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Clive Davis and Tony Orlando have been friends for over 60 years. Hear the incredible, unexpected journey of Clive Davis through the music world.
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It is hard to believe that the man who signed so many recording artists — Tony Orlando, Janis Joplin, Santana, Bruce Springsteen, Chicago, Billy Joel, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, while also bringing Whitney Houston and Barry Manilow to stardom — had no musical experience and got into music by accident. It’s a career that was never planned.
Davis grew up in Brooklyn and attended New York City public schools — PS 161 and Erasmus High School — which he credits with giving him the foundation for his success. He then attended NYU and won a scholarship to Harvard Law School. By luck, he was hired by a law firm that represented Columbia Records, which then hired him, at age 28, as assistant counsel at CBS subsidiary, Columbia Records. He was promoted to general counsel the following year and, five years later, to vice president.
Davis soon realized he had a knack for picking hit songs. He once said he “learned to trust his ears, a gift I never, ever knew I would have.”
In the interview, Orlando asks Davis about the importance of lyrics to a hit song. Davis’ reply: Lyrics are “vital.”
Davis, the man with the “golden ear,” was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.
