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Tommy Mottola's upcoming new book, Hitmaker: The Man and His Music I take it that Tommy has been fully aware of most of the conspiracy stories about him concerning Michael & Mariah. Guilty conscience, maybe?!?
And if Tommy didn't do anything wrong, then what's the point of apolgizing to Mariah about anytime?
SOURCE: http://music.yahoo.com/ne...31528.html
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Behind Mariah, Michael and the constellation of stars at arguably the most successful record label in history stood a man who didn't often talk to the media or explain his motivations.
Now, a decade after leaving Sony Music Entertainment, Tommy Mottola tells his story in a new book, "Hitmaker: The Man and His Music." He apologizes for the fallout from his marriage to Mariah Carey. He explains the label's behind-the-scenes support for Michael Jackson as the singer's life and career took one strange turn after another. And he traces the arc of the music business as it evolved over the course of his lifetime — from Elvis to the iPod.
As a label executive, Mottola made it a point to stay out of reporters' notebooks. But as an author, he didn't shy from the topics longtime industry watchers are interested in — though he threw away two versions of the book he hated before finding a groove he was comfortable with.
"I always try to take a backseat, even with this book," Mottola said in a phone interview last week. "And my thoughts were always, 'Do the work, try to do good work and the results will speak for itself.' That was always my philosophy, though I went against my own philosophy and decided to write this book. So there you go, so much for that."
Mottola, a Bronx native, is a former singer and song pitcher who went on to manage Hall & Oates through superstardom before joining future Sony acquisition CBS Records. He helped guide Sony into the record business and eventually took over the worldwide chairmanship of the company, which sold eight billion records and earned $65 billion in his 15 years as the head of the company.
Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey are just the beginning of the list. The roster also included Bruce Springsteen, Destiny's Child, Celine Dion, The Dixie Chicks, Barbra Streisand, Billy Joel ... and don't forget The Latin Explosion with Gloria Estefan, Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony and Shakira.
His fingerprints remain all over the record business.
"I think he was a genius and ... I don't think we'll be able to see what Tommy Mottola did again because it's definitely a different business out there," said Emilio Estefan, who described Mottola as his brother in a Wednesday phone interview. "He definitely wrote a chapter in the music business that I don't think will be done again."
"Hitmaker," written with Cal Fussman, is no fairy tale, however. He details his successes and the drive that propelled him to the top of the business, but also talks at length about the down times. The 63-year-old is fairly unsparing of the executives who ushered him out at Sony.
"I had a vision really of building this total entertainment company, which obviously today exists as public companies in Live Nation and lots of other companies like that, or AEG, where the company could have participated in every source of revenue," he said. "But there was no one there who even remotely understood what I was talking about at that level."
Mottola says Jackson "snapped" when he lashed out at his label — and Mottola personally — amid accusations of child molestation and declining record sales. Jackson called Mottola the devil and waged a public campaign to be released from his recording contract.
Over time, Mottola said, the two repaired the rift: "That blew over and we ended up being great friends." But as the label's chairman, Mottola was in the uncomfortable position of being the only person telling Jackson no when expenses began to mount on his increasingly extravagant projects.
"We tried on his behalf, for his sake, to put the brakes on many times ..." Mottola said. "And we did the best we could. But at the end of the day Michael was an adult. M was a man in his 30s and 40s when I worked with him and he could make his own decisions at the end of the day even though his advisers may be telling him different."
As for Jackson's legal troubles, Mottola said the label played the role of supporter without forming an opinion about the charges.
"It wasn't our position to pass judgment," he said. "It was really our position to support Michael and that's what we did. We were there and we supported Michael to the best of our ability."
Even more public than the rift with Jackson is Mottola's romance, marriage and eventual divorce from Carey, a 19-year-old backup singer he helped guide to the top of the music industry. Over the years Carey has characterized Mottola as controlling, cloistering her in a mansion she later called "Sing Sing" even as she became the world's most popular performer.
In the book Mottola writes it was "absolutely wrong and inappropriate" to become involved with Carey. He writes he's "truly sorry for any discomfort or pain that all of my good intentions inevitably caused her, and most of all for the scars it left on my two oldest children" from his first marriage.
