WEBVTT - Jerry Greenberg 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:07.560 Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to the Bob Left Sets podcast. My 0:00:07.680 --> 0:00:12.520 guest this week is legendary music executive, the youngest president 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:16.439 in the history of the music business, president at age 0:00:16.480 --> 0:00:20.279 thirty two, of Atlantic Records, Jerry Greenberg. How you doing, 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:24.160 my friend? Okay, Now, you've worked with literally a who's 0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:30.640 who of legends, Abba, led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson. Okay, So 0:00:31.920 --> 0:00:34.400 who is the best to work with? The most meaningful, 0:00:34.440 --> 0:00:40.200 not necessarily the easiest. Wow, that's a that's a tough 0:00:40.280 --> 0:00:46.200 question to answer. I will say that probably the most 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:52.040 creative and visionary person that I work with is Michael Jackson. Really, 0:00:52.240 --> 0:00:55.800 oh yeah, I'm forget about it. I mean this guy. 0:00:56.560 --> 0:01:01.680 I remember when he called me to interview me to 0:01:02.400 --> 0:01:06.240 he was starting his own record label, and I came 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:09.120 home and I said to my wife, I just met 0:01:09.200 --> 0:01:12.720 Walt Disney, and she said, what are you talking about? 0:01:13.160 --> 0:01:17.759 I said, this guy is such a visionary, such a visionary. 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:20.640 He wants to build theme parks, he wants to do Broadway, 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:23.720 he wants to be David Geffen. I mean, all rolled 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:30.080 into one and um, that's my was my first impression 0:01:30.120 --> 0:01:32.479 of him. I mean I never never met him before, 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:35.720 but we spent two hours together. Uh, he did his 0:01:35.800 --> 0:01:39.440 homework about Jerry Greenberg. And of course I've been listening 0:01:39.480 --> 0:01:43.040 to Michael Jackson since I was a baby, but um, 0:01:43.080 --> 0:01:47.120 it was I would have to put him at pretty 0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:49.520 much at the top of the list. In answer to 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:52.360 your question, Okay, so you had that meeting. Did he 0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:56.440 live up to that meeting? Yes, there's no question. Okay, 0:01:56.440 --> 0:01:58.720 So what year did you get involved. I got involved 0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:03.040 with Michael in So what's the first project you worked 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:07.400 on with him? Free Willy Soundtrack? Uh. They wanted they 0:02:07.440 --> 0:02:10.960 wanted a song from Michael Jackson. I called Michael and 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:14.359 he said to me, I saw the movie, I saw 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:16.799 the track, everything, but I can't write it. I don't 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:20.280 have any time. And I went into his uh last 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:23.280 album and I found a song called will You Be There? 0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:26.920 And I sent it up to the producers and I said, 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:30.600 does this work? And they said yes. And so that 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:34.400 was the launch of m j J Records, having the 0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:41.600 first soundtrack being Free Willy, one of michael songs, and 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:45.360 then we put Michael's nephews in three t Then we 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:50.760 got UH Girls Group to do a remake. So our 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:54.440 first record for our record company ended up platinum out 0:02:54.440 --> 0:02:58.560 of the box. And what did you think when he died? 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:02.960 Did you see that coming? Oh no, not not not 0:03:03.160 --> 0:03:06.200 at all. And I don't want to give it away, 0:03:06.720 --> 0:03:11.120 but there's a whole there's a major story about what 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:14.760 happened that the day after Michael died. I will just 0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:18.720 say that. Let me say that I was rushed to 0:03:18.760 --> 0:03:22.680 the hospital wait for your own medical and my own, 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:26.639 my own medical condition, the day after he died, Okay, 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:30.880 And therefore you attribute that to the news of his death. 