Bruce Allen

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome back to the Bob Left's Podcast. My
guest today is manager extraordinaire Ru Sale. We built the
careers of everybody from Backman Turner, Overdrive, to Michael Bubley,
to Brian Adams and many more. Bruce glad to have
you here. Great to be here, Bob, Great to be here.
It took me away from the elections. But that's okay,

(00:29):
I want to get away from it. Okay. Why do
you love Elvis so much? Well, I grew up in
that air, of course. You know, probably the first artist
I ever saw in in in Vancouver nine and um
I went. My mother took me, I remember, and uh
it was the only choice at that time. Bob. That
was when music was really changing, and uh he just

(00:52):
captured me. Uh the stuff he was doing, it just
changed my whole thing. Because I was listening to my
mother's songs on the radio, not knocking them. They were
decent songs. But I mean, all of a sudden, this
guy came out and I so, like John Lennon said,
I said, for there was Elvis, there was nothing, And
I said, so I've all but I stayed and Elvis fan,
I've got I knew you might talk about this. I

(01:12):
got eighty two books on Elvis in my house. Okay,
if you have eighty two, how many books are there?
That must be every book? I don't know, but I'll
tell you I I there's so much always to find.
And like my partner Tom Feldman was thinking about talking about,
I said, but all of a sudden you wanted, I said, Sam,
read these two books by Peter garrel Nick. Just read

(01:33):
these two that'll do it for you. You'll be that's enough.
And I said, and he did, and he and he said,
this is unbelievable. And the stuff that people find out
about him, he did, They didn't know this. I didn't
know that. I did. I think that, Wow, you know,
people are rediscovering Elvius all the time. I guess Bob
Well tell us a couple of things most people don't know.
Boy well, you know, I thought I did not know

(01:56):
until three weeks ago, probably that he turned out. He
didn't turn down Dolly Parton turned down him singing the
Whitney Houston song. Okay, And I didn't know that ever happened.
I just because Dolly Parton said it, and it was
I kind of it was kind of nice tie in
for me because I was sitting there Michael Booble, he
was in the midst of talking to her. We're doing

(02:17):
a duet with her on her new album. It's just
out there now. So it was kind of neat that
that fell in there. But the other thing that um,
I thought was and then and then of course the
other thing was interested about that song is I Will
Always Love You? Is that when they were getting divorced,
uh she he when they were walking out of the church,
out of the courtroom. He sang that song to Priscilla
as he held her head and walked out the door.

(02:41):
You are you are a fault of all kinds of
information that that that's amazing. You have eighty Elvis books
if you read them all, yes, sir, okay. And are
you a collector of anything else? Yes, sir, I have
Uh Bob, I got some great stuff. I got Elvis
is barber chair. That's something got for me out of
Graceland when he they he aged them over. It was
in a storage thing and that girl got it for

(03:03):
me who worked there. Um, I've got I've got what
I put the three things side by side. They're all
framed one piece and I gotta send you the picture
of it. It's a it's Elvis Presley's work schedule on
one night ers in in the yes and seventy four,
seventy four, and it the schedule is staggering. It's every day,
two shows on the weekend. Blah blah blah, all this stuff.

(03:25):
And then then beside it was was was Colonel Parker's
uh letter to him that saying, I'm working on Bakersfield.
It's gonna be sold out. Don't you worry. I'll see
you when you get there. So on and so forth,
because the colonel always stayed ahead of him, never watched
the show. He was ahead of him setting up the
next one and the next one. I bought from Wayne Newton,
who got it from a maid in Las Vegas who

(03:46):
was cleaning up Elvis's room. And he wrote a letter
to God saying that take me away from this, take
me away from this. I I don't want to be
in this life anymore. I've had you know this thing.
And then he took it, and you wrote you rippled
it or put in his fist, close his fist into
the garbage. She took it out. He got it this
way way Newton find it, got it, he sold it

(04:08):
to me, and I put it in the frame. I
put here's his work schedule, here's what his manager has
to say, and here's what he feels like. Unbelievable. Of course. Uh.
The Colonel Tom Parker's story is an amazing story. He
came from Carnivals. Supposedly he was an illegal alien, which
is why Elvis could never tour outside of the US,

(04:28):
and additionally had a fifty fifty deal. So as a manager,
what do you think of Colonel Tom Parker? I think
Colonel Tom Parker. Now, I have arguments all the time
with this. I had a good argument Jerry Shilling, not
probably ten years ago. Now, okay, don't Jerry for a while.
And I used to get onto Colonel Parker cause I
thought he was probably the worst manager in the history
of the music business. But Jerry Shilling and they stand

