Page 75 - The Westerner Magazine Halloween 2018
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had “I Love You More Today Than Do you think RCA was a company
Yesterday” climbing. Joe Reisman said you struggling to keep up with the times?
either try to get them away from Columbia
or you can have this new black act we Historically, yes. At the time, none of us had
signed. You can’t have both. Pick one. They a clue. Except for a rock artist who came in
teased you with, “If you keep having hits, and said, “Isn’t there anyone here on the
we’ll let you do an Elvis cut,” but I never West Coast who listens to this stuff?” I
saw that happen. I think that was just a line. found a group called Five Flights Up who
I remember at the time, the only one I would should have been much larger than they
have been interested in would have been were. I discovered them during my last
John Denver who was an unknown artist at month at RCA. Willie Hutch or Friends of
the time who was having trouble having a Distinction sent them to me. I don’t
hit. remember which. Morally I should have
stayed at RCA and produced them because I
I got pegged as the white boy who made found them while I was a paid employee of
mokomix music. I watered down black the label. It didn’t even occur to me then to
talent to make them go pop. That’s how I do that then. They ended up with a hit. Bell
ended up with Willie Hutch who had a great Records offered me $36,000 a year to be
career at Motown later on. their only producer on the West Coast and a
three percent royalty, which was four times
Did RCA want to move albums or what RCA was paying, so I moved there.
singles?
How did things go at Bell?
I think they’d have liked to have sold
albums—but they were after hit singles. Well, I had this great deal but no hits. I had
Three minutes of cute and catchy. Eddie two singles that the head of promotion there,
Rosenblatt who became president of Geffen Steve Whack, said he wished he had been
and had an illustrious career said in the mid able to promote better. He wanted to drive
70’s, “John, you’d already be retired if those home. Motown wanted to hire me, so I
you’d produced your hits for us. We sell decided to go there. We signed a contract
albums. No matter what the act is, we sell and toasted to my fully negotiated deal as a
albums. All you did was sell singles.” On record producer. The next morning my
my first two gold records, which were attorney called and said, “Who is Bob
“Grazing in the Grass” and “Going in Cullen at Motown?” I said, “He’s the guy
Circles,” my total royalties were around who hired me.” My attorney explained that
$20,000 for two gold records. People were he had been fired overnight and that they no
making excellent royalty rates, but we were longer wanted me. Don Birkheimer called
making much less at RCA. It was hard for around that period of time and asked me
RCA to keep hitmaking producers because how the big contract was going at Bell. “I
they paid so low. have great numbers—great salary, great
royalty and no hits,” I told him. “Well, I had
an act called the Hues Corporation… go