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:34.000 I attributed to, yes, the news of his death, the 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:37.960 fact that I was up doing interviews for almost fifteen hours, 0:03:38.000 --> 0:03:43.120 the stress of everything, and um, but here I am so, now, 0:03:43.440 --> 0:03:46.200 did you have a cardiac event or anything or was 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:47.920 just stress and you went to the hospital and you 0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:53.120 chilled out? Well? Uh, I went to the hospital because 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:58.160 I had back pain and pain in my arms and everything. 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:02.640 And what happened is, believe it or not, a flat 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:06.240 line for seventeen seconds, wow, in the hospital or at home, 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:08.920 you know, in the hospital, thank god. But I had 0:04:08.960 --> 0:04:13.520 the doctors around me and they got me back. And 0:04:13.680 --> 0:04:16.719 the bottom line is I had a torn iord to 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:21.240 and but I had great doctors and they fixed it 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:24.560 and uh, and I'm here. Okay, let's go back to 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:28.000 the beginning. You're from the Haven, Connecticut, right, correct? Okay, 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:32.440 all of the world's best pizza. That's the big decision. 0:04:32.600 --> 0:04:36.440 We ask everybody. Was it Peppi's or is it Sally's. 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:39.159 So you went to Peppi's for the clam pizza, but 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:43.040 you went to Sally's maybe more for the sauce and 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:47.080 this and that. But both of them were pretty pretty, 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:53.400 pretty pretty good. Well, the funniest thing is it's one 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:55.240 of the few things in life that live up to 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:58.120 the legend. I remember going to Peppi's being all hyped 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:00.560 and go, damn, this is really this. Every time I 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:05.240 go back to Connecticut, I have to get the pizza. Correct. Okay, 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:09.280 So you're there and you're growing up, and what does 0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:12.240 your father do for a living. My father was in 0:05:12.279 --> 0:05:16.640 the jewelry business, thirty nine years in the jewelry business. 0:05:17.279 --> 0:05:19.680 Everybody loved them. I mean, if you're going to go 0:05:19.760 --> 0:05:22.360 buy a watch or a piece of jewelry, oh, go 0:05:22.440 --> 0:05:25.560 down and see Bill Greenberg. It's Specters in New Haven. 0:05:25.880 --> 0:05:28.120 He's the guy. It's just the way. Wait, just for 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:32.159 one second, Specters was that connected to the same Specters 0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:35.760 and Bridgeport. Do you know I'm not just because my 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:38.720 closest friend from high school. I'm gonna see it another month. 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:43.240 His father, his mother was specter and his father ran Specters, 0:05:43.240 --> 0:05:45.240 and I knew they were like three or four stories. 0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:48.599 I'll ask him when he's out here. I bet it was. Okay, So, 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:54.200 now was your father first generation American? Yeah? Okay, and okay, 0:05:54.200 --> 0:05:58.800 So he's working at Specters. And what's it like growing up? 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:06.920 What's it like growing up? Mother and father just great parents. 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:11.240 My mother very hard worker. She held three jobs. She 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:14.880 was a bookkeeper, she was a cashier. He had the 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:20.000 one job at Specters. But growing up in Connecticut, I 0:06:20.040 --> 0:06:25.800 grew up on an area called City Point, and it 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:29.360 was near the water. So I grew up loving boating. 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:32.440 I was painting boats when I was like nine years 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:34.480 old and ten years old. You know, you know, I 0:06:34.480 --> 0:06:37.279 mean you can't see his handwave. He doesn't mean paint artistically, 0:06:37.320 --> 0:06:43.080 means literally painting boats. Yeah, literally the bottoms of boats, etcetera, etcetera. 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:46.320 So I uh, you know, I grew up one around 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:50.000 the water. I grew up with great parents, and I 0:06:50.120 --> 0:06:53.560 was very lucky, very very lucky. Now you had your brother. 