(04:50):
up for him. And Jerry Silly was Elvis's best friend,
one of them, and he said, what you're saying that
because of what you know now, we didn't know anything.
We were breaking the trail. We had no we had
no idea what we were doing. We had no one
to look up to. We were the pioneers. It's easy
for you to say, why didn't you work four days
a week, Why did you do this? Why did you
put the stupid routing together? You know? And and uh

(05:11):
and and so he stuck up for him. No other
people stand up for because of some of the deals
he made. The deals he made in the movie business
were great, but he was stuck on that million dollars.
We made a million dollars and a million dollars there
is another million dollars and a million dollars. He made
those ship films after he made about five good ones,
just because the Colonel was getting a big cut of it.
But it was not at that time. It was fifty percent.

(05:32):
He got that deal later on when Elvis was at
a drugged out stupor uh in in Memphis and he
and he colonel went in there and got him to
sign it. He probably didn't know even though he signed it.
But it wasn't fifty for the get go. Okay, so
what was it from the get go? I think it's
a standard deal. I mean that from what I understand
I've been told, and I think that's probably right. I

(05:56):
have not seen his contract with him. Okay, let's go back.
So you grew up in Vancouver. Yeah, And how many
generations was your family in Canada? Uh? Third? Three? Oh? Really?
So who came and what was their idea? My my
grandparents came, or my mother's grand my mother's my father's

(06:17):
grand my father's parents came, and a typical coming from England.
And I just wanted to get out of England and
take going to the New Land. And it was fine.
I guess they did fine in Vancouver. I can't say
I was poor. I can't say they didn't have a job.
They did well, and uh not we were rich by
a stretch of the imagination. But I like my grandmother

(06:38):
because she she wanted to send the sons to learn
something that set this gate. She gave them one away ticket.
One kid went to San Diego, became an engineer and
under a deep seat tanker engineer. The other one was
sent to South Africa the one way ticket, and he'd
be worked in the diamond business, naturally, in the mining business,
and and and and uh. Then I was born and
raised in Vancouver. After that, my mom came from the

(07:00):
pig uh and I I never met her parents because
she was more or less spirited out of the house
by a woman who took pity on her by the
way she was treated and asked if she could come.
She would take her to her place in Winnipeg from
a place up north in Manitoba, and she raised my mom. Okay,
so what did your parents do for a living? My
dad was a deep sea engineer and a tanker went

(07:22):
around the world delivering oil for him. And how often
was he home? He's one of those jobs four months on,
four months off day for day when you're doing deep
sea work like that. And how many kids in the
family to me and my brother and I and your brother.
My brother's retired. I don't know how much money he made,
but I but he retired a lot earlier than me.

(07:44):
He's a younger brother and he's driving around his motorcycle
now and having a good time. I shake my head sometimes.
And what kind of relationship do you have with him? Good, good,
solid relationship. You know, he has to be Bruce Allen's brother.
And in this town that's not you know, that's a
little bit more difficult than me. Okay, Vancouver is a
very hip, modern town today. What was it like when

(08:05):
you were growing up? Well, it's funny for me. I'm like,
kind of like that Bruce Springsteen story he ended up.
I didn't. I've never moved more than five miles from
my host where I was born. And uh, but where
would you go here? In Vancouver? It's a great city. Uh.
And when I grew up in school, I enjoyed high school.
I enjoyed going to school. I had no problem with

(08:25):
that because I my mom. My father died when I
was twelve. I was raised by my mom and in
those days, in those days, Bob, you were raised by
the neighborhood. If you're in that situation. My mom had
to go to work, I had to go to school.
So I'd come home from school, I have to check
in with the neighborhood. Give you a sandwich and maybe
a glass of milk, and then you know, you played
with their sons or whatever. You went out, but you

(08:46):
had to check in with the with the neighborhood. So um,
I went to school. I went to school into a
school where very wealthy kids in that school, the high
class area. But I had to walk. Guys not in
that area had to walk to school. So it's about
two mile walk, two mile walk to school, and and

(09:07):
I watched what was going on when I was growing up,
and these kids got driven to school and Mercedes, or
when they got to be seventeen or they got their
own Mercedes and stuff like that. And I'm sitting there,
you know, walking to school, and I think, I think
it's been the driver of my entire life, is trying
to raise myself up from that. So I started working.
I started working building trucks in Canadian Kenworth when I

