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Not Amy Irving An
exclusive interview with Irving Azoff Say what you will about Irving Azoff—most people do. Without question, Azoff enters the 1990s as the most adventurous, most colorful and most closely watched executive in the music business. Rest assured, if there’s action, Irving Azoff won’t be found too far way. A dominating and pioneering force in personal management during the ‘70s, Azoff joined the establishment in 1983 by assuming the helm of the music division at Lew Wasserman’s MCA. During his six-year tenure, Azoff and his band of crazies transformed the company from a second-rate operation to a premier force in the industry. Now Azoff is on to his next adventure—a still-to-be-named Warner Brothers-funded label that’s expected to kick-off early in 1990. The interview that follows is in no way standard, but then again, Irving Azoff is not your standard record executive—come to think of it, Irving Azoff isn’t really your standard human being. Azoff: Before we start, I want you to tell that jerk you work for that you’re using a shitty tape recorder. Tell him to start spending some money. I’ll
do that. Now, can you tell me how much money does it take to start a
competitive, major record company? Elephant bucks. It’s the 90’s and it’s going to be expensive. Does
a record company have to have personality? Only if they want success. We’re counting on the giant multi-nationals to continue to employ no personality leaders, so we have a shot to speak in the door. How
will the label be structured? The basic design will be several mini-labels within a label. That means the major A&R personalities will virtually have their own label within the big structure. Each person won’t be limited to a music type. Anyone who is a real artist, someone you think is going to be around for a while, that’s who we’re looking to sign. And there aren’t many real artists out there any more. The ‘90s are going to see that change. What
do you mean by that? The business has become so radio oriented, when in fact; radio is only one of the many ways artists will be broken in the ‘90s. I think it will go back more to the days when touring was important. There’s been a real short cut in breaking new artists by using video, some interviews and running around the country doing radio tours. That method makes for some big selling first releases, but it doesn’t provide long term results. Before video, even though you’d have a hit single, it would take years to break an artist. You’d play all the markets two, three or four times and play them right. You
were being pursued by everyone. Why did you go with Time-Warner? The Warner effort was really a group effort. There were many people, led by Mo Ostin, who spoke to me. It was Mo, it was Lenny, it was Michael Ostin, it was Stephen Ross, Bob Morgado. It was even Ahmet and Doug and Krasnow. It was Terry Semel and Bob Daly at the film division. It was a group of people who had been my friends for years, who I feel comfortable with. More importantly, when you look into the record business right now it looks like every other distribution system is going through changes or is inadequate. Also, when you look at where successful labels have been launched, Warner has done it many times. Their recent successes are so unbelievable that people want to be in business with them. I’m just like the artists out there. If you ask none out of ten artists who are available, they’re probably going to name one of the Warner labels as the place they want to be. Why
does Time-Warner want to be in business with you? They’re smart. How
about staffing. Who have you hired so far? I’ve hired my assistant and two secretaries who worked with me at MCA. That’s
it? As we said when we announced the label, we want to open early next year. At that point, I would hope the key marketing execs, the name of the label and at least a few of the major A&R personalities would be in place. At that time, we’ll put together our field staffs in both the Pop and Urban promotion areas. Have
you decided on a name for the label? We should either run a contest to determine that, or name it Bob Wilson Records. On a different note, are the Eagles going to do a reunion album? God, I don’t know. They were breaking up from the day I met them. You can’t predict what these guys will do. Are you representing Glenn Frey—gratis? I’ve officially signed on as Glenn’s babysitter. (laughs) He’ll love that. Any bitterness or regrets about your time at MCA? Not really, but I always resented the fact that I was forced into office space that was more reminiscent of an insurance company. If it wasn’t for the fact that a lot of my friends were still working in those offices, I would have like to torch the building before I left. It’s more of a revenge on the physical structure of the building than on the people. The guys who ran MCA were very supportive and good to us, and gave us the tools that we needed. My decision to leave was a lifestyle decision. I went there six and a half years ago to prove that maybe the inmates could run the asylum. What about the current boom environment in the music industry? It’s timing—everybody sold. So there’s now David and nobody left as independently owned American labels. I felt the time was very good for this venture. Have executive salaries spiraled out of control? The only problem is that lowlife tip sheets like HITS are