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:55.240 It was just the two of you. It was just 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:57.080 me and my brother, and you were who was the 0:06:57.080 --> 0:06:59.640 older brother? Do you? He was the older brother eight 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:04.760 year eight years older than you. I didn't realize. Okay, 0:07:04.920 --> 0:07:08.800 So when did you become interested in music? Okay? So 0:07:09.000 --> 0:07:13.080 I'm at a bar mitzvah and the band takes a 0:07:13.160 --> 0:07:19.640 break and there's music coming playing like you know, through speakers, 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:24.280 records or whatever. And I go over to the drums 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:28.760 and sit behind the drum set and I'm tapping, okay, 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:30.760 And I see the drummer talk to my mother and 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:34.520 I say, oh god, I guess he's mad. Next thing 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:37.320 I know, my mother comes over and she said, the 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:40.600 drummer told me you have natural rhythm. I have to 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:44.920 get you drum lessons. Wow. So within thirty seconds, I'm 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:49.840 now a drummer. I mean, I'm taking drum lessons. So 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:53.880 parents buy you a kid a whole bit. Oh yeah, listen. 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:58.160 I I loved it. And what happened is there was 0:07:59.040 --> 0:08:02.560 a guy in New Haven who booked all the bar 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:05.720 Mitz's and weddings and this and that. He calls my 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:08.120 mother up. I'm fifteen years old. He calls my mother 0:08:08.200 --> 0:08:12.280 up and oh god, I have to back up in 0:08:12.400 --> 0:08:17.559 somebody in the fifties, you know. So I'm fifteen years old. 0:08:17.960 --> 0:08:21.160 My mother says his name was Arnold Moost. He should 0:08:21.280 --> 0:08:26.200 arnelmos called and he said everybody, every musician he can find, 0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:30.080 works on New Year's Eve. Which can I book a 0:08:30.160 --> 0:08:33.520 job for your son to play? So she said sure. 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:37.360 But my father had a shlip me down to I 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:40.080 remember it was called the One Eagle restaurant, like on 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:44.880 Chapel Street in New Haven. I walk in and the 0:08:44.880 --> 0:08:46.560 there was a base player and a piano player, and 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:48.800 they took a look at me. I mean, I'm fifteen 0:08:48.880 --> 0:08:53.000 years old, babe, and he said, they go, okay. So 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:57.640 I play all night with brushes, uh, and get through it. 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:01.600 Ten to two was was the gig. And I remember 0:09:01.640 --> 0:09:03.839 I came home and I had something like thirty or 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:08.120 thirty five rich. It was like what my father made 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:12.320 all week, you know. So first of all, I always 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:15.240 wanted a rowboat, and I went to my father once 0:09:15.280 --> 0:09:17.160 I asked him some money for a rowbot. He as, 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:20.760 you work for you can buy anything you want. So 0:09:20.920 --> 0:09:23.440 of course I took the money, went right out and 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:27.319 I bought me a robot and that was the beginning 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:31.440 of Jerry getting into the music business. Really okay, well, 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:34.200 you played with these other pickup musicians, when was your 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:41.079 next gig? My next gig was realizing that, wait a minute, 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:45.440 there's money in being a musician. I found the guitar 0:09:45.520 --> 0:09:48.880 player and I said, let's form a band. So we 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:53.480 formed the band and we started. Uh. There was a 0:09:53.520 --> 0:09:56.480 group from the Haven, Connecticut called the Five Satin's which 0:09:56.480 --> 0:10:01.000 had probably the biggest do wop record in your in history. 0:10:01.040 --> 0:10:03.000 And I became from the name of that record from 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:06.840 my audience who may not know. Second, what was the 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:09.040 name of the record for the audience that may not know? 