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Home , Lenny Waronker, Mo Ostin

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD IN THE NON PERFORMER CATEGORY] 111111;| 111111111= M o I Ostin \ B y Stan Cornyn 1 1

e t m e p r e t e n d y o u ’v e n e v e r h e a r d o f m o till four. He didii’t dance, or even hop. He didn’t know Ostin, or, as he was first called in Bill­ better than his employees. He was unlike record execs board, Moe Austin. That mention was in who came before. i960, when Mo was in his twenties, fresh­ To execs who’d been around, those were lousy L ly married to a store clerk cutie named Evelyn,habits. and Jerry Wexler, for instance, looked back and had lucked into an indecent job: working for Nor­ said, “Mo invented himself. Considering the pauci­ man Granz at . We should be inter­ ty of what he brought to the table, he confected ested in this man. He’s been granted the Lifetime what was possibly the most tasteful and commer­ Achievement Award by the Rock and Roll Hall of cial record label of its day.” Jerry’s sum-up o f Mo’s as­ Fame, even though his fathers-in-art, Granz and sets: “An overriding intelligence, an unflappable Sinatra, dismissed R&R with naughty words. We cool and patience forever.” W ith these advantages, but no E- need to understand how this man became the record world’s most flat, Mo Ostin ran the best record outstanding label runner. In short: company of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and some o f the 1 990s. W arner Bros. Why M ol Records became more than a cash Mo Ostin, at this stage, can best be evaluated by the condition of cow - a cash herd is more like it. But Lifetime Achievement - that’s not his body parts. His eyes had glasses to be m easured in m illions, is it? It’s to keep them in line. His hands — well, he wasn’t cut out to be a den­ to be m easured.. . how? tist. His ears, on the other hand, Looking Deeper Into were not the kind that A&R types claim, the kind that are supposed the Brain of Mo Ostin to have a Seventh Sense about commercial hooks. One day in the adorable 1980s, Mo came in to m y of­ Rather than catch catchy songs, Mo’s ears listened fice and asked if I’d look over a press release that Cor­ to people who knew more than he did. porate had ordered. It was about who Mo was and what he’d done. Two pages. After a brief paragraph Looking Deep Into one, two began with “During his career at Warner the Ears of Mo Ostin Bros. Records, Ostin has sighed...” and then, stretch­ Mo Ostin never fixed up a single or repaired one’s ing out for the rest of the page and m arching in a line hook. He never could make an E-flat diminished on onto page two, the rest of this press release was just a the keyboard. He never claimed to know how a song list of names. Let me recapture: , the Fugs, might catch more fire. He attended very few recording , , , the Jim Kweskin sessions, and when he did, he never leaned over the en­ Jug Band, Miriam Makeba, Joni Mitchell, Van Morri­ gineer’s shoulders to suggest a thing. He never partied son, the Mothers of Invention, , Jack

After a stint at Verve Records, Mo Ostin moved to Reprise, which led him to Warner Bros. Records and the number one spot.

Mo takes a trip with the Quiet Beatle, George Harrison (who he signed as a solo artist), on the Warner Communications Learjet, nicknamed the Wicky Bird.

Nitzsche, , Pentangle, Tiny Tim, ... probably Still make a list of the acts, point not to himself, not I looked up at Mo and said, “Mo, this is just a list.” And he even to his sign in g pen. That’s not good enough, Mo. looked hack and answered, “Yeah, but what a list.” Which con tin ued. . . the Allm an Brothers, the B-52’s, the Band, the Mo’s Bio Tells More Important Stuff Beach Boys, George Benson, Bootsy’s Rufo-B You can’t do Mo with a 1 st. It’s k in d o f the t w her Band, Captain Beefheart, Devo, Dire M i Roger Maris approach, just stats to be mar­ Straits, Funkadelic, George Harrison, veled at, but only until Sammy Sosa swings Jethro Tull, Chaka Khan, Curtis Mayfield, Listening in. A nd Mo is-about more than quantity. Gram Parsons, the Ramones, Leon Red- to people Mo first learned from , back bone, the Sex Pistols, , T. Rex, is what Mo in Verve’s Philharmonic Jazz days, when Mo ... And thus the beat went did numbers but saw how Norman did artists on and on-er, paragraphs getting longer, did with and sessions. “Let the artists do what they do. into the r 980s, w hich I won’t even try to re­ his ears They make music. We don’t.” It might have been Granz’s rule, and it sure became Mo’s. It capture, from Aerosmith to ZZ Top. B f I'ir “But Mo,” I protested. To which Mo an­ worked there; it worked running Reprise for swered, “What’s more important than this list?” So, two strikes Sinatra (had to, I’ll bet). But when Reprise was bought up for against me, I just spell-checked, though I remember to this day WBR and Mo came to Burbank with a roster of Dennis Day types how poorly it summed up Mo and why. But even tonight, if you (Trini Lopez being the hippest), it was survival. Mo survived by asked him, “W hy this Lifetime Achievement thing, Mo?” he’d making sense, signing side-of-the-roaders (couldn’t afford a Steve or an Eydie) and stunning the rest of us with side-of-the-ditchers, like the Fugs, Tiny Tim, Zappa, the Kinks, Hendrix, what is this stuff, M o?M o’s ears could not hear those artists as hits. Ears? Mo’s ears heard people who could hear. He collected them: Lenny, Andy, T edd y.. . m en and w om en Mo turned into his ow n ears. Mo sought the dedicated nonusual artist, and he stuck with the ones he signed - when other execs proudly quoted the phrase, ‘W e’ll just throw these up and seewhich one sticks to the w all” And to do the shortest possible bio here, Mo and his early league Joe Smith built Wamer/Reprise into the labels to be on; then Mo went on to run the shebang wholly, soon making WEA the number one distributor (the first year it sold records), then W arners into Am erica’s num ber one label. Listening to people is what Mo did with his ears. Better than anybody before or now at it. Making sound business judgments. Mostly, those good judgments involved people he hired to run the company. Seymour Stein recalls being “totally over­ o whelmed,” when he first toured WBR. “Lenny, Teddy, Michael, 7 9 a* Kraz, Wexler, Rosenblatt, .Cornyn, Thyret, Regehr, Carl Scott, &MM Wickham, Ruffino, Lou Dennis, Merlis, Liz Rosenberg, Derek

