L.A. “Times” Conducts Bittersweet Sycophancy For Record-Label Mogul

We probably should have known better, but when we dug into yesterday’s L.A. Times profile of Interscope exec Jimmy Iovine, we were hoping it would be more than just a worshipful Wikipedia entry. Alas, this article has more fawn than a North African game preserve: There’s the slow-motion montage of Iovine’s greatest hits, of course–Patti Smith, Eminem, 50 Cent, Stevie Nicks, etc. But the 3,000-word piece barely touches on the less-savory aspects of Iovine’s career, like his involvement with the doomed-from-the-start FarmClub.com, or the insanely vapid Platinum Weird project; heck, it doesn’t even mention the fact that he and Nicks dated while they worked together. In fact, the closest it comes to taking Iovine to task is a mention of the last Hives album:

“They just didn’t come up with the songs,” he says bluntly of the last Hives album, which failed to live up to the enthusiasm the Swedish band had built on its indie releases. “They thought people were just responding to the attitude in their shows, and it was never just that. But I’m not giving up. I’ve already spoken to them, and they know what they need to do.”

Iovine pauses.

“You heard what André 3000 said about ‘Hey Ya,’ didn’t you?” he says finally, referring to the wacky and wonderful OutKast hit of 2003. “He said there wouldn’t have been a ‘Hey Ya’ without the Hives … that he was influenced by their energy. It’d be interesting what André 3000 and the Hives could come up with in the studio with Pharrell.”

That could be interesting! But could it possibly top Iovine’s decision to give Gerardo hair extensions?

Ears wide open [LA Times] (Oy vey, that headline!)