News

Book Review via The Cleveland Sound: “When it comes to trend-setting in music Sony’s Clive Davis has few rivals”. Take a moment to read.

Arista Records Man Clive Davis Writes Memoir
By Pete Roche
The Cleveland Sound

When it comes to trend-setting in music, Sony Music chief creative officer Clive Davis has few rivals.

As head of Columbia Records in the early ‘70s and his own Arista label in the ‘80s and ‘90s, Davis introduced the world to Carlos Santana, Janis Joplin, Whitney Houston, and Alicia Keys. He was implemental in resurrecting the flagging or stalled careers of such singers as Barry Manilow, Dionne Warwick, and Aretha Franklin—effectively doubling their shelf lives—and his acumen, savvy, and innovation forever changed how the industry records, markets, and distributes music. After fifty years in the game Davis is beloved by artists on and off his labels, admired by his peers, and is as familiar to listeners as most musicians. His accomplishments earned him a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, to which he was inducted in 2000 as a non-performer.

Only Ahmet Ertegun (Atlantic) and David Geffen (DGC) boast similar musical Midas touches. Davis himself admits such in his terrific new autobiography, The Soundtrack of My Life (Simon & Schuster, 586 pages), a whopper of a tome that takes readers on a chronological (more or less) journey through Clive’s remarkable career of crafting hits that matter and developing artists for the long-term. A few tidbits about the man’s personal life are thrown in, but they almost seem like perfunctory afterthoughts compared with the exhaustive accounting of Davis’ work from the late ‘60s to mid-‘00s.

Click here to see the review >>
http://www.theclevelandsound.com/?p=15940

Via The Globe and Mail (Toronto): How the man behind the Bruce Springsteen, Barry Manilow & The Notorious B.I.G. stays on top of his game.

COURTNEY SHEA

Special to The Globe and Mail

Clive Davis might be the most influential executive in the history of modern music, having helped steer the careers of the Boss, Barry Manilow and the Notorious B.I.G. – and that’s just the Bs. In his new memoir, The Soundtrack of My Life, Davis reflects on nearly a half-century of star-making. We asked him for some of the secrets to his success.

Click here to see the feature >>
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/how-the-man-behind-the-boss-barry-manilow-and-the-notorious-big-stays-on-top-of-his-game/article9219794/

Via The Globe and Mail (Toronto): How the man behind the Bruce Springsteen, Barry Manilow & The Notorious B.I.G. stays on top of his game.

COURTNEY SHEA

Special to The Globe and Mail

Clive Davis might be the most influential executive in the history of modern music, having helped steer the careers of the Boss, Barry Manilow and the Notorious B.I.G. – and that’s just the Bs. In his new memoir, The Soundtrack of My Life, Davis reflects on nearly a half-century of star-making. We asked him for some of the secrets to his success.

Click here to see the feature >>
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/how-the-man-behind-the-boss-barry-manilow-and-the-notorious-big-stays-on-top-of-his-game/article9219794/

Clive was born on this day, April 4th, 1932.

Here is a fantastic article on Biography.com

http://www.biography.com/people/clive-davis-20740991

Here are two video clips from this morning’s live appearance on VH1

http://on.vh1.com/179qMcI
http://on.vh1.com/179rKG5

Here are two video clips from this morning’s live appearance on VH1

http://on.vh1.com/179qMcI
http://on.vh1.com/179rKG5

Saturday afternoon listening: Clive Davis: A Life WIth A Soundtrack via NPR

by NPR Staff

If Columbia Records hadn’t signed Bruce Springsteen in the early 1970s, there’s a chance The Boss could have just been a small-stakes act, playing gigs around Asbury Park.

But music history would, of course, unfold differently. And Springsteen wasn’t the first or the last huge success for Clive Davis, the man at the helm of Columbia Records at the time. Over more than four decades in the music industry, Davis helped make household names (and, in some cases, icons) out of Billy Joel, Carlos Santana, Barry Manilow, Alicia Keys, Sly Stone, Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston.

Davis shares personal stories about his life and career in his new memoir, The Soundtrack of My Life, and he spoke about it with NPR’s Don Gonyea. Click the audio link on this page to hear the radio version, and read more of their conversation below via the link.

www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2013/02/23/172719492/clive-davis-a-life-with-a-soundtrack

Saturday afternoon listening: Clive Davis: A Life WIth A Soundtrack via NPR

by NPR Staff

If Columbia Records hadn’t signed Bruce Springsteen in the early 1970s, there’s a chance The Boss could have just been a small-stakes act, playing gigs around Asbury Park.

But music history would, of course, unfold differently. And Springsteen wasn’t the first or the last huge success for Clive Davis, the man at the helm of Columbia Records at the time. Over more than four decades in the music industry, Davis helped make household names (and, in some cases, icons) out of Billy Joel, Carlos Santana, Barry Manilow, Alicia Keys, Sly Stone, Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston.

Davis shares personal stories about his life and career in his new memoir, The Soundtrack of My Life, and he spoke about it with NPR’s Don Gonyea. Click the audio link on this page to hear the radio version, and read more of their conversation below via the link.

www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2013/02/23/172719492/clive-davis-a-life-with-a-soundtrack

Great interview with my co-author Anthony DeCurtis: Music Journalist Talks ‘Soundtrack of My Life’ via The BoomBox/AOL

by Ryan Shea

Journalists are usually the ones asking the questions, but legendary scribe Anthony DeCurtis has done enough in his 25-plus-years covering music that he can have the tables turned on him every once in a while.

Because if there’s an artist you can think of — especially in rock, but also hip-hop and R&B — chances are the New York native has been involved in covering them.

Recently, between splitting time teaching at the University of Pennsylvania and continuing to write for publications like Rolling Stone, he’s made appearances on stage interviewing rappers like Nas, and seen the release of Clive Davis’ memoir The Soundtrack of My Life, which he helped write.

We recently caught up with DeCurtis in-person and picked his brain about music journalism, not being star-struck around Jay-Z, what it was like covering The Notorious B.I.G. and those pesky Kelly Clarkson comments that just won’t go away. Read on.

Click here to see the feature >>
http://www.theboombox.com/2013/03/29/anthony-decurtis-interview/