(09:29):
was eighteen. Well, well, well let's slow down before that.
So what kind of kids were you? Were you like
the leader the kids? Yeah? I was a leader, There's
no doubt about it. Um. I was a half past
athlete as a very good runner tract team. I played rugby,
but they wouldn't let me play rugby because of my
track stuff except on the outside wing. So I was

(09:50):
in the violent part of it. And uh you know,
I ran pretty well, Bobby. I got a Canadian record
for a while, and a half mile races had or
eighty yards in those days. I think it's the eights now.
And uh, you know, I enjoyed high school. I really
enjoyed high school. And I discovered music really when I
was in high school. The real. I broughtened my base

(10:13):
from Elvis, and I really got into James Brown, the Icon.
Tina Turner review Fats Domino. I really really a big
fan of black music. And I was there when they
brought those Dick caravan of stars all the way up
there and they came in with you. Everybody got up
there and saying three songs they every Brothers Paul like,
and they just loaded it up with people. And I
used to go to every one of those and I

(10:33):
was but I was really fascinated by the black music
because of just what they put out. You go to
a James Brown show when he was in his heyday,
it was terrified. And I continue to turn and review.
The first time I ever saw a strobe light, Um,
I Turner was looking, where's the strobe bladey walked off
the stage, walked up to the side of the thing
where the platform was got on it sure turned on
this so this stool blake walked back and it's just

(10:56):
it was I love that black music. The s was fantastic,
And because we were in Seattle, close to Seattle, they
always came up there. Seattle came up to Vancouver, Seattle
came up to Vancouver. That was the next stop and
that was probably the only show they even did in
Canada at that time. Went back to the seats. Okay,
so your mother played music in the house. How did
you actually become aware of Elvis um because he came

(11:20):
on TV, had Sullivan. That's the first time everybody I
heard him before that. I can remember my uh that
was the first time I saw. I saw him was
on Ed Sullivan, I think, and I remember my mother
sitting there and holding onto herself saying, I can't look
at his eyes. I can't look at his eyes. And
I'm just sitting there looking at this guy saying, Wow,

(11:41):
this is really something really different, and uh it I
think it set me on the path. I I play
Elvis every single day, okay, I have. I only have
a few stations and serious on the on my radio
and Elvis is one of them, the Elvis Channel, And
uh I find you know it was I've had these thrills,

(12:02):
like Michael Bob was the first guy to go in
and do the duet with Elvis on the duets on
the duet album they did for the with the London Symphony.
It was a big deal. But Michael's a fan, So
you're not like me, but I mean, he's a fan.
And so for me to go in there to see that,
that was great. Priscilla Presley put Michael Boobley on the
Walk of Fame in Hollywood, all this stuff. You know,
it's I'm still kind of tied into that organization, and

(12:24):
I'm proud to do that because I think that, let's
face it, he laid the groundwork absolutely. Now, in a
slightly later era with the Beatles, they were on TV
and then everybody wanted to become a performer, they got
a guitar whatever. Since you saw Elvis, did you ever
want to become a performer? No, no, not a not
a chance, because I think I knew my limitations. But

(12:46):
I was very upset when the Beatles came because I
was the Elvis guy. I was never a big Beatles fan,
but I did see the Beatles in Vancouver, the same
place as Elvis in Vancouver, and uh and uh it's
uh it picked sides in those days. To me, the
Beatles were a girls group because I'm listening to she
Loves You, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know and and all
this stuff, and I never bought into it. I went

(13:06):
to the show, and I saw it and it was
very It was very good actually, with a big bill
like Jackie Deshat and and Exciters and all these other
hecks on it. It was It was a good show
and everything else. But I wasn't a Beatles fan, so
I really can't speak about the Beatles with that much intelligence. Okay,
So in high school when you become a big music fan,
is it mostly the radio or do you have records

(13:27):
to how do you feed your addiction? Definitely the radio
and all the time. And I bought albums continually, and
I still have all those albums downstairs I got. I
got them in my in my office downstairs, in the
basement of this building. And there's about I would say
now because I get in some away, probably not not
that men. Seven thousand albums down there, and you know

(13:50):
what I'm doing right now to Bob, which is amazing.
I got all these c ds. I got twenties seven CDs,
and I'm sitting there and I'm going through them every day.
I put them in a in a when I'm up
around the house walking around, I put it in a stacker.
I got a twenty c D stacker and it kicks
these things out and I'm playing them in an order,
just as all. It's all alphabetical in my in my

