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Posts Tagged “Clive Davis”

d'ya think i'm country?

Rod Stewart's Country Dreams Denied By J Records, Devil

Rod Stewart will undoubtedly start writing "slave" on his cheek and checking into "this whole Internet thing" now that J Records won't let him record an album of country standards. What did you expect, Rod? Did you think you'd be able to luck into some "one for you, one for me" trade-off in this economy? Or even a "four for you, one for me" deal? It's been 15 years since Unplugged...and Seated upended your pop career, and over five since you sold what was left of your career for a Great American Songbook. While I'd love to see you do something more daring (I'm not a big Black Keys fan, but I'd be curious to hear the musical outcome of your bromance), you'll probably have to shut up and make that Christmas album. More »

3:30 PM on Thu May 22 2008
By Anthony Miccio
316 views, 9 comments

Latest by Thierry: I can't really hear Rod doing country - he can't belt'em anymore and that would really limit his choice of songs: "Ain't It Funny How Time Slips Away", maybe a couple of other things from the Willie Nelson or Roger more »

idolator's american idolatry

Idolator Presents Its Entry In The "American Idol" Song Competition

The "song contest" portion of American Idol, in which hopefuls around the country pen the coronation song for one of the Davids whoever winds up winning this season, is enough of a laughingstock that even Simon Cowell's mocking it: "You can guarantee either the word 'proud' or 'moment' will be in the song. How about 'I'm Proud to Be in this Moment Now'?" Ho snap! Well, if it's that much of a laugh, then there's no reason I can't offer my own lyric for next year. Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy "There But For The Grace Of Clive." More »

2:00 PM on Mon May 5 2008
By Anthony Miccio
917 views, 8 comments

Latest by n/a: HELLO ---------AM I THE ONLY PERSON THAT SEES A PROBLEM WITH THE FOLLOWING? Is American Idol Rigged? If the Paula Abdul "Gaffe" doesn't convince you maybe this will.Did you know American Idol is having a songwriting contest this year?They also had one more »

my name is not trinidad

Whitney Houston May Not Be Ready To Come Back

Repeatedly cheering "I love you, Trinidad!" when you're performing in Tobago is an understandable mistake for Whitney Houston to make, but not being able to pull off the end of "I Will Always Love You?" That sounds like trouble. Reports on her thirty minute performance at the Plymouth Jazz Festival must not have pleased Clive Davis or anyone else still invested in her career. More »

4:00 PM on Mon Apr 28 2008
By Anthony Miccio
1,212 views, 4 comments

idolator's american idolatry

"Fox 411" Columnist's Anti-David Cook Diatribe: A Sign That Clive Is Not Pleased?

Yesterday, the always-quick-on-the-uptake Fox News writer Roger Friedman posted a story about David Cook having an album out prior to his American Idol appearance, a fact which Friedman presumably noticed because said album, Analog Heart, topped the Amazon MP3 store's charts this past weekend. (It's since been pulled.) Friedman even got a little outraged about Cook being a "ringer," which is pretty funny given that every other singer left in the competition this year has either put out an album (Carly, Brooke) or been on some sort of TV show (Syesha was on The One, Jason was on Cheyenne, and David Archuleta was on Star Search). But the fact that Friedman is just now getting peevish about the sanctity of American Idol's contestant pool makes me wonder if one of the record-biz bigwigs he pals around with has put a bee in his bonnet about the possibility of the grunge revivalist Cook beating out the lip-licky Archuleta, who's seemed to be this season's chosen one from the start. More »

5:30 AM on Tue Apr 22 2008
By Maura Johnston
6,748 views, 10 comments

Latest by MTS: I have a small request, and that is can I never hear the phrase "lip-licky" on Idolator (or anywhere) again? more »

somewhere, kelly clarkson is smiling

Clive Davis Will Have His Revenge Yet Again!

The news that Clive Davis is being reassigned to a different, less important post at Sony BMG was a little surprising; after all, his latest prize signing, Leona Lewis, debuted at No. 1 on this week's album charts, despite her Muzak presence ruining my trip to a bookstore recently. His loss of power is another sign that the era of the mega-act is being read its corporate last rites. More »

12:00 PM on Fri Apr 18 2008
By Dan Gibson
975 views, 4 comments

it's everybody's december now

Once Again, Clive Davis Learns the Wrong Lesson From the Kelly Clarkson Affair

Because apparently the Beatles took music in the wrong direction, Clive Davis says that singers should not write their own songs.

