Motown Sales & Promotion Staffs Elton and Friends Reorganized at 4th Quarter Meet HOLLYWOOD, CAL.-Motown by Ales, Lushka, Johnson, Bunky Records' "4th Quarter" sales and Sheppard,nationaldirectorof 7--1. n1141. -4,4,4,44-4411,,,,, 4 , .*.'e3 promotionmeetings,held re- promotion-r&b; RonSaul,na- centlyinLosAngeles, evolved tional director of promotion -pop; Merlimprowomrprowrommormuiporomplipli.444410,4444.,44,-,1444n14444,,III.014................"1111.415 into the biggest and most exten-Miller London, national director sive national conclave the label of single sales; and Pete Senoff, has put together in several years. nationaldirectorofadvertising Organizedbyexecutivevice and merchandising. president Barney Ales, vice presi- Motown's newly -initiated pop dent of promotion Paul L. John- field force, under the leadership son and vice president of salesof Ron Saul, gathered together Mike Lushka, the week-long for thefirsttime during these meetings resulted in the reorgani- meetings and plotted strategy on zationof Motown'ssalesand current and upcoming pop -ori- promotionalstaffsintoregional ented product. Regionally struc- teams,effectivelylinking them tured, the team consists of: Stan with the label's national distribu- Lewerke(westcoast);William tors.Structuredinto four com- Beamish(eastcoast);Timothy petitive programs geared toward Kehr (midwest) and Dave Mueller and Wayne Fogle (south). Photo: Terry O'Neill a total marketing penetration of Elton naturally sold out his two shows at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeleson October allMotown album andsingle Additional Meetings 25 and 26, playing before over 100,000 people in two concerts that also featured product. Joe Walsh and Emmy Lou Harris. Shown above is Elton, in his sequined Dodger uni- Later meetings included a pre- form, and friends. After a keynoteaddressby view of upcoming album product Ales, who stressed Motown's in- conducted by vice president of creasing penetration of the cross- creative services Suzanne de Kris And Rita Gold Elton's 'Westies' over pop/r&b market, label vice Passe and vice president of cre- LOS ANGELES-The first album president and artist Smokey Rob- ative operations Herb Belkin;a Certified Gold releasedbyRita Coolidge and inson gave the audience (many of discussion on the state of racks LOS ANGELES - Elton John's whom were recently added to the today chaired byIraHeilicher; KrisKristoffersontogetheren- titled,"Full Moon" hasbeen newest MCA album, "Rock Of field force) a retrospective look several trade magazine chart ori- The Westies' has been certified atthe philosophy behind Mo- entation seminars; and a collec- certified gold by the RIAA. The gold. The Ip, which was released town Records. tive screening of the new Mo-A&M album is the first gold al- on October 20, was certified gold Overall meetings were chaired town film, "Mahogany." bum for Rita Collidge. by the RIAA the day of its release. Producedby GusDudgeon, "Rock Of The Westies"isthe first album featuring Elton John's newband.It isalso Elton's tenth platinumIp, according to MCA. Epic To Distribute Virgin in U.S. NEW YORK-Ron Alexenburg, vice president and general man- ager, Epicand CBS Custom Labels, and Richard Branson, president and founder of Virgin Records,haveannouncedthe signing of a distribution arrange- ment whereby Epic will distribute all Virgin product in the United States. Oldfield Signed The firstartist signed to the Epic roster under the Virgin ban- ner is MikeOldfield,whose "Tubular Bells" album achieved Pictured at the Motown meetings are, top row, from left: Motown executive vice president Barney Ales and artist Smokey Rob- gold statuslastyear.Oldfield's inson; the Motown sales and marketing staffs with Suzanne de Passe, Herb Belkin and Robinson. Bottom row, from left: RW newalbum,entitled"Omma- director of marketing Lenny Beer, RW r&b editor Dede Dabney, RW VP and west coast manager Spence Berland and Motown pro- dawn," will be thefirst album motion VP Paul Johnson after the Record World chart presentation; and Motown's Mike Lushka, Johnson, de Passe and Belkin. with the Virgin logo to be distri- buted in the U.S. by Epic. Mitchell and Browne Forlenza Resigns Carpenters Cancel LOS ANGELES - Tom Cat Rec- Alexenburg Statement Re -Sign with Asylum ords has announced the resigna- European Tour In making the announcement, LOS ANGELES - Joni Mitchell tion of its vice president of mar- LOS ANGELES - The Carpen- Alexenburg statedthat,"Virgin andJacksonBrowne havere- keting, Sal Forlenza. tershave announced that their Records has, in a very short span signedwiththe Asylumlabel, Mr. Forlenza intends to pursue European concert tour has been oftime,establisheditself as according to David Geffen, chair- various other personalinterests cancelled due to Karen Carpen- one of the foremost progressive man of Elektra/Asylum/Nonesueh and develop a west coast base for ter'sillhealth.Inaddition, the musiclabelsinGreatBritain. Records. Both contracts have his advertising checking service, Carpenters willnot be able to RichardBransonhasbuiltup been extended for an additional D.A.F. Control Services. perform on the Royal Variety Per- Virgin from a small retail opera - five years. He can be reached at 454-1365. formance television show. (Continued on page 93) 6 RECORD WORLD NOVEMBER 8, 1975.