Mo meets the Rat Pack: , Ostin, Sammy Davis Jr., Taylor and the craziest CFO I’ve ever met, Murray Gitlin. Mo must have some Hapsburg blood in him: How else could he have held this crazy quilt of top-level thinkers, producers, mar­ keting and artist-development mavens and A&R people both loosely and firmly together? I knew immediately, after ten years in the wilderness, that my label, Sire, had found a home.”

But What Mo Really Has Been Is Unique This Ode to Mo, and W hy Mo, is because Mo - and no one else has done this - changed what record company presidents can be, changed how we should measure them. Not by numbers of Grammys. In a book I wrote, I summed up Mo as quickly as I could - one sentence. Something like “Mo was brilliant, so bril­ liant he never told any of us how to do our job.” I thought that was an original perception. At first To bolster m y theory about W h y Mo, I called some others - a couple dozen or so of Mo’s longer-term colleagues - looking for their wise smacks about Mo. The conclusion: Mo has more virtues than an Eagle Scout, and my perception about his uniqueness was shared almost universally. □ Paul Simon was one of the great artists brought to Warner Bros, by Mo Ostin. Bill EB Mo, You Listening? Hear Your ColleaguesAnswer Our Question, Mo ?:

“In the early Seventies, most of WBR, you (and wonderful “Mo has the gift of the Magi. He their music. (Be sure to add record companies gave up their Evelyn) made my job a source of is a wise man from the East something about Evelyn. It really 9 9 A&R departments, to which Mo’s pleasure and pride.” (actually from the Bronx). I am is her aw ard.)” comment was ‘Bullshit. We aren’t Jeannie Lumiey not wise, and I am not from the C a r l Scott a record company, we’re a music East. But the most valuable thing “Creative control extended to the “The charitable, loving and company.’” Lou D ennis I’ve learned from knowing Mo all staff as well. You could let your gracious way he and his secret these years is the true meaning “He has outrageous common imagination run wild, and if you weapon, Evelyn, share their lives ■ ■ 9 of the word mensch.” sense and a fairness he applies had an idea you thought might with the world is the true mark of 9 9 Jim EdNorman to all situations.” H enry D ro z help the company sell more greatness.” “I was twenty-six when Mo “His straightforward and honest records or have more fun, you Russ Thyret —T:: were encouraged to, as Elvis appointed me CEO of personality and his gift of “When you work for Mo, you sang, ‘follow that dream.’ ” Warner/Reprise in the U.K. Mo befriending artists and business actually work with Mo. It truly is ^ 9 signed the papers, threw the associates.. ” Ahmet Ertegun B oh M erits a partnership. His patience is keys to me and said, ‘Go run a remarkable and affects all of us “He has that rare sense that can “I loved working for Mo! I looked record company. I’ll see you 99 who work with him, because he = balance creativity and business.” forward to going to work almost later.’ Mo trusted and supported allows us the freedom to make every day!” this twenty-six-year-old with the V ie F a ra d mistakes and be creative.” Hale Milgrim task.” Ian Kalfini “M ost of all, Mo is very Lenny Waronker believable. Most people would “Music is where he lives, where “Mo and I both retired from "Mo Ostin created a style of follow him anywhere. And they he thrives and where he Warners. I retired to tennis and management that revolutionized did.” Murray Gitiin continues to give so generously golf. Mo retired to run record the record business and of himself to countless artists companies, which he does as “Mo excelled at setting up a good transformed it into an industry. ^ 9 and executives. If music is our formidably as anyone in the game where every staffer at the What made him uniquely home, then Mo is the landlord, business has ever seen. Pity, he label - his daytime family - was successful was an alloy of the because he knows better than could have been a dynamic supported and encouraged to following elements: his respect anyone that music is the rhythm miniature golfer.” 