Mottola felt it was important to lay out the story as he saw it after "harsh" and "untrue" descriptions Carey has given in interviews over the years. He notes Carey asked him to marry her. And of the charges he was restrictive and controlling, a Svengali figure? "Lots of crap."
Emilio Estefan said the divorce from Carey, who was unavailable for comment, led to a dark period for his friend personally, one he's delighted to have helped end by introducing Mottola to his third wife, Mexican actress and singer Thalia. They now have two children together.
"I know the separation between him and Mariah was hard for both of them," Estefan said. "I love both of them, of course. I was a witness and a friend with Mariah, too, for many years being with them at big parties and celebrations. Sometimes things happen and when the whole thing happened I saw him very lonely and I knew Thalia was in New York filming a movie." He suggested they have dinner: "And you know something? They clicked. He called me that night and said, 'I love this girl,' and she called me and said, 'I love this guy.' Both of them love each other and they have an incredible relationship."
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Another leech
Nobody gives a damn about you or your lousy book... | |
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I heard about the digs he made @ Mariah letting on that she flirted with him while he was going through a Divorce.
I get that Tommy is an Iconic Big Wig in the World of music and we'll forever associate & acknowledge his existance because of his connection to MiMi but nobody cares...
I'm sorry Tommy but we DO NOT feel the same way about you like we feel about Clive Davis. Clive LOVED the Camera and we saw his face ALL the damn time back in the day. Tommy was more behind the scenes working his Magic...Nothing wrong with that but we have NO emotional connection to Tommy other than knowing MiMi had to get away from his controling Ass...
I'm a STRONG believer that there's 2 sides to every story. Mariah never trashed the guy publicly but she let on that she needed her freedom. He has a right to touch on the Marriage in his book to tell his side but they've been divorced so Damn long nobody cares. I would have cared back in 1995 but I don't care about it in 2013.....
I wonder who pushed Tommy to write this book or was he just bored counting all of his money?
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Clive is the scum's degenerate of this earth.
Both men are two faces for the same coin, there's no lesser evil in this equation. | |
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Now, now Harlepolis...I respected your opinions & views for years on the Chaka board and I still respect you now...
I want you to give me ONE reason and some details why Clive is Scum...Now that shouldnt be difficult since you feel the way you do.... | |
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Thank you, backhanded compliment notwithstanding
[img:$uid]http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s45/jemchi/350.jpg[/img:$uid]
Read, pick and choose how many examples you could find, its all there
Mind you, late Ms.Hyman wasn't a walk to the park, but the way he treated her and his artists showed that he was as much of a bully as Tommy, if not more. Clive is more media friendly, Tommy isn't, thats their only difference, but both operated with the same tactics. | |
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I Love Phyllis and I think Unsung did justice by her story...I have many Musical Bios but I still have yet to buy hers..So I def have to pick it up even though it's not her thoughts only those that knew her....I'm gonna pick up Cissy Houston's book as well...
Politics are always involved in everything and Music is no different.
And the compliment I gave you was sincere and the Truth..I say what I mean and I mean what I say... | |
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My apoligies then, this is the org after all
You should read the book though
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everything is instilled with sarcasm and condescending remarks, its easy to get the singals mixed.
the writer did justice by her body of work IMO, and didn't paint her with a one-dimensional brush(ala Unsung). Phyllis was a strong woman who got exactly what she wanted, if not for her manic depression, and the amount of music she recorded was huge and thank godness, the author examined them.