(14:11):
the way I stack all my CDs in my host.
But it's really funny because my girlfriend sits there and said,
what are we on now? He said, this is gonna
be a long chapter. This is miscellaneous, this is this
is this is all the greatest hit stuff that come
in the great of the deep soul stuff from Dave
Girl and and those guys you know who did those
great soul albums under the UK. I've playing all that
stuff now, and I'll play one after the other right now,

(14:31):
mane is I've only at the ms that I've been
starting since the beginning of the year, and it's, uh,
it's it's kind of neat to hear that old stuff,
and I'm gonna hang onto it. I certainly have hung
on to all my stuff. I have all my vinyl
from the beginning, a little scratched up. But does this
music you said, you're going literally from me to Z
how much of it holds up? And how much of
you say? Well, that was a period thing and I

(14:52):
liked it then, but it's really not that good now
I have I have I have a chopping bag in there, Bob.
And when I don't like the CD, and I'm never
going to play it again because I know I'm not
now into the bag it goes. Okay, I am cutting
it back that much. But I looked at it today
and uh before I came down here, and I got
it probably about fifty in there. And I think we're
going to convert him into uh, they'll be hanging up

(15:13):
in a tree. I gotta decorate this tree outdoors for charity,
and I think there's gonna be all these old CDs
spinning around up there. Okay, So let's go back to
you were mentioned you graduating from high school. Is there
any thought how good a student are you in school?
I passed, okay, So there was never a thought of
going to college or any education beyond that. No. You see,

(15:33):
I went right to work with the Canadian ken Worth
too um uh to actually to be honest, to get money.
And of course when you start that building trucks, and
I was welding trucks and truck cabs and stuff like that.
I did it for a couple of years and I
really liked the money. I'd handing money before this is fantastic.
Got my money, I got I got a car. All
the kids who went to school, they got no car.
I got a car. I got time to go out
there and do go to things I wanted to do.

(15:56):
And then all of a sudden, the guys on the
line said to me, listen you and do more than this.
You don't want to stay here. You're like twenty years old.
I've been here for forty years. Believe me. I know
you like the money, but get out of here. Get
out of here, go to school. You're not stupid. Get
to go to school. So I signed up to go
to university and I went uh one year, I got

(16:17):
the second year, and I started a third year. And
that's when I A guy came up to a football
player owned a club in Vancouver. He knew my love
of music, and he said, listen, I got this new
band from Hong Kong, White guys with uh Hong Kong
Chinese drummer. And he said, I'll let you take a
look at him, because I think that can really happen.

(16:39):
But they don't know what to do, they don't know
how to act in this and that. And I walked
in there, Bob, and it was they were a Beatles band.
So here I am the guys playing English music, Scott Walker,
the Walker Brothers, Okay, the Hollies, all this stuff, and
I said there, wow. I mean I'm not a fan
of this stuff. But the guy says, can you help
them out because if you go to all the show's
boost turn these guys into some kind of an act

(17:02):
on stage. And I said yeah, okay, And I mean,
you know, they did other songs too, but basically they
played a lot of English music. And I brought up
in a town where it was the R and B bands,
mostly white white bands with black front men, and uh,
all of a sudden, there this this club when we
started working on like that started to take off because
they were playing the music that was really coming up

(17:23):
and the other clubs weren't. And I took that band
called the Five Man Cargo, and I remember I got
a chance to go to Chicago with a band called
the Mob, which was that comes some guys from the
Bucking Hands, kind of a drag guys, and also Wayne
Cocher and the CC Riders who you heard of, and

(17:43):
ended up playing these bowling alleies in and they play
in bowling alleys in Chicago, and I thought, I don't
want to redo this, and we went back to Vancouver
and I took that band and I started a booking
agency and I booked it myself and managed them. And
then all of a sudden, as club owners do, they
look around other people in town and say, that gets

(18:05):
They're really doing good there. But the music we're playing,
the kids really like that other music. I'm gonna go
up see if I can get that band. So they
came to me and they asked, me, if you know,
would you take these guys out of here and put
them I'd like to bring them my club. What are
you're making and say, okay, well we'll pay you more,
you know the drill and uh. I said okay, but
I'll tell you what. Because I kind of was an
economics major in school, I was going to be one.