getting too much for advertising. If they hadn’t been ripping all of us off all these years, we would have been able to afford to pay more money to the real guys out there in the streets who do the work. Can you imagine that $80,000—a lowly amount for a record guy—only buys three ads in HITS? How about the amount of money paid for record companies recently. Were those prices too high? Buying these companies at this point in time has been likened by a bunch of Wall Street analysts to buying paintings on the wall; still I believe in the future of music. The compact disc still has not matured and Digital Audio Tape could happen—those people did buy catalogs, manufacturing rights and distribution rights. You’ve got to assume that somebody knows what they’re doing. Sure, the relative values have skyrocketed, but you’ve got a situation now where the net and gross profits of Warner’s recorded music interests exceed all of MCA Inc. With the potential upside of what a properly run music company can generate, it can justify what may be considered high today. I recently met with some of my Japanese friends and discussed some of the prices that are being paid. They told me that you never pay too much, you just sometimes buy too early. So did you steal Motown for $61 million? I don’t think we stole it; but I think if Motown were purchased today, it would fetch three times that. Why did you bring in Boston Ventures for outside financing of the Motown deal? I went outside at the time because a decision was made at MCA that Motown was not worth $611 million, I felt it was important for MCA to retain Motown distribution, it was the only way that MCA, which became a 20% owner, felt comfortable. Look, with the prices the way they are, you gotta be Philips or Sony or JVC or Paramount or Disney to be able to write a check to buy a major record company. And Sony’s acquisition of CBS for $2 billion. Was that a steal? At the time that Sony bought CBS, it was considered a very extravagant buy, but I think it turned out to be a bargain. Has the market topped out? Has it peaked? Hope
not. Let me name some names, and get some reactions from you—David Geffen. He’s
an A tennis player, a B-minus skier, and an excellent cook. Walter YetnikoffWalter used to be a 220 bowler and an expert auto race driver until he started hanging out with Allen Grubman. Stephen Ross. He
probably has more foresight in how to recruit, cultivate and keep great
executives than anyone in the industry. The JapaneseThere are going to be more of them owning more of us. Ayeroff and Harris. One of
my favorite clothing stores. Lavinthal and BeerHandsome
and the genius (Ed. Note: The two geeks in question made me change this
response. Thank You.) Joe SmithTakes
credit with all my great lines. Larry SoltersMediocre guy who hangs around with losers. Herb and Jerry. My heroes. Hell, people with that much money have to be my heroes. Tommy Mottola I’ve
always loved Hall and Oats You’re representing MCA’s interest in the Los Angeles Coliseum, yet you’re going to try to crush them on the charts. Do you have any problem with that? I
don’t believe in crushing anyone on the charts. This is a business
where there’s enough to go around for everybody. I have a lot of
friends in the business who are competitors, and you compete when you
compete, but hope as an industry that everybody does well. I’m not
trying to crush MCA. I hope MCA does great. My involvement with MCA and
the Coliseum is more as a sports fan and as a civic responsibility than
it is a for-profit venture. It’s the sports fan in me. So,
are the Raiders going to stay in LA? It’s
tough. I can’t predict how it’ll end up. How about your Laker courtsides. Are you mad they’ve doubled in price form last year? Naaah.
It’s American capitalism at its best. It’s supply and demand. Those
floor seats have become an unbelievable status symbol. In the big realm
of multi-million dollar Hollywood deals, I can still justify writing the
checks to use them. I can tell you there would be no Chunky A record had
there not been Laker floor seats. As long as we have Magic Johnson,
they’ll be a good buy. Let’s talk about your reputation—raucous, rowdy, ruthless…. (Waves
his hand) Not true, not true. There sure are a lot of Irving Azoff stories going around. Listen,
we’re in a business where to stand out, you need to be very colorful.
Besides, I’m a refugee form the management business where you had to
become a lunatic, just like the guys you represented. Life’s about
fun. I would be this way if I was in the insurance business. You
just don’t strike me as an insurance salesman. First,
I can’t believe I get paid to do this.
Second. I can’t believe I get paid a lot of money to do this.
And third, this isn’t work to me. I’ve never really graduated form
my youth. I’m a kid, and I’m not going to change for any of it. You
can dress me up in a suit and tie to make me play the role of corporate
America, but underneath, I’m still a lunatic. Have you ever trashed a hotel room or somebody’s office? Yes,
but I recently gave a very major artist some very good advice on hotel
trashing. It’s not so bad to trash hotels, but he was using guns to do
it, and I thought that hotel trashing should stop short of shooting
guns. Hotel trashing is cool, but to shoot guns is a little bad for your
image. Is it true that you and Joe Walsh were at a Holiday Inn where they didn’t have suites, so you supplied them with one? Yeah.
