music Hall in March of 2001. “An All Star Tribute To Brian Wilson” happened because his high school friend Eddie Micone had become the head of Radio City Entertainment and Chip’s MTV friend, Brian Diamond, was Eddie’s Senior V.P. The show was headlined by Elton John, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, and a long list of great artists (David Crosby, Carly Simon, Vince Gill, Jimmy Webb, et al) and legends such as Sir George Martin. It was a night Chip called “one of the greatest of my career.” Brian Wilson agreed with Chip: “The tribute Chip produced to me at Radio City was one of the greatest nights of my life. He loved the Beach Boys and my music. Chip was a really good guy. Everybody liked him.”

While Chip’s agency heyday was in the 1970s, he found himself in the middle of a musical revolution at MTV in the 1980s starting with ‘82’s US Festival. For the past 30+ years, Rachlin Entertainment provided a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame list of talent to every imaginable venue on land and sea.

Accolades are pouring in from the industry:

Irving Azoff: “Chip was not only a pioneer in how the business operates today, but for over forty years, he remained somebody who I always wanted to hear from. He was an innovator. More importantly, on a one-to-one level, he displayed all the personal qualities that make this business great. He was not just passionate about the music and any artist he worked with but a great person. This one hurts very badly.”

Ron Delsener: “#1 with Chip was the music. He was a classy guy. Chip had a great personality. He was the funniest guy. Well-liked by everybody. Chip really cared for the music.”

As manager Mark Spector recalls with a smile, “Chip always had irons in the fire. He didn’t need a title or a fancy office in Beverly Hills with three agency letters after his name. He just loved making a deal…He was an agent at heart, but an agent that artists loved. He was always looking for the next opportunity to book talent. Chip was an agent until the day he died.”

Legendary promoter Jimmy Koplik: “Chip was kind, witty and smart. That’s a home run of a person. Chip and I became friendly in 1971 when he promoted the Beach Boys at Carnegie Hall, and I promoted Columbus, Ohio the day before. We were the true believers of the resurgence of the Beach Boys. We remained friends for fifty years. We were particularly close in the 70’s, one of my best friends, and remained close friends always. The one ‘plus’ of the pandemic for me was we both lived near each other and we had lunch basically every other Friday for the last few years. The last time I saw him I said we were so close in the 70’s and now we are so close in our 70’s. That’s a long, special friendship.”

CAA’s Rob Light: “We lost a great agent today. In the mid-seventies, he had arguably one of the greatest list of clients ever assembled. He was a superb agent, gregarious personality, artists loved being around him, and he could “hang” with the best of them. It is sad to lose a friend who gave so much to our industry. Blessed to have known him.”

Carol Klenfner: One of the greatest people ever. A mentor, a mensch, a great friend. Chip was brilliant and street smart, often the coolest guy in the room, certainly the funniest. Chip and my husband, Michael Klenfner shared a special bond, forged within the walls of the Fillmore East where they worked, both reporting to impresario Bill Graham. Their friendship got off to a memorable start. Chip describes sitting in his Millard Agency offices when ‘ a large man with a full head of dark curly hair blocked the doorway. He sauntered into Chip’s office and pulled a five inch Buck knife from his leather vest, opened it and stuck it into [Chip’s] desk, saying, ‘Hi, my name is Michael. Welcome to the Fillmore.’ Their next forty years were filled with adventures, long dish-y phone calls about the business, late night carousing, endless ribbing, and as with all great friendships, the occasional spat. Their time together spanned the iconic (producing the legendary 1971 Beach Boys Revival Show at Carnegie Hall) – to the absurd (staking out a front row table at the Copa with the specific goal of heckling Don Rickles. Mission accomplished.) After Michael died in 2009, Chip was a loving friend, ally, mentor, supporter, and advisor to me and my daughters, Kate and Bryn. He was there for us, and he could always make us laugh.”

Manager Ed Micone: “Chip was one of my oldest and dearest friends. When we were in high school, he promoted the Young Rascals at our high school. He managed our band then, The 7 O 'clock News. We opened the show. It was May 28, 1967. That was almost 56 years ago. We’ve been great friends ever since.”

Now a media consultant, Brian Diamond, who became friends with Chip when he was a producer at MTV notes that "what made Chip Rachlin special to everybody who knew him was his passion for music, his love for his wife and kids...for life."

JD Souther: “Losing Chip Rachlin is a shock and completely heartbreaking. He was my first agent and a great friend always. My heart aches for Wendy and their whole family. I loved him, too”

While rock and roll was in his blood, his family came first. He was extraordinarily proud of his two sons and deeply in love with his wife, Wendy. A true romantic, he proposed to her at the restaurant atop the Eiffel Tower. So while Chip spent more than five decades as one of the most loved, respected and successful talent representatives in the music industry, he would trade it all in for tickets for he and Wendy and his boys to see the Yankees on opening day.

The service is this Sunday 1/29 at 2pm, Riverside Chapel in NYC. The Chapel is located at 76th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. "in lieu of flowers please donate to Pancan; Pancreatic Cancer Action Network – Research, Patient Support, Resources