(18:26):
I thought I would turn into Jimmy Hoffa, but I
said listen. I said, I'll come to your club if
I can get out of this one. And I said,
but here's the deal. I gotta pull this band out
of here and I'm gonna put another one in here.
But when I come to your club with this band,
I'd like to have the booking rights for that club
for the rest of the year, and the guy made
the deal. And I did that quite a bit, moving

(18:47):
these couple of bands I had by that time around.
And by the time that Bato came into town looking
for work because Randy got you know, left the guests
who and he couldn't they didn't, he couldn't get any work.
He came to the West coast because I hadn't locked
up at that time, I had seventeen clubs downtown, and
I mean downtown in that time. At that time, in
the early seventies, bands are making two thousand dollars a week. Okay.

(19:09):
They don't make that anymore, okay, And so I had
this booking agency and that's how Randy Backman and I met,
and that's when I started to move away from the
agency and into the management side. Okay, let's slow down
and go back to the beginning. You knew the football
player hooked you up with the band, he owned a club.
What was your role in that first club. My only

(19:30):
role was looking after that band and getting them to
turn them into a real performing act. That was it. Okay,
No no relationship to the club at all, just just
to help with that music. So when you had seventeen clubs,
you were essentially the agent. You weren't an owner in
any of those clubs. No, I was not okay. When
you had seventeen bands, were they all local bands or

(19:54):
did you represent anybody outside of the Vancouver area. I
had it locked up so that people who want to
play in Vancouver, because it was a very valuable market,
came to me and I booked him. But out of
the seventeen bands will be working on a regular basis,
at least a dozen of them were Vancouver. Okay, And
it first it was obviously just yourself. As you got seventeen,

(20:16):
you know, when you're working seventeen clubs, etcetera, did you
hire anybody? I just hired an assistant. That's all at
that time. And you can do it that way. You're
just booking stuff, You're not you know, that's all you're doing.
It's not it's it's phone work, to tell you more
than anything else. I had a deal though. My deal
with the clubs was I come up there. I can
collect my money every Saturday night, but I just take
my money, just put my money separate my ten So

(20:38):
after chase these bands all over the place to get it.
So I made straight about Saturday night. I'd hit all
those places, get my money, and that'd be for the week. Okay.
Back in that era, you know, the music business was
a cash business all the way, even you know, up
through the seventies. So did your you know, nightclubs have
a checkered history, did you have any problem collecting your money? Um?

(20:59):
I own I got. I only got stiffed probably once,
and that's why I pulled my money off early. Okay,
so the band never really got paid. I got mine
first in the clubs they went along with, because the
clubs don't pay bands until they're finished either. So no
that they say I was making. If the guys making
can say we only paid me, you're a hundred and
fifty dollars short. You know, I gave it to the agent.

(21:22):
So I didn't really have those battles. But we had.
We had the market really sewn up here well, and
it was people behaved. I hate. Vancouver is a good
size city, but seventeen clubs, that's a lot for one
town to support. Yeah, but I mean a Seattle was
also very good. Uh. I can tell you know, I
can go, I can walk down the street in Vancouver

(21:44):
two blocks that I had eight seven of those clubs
in two blocks, two and a half blocks. And what
was driving attendance at those clubs? Music? Everybody was And
I mean, you know, David Foster played on my circuit.
Uh you know, uh he lubber Boy was pulled off

(22:04):
that circuit. Uh back Matron over drive of course before
their back Matron over drive by Belt. Uh. But some
most of the big bands in Canada came through there
and worked on their way up. And uh it was.
It was a really really strong musical town and great
great radio too because Red Robinson was here. What he's
a rock and Roll Hall of Fame disc jockey and
he had done a lot of work he brought to

(22:26):
black music up here, and we you know, he knew
he didn't follow. In those days, you made your own
top forty Okay, now it sounds like you were working
around the clock. Were you making good money? Is making
really good money? I kept my tax returns and I
looked at him about two years ago. I was doing
pretty good, you know, in those days, and and and

(22:47):
and and yeah, but you're young. You can work hard.
It's not absolutely And get where am I hanging around
lots of broads, lots of fun, and I'm in the
clubs big It's not that bad. And then single to right,
So what happened at school? How do you decide to
part ways with school? Um? I could I look where
I was going and what I was thinking of majoring in.

(23:08):
I could see the end of the road. I can
see you stay here, You'll be making fifty grandy here,
that's about far. How far are you're doing? And you'll
have a nice wife and two kids. You're living in
the suburbs. And and I just said no, I'm not
going to do it. And I just quit that quick
school and just went to music full time. Okay, so
the guests who breaks up? So what exact year does
Randy Backman track you down? And what does that look like?