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:12.280 In the Stole of the Night? Oh yeah? And the 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:14.640 Still in the Night should have been should be do 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:19.439 the big biggest record during the older days? Okay at 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:21.800 that point in time, was W A v Z still 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:24.360 the top four as Okay? I remember trying to pull 0:10:24.400 --> 0:10:26.959 that in from Fairfield and whatever. When I went to 0:10:27.040 --> 0:10:29.520 summer camp, we played W A v Z. So, in 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:32.800 any event, that's the biggest do wop hit, biggest hit, 0:10:33.280 --> 0:10:35.360 and you have that guitars friend, and now all of 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:38.000 a sudden we put a band together, and we're backing 0:10:38.080 --> 0:10:40.760 them up. We're going to New York and we're backing 0:10:40.840 --> 0:10:44.520 up the Yeah, we're backing up this five cents. How 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:48.120 did you get that gig? They we were a good band, 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:51.800 and you know, and they liked this. But but let 0:10:51.880 --> 0:10:55.000 me just say this. My band turned out to be 0:10:55.760 --> 0:11:03.360 the number one college fraternity band in the area. If 0:11:03.360 --> 0:11:08.240 you watched Animal House and you saw Belushi at that 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:13.839 fraternity seen my band was that band. Okay. We used 0:11:13.880 --> 0:11:17.720 to play Yale and Wesleyan and Trinity and we even 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:22.400 got gigs up in Boston. So we were we were, 0:11:22.440 --> 0:11:26.000 we were rocking. I was like, okay, so how old 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:30.600 were you when this was happening? And how often would 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:34.360 you work every weekend? Okay? And did you graduate from 0:11:34.400 --> 0:11:37.360 high school? Yes? Okay, you graded from high school. No 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:41.120 thought of college. You're a musician. I was thinking about 0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:46.720 music school, maybe Julius Heart School of Music. But past. Okay, 0:11:46.840 --> 0:11:48.880 So you're playing every weekend with your band. What kind 0:11:48.880 --> 0:11:54.840 of money you're making? Uh? We were getting paid anywhere 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:58.160 from to three hundred dollars a night. I was making 0:11:58.200 --> 0:12:02.240 anywhere from fifty dollars. I was booking, so I would 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:04.520 take ten percent off the top. I was the booker, 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:09.200 and I got so many calls for our band. Did 0:12:09.240 --> 0:12:12.520 I remember I said once to the fraternity guy, well listen, 0:12:12.520 --> 0:12:14.280 we're a book, but I think I could get you 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:17.600 a band, and he said, okay, great, I trust you. 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:20.160 So now all of a sudden, at eighteen years old, 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:25.480 I'm booking bands. I'm playing all these different colleges. And 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:31.960 you know, I went from a rowboat to a seventeen 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:36.560 foot speedboat. Wow. And he's still living at home. Uh, 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:40.200 still living at home? Correct? Okay, So the name of 0:12:40.200 --> 0:12:44.240 the band is was the Passengers? Okay? And do you 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:47.079 think are you the kind of person you're gonna find 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:48.840 a way your survivor you're gonna find a way to 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:51.000 make money. If it wasn't, the music business would have 0:12:51.040 --> 0:12:56.200 been something else. I don't know. I never thought of 0:12:56.200 --> 0:12:59.800 of ever. Oh God, you gotta gotta make money to live. 0:12:59.840 --> 0:13:03.719 I just well, it's just kind of came natural. Well, 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:05.160 I guess it's one thing to be a member of 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:06.920 the band. It's also another thing to book the band. 0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:10.080 But the story always is is the drummer is the 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:13.680 business guy. So this proves the point. Really, Oh yeah, 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:16.800 you get into it. I give you example after example 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:20.840 where the drummer is the business guy. Wow. So okay, 0:13:20.840 --> 0:13:22.760 so you're doing this. How long do you do this for? 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:29.440 How long I do this for? I do it? Uh 0:13:29.640 --> 0:13:35.360 because well we're starting to cut records, and we the 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:39.439 guy who's uh actually the producer of these different records. 