"Ah let's make a toast, 2 the host, 2 the man with the most
We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams... | |
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Somehow, I wonder this as well. | |
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As much as I still love to criticize Clive as being a slick ole devil, I for one would also admit that Clive is way better as the "superstar record label exec" than Tommy. | |
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Only Jimmy Iovine is THE worst. But we will not go there with him today. | |
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Co-sign. | |
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clive davis is one of the culprits that help to destroy classic black music. look what he did to stax records? look what he did to earth wind and fire? look at what he did sly stone? look at what he did to philly international label? tommy mottola whole role in the micheal jackson debacle is well documented and i say we all should boycott this book when it comes out out of respect for all these artist. | |
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"It's not nice to fuck with K.B.! All you haters will see!" - Kitbradley
"The only true wisdom is knowing you know nothing." - Socrates | |
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Well it goes alot of ways, U can say they were just business men who took advantage of artists, but honestly most of the artists they brought out became zillionaires too. SO when you look at who they were responsible for, Mariah,Hall and Oates, Destinys CHild, Barry Manilow and a ton of others, who would have brought these artists into the light??? the internet?? this was the day and age of labels actually putting stock into shaping an artist, i mean Manilow and Billy Joel 2 signature artists of the 70's and 80's and still big sellers of catalog and new recordings, these 2 were FAR from popular off the bad, Manilows first album did nothing till his second album, JOEL wasnt a across the board hit till "The Stranger" which was 6 albums into the career. SO i understand the whole "labels are leeches shit" BUT none of the icons and people we talk of on this forum WOULD ever have been heard of hadnt it been for a label. Sorry to disagree and side with Clive here, but you would have never ever heard of one of his signature artists had it not been for him. "We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F | |
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Ya know, this discussion got me thinking, as Prince fans, we love to shit on WB, but I remember reading something that Alan Leeds said in an interview that makes me glad that he got his start in WB and not those labels. He said - and I'm paraphrasing - that, being the demanding artist he is, he wouldn't last through his 3rd album if he was under the thumb of Tommy or Clive.
Not only were their bullying tactics would come to blow with Prince' stubborn nature, but they didn't even encourage musical development, and they made it clear what music their artists should and shouldn't record, in other words; individuality be damned.
[Edited 2/1/13 12:39pm] | |
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Tony, what do you think of Walter Yetnikoff and David Geffen?
Now Waler's book is the one I'm still trying to read | |
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Yeah, and I think Prince actually got in contact with Clive, who actually wanted to put him on Arista but apparently 19-year-old Prince had done some investigation on Clive and said "no". | |
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1. BTW, Aretha Frankin was already the Queen Of Soul and a future R&RHOFer before she started working for Clive.
Just saying.
2. Besides failing to turn a soul singer like Phyllis Hyman into a mainstream pop artist, Clive also failed in his one and only opportunity with Prince. Yes, some of Prince's own flaws didn't help matters any. But it still shows that Clive can NOT be successful with exactly every legendary artist like his thought he could.
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^ Dionne and Aretha really didn't need Clive at their stage of careers, but the only positive was he did bring them to new audiences. Other than that, Clive was just as bad as Motolla when it came to the artists he signed in that he didn't allow them creative control. That was the main issue between Clive and Phyllis. I'm sure you-know-who had the same hang up on Clive despite their obvious closeness (I'm not mentioning the name because... well because. | |
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1. David Geffen's biggest f*** up as a label exec was not allowing Donna Summer to have complete control over her own musical creativity. Think about it; This dumbass (David) actually thought that She Worked Hard For The Money & This Time I Know It's For Real weren't potential hit singles! And it was no accident that both songs were hits for other labels outside of Geffen Records. But judging him as a human being, David did have a reputation of being a total jerk toward some artists, Donna included.
2. Walter Yetnikoff deserves respect (IMO) for standing up to MTV by demanding that cable network to play Michael Jackson's videos OR all of the videos of other CBS Records'/Sony Music Entertainment's artists (including Ozzy Osbourne, a rock/metal act that always got MTV airtime) were all going to be pulled. Thanks to Walter, black artists from all the different record labels were finally getting opportunities for mainstream crossover success with their videos.
I haven's readied Walter's book yet. But I'm fully aware that Walter was and still is convince that Tommy was part of the conspiracy in having Walter being taken out of Sony. | |
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Yeah Donna and David bumped heads more often during Donna's Geffen run. David didn't really know how to run a label either when Donna signed with Geffen in 1980. | |
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He recorded "Rave" under Clive's guidance, hoping for that Santana money. But as well know,,,, | |
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Clive should've known that Prince would NEVER give up control of the entire production like Carlo Santana would. | |
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TBH, I can't throw this entirely on Clive's lap. Prince shares the blame as well, the album had the potential to prosper had it not been for the weird promotional campaign he had going on.