9 9 excel. And he could detect for artistry, his modesty, his of our lives.” F h ilR o se bullshit in an instant.” curiosity, his tolerance, his faith 1 9 1 Ja cH oky nan Doug Morris “Artists loved him and wanted to in his subordinates, his hang with him, longing to have gambler’s instinct, his “When you are around Mo, you “The great thing about Mo, and some of his ‘Mo-ish’ fabulosity distinctive elocution, his sharp | | B observe the way he works, the about Lenny, was the respect rub off on them. , who business brain and his total way he leads, the way he deals they had for their artists. They hardly cared about anyone’s absence of swagger.” with artists, and then you do the trusted us enough to allow us the opinion, would always say to me, Andy Vfickham If j j S t best you can to mimic.” freedom to make the records we ‘Well, what did Mo think?’ These wanted to make.” Now I get the last word: Mo, wake = Boh Hurwitz were the times when the artist up. It’s not all those signings. Nor B | | f | Bandy Newman was king, but Mo was revered by “W hat makes Mo Ostin a great is it all those Number Ones. W hat 9 9 “When I think of Mo Ostin, I think them all.” music executive is his ability to you did is unprecedented in this 9 R | of the incredible days when the L iz fie th Rosenberg always remember rule number business. You found us, you great music men nurtured and one: Let the artist be an artist.” “I was his employee, his partner, gassed us up, you united us, you 9 9 f cared for their artists. When his competitor, back to being his fathered us. You’re more than Quincy Jones every day was a joy, and Mo made partner, and through it all, he what came before. You forever it all happen. He was my hero.” “It’s his commitment to the was always my friend.” changed the definition of chief creative community. It’s his Stevie N icks E d d ie Rosenblatt executive. You are Vince DNA.” Chuck Kaye Lombardi, the guy Without “Not only Mo but Evelyn: The two “He let us do our thing, and his Whom. That’s Why, Mo. “Mo, with your style, work ethic of them were the perfect match.” only rule was that he wanted us and genuine care for the people C laude Nohs to always respect our artists and Stan Comyn 9 9

FROM THE CHILDREN OF YOUR REVOLUTION t h e y a l l h a v e e i n e t h i n g in c o m m o n FRANK SINATRAIJIMIHEKORIXEXPERIENCE ,MEILYDUNE i PflIMCE DUINCY JONES IJONI MITCHELL I SEX PISTOLS I PAIR SIMON MADONNA I FLEETWOOD MACITHE KINKS I GEORGE HARRISON I MILES DAVISIELLA FITZGERALD I NELLY FORTADOI SORTIS MAYF ELDIREM SALMY D A V I U R J Z Z S LENNON JAMES TAYLURIÇAPTAM BEEFHEARTCÉIS ROCK THE ISLEY BROTHERS JljANK ZAPPA B THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION I DEEP PÜRFLEIROXY MUSIÇIPETER. PAUL B MARY HANK WILLIAMS,J U B U P I M B I B M L r t H B GRAM PARSONS PAPA R É C H IB U P SABBATHIBOB MARLEY B THE WALLERS JOHN FOGERTYI FLOETift ! GRATEFUL DEADIMNN IE RAITT THE WHO DWIGHT YDAKAM J i S film ICT1BN J K ^ IN L|GHTTpgT I IPENTANGLE ! RUFUSWAINWRI6HTI I THE RAMONES I THE STAPLE S NGERSI JIMMY EAT W O R L O J M M Y U IO H M N B LL CDSBYIGREEN DAYITINY TIM'STEYE MARTINSEAL! HARPERS B ZARRE1EORGE BENSON ALL AMERICAN REJECTS JARRETT P O K O E R S I ! NEW ORDER! JOHN SEDASTIANITHE BEACH BOVS ..L S TOM PETTY GTHE H E A E T O R F P S ]T O tff 1WTT THE FOGS I ALICE CODPERITHE 0 -5 2 S 0 2 ALLEN TOUSSAINT ! AFII THE SMITHS I ELTON JSKNI CHRIS SAAK TRAVEL NG WILBURYSI VAN DYKE PARKS! GUNS N' ROSES I PETER GABRIEL I BEAU BRU ELS ! CHAKA KHANIDEAN MARTINIEHYA DUKE ELLIH6TUNI LIFEHOUSEITDflD RUNOGREN RANGY NEWMAN ERIC CLAPTG& AMERICA I ICE-T!UDN HENLEY ADAM SANDLER JETHRO TULL ! D-TIPI ASHFORD G S MPSONIARLO GUTHRIEILOS LOROS! STEELY DAN I TALKING HEADS ! CHICAGO IALKH ANT FARM COUNT BASIEÜui

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