Hi, everyone. Welcome to this week’s edition of Music Monday.

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

American record mogul, producer & talent executive Clive Davis died last week at age 94. He held tenures at several record labels in his career but is probably best known as the founder and president of Arista Records.

Born April 4, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York, he started his professional life as a lawyer after receiving a full scholarship to Harvard Law School which he graduated from in 1956. He become assistant counsel for Columbia Records four years later & by 1967, he became the president of the label. He held that position until 1973 and in that time he signed multiple artists to the label including Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Carlos Santana, Chicago, Aerosmith and Bruce Springsteen, to name a few.

After being dismissed from Columbia, Davis founded Arista Records in 1974 and was its president until 2000. He is credited with launching the careers of Barry Manilow, Patti Smith, The Grateful Dead, Whitney Houston and many more. Davis also signed The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, after she spent over a decade at Atlantic Records. Her first album for Davis was released in 1980.

Barry Manilow was one of the first big artists for Arista. He was signed to Bell Records in 1969 & released two albums with them. Once that label shut down, everything was transferred to Arista & they re-released his first two albums. Manilow had the first #1 record for the company, which was also his first top selling song. It reached the #1 spot in the country in January 1975 for one week. The first album he recorded directly for Arista was released 50 years ago in August 1976, This One’s for You.

Clive Jay Davis: April 4, 1932 – June 22, 2026.

Aretha Franklin (L), Clive Davis (center) and Barry Manilow (R) circa 2017. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Melvin James Brooks turned 100 years old yesterday. A New York native, he was born June 28, 1926 in Brooklyn. Who amongst us does not list one of his movies as one of the funniest they have ever seen? My personal favorites are “Young Frankenstein” (1974) and “High Anxiety” (1977), but his list of credits also includes “Blazing Saddles” (1974), “Silent Movie” (1976), “History of the World, Part I”(1981), “Spaceballs” (1987) and “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” (1993), to name a few. Brooks wrote & directed the 1967 movie, “The Producers”, which earned him the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay at the 1969 Oscars ceremony. Thank you, Mel, for so many incredible belly laughs.

Gene Hackman (L) and Peter Boyle (R) in 1974’s “Young Frankenstein”. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Mel Brooks (L) and Madeline Kahn (R) in 1977’s “High Anxiety”. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

In April 1971 Ringo Starr-who turns 86 on July 7-released a non-album single. He wrote the song himself and it was produced by his former bandmate-George Harrrison-who also played guitar on the track. Two members of a band on the Beatles’ Apple label, Badfinger-Pete Ham and Tom Evans-contributed backing vocals. By June 1971 the song peaked at #4, giving Starr his first solo hit.

Photo by me copyright 2012. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Frampton Comes Alive is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Released in January 1976, it became a massive hit that year, staying at the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 for 10 consecutive weeks beginning in April. It remained on that chart for a total of 97 weeks.

All three singles from the album became hits as well. Two reached the Top Ten, one reached the Top 20, with two of the songs featuring the distinctive sound of a talk box which only added to their appeal. All of that put Frampton front & center as a singer, songwriter & guitarist in the middle of an era that celebrated that genre. The record also helped to offer more credence to the power of a live recording by conveying the energy an audience can bring to the performance.

It was recorded at four shows in 1975-two in California (San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom and Marin Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium in San Rafael) and two in New York ( Long Island Arena, Commack and the State University of New York (SUNY) at Plattsburgh campus). Five decades later, the album remains one of the best selling live records of all time.

Kenny Rogers released the album, Share Your Love, 45 years ago in June 1981. The most well-known song from that record is “Through The Years”, which was the final single & a Top Twenty hit in March 1982. But my favorite track was the first single. It was the #1 song on the country chart for two consecutive weeks in August 1981, the same month it peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

It was written by singer-songwriter Rick Christian who recorded it himself in 1978. His track is a simple, somewhat stark arrangement which really showcases the lyrics & a truly lovely string accompaniment. Harry Nilsson did a really nice cover of the song for his 1980 album, Flash Harry, but that was not released in the U.S. until 2013. Rogers’ version is probably my favorite in his catalog, just ahead of his 1983 duet with Dolly Parton (“Islands In The Stream”) and his 1968 song with The First Edition featured in “The Big Lebowski” (“Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)”.

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Barry Manilow: “Mandy” (1974, written by Scott English and Richard Kerr).

Barry Manilow: “Weekend In New England” (1976, written by Randy Edleman).

Aretha Franklin: “I Can’t Turn You Loose” (1980, written by Otis Redding).

Mel Brooks: “High Anxiety” (1977, written & performed by Mel Brooks for the 1977 movie of the same name).

Ringo Starr: “It Don’t Come Easy” (1971, written by Richard Starkey).

Peter Frampton: “Show Me The Way” (1976, written by Peter Frampton).

Peter Frampton: “Baby I Love Your Way” (1976, written by Peter Frampton).

Peter Frampton: “Do You Feel Like We Do” (1976, written by Peter Frampton, Mick Gallagher, John Siomos and Rick Wills).

Kenny Rogers: “I Don’t Need You” (1981, written by Rick Christian).

Stay safe & well.