(23:31):
He phones me up and he says, introduced himself and
the Brandy back And says, I know Randy, you know
who you are. He said, listen, Um, I got a
band together and I'm paying everybody. It's my brother and
to my brother's a manager, and uh, he says, the
bad guitar players is my brother and Fred Turner. I
got this guy called Fred Turner can really singing my drummers,
my other brother, and uh, I'm I'm looking after everybody,

(23:54):
he says, But I can't work and I need some work.
And I know you got that market side up, science
sealed up. So what's the chance that can I work
in the area? And I thought, Randy Backman on the guests,
who was all the songs that they've done, Surely to god,
he's gonna come here and I get him to Yeah,
and I'll probably come here and he'll play the guest
whose songs? Why wouldn't he And he'll it's got to

(24:15):
be good. Randy Backman's a name in our country. And
so I said, I'd like to see and he says, well,
we got a job at Fort McMurray. That's the oil
fields up north of Edmonton. He says, a nice, I'll
fly up there to see you. So I went up
there and it was really good. It was really good.
I mean, he sang all the right songs. He's you know,
they covered Burton's ass with his brothers and they got
it done. And I brought him into the clubs, and

(24:36):
of course he didn't want to be in the clubs,
but he just wanted to get up the boys off
the payroll. So he wanted to get some steady money
coming in. But he um he was working on another record.
Brave Belt was the name of the band at that time.
The band, the record came out, didn't do anything. He
started on another record and uh it was. It was

(24:58):
the first actually turned into the first Beach Yeo record.
And he came to me and he said, what are
you think? And I said, this is a good Randy.
I says, what are you gonna who are you gonna
get to manage you? And he said, well, listen, would
you be interested in it? And he said, you know
more about managing a band than I do. I mean,
what do I know? I've been sitting in Vancouver but
all the time doing this, right, You know how to

(25:20):
manage a band, Randy, He says, yeah, but I don't
know how to go in there all the time saying
I want, I want, I want, I want. He says,
So I think you can do it. I said okay.
So I said, okay, let's give it a go. I
had to get somebody to come in to work on
my agency, and Sam Feldman, who's a friend of mine
and worked at the different clubs, and he had a
small book and agency of different bands, mora alternative that

(25:42):
I wasn't really that interested in the club circuit. And
he said, I said, Samwich, like, come in. I might
have to leave it like to get you bring into
the company. And I said, it's funny thing as I said.
He said, well, okay, but what are you gonna pay me?
I said, well, listen, I don't know what's going to
happen here. You take care of this. I'll look after you.
Blah blah. We'll split it up here, you know, we'll

(26:03):
just split it, okay, because I thought I could hang
on to his bands. I got my bands. I'll take
this shot. But because I knew if Backman Overdrive failed,
I'd come back and be gone anyway, so you know,
because let's face it. So anyway, we went up to Randy.
We took out the record and got turned down. But wait, wait, wait, wait,
wait a little bit slower. Yeah, so you made that

(26:24):
deal with Sam yea and did you give him fifty
of Backman at that point of your interest the mind? No, No,
so it was only okay. So they okay, so tell
me go back to the record. So so we get
the record finished, and we go to shop and off
we go. We go to New York, we get turned down.

(26:45):
We go to to uh Los Angeles, we got turned down.
Randy will say in his book, I don't think he's
that many, but he said, we got down turned down
by twenty seven record companies, which is probably pretty close.
And uh so, all of a sudden, we got a
phone call and we didn't even go to this place,
from a guy called Charlie Fash, working Mercury Records in Chicago.

(27:06):
Of course we didn't go to Chicago. We didn't think
of any labels in Chicago. But he came. He said, listen,
I've heard this record. Could I come out and see
you guys? So I said, we said okay. Out came
Charlie Fash and he said, you know this record, this
record is really close. He said, but if you can
just get me, I think maybe you're a song or

(27:26):
too short. And Randy went back. He said okay, and
we started working on some stuff and sent it back
to Charlie and Charlie said, I'm gonna sign you guys.
So he signed us. Now, Randy, that's what he wants.
He just he wanted to get he didn't want to
be a Canadian guy stuck up in Canna, so we
signed to them for whatever the deal was. Alan stein Or,

(27:49):
a lawyer in New York who ready had used before,
took care of the deal. So we were signed to
Mercury Records. And Randy said, listen, if we gotta we're
gonna break this record, we gotta go on the road.
That's how you do it, and that's how you did it, okay.
And I could see it was really funny because I
was Randy. Randy Backman didn't want to travel in buses

