Music - Women I've Loved

There are moments I can’t forget. (That’s fortunate, because my memory is pretty lousy, usually.) Foremost are the times when I first encountered someone who impacted my life. 
Musically, the women I could never forget include Tina Turner, Bonnie Raitt and Sade.

I was lucky to see Ike & Tina Turner on the road in ‘62 when they and other R&B big bands came through Springfield, Oregon, near my university, in their tour buses. James Brown and Bobby Blue Bland were also mighty, but the sexual power of Tina and the Ikettes was something this 18-year old from Portland had never seen before. These artists influenced me to the extent that I ended up three years later actually playing two of the same venues as Ike & Tina, in my own 10-piece R&B band.
To this day, I have several of their singles in my “A” rotation.
In the ‘80’s, my friend and A&R man Carter signed Tina to Capitol. You know her troubled history with Ike from the film, ”What’s Love Got to Do With It?” The movie ends with her rediscovery by Australian manager Roger Davies, who brilliantly brought her from Holiday Inn shows to superstardom. It was sweet to witness this long-overdue success up close. Ironically, it was the second wave of English music of the early ‘80’s that kicked it off. Tina cut some songs with U.K. writer-producers who idolized her, and it was off to the Grammys. The night she swept those awards, I arrived at the Shrine in a limo, accompanied by three lovely ladies. It felt that we’d both come a long way.

Shortly after I started my record business career as a salesman for Capitol in 1970 L.A., I went to see J.J. Cale at the Ash Grove, a tiny club on Melrose. He was on Blue Thumb, a label we distributed. My ambition at the time was to become  an A&R man, so I was happy to pay attention to new music I was being exposed to. The opening act was a young woman I hadn’t hear of, but when she played I knew that she was going to be important. It was Bonnie Raitt. Just as I started having dreams of signing this future star, she announced that she had just done a deal with Warner Brothers. Ah, well, I thought. That’s a good label; she’ll do well.
Fourteen or fifteen years went by, and I enjoyed hearing Bonnie’s records, many with Little Feat’s Lowell George or some other prestigious writer-performers. But no hits. Then, on a plane from Houston to Minneapolis with Ron Stone of the major management company Gold Mountain, I learn that Bonnie has signed with them, and has made a new deal with Capitol! So, after all this time, I’ll be able to work a Bonnie Raitt record! And what a record! The great producer Don Was had done magic with her. “Love’s Sneakin’ Up On You” was an easy record to promote at Rock radio, and the new video channel VH-1 put it over the top. Top 40 couldn’t resist any longer, and Bonnie got her first gold album. Of course, she was a road warrior, and was doing shows and promotional visits to radio stations. While in Detroit, she stopped at the office of a national tip sheet, MMR; coincidentally, I had done an interview with MMR that week. Bonnie autographed a copy of that page with “I Love This Guy!”. MMR framed it and sent it to me as a surprise; it hangs proudly in my office. Later, I found myself standing next to her at the post-party after a perfect concert at the Wiltern Theater; she was presented with her gold “Nick of Time” album record, which she passed to the folks at VH-1. She was grateful, gracious and adorable.

In 1982, I was in my first tour as head of Rock Promotion, when the second U.K. music invasion popped. Depeche Mode, The Fixx, The Clash, Tears For Fears, The Cure, etc. Capitol had Iron Maiden, Thomas Dolby and Duran Duran, thanks to its being part of EMI Music worldwide. (This relationship had paid dividends before, with the Beatles.) I caught the wave, and had success with these artists at radio, especially Duran Duran. Their managers, the Birmingham-based Barrow brothers, invited me to their rental in Malibu one evening to hear some new music. They threw in a new singer in the U.K., one whose first record hadn’t come out yet here. It was Sade. I was stunned with the perfect groove, the sultry voice, the amazing arrangements and musicianship…. It was a quiet storm of the choicest ingredients, in a totally fresh and soulful mix. I was sad to hear she would be on Columbia, but, as with Bonnie Raitt years before, I was sure she’d be in good hand; I couldn’t imagine anyone not getting this extraordinary new talent. Driving up Sunset, I was hoping Tower Records would have an import, but it was too soon. I’d have to wait months. It was worth it.
Thirty years later, and I haven’t tired of the singer and band known as Sade. Her sidemen are essential co-creators of the Sade sound. So again, years go by. I’m now long gone from L.A., living at Harbin Hot Springs. But my L.A. friend Levi Chen came up with concert tickets for a just-added show for Sade’s otherwise sold-out tour. I flew to Burbank, and, with Levi and his entourage, drove to Riverside for the show. The staging and production were superb. ButI don’t have to describe it, because you can see that very show on a Blu-ray disc, “Bring Me Home/Live 2011”. We were 25 feet from the corner of the stage, an ideal vantage point! (In the video, I’m the one standing up.) Yeah, that was moment!

Honorable mention: Norah Jones, Me’Shell, Diana Krall, Adele, and all the greatest classic jazz singers that you can hear in contemporary dance club remixes on the “Verve Remixed” series. And Madonna, for "Ray of Light", which helped me begin again.

​Here are some DVDs I recommend: