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Mark interviews Roger Friedman from Showbiz 411. · The Mark Simone Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Mark Simone on seventen wor Well.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: Roger Friedman, the great entertainment reporter, has this wonderful website
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: called Showbiz for one one dot com. It's got a
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: lot of great stories, new stuff every day. Check it
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: out every day Showbiz for one one dot com. Roger Friedman,
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: how you doing well?
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: I'm okay, but you know, of course we're mourning our
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: great friend today, Clive Davis, which seems hard to believe.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: I know, he was ninety four years old, but you know,
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: we could have used this. We thought he'd go to
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: one hundred, you know, but this was the great music executive,
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: music mogul who discovered Whitney Houston and brought us an incredible,
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: as he said, soundtrack of Our Lives at Columbia Records,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: Janis Joplin's Simon and Garfunkle, Earth Wind and Fire Billy,
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Joel Bruce Springsteen, and then he started his own Arista
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: Records with Barry Manilow and revived Aretha Franklin and Dion
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: Warwick and Carly Simon and just had hit after a
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: hit for you know, sixty years. Really amazing.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: Now, you know, everybody in the music business, is there
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: anybody any music executive ever on the same level as
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: Clive Davis, Well, nobody. I can't think of anybody.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: Well, the only person, and even he would say it.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: I think the only person he would say was Barry
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: Gordy from Motown because and Barry was his good friend
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: and came to his Grammy parties every year. I'm at
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: Erdigan was at Atlantic Records, but there was no one
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: like Clive, Yeah, no one. This is different.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: Though Barry Gordy was strictly the Motown sound, I'm at
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: Erdigan was more, you know that was kind of like
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: rhythm and blues kind of you know.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: Yet this kind of stuff, Clive had an incredible rage.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: We look what I what I wrote yesterday was if
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: you realize that in nineteen seventy five he looked at
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: Barry Manilow and Patti Smith, two people who could not
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: have been more different, and signed them both up and
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: they've each lasted fifty years. I mean that's amazing. I
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: mean Patty Smith was the punk princess of nineteen seventy five,
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: and Barry Manilow was you know, complete soft rock, elevator
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: music kind of thing. You know. The older women loved him,
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: and the two of them are still as big as ever,
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: and Clive saw that, you know, and Earth Wind and
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: Fired just had a documentary at HBO there touring. He
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: was the one who brought them to relevance. Santana. You
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: see Bruce Springsteen. Bruce Springsteen posted a beautiful Ulishi yesterday
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: and I'm sure he'll speak at club's funeral. Billy Joel said,
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: you know, Clive signed him, and that's it. Even Simon
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: and garfunkle Bridge over Troubles of Water would not have
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: been a hit except that Clive said, put that out
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: as a single. And he had incredible forty five rpm ears.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: He had gold ears for listening to music and things
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: that you would say, things that you and I would say, oh,
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: that'll be a hit, and he would say, no, no,
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: but this will be a hit. And he knew it.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: He just knew it. And he loved Whitney Houston and
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: he took such good care of her and she was
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: so sick and he was so attentive to her. And
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: he was so good to all his artists, you know,
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: and you see there posting on Twitter and Instagram. All
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: the artists who who knew him are just you know,
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: our Garfunkle just said beautiful things about him today on
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: social media, and you know they're all the same mind.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: It's amazing, yeah, and incredible energy. You go out every
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: night to a million things. Ninety he was ninety four.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: He was already planning Fourth of July stuff, Fourth of
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: July dinners parties. Oh yeah, well, we just had Memorial Day.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: I went. I was lucky enough to go to his
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: house with your former WR celebrity Mark Michael Riedal and
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: we went up to his house and Poundridge for Memorial Day.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: And he always does Memorial Day weekend Friday, Saturday and Sunday,
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: and one hundred people come and stay, some stay at
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: his house, some stay at Airbnb's whatever, and everyone's saying
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: and then everyone comes to the house for barbecues and
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: talent shows and big sit down dinner. And so I
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: was lucky I went on the Saturday night and he
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: was in fine. You know, it was absolutely no different
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  Speaker 1: than the last fifty years where he would, you know,
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: just get up and introduce everybody and talk about music.
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  Speaker 1: It was lovely. And it's a huge loss. It's a
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: huge loss because now we have you know, AI music,
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: we have you know, fake singers and things, and which
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: is it's just the opposite of what he did.
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: Hey, the Grammy Awards, you would actually go out there
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: every year he would have a pre Grammy party. Would
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: you say that that pre Grammy party was the single
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  Speaker 2: most crowded room you've ever been in your life.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: This the pre Grammy party is the night before the
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: Grammys at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. It used to be
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: at the Beverly Hills Hotel, but they got kicked out
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: because they got so big. And then they have you know,
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: the audience was packed with celebrities and then on stage
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: he would have like fifteen different acts them up and perform,
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: you know, either current hits or past hits. And the
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: place and Nancy Pelosi would be there and it's at
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: one point Kevin McCarthy used to come. Who was when
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: he was in the Congress, and lots of sports stars,
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: movie stars came. Everybody was there and this was just
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: we just he just had the fifty first one. He
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: called it the fiftieth, but it was the fifty first
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: one this past January. It was it was completely insane,
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: and yeah, the room is totally packed. The fire Marshal
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: is possibly coming in saying, you have too many people
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: in here. You've got to get rid of them. And
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: the security guy who runs the place, Bill Nancini, who's
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: with Clive for years, He's always like explaining to the
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: fire marshal, these are famous people. We can't get rid
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: of it. And and I don't know, I don't know
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  Speaker 1: what will happen now, because this is this was like
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: a bigger thing than the Grammys. Everyone would go like
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: I was going out, I was still going out to
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: LA I would say, well, we'll go to Clive's and
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: then of course we'll go to the Grammys. You know,
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: it's like the Grammys were the secondary thing. But this is,
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: this is always what. This is, always what it's been
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: for years and years and years. I once went to
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: he once had he'd love to give parties and concerts.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: This is a long time ago when Whitney Houston was
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: really at her prime and she and Aretha did a
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: show together, private show together for him to raise money
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: for the UJA, and no one filmed it. We didn't
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: have phones with cameras, don and all that stuff. And
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: I always used to say to Clive, no one filmed
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: this thing. I can't believe it. We're the only people
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: who remember it. But it was so amazing. But every
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: show he did was like that. He signed Prince. When
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: Prince left Warner Brothers, he went to Clive and had
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: a big with him and we had a listening session
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: where we all got to meet Prince. The other thing
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: that Clive loved. We used to joke about this. You know,
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: in the recording industry, they give you a plaque if
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: you have a gold record, right it says, you know,
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: nine million copies sold, ten million copies sold. So you
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: get a phone call in the afternoon, Clive would like
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: you to come over to the office at seven o'clock.
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: He's going to give the grateful dead their platinum albums.
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: Clive would like you to come over tomorrow. Rod Stewart's
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: getting his platinum albums gold albums, and it was hysterical.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: You'd meet on a rooftop, you'd meet in the dining
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: room and he would have tons of media come in
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: and he would say, we're so proud to give up these.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: I never saw so many gold records given out in
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: my life. And that also went on for years.
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: Any word on a funeral memorial service, something.
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: Like that, now yeah, I mean I think it's going
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: to be at the beginning of next week. I'm not
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: sure where it's going to be. And originally, you know,
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: they were going to do it this week, and then
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: so many stars called in and said we want to
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: be there that they had to put it usually, you know,
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: he was Jewish and then the Jewish tradition, you're buried
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: right away. But so many people called in and said
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: we want to be there. So I think whatever it
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: is is going to be quite a production, which is
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: exactly what he would want. I mean he would he
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: would he would want the biggest concert or with the
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: biggest you know whatever, and with lots of speeches. You know,
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: Clive's a Memorial Day up in Westchester. After the dinner
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: he showed, he said, oh, we finally found the footage
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: from Arista Records fifteenth anniversary in nineteen eighty nine. So
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: I was the only person there besides Clives who had
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: been to this thing, and I said, I stood up
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: and I said, you know, this concert went on for
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: six hours at Radio City. It had every star you
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: can imagine, and there was no food at Radio City.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: And at one point Deborah Mitchell, who was another gospel
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: colonist at the time. Will and I ordered pizza. We
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: ordered we ordered out pizza into Radio City and Seth
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: sat there because it was like, uh, you know, Whitney
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: and Aretha and The Grateful Dead and Dion Warwick and
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: haul It Oates and Carly Simon. I mean, it was incredible,
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: but just I know, we're finishing up. He was my
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: great friend for forty years and I was so honored
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: to be considered his friend and it was an incredible experience.
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: Roger Freeman, you were the perfect guest for today to
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: talk about him. We'll have to do a part two
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: to this, but.
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: Everybody goes for having it.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, go read the rest of this at showbizfore one
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: one dot com, Showbiz four one one dot com. Roger Friedman,
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: thanks for being with us. Thank you, take care, Hey,
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: don't forget Buck and Clay coming up today noon on
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: seven ten WR