Clive Davis: Musical Visionary or Label Wonk?

I was just watching a DVD of the 25th Anniversary Celebration of Arista. Unfortunately, it's just the concert, no dirt, not even a fucking interview, what a gyp. Other than Berry Gordy, Clive is one of the very few to achieve fame for heading a record label. Dubbed "the man with the golden ear", he seems (repeat, seems) beloved by the scores of artists he discovered. The list of them reads like a who's who of music: Janis, the Dead, Springsteen, Santana, Whitney Huston, Alicia Keys etc. etc. Alicia says that when the she first met him, as a teen, he was the first industry person to ask her what HER vision was for her music.

Most recently, he endowed a program at NYU to promote record production as an art, which, it can be. So, as label wonks go, I guess he at least has some real sense of what's good and tries to send the right message to his artists. But, this guy is the enemy right? He exemplifies the excessive lifestyle of someone who has built an empire off the backs of genius artists who would have surely found success anyway, and would have been able to profit from it fairly if not for company men like Clive, who is a lawyer for god's sake. I'd sooner forgive Madonna because at least she is an artist. She made a statement, she deserves to rape and pillage young artists.

Clive, I don't know. Yes, he gets it. He did realize music was changing. I guess he was the only label exec at Monterey Pop in '67 and built a career up off of that. He does have a good sense for what people like. Maybe all the stoned hippies cheering, clued him in. Maybe had a little Kool-Aid himself... him & Bill Graham... soul brothers. Is that a legitimate basis for building a fortune? Not any more. He's a dinosaur. We'll never see more like him. As a matter of fact, that's pretty much why the label he founded dumped him, shortly after the big wingding. In the end, he showed them how hard it is to run a successful label. It's something only the old style shysters can do, you know. Them, the internet embracers and the big hip hoppers with cred... the real ganstas. He started his own label and beat them at their own game. So, they came sniveling back to restore him to his former, and I guess now everpresent, glory.

As a matter of fact, Clive is now at the center of a red-hot power struggle over the giant joined powerhouse Sony BMG Music. The two companies live a precarious harmony as equal members of both former companies make up their board. Howard Stringer, subject of previous posts surprisingly replaced Mariah svengali, Tommy Mottolla with Andy Lack, his longtime friend, as head of the division. But now, at Clive's prodding, BMG has turned on Andy. He's out. How did Clive do it? Oh, you're gonna love this. Yes, Shawn Fawning and Wayne Rosso, urchins of the music industry. Their tarnish lives on. There were lots of problems with Andy, who had no experience running a label, something you need a lifetime, like Clive, to learn. But, his relationship with these guys was probably easy for Clive to exploit.

And by the way Clive, don't you know it's tacky to talk about how Janis wanted to fuck you and you refused? We can see what a stud you are, it's a bit late to prove your manhood now. If you had taken a pass out of class then you wouldn't be flapping your gums now. Looks like you were just chicken and now regret it. And, speaking of bad decisions, I don't care how many bucks you made off it, I will never forgive you for inflicting Mandy on the public. Can you even begin to appreciate how many Barry Manilow songs I've had to listen to, thanks to you? When you're counting your money, just think of the countless millions who had to be unnecessarily euthanized. You also fucked massively with the Dead, which is largely what fueled my thirty year hate/hate relationship with the labels. You got quite a legacy there.