Music Man

A few days ago, Clive Davis passed away at the grand old age of 94. Although he may not be a bona fide star, he did appear on talk shows enough for people to get a general idea of who he was. Which is rather unusual for a music business executive. And that is because he was not exactly your average music man.

A Harvard-trained lawyer, he kind of stumbled into the music industry via entertainment law and then rose through the ranks spectacularly quick. For a “technician” in the field, with no formal musical training to speak of, his knack for finding and signing new talent was absolutely incredible. He is responsible for the signing of Pink Floyd (!), Bruce Springsteen, Earth, Wind & Fire, Billy Joel, Aerosmith, Ace of Base… and that is just a very small sample from the list of artists he built. All giant stars, across decades, in a wide variety of musical genres.

And then there was Whitney. Arguably his greatest find, the finest voice since Ella Fitzgerald and Aretha Franklin, a woman who revolutionized modern R&B music through a spotless blend of pop and soul that the likes of Mariah Carey later got inspired by… A singer who to this day performed the best live rendition of the American anthem, all the while transcending soundtrack history after having largely energized MTV-era 80’s pop music… You get the gist: Whitney Houston was a gem that Clive Davis was smart enough to find and cultivate.

Very few people, if any, were ever that successful at finding musical artists. With the possible exception of Jerry Wexler. The man who found or rebuilt Ray Charles, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan and… Aretha Franklin. The man who actually coined the concept of “Rhythm and Blues” as a journalist at Billboard magazine back in the 1940’s. The man who built the music later developed by Clive Davis.

Artists are obviously central to the creation of music. But a few men behind the scenes do make it all happen. Clive Davis was one of them. RIP.