(28:13):
because he remembers one time he said, I was coming
into a down a hill into revel Stoke, which is
a scheme country in in Vancouver in the BC, and
the brakes failed and he said we had to go
down there. The roady guy kept the thing on the
course as best as he could, try to slow it
down by shift down, shifting everything else. We came to
the spot and he said, jump out. I remember hanging

(28:34):
out of my guitar and jumping into a snow bank.
He said, So I never wanted to be on a
bus again. So we drove. We drove everything. I drove
across back and forth across the USA six times, and
he it was me and him in the front and
three guys in the back of a car and and
with our stuff piled up, not our equipment, but our clothes,

(28:55):
our suitcases. That and you know, it was the best
thing I ever did, because I would never missed one show.
You know, in those days, we had two trees on
the side, some kind of and all the p a
stacked on the stage. So I get bored, I'd call
the lights. I do the lights, you know, become fill
up the day, take my money and go to the

(29:15):
next city. And we did that for years until we broke.
And we when we broke, it really broke because the
Mercury Records they focused and focused on that act we were.
I was. I was one of the big big acts
on a very small label. You can't beat it, sorry,
on a major. No, it wasn't not a major, Bob,
It's a mid major. And we they did a great

(29:36):
job for us. And you know, it's really funny because
I remember the guy, when the guy who came in there,
he was a new genius. He was a guy who
got great marks in college and had a college radio.
He walked into that radio into that company, and that's
where I met Cliff burnsday. Of course, of course, let's
have a big act by that. Let's go back a

(29:57):
little bit. Um, did you have paper with beat eo? No?
Do you have paper with your acts today? No? Okay?
And if you ever had a situation, I don't know
in the acts ever leave you? Um No, not any
big act that I've ever had. Um. I don't even
think a small act did. But uh, the only act,

(30:22):
the only act that that I I stopped and I
she she didn't leave as I did, and I only
did it. I had my reasons for doing it, but
I love doing it. I missed doing it. I was
in Martina McBride in the country music business, and we
did a good job with her. She's got you know.

(30:44):
She she was second to Reba McIntyre when I left
it on top of thirty radio top thirty records in
country business, in the country business, and I just felt
that I was managing two people, managing her and has
managed her husband and her husband's a lovely guy. But boy,
it's difficult. And um, you know, I always used to

(31:07):
say to my assistant, used say, she's how is it?
I says, the meeting is great, but as I drove
away from the house, I know there's always one more meeting,
and you know, and and sometimes I'm not I'm not
knocking women marrying guys and bands and they really don't
bother me. But I mean, that was a difficult one.
That was a woman in the first place, and a husband,
and I I could see myself nearly in that same situation,

(31:32):
because all of a sudden, she's exploding and you're mare
illegal what you want to be involved? You want to
do this? And John was a smart, smart guy. You
ran a good sound company. He was a smart guy.
But just just too many phone calls, too many phone calls. Well,
certainly those of us who have gotten midnight phone calls
from John at length, you certainly no, let's go back. Okay,

(31:57):
A lot of very big acts at this late date,
when they become that big, they asked for reduction in
management percentage. Has that been your experience? No, I'll tell
you why I take it. I take of these bands.
I take after the agents. Money is gone. I take

(32:21):
after the sound of lights. Basic sound of lights is gone.
I don't believe in commissioning stuff that they don't even
see it's just flow through. Money's gone. Okay, I don't
work with business managers. Okay, we look after all their money.
We take care of all the money. We don't we
take care of the mines to take care of all

(32:41):
the money. To the point where here's the money, here's
your money, here's my money. And I think it's their
job to get a tax problem. I just have my
job to get them a tax problem. They got to
solve it. So I've never worked with business managers, which
I find I'm not. I just find it they get
involved where areas they shouldn't. Okay, So well, just to

(33:05):
go this deep, will you give any investment advice to
some of these bands? Okay, let's go back to bt O.
It goes from Brave Belt goes to bt O. First
album comes out. I know where the track is blue Collar.
That's the one that the single. Yet that gets some
regional play such it in the Midwest. It's successful, not
really successful. We certainly the East goes the second album

(33:29):
has taken care of business. Actually I had uh no,
that's it's it's not the first big track. The big
track that first was uh ain't seen nothing yet? No, no,
uh that was right right, let it ride, of course,
of course. Okay, So when you had let it ride

(33:51):
and you had taken care of business, did you know
you had gold? I knew, I knew we had. It
was letter ride and then take care yea, yeah, I
knew it was gonna happen, okay, And I made it
another what I call smart move. I had everybody wanting
to book them and do stuff. And I went to

