Clive Davis
Birthday:
4 April 1932, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Birth Name:
Clive Jay Davis
Clive Davis was born in Brooklyn, New York. He entered Harvard Law School on a full scholarship and graduated in 1956. Four years later, he arrived at Columbia Records as an attorney. In 1965, he was promoted to administrative vice-president of the label, became vice-president and general manager a year later, and in 1967 became the label's pr...
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Clive Davis was born in Brooklyn, New York. He entered Harvard Law School on a full scholarship and graduated in 1956. Four years later, he arrived at Columbia Records as an attorney. In 1965, he was promoted to administrative vice-president of the label, became vice-president and general manager a year later, and in 1967 became the label's president. In this capacity he pushed the company full speed ahead into rock music, with artists such as Janis Joplin and Carlos Santana leading the pack. He guided Columbia to tremendous success until 1973, when he was fired after being accused of tax evasion and misusing company funds. In 1974, he took over the record division of Columbia Pictures and launched his own label, Arista, famous for such acts as Barry Manilow and Whitney Houston. Davis was forced out of Arista by parent company BMG in 2000, but not long thereafter started a new label, J, to be distributed by BMG. Show less «
[on Whitney Houston] You wait for a voice like that for a lifetime. You wait for a face like that, a smile like that, a presence like that, ...Show more »
[on Whitney Houston] You wait for a voice like that for a lifetime. You wait for a face like that, a smile like that, a presence like that, for a lifetime. And when one person embodies it all, well, it takes your breath away. Show less «
[To Barry Manilow ] If you were Irving Berlin, we would know it by now!
[To Barry Manilow ] If you were Irving Berlin, we would know it by now!
[About Whitney Houston's smoking, and her relationship with Bobby Brown]] [Her smoking] is like leaving a priceless Stradivarius out in the ...Show more »
[About Whitney Houston's smoking, and her relationship with Bobby Brown]] [Her smoking] is like leaving a priceless Stradivarius out in the sun . . . I don't believe Bobby caused Whitney's problems, but the two of them brought out the worst in each other. Show less «
My "act" was schoolwork. I was your basic, garden-variety, ambitious, upwardly mobile, hard-working Jewish boy from Brooklyn. I was bound to...Show more »
My "act" was schoolwork. I was your basic, garden-variety, ambitious, upwardly mobile, hard-working Jewish boy from Brooklyn. I was bound to go beyond my parents. It was simply the way things were. Show less «
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