roundables said:

He was, however, the one who didn't help Whitney's songs get on the radio (yes, it's harder for older artists but there was no attempt). He was, however, slamming her not very long after the album came out! Very good business sense. No wonder you're a fan!

What happened w/ Cher, Santana, and Rod Stewart can't happen for everybody.

And thankfully those artists where not associated with Reid! Hmm....Two where helped by the man who he took over for....

Ottensen said:

Um, yeah. Kinda like asking the CEO of McDonalds how the store in St Albans Queens is doing... He'll have no clue until he looks it up. Island Def Jam is a huge conglomerate of labels, artists and releases. A Patti Labelle release on that roster is not a huge priority (especially if it wasn't your signing -- and if you don't understand that, stop talking about the music business period. You have no idea what you're talking about...), shit, not even a small priority, because you are not expecting numbers over 100K, and one cannot expect him to know off-hand "oh, you did a cover of *that*?" Nonsense.

And I'll not get into a pissing contest of "who I know at the labels"... Again this is the internet. You or I could be Clive's secretary or accountant, or could be the mom from What's Eating Gilbert Grape, there's no way of knowing...

roundables said:

-----

I post what I know because it is all based on facts and not fantasy.Reid does not know the lead single from what is supposed to be an artist that he is supporting. If you can defend that kind of imcopentence great. I say it is going to get Reid canned again and it is exactly what is wrong with the music industry today.
If you can't get rid of these types of clowns the industry will never completely turn around as it has not in the last five years. I know I am right about that and I know you will not come back to this board when Reid gets canned but, I will be here with a big I told you so.

laurarichardson said:

I never said it was cool that he didn't listen to the album. However, ignoring Patti Labelle is not going to get L.A. Reid fired. Doug Morris protects his boys, and L.A. is now one of them. Patti Labelle is not the first legend to be mistreated and discarded by a label, and she won't be the last. These execs that do get fired rarely ever get out of the biz. They all get rehired at another label. Sylvia Rhone fucked up at Elecktra and is now over Motown. Lyor Cohen fucked up at IDJ and is now at WB. Tommy Matolla went from Sony to Cassablanca. Polly Anthony went from Sony to Geffen. JD went from SoSo Def at Sony to Virgin. It's like a good ass game of musical chairs. It would be nice if the execs job was to respect legends and nuture talent, but it's not. Their job is to improve the bottom line. Investors w/ money tied up in stocks don't care if Patti Labelle is happy. They want to know if their shares are up or down. And, like it or not it's the investors that people like LA have to answer to. He has to decide how much money to allocate to what acts to keep that bottom line moving up. They would spend more money on promoting Patti than they would ever recoup. So, is it right to piss on investors money just to keep Patti happy? Because that's not what they bought their stock for. And, you can say fuck stocks and investors all you want. And, you can scream about how they're messing up the industry, and I'd gladly agree. However, as long as the music business is a BUSINESS this is how it's going to go.
[Edited 10/19/05 11:00am]

laurarichardson said:

I never said it was cool that he didn't listen to the album. However, ignoring Patti Labelle is not going to get L.A. Reid fired. Doug Morris protects his boys, and L.A. is now one of them. Patti Labelle is not the first legend to be mistreated and discarded by a label, and she won't be the last. These execs that do get fired rarely ever get out of the biz. They all get rehired at another label. Sylvia Rhone fucked up at Elecktra and is now over Motown. Lyor Cohen fucked up at IDJ and is now at WB. Tommy Matolla went from Sony to Cassablanca. Polly Anthony went from Sony to Geffen. JD went from SoSo Def at Sony to Virgin. It's like a good ass game of musical chairs. It would be nice if the execs job was to respect legends and nuture talent, but it's not. Their job is to improve the bottom line. Investors w/ money tied up in stocks don't care if Patti Labelle is happy. They want to know if their shares are up or down. And, like it or not it's the investors that people like LA have to answer to. He has to decide how much money to allocate to what acts to keep that bottom line moving up. They would spend more money on promoting Patti than they would ever recoup. So, is it right to piss on investors money just to keep Patti happy? Because that's not what they bought their stock for. And, you can say fuck stocks and investors all you want. And, you can scream about how they're messing up the industry, and I'd gladly agree. However, as long as the music business is a BUSINESS this is how it's going to go.
[Edited 10/19/05 11:00am]

Shocking article, but then again not really, given the state of the industry today (Usher????? Please....)

BTW, Patti always HAS devoted herself to touring..... she constantly tours so that is not something she needs to "start" now.

Also, I agree her last few albums were not good (well the lsat one I bought was the Dianne Warren one)....

But "FLame" was an AMAZING album with great songs by great writers and great interpretation, you can listen to the whole thing over and over. And the One Night Only LIVE is the 1st time the "Miss patti" experience was captured on disc.

Those were both on MCA I think.

The above quote is very true, and I have wondered if these past few albums were "Bad" because of the material,producers,and musicians SHE chose. Or if the material, musicians,and producers were assigned to her by Def Soul Classics.It also seems like ever since her musical director, Bud Elliison, passed away; her music has just gone downhill. But irregardless, these albums were not very well promoted and there really wasn't much to promote in the first place.

GaryMF said:

The above quote is very true, and I have wondered if these past few albums were "Bad" because of the material,producers,and musicians SHE chose. Or if the material, musicians,and producers were assigned to her by Def Soul Classics.It also seems like ever since her musical director, Bud Elliison, passed away; her music has just gone downhill. But irregardless, these albums were not very well promoted and there really wasn't much to promote in the first place.

Her last truly brilliant album was 1992's 'Burnin'.Some soulful gems on that one.With her last three albums or so,it seems like she is just aimlessly wandering...not really sure what direction she should be taking.I really think she should let Prince produce an entire album for her (something he has expressed a desire to do).His work with Chaka Khan ('Come 2 My House') is excellent.Or she should do a soulful album that reunites her with producers Gamble and Huff...a "back to basics" type of album.

soulsike said:

you cant force someone to believe what they dont..just accept that people have a different view on the topic then you and posting here wont be so annoying.