Sign-In
Cart
Can't Touch This: Memoir of a Disillusioned Music Executive
Paperback
Entertainment & Performing ArtsGeneral Music
ISBN13: 9781504905978
Publisher: Authorhouse
Published: May 7 2015
Pages: 204
Weight: 0.67
Height: 0.47 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Hollywood, California. October 1988.
I'm afraid I've placed you in an untenable situation. When you're summoned by the company president and he starts the conversation with that, you know it's not going to end well. He was firing me. I wasn't surprised. But by the time the president sent for me, my ability to sign a sellable act was no longer a question mark. My first platinum act was about to blow past one million units sold.
The decision to fire me, at the very least, was poorly timed. But from my standpoint this move had less to do with sales and more to do with corporate politics. My new boss and I, the two highest ranking black executives in Capitol Records, were openly feuding. My hope was that the new president had my back. And maybe he had for a while. But his loyalty was not to me. His boss, the newly appointed chairman and CEO of Capitol-EMI, had brought him on board. The chairman and CEO had also hired the new head of black promotion, who had in a poorly devised restructuring scheme, become my new boss.
No matter how you did the math, the power base of the number-one white guy and the number-one black guy trumped any alliance between the two number twos. I was the lone outsider in the group and the low man on the totem pole. It was a bad combination that made letting me go the logical solution. Four years would pass, however, before I truly understood the magnitude of a moment that had far-reaching implications well beyond hit records and corporate business decisions.
And so begins Can't Touch This: Memoir of a Disillusioned Music Executive, the fascinating story of one man's love affair with music and the industry determined to destroy it.
1 different editions
Also available
Also in
General Music
Less Noise, More Soul: The Search for Balance in the Art, Technology and Commerce of Music
Flitner, David
Paperback
Where the Music Had to Go: How Bob Dylan and the Beatles Changed Each Other--And the World
Windolf, Jim
Hardcover
The Little Guide to Dolly Parton: It's Hard to Be a Diamond in a Rhinestone World
Hippo! Orange
Hardcover
David Bowie and the Search for Life, Death and God: A Spiritual Meditation on His Music and Creativity
Ormerod, Peter
Hardcover
A Life in Lyrics: The Official Creative Legacy of Freddie Mercury
Austin, Mary
Mercury, Freddie
Hardcover
Color & Frame - Bible Coloring: Psalms: 63 Coloring Pages with Bible Verses Christian Devotional Book Gift for Women, Adults, Teens & Faith-Based Rela
New Seasons
Publications International Ltd
Paperback
Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon: Laurel Canyon, Covert Ops & the Dark Heart of the Hippie Dream
McGowan, David
Paperback
Musicality: How you too can learn music like a gifted prodigy, unlock your musical instinct, and unleash your inner natural.
Sutton, Christopher
Hardcover
The Last Leaf: Reflections on Late-Life Creativity--And My Longest Love Affair
Nelson, Willie
Hardcover
The Madman's Orchestra: The Greatest Curiosities from the History of Music
Brooke-Hitching, Edward
Hardcover
Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm
Charnas, Dan
Paperback
Taylor Swift by the Book: The Literature Behind the Lyrics, from Fairy Tales to Tortured Poets
Tatreau, Tiffany
Feder, Rachel
Hardcover
3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool
Kaplan, James
Paperback
The Perfect Tuba: Forging Fulfillment from the Bass Horn, Band, and Hard Work
Quinones, Sam
Hardcover
The Spirit of Ani: Reflections on Spirituality, Feminism, Music, and Freedom
Rosen, Lauren Coyle
Difranco, Ani
Hardcover
Evening in the Palace of Reason: Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment
Gaines, James R.
Paperback
Meet Me in the Bathroom: Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City 2001-2011
Goodman, Lizzy
Paperback
What Happened to Your Hair?: How We Played Loud... Loved Proud... and Never Backed Down... Together
Nelson, Gunnar
Nelson, Matthew
Hardcover
Play It! Children's Songs (Level 1): A Superfast Way to Learn Awesome Songs on Your Piano or Keyboard
Marrone, Antimo
Kemmeter, Jennifer
Paperback
Color & Frame - Bible Coloring: Hymns (Adult Coloring Book)
Publications International Ltd
New Seasons
Paperback
Hitchcock and Herrmann: The Friendship and Film Scores That Changed Cinema
Smith, Steven C.
Hardcover
Lift Every Voice and Sing II Pew Edition: An African American Hymnal
Church Publishing Incorporated
Hardcover
We're Having Much More Fun: Punk Archives for the Present from Cbgb to Gilman and Beyond
McEnaney, Tom
Peraino, Judith A.
Paperback
ATEEZ Coloring Book for ATINY: Relaxation, Fun, Creativity, (Large Print Edition)
Ftw, Kpop
Paperback
Wonder, Love, and Praise Pew Edition: A Supplement to the Hymnal 1982
Church Publishing Incorporated
Paperback
Richard Manuel: His Life and Music, from the Hawks and Bob Dylan to the Band
Lewis, Stephen T.
Hardcover
Songwriting Without Boundaries: Lyric Writing Exercises for Finding Your Voice
Pattison, Pat
Paperback
Uncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us about the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves
Riva, Chris Dalla
Hardcover
Unfinished: The Role of the Artist in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Santiago, Lucas Cantor
Hardcover
Sellout: The Major-Label Feeding Frenzy That Swept Punk, Emo, and Hardcore (1994-2007)
Ozzi, Dan
Paperback
A Method for Prayer: With Scripture-Expressions, Proper to Be Used Under Each Head
Henry, Matthew
Paperback
And on Piano ...Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rock's Greatest Session Man
Dawson, Julian
Paperback
I.W.W. Little Red Songbook: Nineteenth Edition from 1923 with All of the Classic Hits
Hill, Joe
Paperback
The Mysticism of Sound and Music: The Sufi Teaching of Hazrat Inayat Khan
Khan, Hazrat Inayat
Paperback
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years 1962-1970
Lewisohn, Mark
Paperback