Davis, chairman and chief executive officer of the BMG Label Group, said he has seen many entertainers lose their careers by not concentrating on finding hit songs — no matter who they are written by..."I don't care how many No. 1's you have written in the past, have you written a new No. 1?" When [Whitney] Houston came to him after her second or third album and asked if she should start writing songs, he said: "Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra didn't write, and they are among Time magazine's greatest artists of the century."

Let's break down the numerous ways Davis is wrong, shall we?

More »

10:30 AM on Fri Mar 7 2008
By Dick Malone
2,785 views, 16 comments

an objects of affection special report

Kelly Clarkson Fans Fight Clive Davis With Rudimentary Understanding Of Editing Software

In light of what they see as Clive Davis's neglect toward the promotion of Kelly Clarkson's My December, the Kelly Clarkson Express—a group that sounds like it should serve as a dual-purpose fan club for the first American Idol and trains—has put together a video for the song "How I Feel," which its members think should be the next single. This is but one facet of the How I Feel Project, a campaign to get the song played on the radio, or maybe very quietly in the background of an MTV show. While strong fan support is essential when you're a pop star being ignored by one of the world's most powerful music bigwigs, that devotion can come with a price—and in this case, that price is a well-intentioned but sadly incompetent tribute video. More »

2:00 PM on Tue Feb 19 2008
By Kate Richardson
1,765 views, 9 comments

Latest by n/a: The Album is not a FLOP as many are compelled to Call it.. It has gone Platium in the US as of December 07, (yes look it up if you wish on the RIAA website) Also the album world wide more »

passive-aggressive management 101

Kelly Clarkson Invited To Be Back On Clive Davis' Good Side

Kelly Clarkson didn't have the best 2007, and a large part of that was because of her very public tussle with record label honcho Clive Davis over the artistic direction she took on her most recent album, My December. Since that tumult—which culminated in her tour being canceled and only one single being released from the album—she's been taken under Reba McEntire's wing and played some intimate shows in theaters. And Davis has taken notice, waving an olive branch in the form of his glittery invite to his annual pre-Grammys dinner party in Clarkson's direction. Since our invitation apparently got lost in the mail, Roger Friedman's breathless description follows: More »

12:35 PM on Mon Feb 4 2008
By Maura Johnston
1,848 views, 3 comments

Latest by egg cream: @dabug: It wasn't, which is why this whole thing was so stupid in the first place. It wasn't a matter of Davis being unhappy with her sound (which wasn't much of a departure from Breakaway anyway), it was a more »

A shot-for-shot remake of Kelly Clarkson's "Never Again" video that allegedly didn't cost a cent to produce. We're sure the accounting department at Sony BMG is forwarding this clip around the office right now. [Pop Music Kingdom]

Comment

it's everybody's december now

Kelly Clarkson Returns To Pop, Clive Davis Ascends To Divinity

Fox News' Roger Friedman gleefully reported today that "sources" have told him the newly apologetic Kelly Clarkson will return to pop music, with a new album of songs selected by record mogul Clive Davis and his associates to come sometime in 2008. If it's true, it doesn't come as much of a surprise given the controversy surrounding My December, and the album's solid—though unremarkable—sales figures. However, Friedman's over-the-top reverence for Davis borders on outright fanboy drooling, and serves to highlight one of the more peculiar aspects of this whole Kelly/Clive debacle: Have we gotten to the point that people are so cynical about pop music that they prefer to reserve fandom for an industry executive who has facilitated hits rather than those who write and perform them?
More »

12:30 PM on Fri Jul 27 2007
By fluxington
1,362 views, 14 comments

Latest by dabug: Matthew, you'll be interested to know that this is the same writer who wrote a really nasty hit piece on Lindsay Lohan connecting her music to Universal's payola scandal, effectively causing me to come up with the War on Lindsay. more »

all apologies

Kelly: "I'm Well Aware That Clive Is One Of The Great Record Men Of All Time"

Kelly Clarkson has updated her Web site with a Precious Momenty picture and a "mea culpa" surrounding the "there's no hit on My December" controversy between her and label mogul Clive Davis, which basically dictated most of the press coverage surrounding her new album. How can you tell this is step one in Kelly walking, head down and hands folded, down the long road to Davis' good graces? Kelly's enterprising Web team named the new image on her site clive_splash.jpg. Ouch! The full statement after the jump. More »

