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| Who rocks the music world in Chicago 1998 | BACK | |
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Nos. 1-9 | MUSIC 45 HOME |
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1
JERRY MICKELSON AND ARNY GRANAT
OWNERS, JAM PRODUCTIONS |
Power spread |
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The Stones can't get no satisfaction without these two. U2's over-the-top rock'n'roll multimedia extravaganza would be a lemon without 'em too. If you wanna rock in Chicago, with few exceptions, you've got to work with Jam Productions. Mickelson and Granat formed the concert promotion business out of a North Side apartment in 1972. Since then, they have put on some 15,000 events across the country for more than 78 million people and mustered up $1.5 billion in gross sales while doing it. In 1997 alone, Jam put on 1,334 shows for a sizable 3.5 million people, and raked in $100.9 million in gross sales. And that's not all; Jam also owns the monstrosity that is the New World Music Theater. Spreading their tentacles outside of Chicago, Jerry and Arny now have their fingers in the promo-pots of cities all across the land.
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2 STEVE ALBINI | Noise meister |
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Recorder/engineer/singer/guitarist Steve Albini has been aggressively raising the consciousness of the Chicago indie-rock scene for well over a decade. In the eighties, Albini-led bands Big Black and Rapeman embraced a propulsive, razor-sharp guitar assault that would be emulated by many fledgling post-punk ensembles. An opinionated, uncompromising individual with a strict code of professional ethics, Albini has been both deified and decried in the rock press for years and his vitriolic responses to both are legendary. His work in the studio with bands such as Nirvana, the Pixies, the Jesus Lizard, PJ Harvey and Urge Overkill merely scratch the surface of an extremely prolific recording career. The mere words "recorded by Steve Albini" now insure even the most obscure album a certain amount of critical attention. Never too big or too busy to work with his friends, Albini has recorded countless lesser-knowns and his studio is rarely dormant. Despite his reputation for being a rugged indie-vidualist, Albini has also managed to squeeze in some work with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant for their latest CD. Albini has also been back on the performance scene with his current band, Shellac, whose jackhammer rhythms and pristine recording milieu remain totally state-of-the-art.
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3
JOE SHANAHAN
CO-OWNER, METRO |
Underground hero |
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Joe Shanahan has been bringing in cutting-edge talent to the Metro since he first became a co-owner along with his low-profile partner, Joe Prino, in 1982. The proof? The first band Shanahan booked at the Metro: R.E.M.. A graduate of Columbia College, Shanahan tended bar and managed clubs to put himself through school, and he first thought of opening a club in Chicago while living in New York (which is, incidentally, where he hooked up with R.E.M.). Shanahan has always consciously promoted Chicago and Chicago bands. "I emphasized putting Chicago on the musical map, like Seattle and Athens," he says. Bands that have emerged with a little help from Shanahan: Liz Phair, the Jesus Lizard, Urge Overkill, the Smoking Popes (whom he manages and lets practice on the top floor of the Metro), and most famously, the Smashing Pumpkins. "My actual managerial duties [for the Pumpkins] were unclear. We did stuff together because Billy Corgan is a very hard-working guy. He already had the effort. I helped out by shopping the tape and putting them in front of Jane's Addiction. They did the rest themselves."
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4 OPRAH WINFREY | Pop power |
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When middle-of-the-road pop stylists find their chart numbers sagging like a dowager's chest, they look to Oprah for support. A single appearance on her top-rated daytime love-in can propel the latest effort of a fading act into the Top Ten limelight. The Artist Formerly Known As Prince sold 554,000 copies of his triple-disc "Emancipation" last year largely on the strength of an Oprah appearance, a chat with Rosie and an MTV/BET performance. In March, Garth Brooks visited Oprah's Texas set. His stumbling "Sevens" leapt back into the Top Ten the next week. When Janet Jackson's "The Velvet Rope" tanked out of the gate, a highly publicized talk with Oprah about her bout with depression nudged the disc up to No. 18. And Oprah breathed new life into Tina Turner's career when she followed the aging soul woman on tour last year. Performers such as The Neville Brothers, Amy Grant and Mariah Carey know that an appearance on Oprah will give them the approval seal of America's top middlebrow tastemaker, along with a huge daytime audience. And Oprah fawns over the musicians so shamelessly - for his birthday, she threw Brooks an on-air party that included a visit from his parents and such gifts as custom-tailored pajamas and a leather-bound "grateful journal" - that viewers must think it almost rude not to go right out and buy the touted releases.