0:13:39.440 --> 0:13:41.559 He's got a deal with a big publishing company in 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:43.920 New York. So we would go to New York with 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:47.160 back up bands, back up the Satin's or a couple 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:50.720 of other groups make some records. We were on Amy 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:54.760 Malabel as King Author and the nights were on Atlantic 0:13:55.040 --> 0:13:58.400 Is Jerry and the Passengers. Uh. You know, we just 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:01.320 cut a lot of a lot of different stuff and 0:14:02.080 --> 0:14:05.360 one record that we can't I couldn't get a deal for. 0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:09.200 So what I did was, uh, I pressed up the 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:11.120 record on my own. I sent the tape to r 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:13.520 C A pressed up the record on my own. My 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:17.440 guitar player was named c strand I'm Greenberg green C Records. 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:22.000 Press it up, take the record. Because I'm getting very 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:24.560 friendly with all the radio. This shock eys guys from 0:14:24.560 --> 0:14:28.600 a vz D, E, W D r C and hard 0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:32.320 dr C. Absolutely, I'm gonna mention that. We'll talk about 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:36.560 that in a minute. So the bottom line is I 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:40.000 pressed up the record and I put it into Cutler's 0:14:40.680 --> 0:14:44.479 and I'm the famous record shop in New Haven, Connecticut. Yeah, 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:48.520 it's the biggest. And uh so I'm up in Hartford 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:51.160 collecting my money at a distributor. I over hear the 0:14:51.160 --> 0:14:54.960 guy say, oh, my promotion man's leaving. I'm looking for somebody. 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:57.280 I say to the guy, wait a minute, how about me, 0:14:57.440 --> 0:15:00.400 I'd love that job. So he gives me the job. 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:05.840 I am now a record promotion man working for Seaboard 0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:10.440 Distributors out of Hartford. Going is far down to Bridgeport 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:15.000 to w I c C. That is correct, too far 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:21.960 uh north as Springfield, w Y something in Springfield. And 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:25.200 of course the big station in Connecticut was w d 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:28.600 R C and Harford, and that was run by birtha 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:32.920 porter who everyone knew at that time. If Bertha picked 0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:38.600 the record, it could break nationally. So, okay, a couple 0:15:38.600 --> 0:15:42.360 of questions. This is a pre Beatles, Yeah, so what 0:15:42.440 --> 0:15:44.720 kind of records were you working? Oh? No, you know, 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:48.920 it's funny, funny. I had VJ as one of my labels. 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:52.680 Had I had a Beatles record was introducing the Beatles 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:58.240 on j one of the capital passed. Okay, so, uh 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:04.120 this is in uh Nino and you know we had 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:07.800 Atlantic and Chess and Checker and basically when almost all 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:13.080 the labels were independent. Okay, Now did you were you 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:16.440 continuing to play in your band on the weekends? Now? 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:19.280 Did you you were making good money? We're buying a speedboat. 0:16:19.600 --> 0:16:24.600 Did you have a dream of stardom? No? Okay, so 0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:29.520 you're just doing it? So okay. You you took the 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:35.440 job as a radio record promotion being thinking I've got 0:16:35.440 --> 0:16:37.320 nothing to do Monday to Friday, or this will be 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:40.560 a career or I just want to have, you know, 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:45.040 a job. Well, I didn't know. You know, it was 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:48.440 a job, and I felt it could be a career 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:53.360 because I love music. I was when you love music, man, 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:55.880 you just want to be around music. So I'm a 0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:59.600 guy who loves music and I'm a musician. So what's 0:16:59.640 --> 0:17:02.160 been an than that? Okay? So how long do you 0:17:02.160 --> 0:17:07.600 work for cboard? How? Probably three or four years. But 0:17:07.680 --> 0:17:12.040 I became, you know, very close with everybody at Atlantic Records. 0:17:12.400 --> 0:17:17.040 And why was that? Uh? I think they liked me. 