3:05 PM on Mon Jul 23 2007
By mjohnston
997 views, 8 comments

Latest by Nately: @Falconfire: Want a sign that the major music industry is a joke? Here's one ... Kelly Clarkson got her record contract by winning a fucking game show. Sorry, but she (and her fans) aren't exactly in a position to cry more »

my long december

Everybody Hates Kelly: Why The "Tusk" Era Is Officially Over

One of the oddest aspects of the whole My December saga was the sight of critics from across the spectrum siding with the head of a major record label, especially against a young singer trying to follow her artistic vision away from singles-focused commercial music. Whether the critic seemed like the kind who doesn't get these kids and their American Idol or the kind who happens to like singles-focused commercial music, they came to the same conclusion: The record company exec was right. Part of that reaction could be because Clive Davis has more cred than Kelly Clarkson (or, to be unfair, that what's good for the gander isn't good for the goose). But what if, instead, My December represents a landmark in the decline and fall of the record industry? More »

11:45 AM on Thu Jul 12 2007
By Dick Malone
3,221 views, 35 comments

Latest by x1y: I loved this article. I think what gets lost in the mix is the fact that Kelly Clarkson's "My December" album is really quite good. It's just fascinating to watch a hand full of critics and Clive Davis himself malign more »

kelly clarkson

Is Clive Davis Now Art-Directing "Cosmo Girl"?

Because really, we can't fathom any other explanation for the seventeen ways that this cover is completely unflattering to Kelly Clarkson. (Her eyes! Her phantom right hand!) Please, Narvel Blackstock—make sure this never happens again. More »

4:42 PM on Tue Jul 3 2007
By mjohnston
836 views, 2 comments

kelly clarkson

Now You, Too, Can Pretend To Be Clive Davis

Kelly Clarkson's My December—which, no kidding, is the most controversial record of the year—can now be listened to in full over at MTV. Give it a listen, and find out whether you're qualified to be a nit-picky major-label exec! More »

11:20 AM on Thu Jun 21 2007
By Brian Raftery
1,547 views, 23 comments

kelly clarkson

Don't Be Surprised If "My December" Returns In September

Last night, Kelly Clarkson, who had been engaged in a soundbite war with those who weren't happy with her forthcoming album My December, fired her manager, Jeff Kwatinetz. Today Fox 411 columnist Roger Friedman, who had previously pointed the finger at Kwatinetz regarding Clarkson's woes, weighed in today with an item that shows he's a little unclear on "Since U Been Gone"'s lyrical intent: More »

8:50 AM on Wed Jun 13 2007
By mjohnston
2,226 views, 26 comments

feuds

Clive Davis Still Giving Kelly Clarkson's "My December" A Chilly Reception

The Kelly Clarkson-Clive Davis war of words is clearly not going to end anytime soon—or at least not until Clarkson's next album, My December, comes out later this month. A brief recap: Rumblings about December being pushed back from its late July release date surfaced a few weeks ago, after Davis allegedly panned the largely Clarkson-penned record in a company meeting; the album's release date was then pushed up to June 26; then, during the American Idol finale, Davis took to the podium and neglected to plug Clarkson's album, instead extolling the virtues of professional songwriters. More »

4:15 PM on Tue Jun 5 2007
By mjohnston
4,486 views, 23 comments

Latest by n/a: contato Olá, A Promo Web Network vem por meio desta, oferecer os seus serviços de consultoria e divulgação de sites mecanismos de buscas. Com o surgimento dos links patrocinados, a nos especializamos na otimização de resultados publicando e divulgando os sites more »

feuds

The So-So Showdown Between Kelly Clarkson And Clive Davis Rages On

Today's Page Six has an update on the Kelly Clarkson-Clive Davis feud, or—as it's called in the biz—"The Brawl Between Y'all." For those of you without scorecards, Davis (who oversees Sony BMG), has been none too happy with Clarkson's upcoming My December album, giving it the thumbs-down at a company meeting in April, and refusing to plug it during the American Idol finale; and now, somebody in Clarkson's camp has decided to shoot back: More »

9:15 AM on Wed May 30 2007
By Brian Raftery
2,887 views, 15 comments

Latest by Chris Molanphy: @Audif Jackson Winters III: Sorry, last rebuttal to your question: Lavigne's best single, bar none, was the second album's "My Happy Ending" - catchier even than "Complicated," a much more incisive lyric, and no Matrix. more »

jay-z

If Only They'd Remembered To Include Sir Denis Eton-Hogg

We admire anyone with the gumption to put a bunch of record-label moguls on the front of their mix CD—even though the odds of Clive Davis listening to back-to-back Young Buck tracks are 100 to 1. But is it just us, or does this design look sort of like a poster for The L Word? More »

4:18 PM on Mon Jan 8 2007
By Brian Raftery
47 views, 4 comments