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5
JEFF MCCLUSKY
PRESIDENT, JEFF MCCLUSKY & ASSOCIATES |
Star maker |
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Being named 1998's Independent Promotion Executive of the Year by Radio and Records magazine just confirmed what the record industry already knew: Mr. McClusky is the man in Chicago, in the country, in the world. As president of the 17-year-old Jeff McClusky & Associates, the nation's largest full-servicemusic promotion and marketing company, McClusky has helped build the careers of Chicago artists Liz Phair, R. Kelly and the Smashing Pumpkins, as well as the likes of Madonna, U2 and Puff Daddy. He was the promotion force pushing Alanis Morissette, Will Smith and Celine Dion over the popularity ridge. And producers of the "Titanic" and "Men In Black" soundtracks consulted with McClusky, a wise move considering that both records charted in the top ten-a rarity for soundtracks. Based in Chicago, JMA also has offices in Atlanta and Los Angeles. As head of the low-profile company behind the some of the high-profile, top-selling artists over the past ten years, McClusky has put himself on the most-wanted list for pop acts.
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6 R. KELLY | Smooth operator |
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The man who once crooned soul classics for change on Chicago's street corners is now one of the most powerful players on the R&B scene. Millions of records sold, a handful of platinum singles, and three Grammys mean R. Kelly, the smooth-as-silk king of bump 'n' grind R&B, is flying high. "Bump and Grind" was the longest running No.1 Billboard R&B single in more than thirty years, and was knocked off by his "I Believe I Can Fly." And how many other people on this list have Toni Braxton, the Isley Brothers, Michael Jackson, Aaliyah, the Winans, and Janet Jackson on their speed-dials? Kelly's written and/or produced hits for all them, including Jacko's "You Are Not Alone," the first song ever to debut at the top of Billboard's singles charts. His third and most recent record, 1995's "R. Kelly" (Jive Records), found him rubbing shoulders with the Notorious B.I.G. and gospel wiz Kirk Franklin. His next record, tentatively titled Kelly "V.I.P.," should be out this fall, and a publicist at his label confirms it could very well be a double album. Said publicist denies, however, the rumor that R. Kelly has left behind his nasty ways for all-uplifting, all-inspirational, all-"I Believe I Can Fly"-esque ballads.
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7
MARK ANTHONY
POP & ROCK BUYER FOR TOWER RECORDS |
Cash and carry |
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When you're talking record retail, nothing in Chicago can compare to the selection, inventory and diversity of the Tower Records-Videos-Books on North Clark. In fact, very few record stores in the country can compare to the North Side's Tower; of all the Tower Records in the U.S. and Canada, ours ranks as the fifth-most prolific in terms of sales. Not bad for a store that's only been around for five years. One reason? When you're really jonesing for a CD, you can usually bank on the Clark Tower. The man responsible is rock and pop music buyer Mark Anthony. With more than thirty different vendors sending CDs in hopes of garnering a spot on Tower's shelves, as well as Anthony's ear for underground music, you'd think Anthony's got a dream job. But it doesn't always seem that way "Sure you get a lot of CDs," he says. "But for every good CD, you get 100 crappy CDs."
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8 BUDDY GUY | Blues legend |
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The day this issue ranking bluesman Buddy Guy one of Chicago's most influential musicians hits the streets, the guitar legend will be playing a gig at The Tabernacle in Atlanta. Fitting, since many blues fans consider Buddy Guy a god with a polka-dot Strat. But before winning two Grammys and more W.C. Handy awards than any other bluesman, he was just regular George Guy, born in Lettsworth, Louisiana, July 30, 1936. After developing his guitar and singing chops around Baton Rouge in the early fifties, Guy made his way to Chicago in 1957, where he recorded on the Chess label with the likes of Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters and Little Walter. Owner of a popular Chicago blues club and a seemingly tireless performer, Guy continues to release vital albums, selling nearly 2 million discs in the past five years. But what gets him on this list is his role as a world ambassador of the blues. His influence on popular music has been considerable, touching especially Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. Mick Jagger must also tip his hat to Guy's flamboyant live presence fueled by double shots of Remy Martin XO. Now, Guy is promoting the idea of bringing a blues hall of fame to Chicago. That would be a fitting legacy.
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9
HOWARD TULLMAN
CEO, JAMTV & DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT NETWORKS |
Tech support |
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Launched May 31, 1997, JamTV, an all-encompassing music website, is the brainchild of Tullman, Jam's Jerry Mickelson and Vic manager Pat Blake. JamTV has live-streams of more than 1,500 concerts, content-licensing deals with Spin, Billboard, the L.A. Times and the Chicago Tribune, ticket sales through Ticketmaster, the Rolling Stone Network addition and the acquisition of tunes.com, an 850,000-record strong database of CDs for sale on the web. While other websites bring pretty much exclusively news, JamTV is the Web shopper's single musical stop. Hear new songs, see concerts, buy tickets, read reviews and catch all that breaking news-no other website even approaches JamTV's comprehensive music coverage. With affiliations to more than 400 radio stations (an increasing number), Tullman hopes to realize his vision of making the website the ESPN.com of music.
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copyright 1998 New City Communications, Inc. |