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:20.880 I was breaking records in Connecticut for Atlantic, and I 0:17:20.920 --> 0:17:24.640 think they realized all of a sudden, Jerry had good 0:17:24.680 --> 0:17:30.800 ears and Jerry Wexler. Henry Allen was ahead of promotion 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:34.120 at the time. Henry calls me and he goes, listen, 0:17:34.200 --> 0:17:38.080 Jerry Wexler just bought a record. I just bought a record. 0:17:38.320 --> 0:17:41.199 He wants you to hear it and tell him what 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:44.280 and tell you what he what you think and were 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:46.520 I'm sending it up a man getting it up to 0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:51.399 you special delivery. The record was Percy Sledge When a 0:17:51.440 --> 0:17:55.720 Man Loves So I hear the record and I'm very 0:17:55.800 --> 0:17:58.399 close with the DJ in New Haven at w d 0:17:58.480 --> 0:18:02.640 E daytime station. I go to w d at two 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:05.040 o'clock in the afternoon and I said, listen, put this on. 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:09.919 Plays it at two, plays it again at three thirty, 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:13.760 plays it again at like five. The phones are going 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:20.400 crazy crazy. Cutler's record job calls the station, what's this 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:23.400 man loves the woman record you're playing on? We got 0:18:23.440 --> 0:18:25.720 people coming in want to buy it. So I called 0:18:25.760 --> 0:18:29.280 Jerry Wexlet the next day and I go, Jerry, You're 0:18:29.320 --> 0:18:33.040 gonna have the biggest crossover pop record you've ever seen. 0:18:33.880 --> 0:18:38.480 Watch And it was the truth. I mean, come on, 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:44.640 we'll take a quick break and come back with more 0:18:44.680 --> 0:18:48.720 of my conversation with legendary record label executive Jerry Greenberg, 0:18:48.760 --> 0:18:56.520 recorded live at the tune In Studios in Venice, California. Hi, 0:18:56.640 --> 0:18:59.119 it's Bob left Sex. Over the last couple of months, 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:02.480 I've interviewed the lead singer of Garbage, Shirley Manson, and 0:19:02.680 --> 0:19:05.840 legendary drummer Kenny arn Off. But I really love getting 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:08.960 the stories and the executives in and around the music industry, 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:12.240 like Jerry. Whether you come for the music, the tech, 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:15.879 or otherwise, be the first here next week's episode by 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:19.679 subscribing to the podcast on tune In, Apple Podcasts or 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:23.360 your podcast player of choice. While you're there, please rate 0:19:23.359 --> 0:19:27.159 and review. Okay, let's get back to my conversation with 0:19:27.240 --> 0:19:33.000 Jerry Greenberg. What was the key to promoting a record tour? 0:19:33.040 --> 0:19:35.639 I mean, that's an obvious one, but when records not 0:19:35.720 --> 0:19:37.920 that obvious? What was the key to getting in on 0:19:38.000 --> 0:19:46.159 the radio? Um? Just too tenacity? Keep keep pounding the 0:19:46.200 --> 0:19:49.560 guy and going, hey, look it just happened in Texas, 0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:52.439 or it's doing this somewhere else, or what do they 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:56.119 call it? The key to being a good promotion man? 0:19:56.200 --> 0:20:00.680 I think there's one being honest to having a good 0:20:00.760 --> 0:20:04.000 track record, because you remember, you're trying to talk this 0:20:04.040 --> 0:20:08.639 guy into taking air time and play a record. You 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:12.200 don't want to play a stiff. He wants to play 0:20:12.200 --> 0:20:14.440 a hit. He wants to be the first to play 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:19.000 a hit. And I had that relationship, I think with 0:20:19.040 --> 0:20:24.600 a lot of guys and um and girls, and but 0:20:24.680 --> 0:20:32.520 I was very close with Bertha and she loved me. So, uh, 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:36.159 let me just say this. A job opens up at 0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:40.080 the other distributorship. Okay, there's two big distributorships in Harvard. 0:20:40.160 --> 0:20:43.159 Job opens up. My brother is doing radio promotion and 0:20:43.400 --> 0:20:47.239 I'm that radio selling time at a radio station. So 0:20:47.280 --> 0:20:50.560 I say to Bertha, Bertha, do me a favor. I'd 0:20:50.600 --> 0:20:52.919 like my brother to get that job. She said, well, 0:20:52.960 --> 0:20:55.000 I got to meet him. I said fine, So I 0:20:55.040 --> 0:20:57.760 set up a lunch. She falls in love with my brother. 0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:01.160 She calls the distributor. Hey, you know, Jerry's got a brother, 0:21:01.240 --> 0:21:06.080 Bob Greenberger. Boom, Bob gets the job. So now we 0:21:06.200 --> 0:21:09.840 got Bob at one distributor, me at the other. But 0:21:09.920 --> 0:21:13.760 here's the best story yet, you're ready. I have to 0:21:13.760 --> 0:21:17.800 go in the army to do Army Reserve you know, 0:21:17.880 --> 0:21:20.679 none of us want to get drafted at that time. Uh, 0:21:20.880 --> 0:21:23.200 you could be out if you had a baby that 0:21:23.600 --> 0:21:26.600 postpone you're getting drafted. That none of us wanted to 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:29.280 go to Vietnam. Anyways, I signed up a Army reserve. 