Still, this album will always be dear to me given that it was my first purchase and official introduction from Prince' music. | |
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I never got why Prince finally got with Arista... it wasn't gonna work obviously. | |
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First no one was really interested in Prince at that point, this was only 3 years after WB, and then Emancipation which was indie with major distribution, Emancipation though it made him money it was a bust and EMI was stuck with tons that they had to give away and lose money on, Prince basically stopped promoting Emancipation at a point and let it go. So Signing PRINCE to a distribution deal for an album and letting him have control was NOT attractive to any label, Clive got him cause no one else wanted him. And lets be honest there is a HUGE difference when we talk about working with an artist that is just starting and working with one that already has had the huge success and is that point in their career where they dont really sell anymore. PRINCE was at that point, but it was 1999 and everyone was riding that song, so the thinking was that would be the push, but PRINCE in america really didnt do any form of promo, also that whole braid look with the blue suit, was his worst ever look, thank god he stopped it, but PRINCE's promo in the US included a poorly shot video, a new director, terrible music video, Princes worst ever. The lead single was not that good, too laid back to kick off a record, also he was still that symbol, saying he was produced by PRINCE and people thought he was a nut job still. So musical genius YES he is and always will be, but Clive was trying to sell the 43 yr old Prince who was not in good standing with really anyone at this point, the album was not that good at all, his american promo was a joke, PRINCE on TRL? it was funny to me, but he further looked like a jerk to more people doing this, NOT one kid in that audience was feeling it or cared who this guy was. So this album was doomed at least here, and then overseas he did good promo, BUT, again there was nothing stong on this album to promote, PRINCE really was not selling that much overseas anyway, new product that is, SO i cant really pin this one on CLIVE, he wasnt signing a new artist he was signing PRINCE who at this point never should be on a label again, and why anyone would pay him to be is beyond me. "We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F | |
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but again working with an established artist and working with one just new out the box is different, being able to get a Billy Joel and Barry Manilow and Halland oates, stevie wonder signed and on their label and let that talent grow is far different.
Prince and RAVE was soley Prince's disaster, what did people think he was going to do? Clive didnt fail in promo, he failed in judgement in letting Prince come aboard and have control. What Prince did with the Promo was up to him and he failed, and overall the album failed because it wasnt that good at all, in fact to alot of Prince fans its one of his worst records ever. That era is my least favorite, that whole 1999 up to 2001 when he started work on Rainbow Children, Prince to me was lost creatively big time, the demos and unreleased tracks from that era show how bad shit was. Every established artist is different and comes with baggage and PRINCE has tons of baggage, he was a bad sign and probably why you wont see him with a label ever again. But i think people also fail to realize PRINCE was 43 trying to sell in the NSYNC era, also PRINCE had not had hits in almost a decade at that point, outside of the Most Beautiful Girl, that was it, everything else was doing OK but he wasnt having an across the board hits, GOLD was a gold album with no hits, Chaos sold about 150,000 and had no hits, Emancipation sold, but also NO HITS on record, and that means across the board, sure Prince was getting minimal RB play still, but really only when he did those painting by number slow jams he does, so Prince commercially was done at this point. AND yes Musicology sold 1.5 million real albums with NO hits also, BUT Prince toured his ass off, he played NICE with media, he acted his age, he behaved, and didnt let up on promo, he actually seemed into the product he promoted, RAVE he seemed bored, and almost like he hated the album himself "We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F | |
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Tommy Matola lives on the road He lost hi la-dy two months ago Maybe he'll find her, maybe he won't Oh one never knows He sleeps in the back of his big grey Cadillac Oh my honey Blowing his mind on cheap grass and wine Oh ain't it crazy, baby I guess you could say That the man has learned his lesson Now he's alone He's got no woman and no home For misery, my friend... Cherchez la femme
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