Holdiay Inn, New Haven, Connecticut. Walsh was having an insomnia
attack. He had his electric chain saw along. He was next door, but there
was no adjoining door, so I made one. Marshal Tucker was also on the
bill, and Toy Caldwell and some other folks were walking around the
circular Holiday Inn with mike stands, punching holes in the ceiling. It
was horrible, what with police and everything. It was just horrible.
(laughs) So was that your favorite hotel incident? No,
no, no—I've got much better. Wanna share one? Walsh
again. He once pushed a piano out of Joe Smith’s top floor suite at
the NAB Convention. It was the Astor Towers in Chicago. They pushed a
grand piano through a plate glass window. It was Steve Wax, Kenny
Buttice, Burt Stein and others. People like Lou Maglia and others were
standing there watching. That sucker flew 22 floors and landed on the
manager of the hotel’s Cadillac. What was amazing was seeing them
knock out all these plate glass windows to get that piano out. And it
was all because they wouldn’t let Walsh in the restaurant without a
tie. You’ve also been known to trash your share of offices. Yeah,
but they never belonged to anyone I didn’t like. You’ve sent some interesting gifts, too. I
have a fetish for live animals. Particularly reptiles? If
you’re talking about the one famous snake incident, that was not my
fault—it was entirely Shep Gordon and Alice Cooper. I will admit that
I once sent a turkey. Let’s talk about your attitude in general. I
have a bad attitude. My mother and teachers told me that all my life. Would you say you have a “screw you” attitude? No.
I have an attitude of being courteous, reserved, gentle and one that’s
extremely loyal to the people I work with .If it’s necessary to play
the role of the enforcer, I don’t mind doing it. OK, so what is your attitude in life? I
have a couple of mottoes: “Pay now, Pay more later” is one and
“Fuck with us and getting even isn’t good enough” Is the other.
Sure, I meet a lot of assholes, but I never met an asshole in the record
business I didn’t like. Why did you line up your staff and have them flash the finger for the 1986 year-end ad in HITS? Who
takes HITS serious? I mean, HITS is a joke and the ad was meant as a
joke. That was one of our favorite ads ever. I
have to admit I sort of liked it, except for the one outtake which was
better. I had Larry Solters mooning, but we couldn’t run it because
that son of a bitch went and colored in the bald spot on the top of his
head. Why are other companies leery that you’re going to take their top executives? Because
we have the best array of season tickets to sporting events anywhere in
the world. So are you the quintessential music executive for the 1990s? No,
I’m just a fuck-up who got lucky and whose been doing that Dennis
Lavinthal told him to do for the past 15 years since I et him at ABC. I
came in with Joe Walsh’s “Rocky Mountain Way,” and the beloved Jay
Lasker said “This records gonna be like selling shoes, it’ll be a
piece of cake” Then Lavinthal took the record and said, “We’ll
start this in New England, because we don’t have the money to buy any
adds on the radio anywhere else. Why does everybody think you own HITS? They
don’t believe there’s anyone else stupid enough to bankroll you
guys. Are you feeling the pressure of being watched by the industry? Look,
building a business is building a business. I’ve been in everything
from the clothing business to the management business to the
merchandising business, to the concert promotion business, to the
publishing business, to the record business. I think if you surround
yourself with a group of people who like to work together who are
intelligent, who have a heart for what they do, who want to have fun and
who are professional, they can’t miss. I’m not as apprehensive as I
am excited—we don’t have to be the biggest, we just have to have our
share of success. I’ve never failed to put together a team that
didn’t have its share of success before, and I’m confident that we
will this time. Do you think there are people out there who wouldn’t mind seeing it not work for you? Show
me anyone who is universally liked in this business and I’ll show you
somebody very mediocre. Look, that’s the nature of jealousy in our
business, and in my case there may be a few more out there—make that a
lot more out there, who are hoping it doesn’t work. But que sera,
sera. Nobody believes for a moment that you’re going to be satisfied with just running a record company. What else is in the works? I
just purchased a wonderful plumbing supply store in Van Nuys. Besides
that, the most important thing is getting the label started. I shave
interests in the other areas of business, I always have. Of course,
I’d like to add to y portfolio, other that the record company and
HITS—there are other things I’d like to do. Is there any label out there that you particularly admire? I
love the moves that Paterno’s making at Disney. You walked right in
that one, Adelson. Are you ever going to change your style? If
you’re asking if I’m ever going to grow up—absolutely not!
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