0:21:29.880 --> 0:21:32.600 Army reserve, you got to go away for six months 0:21:33.080 --> 0:21:35.200 and then you have to serve for four more years, 0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:43.639 going to meetings, etcetera. And I signed up. So Jerry 0:21:43.640 --> 0:21:47.480 Water calls me up ahead of Atlantic, says Jerry, after 0:21:47.520 --> 0:21:52.720 the thing with the happened with the Percy Sledge record, 0:21:53.560 --> 0:21:55.160 I want to hire you. I want you to come 0:21:55.200 --> 0:21:57.399 to New York and work for me, I said Jerry. 0:21:57.520 --> 0:22:00.880 I can't right now because I have to serve six 0:22:00.920 --> 0:22:02.560 months in the Army. I don't want to come there, 0:22:02.600 --> 0:22:04.320 and then I have to go, I said, But as 0:22:04.359 --> 0:22:06.440 soon as I get out, is the job still open 0:22:06.760 --> 0:22:09.040 the day you're out of the Army, you're coming to 0:22:09.080 --> 0:22:12.480 work for Atlantic Records? I go, okay, great, So now 0:22:12.520 --> 0:22:17.199 I get the call to go and serve. So I 0:22:17.240 --> 0:22:19.159 say to my brother, let me ask you a question. 0:22:20.720 --> 0:22:22.919 What do you think if we put Dad into the 0:22:22.960 --> 0:22:27.639 record business? He says, I said that this is this 0:22:27.800 --> 0:22:31.320 job is perfect for him. Everybody loves him. It's personality. 0:22:31.920 --> 0:22:34.679 I said. He grew up listening to me with the 0:22:34.720 --> 0:22:38.840 band downstairs. He loves music. She he says, let's take 0:22:38.880 --> 0:22:42.800 a shot. So we go to Bertha and we go Bertha, 0:22:42.920 --> 0:22:45.639 I gotta go in the army for six months, but 0:22:45.800 --> 0:22:48.440 I want my dad to fill in for me. Is 0:22:48.480 --> 0:22:52.280 that cool? I gotta meet him. Fine, you'll love him. 0:22:52.400 --> 0:22:54.760 So we bring that up to Harvard as lunch with 0:22:54.880 --> 0:22:59.400 birth reporter. I go to Marvin, my boss, and I say, listen, 0:22:59.440 --> 0:23:01.480 I gotta go now for six months. But I got 0:23:01.480 --> 0:23:04.800 the replacement for me for six months. I said, you 0:23:04.920 --> 0:23:08.119 know who's eye said, my father? Your father? Yeah, trust me. 0:23:08.520 --> 0:23:12.360 Bertha loves him. He calls up Bertha. She said, oh yeah, 0:23:12.520 --> 0:23:17.639 Bill Greenberg, he's great. Blah blah blah. So bingo. My 0:23:17.760 --> 0:23:22.120 father's now took my job. He's in doing record promotion. 0:23:22.160 --> 0:23:24.719 So he gives up his jewelry salesman's job, gives up 0:23:24.720 --> 0:23:28.119 to Julia. Now he died and went to heaven. He 0:23:28.240 --> 0:23:31.720 got a car, he got an expense account. He's taking 0:23:31.760 --> 0:23:35.480 these DJs. I love golf, so I said, then take 0:23:35.520 --> 0:23:37.920 the guy from a VZ out to play golf. He did. 0:23:38.800 --> 0:23:42.680 Now he's getting records on after I'm in the army. 0:23:42.720 --> 0:23:45.240 Two months I get a note from Marvin, don't come back. 0:23:45.280 --> 0:23:51.760 Your father's better than you. So we had the Greenberg dynasty. 0:23:51.880 --> 0:23:54.080 There was an article came out in cash Box, the 0:23:54.119 --> 0:23:57.960 Greenberg dynasty. Father's son brother. But it's a reverse kind 0:23:57.960 --> 0:24:02.320 of trip, if you know, it's usually the kid gets 0:24:02.359 --> 0:24:05.240 into father's business. This was the kid put the father 0:24:05.359 --> 0:24:08.719 in in my business. But just a uh been up 0:24:08.760 --> 0:24:13.399 one little uh hole here, your brother, how do you 0:24:13.440 --> 0:24:20.239 get into selling radio time? Um, that's interesting. I don't know. 0:24:20.440 --> 0:24:23.840 He just he knew somebody at a radio station and 0:24:24.119 --> 0:24:28.400 a job came. He did a It could have might 0:24:28.400 --> 0:24:31.280 have been NAVEZ, New Haven, one of the radio stations 0:24:31.280 --> 0:24:36.560 in New Haven. So that was I utilized that with Bertha, like, Hey, 0:24:36.680 --> 0:24:39.119 this guy, you know, he's not a cook or or 0:24:39.200 --> 0:24:42.199 salesman or something. He's in radio already. Let's get him 0:24:42.200 --> 0:24:45.119 out of selling time and let's get him into promotion. 0:24:45.880 --> 0:24:47.880 So in any event, you're in the army for six months, 0:24:47.880 --> 0:24:49.840 you get out and you go to work for Atlantic 0:24:49.960 --> 0:24:52.280 Correct and you have to move to New York City. No, 0:24:52.480 --> 0:24:55.640 I'm living in New Haven and I'm commuting every day, 0:24:55.800 --> 0:24:59.280 every day from the Raven every day from New Haven. 0:24:59.520 --> 0:25:01.199 That's almost because I grew up, as I say, in 0:25:01.240 --> 0:25:02.800 fear Field. When I grew up in fear Field in 0:25:02.800 --> 0:25:05.760 the sixties, that was just one step too far. People 0:25:05.800 --> 0:25:09.240 commute now, but the Heathen that's like an hour and 0:25:09.240 --> 0:25:12.800 a half each way on the train. Yeah. I took 0:25:12.840 --> 0:25:15.080 the train a couple of times, but it didn't work out. 0:25:15.520 --> 0:25:20.560