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?
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.
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:
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. More »
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?
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.
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?
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. New Magazine Covers! More »
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 »
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:
Kelly Clarkson is free this morning, ladies and gents. She dumped her manager, Jeff Kwatinetz of The Firm — the man who allegedly got her into all this trouble with Clive Davis. Kwatinetz, you see, is now singing “Since U Been Gone” for real.