(34:13):
an independent who had only zz top and he came
and he wanted to say, listen, I like it. I'd
like to get involved with you. And we got involved.
I did some dates and early early with at those times,
concerts West and stuff like that. I did some shows
at those people, and all of a sudden, I just
I was having trouble because there's no consistency. I was

(34:35):
moving back and forth between a bunch of promoters. And
I remember talking to Don Fox, who ended up with
and I was sitting in a we didn't have cell phones.
I was sitting in a phone booth talking to people,
and I got in this argument and he said, why
do you put up with that ship? With what the why? Why? What?
Why are you putting up with that? It was something
you know some promoters somewhere, and I said, you know, Donn,
You're right, And remember taking the phone book always reminds

(34:57):
me of taking the phone book, and I grabbed the thing.
We had all the area code ages and I went like,
here's your territory, now take care of it. Give him
the whole territory in the United States. Okay. So prior
to don Fox, you didn't you were the agent for
the band. No, I was signed with C I was
signed with. This is great too, because I was signed

(35:18):
with the guy I couldn't get. Agencies weren't really that
interested as when we started. I sat a guy named
Paul Smith, I forget the name of the agency, and
he used to work for Colonel Parker. And that's how
I got to meet Elvis Presley. So I didn't know
you met Elvis? Oh yeah, who was that? Well what
happened there with Backman Turner Overdrive? Because but tell me, okay,
keep going. So Paul Smith was this agent for me

(35:41):
in a small agency and I can't remember the name, Bob,
I'm sorry, but um he told me these stories about
working for Colonel Parker. And so when Backmin Turnover Drive
came through Vegas, and I said, listen, we're going in Vegas.
And Elvis was at the same time, and I've seen
him many times in Vegas. He says, I said, do
you get me backstage and meat Elvis? So yeah, I

(36:02):
said really, He says yeah. He says, when do you
want to go? And I said, okay. I liked some
of the guys might come on and come, and so
we three of the guys came. It was me, Me
and Robbie Backman, the drummer, Blair Thornte, you know, the
guitar player. I think that was that three of us
went to it. Randy had to fly home, he was
piste off and he had to fly home and h

(36:23):
so he sat there and went to the show. That
was probably nineteen seventy five. I think I'm pretty close
to n So I went back there, met Elvis and
everybody something. Sit there, you wait and somebody comes and
get you like they do take you back. You sit
down in this room and all of a sudden Elvis,

(36:44):
Elvis came out of his dressing room and they said
the guy brought him over and he said, this is
Bruce down, this is Blackman. Guys from Backman turn over
drive and he just this guy could have been and
I've I've talked to a lot of people who know him,
a lot of people have ever been around him. Could
be one of the nicest guys you've ever wanted to meet.
And he said, nice to meet you, guys. How are

(37:05):
you doing? Blah blah blah. And the boy said, he
pushed me for it, and you talked to him, talked
to him. So I talked. I talked to him and
and we we had given me maybe we know we
were going, so we made up this uh this uh
a gift of the back into over drive wheel. It
was made of silver, and we gave him the wheel

(37:29):
made himself and give it to him. He gave us
what he gave us what TCB necklaces, okay, and he
he called it taking care of the boss and uh
and uh, I remember my head. I talked to him.
My hand was shaken, he said, and he was so polite,
like taking the slow down, take it easy to relax

(37:50):
and uh. And then he said, uh, you know, thank
you very much and I hope you can see again.
And that was it. It was pretty cool. They're real cool,
absolutely absolutely And I met him one more time after that,
he in Memphis, he came to uh show there. I
think it was I think with I think was probably

(38:12):
still again back when term but I came back stage,
I said a load him that just that. Then he
just stayed for a little while, went upstairs and watched
I guess somewhere out there. And that was it. But
you know what, do you always like, yes, sir, No, sir,
thank you, yes sir? You know what I mean. That's
the way he was. This guy was a good guy
and and that and that's why when you find when
you talk to people who've been in there in his company,

(38:34):
this is a good guy. And that's why I think
that's why it's a tragedy. It's a tragedy rich an
American tragedy dying that young. Did you, having met him
late in his career, did you see that coming when
I saw me look real good the last time I
saw me look real good by the time I saw
him on stage, and it had been a couple of
years longer. You're in the seventy seven now you felt

(38:55):
that's where Colonel Parker was an asshole? Why put him
out like that? Why put him out there? Why I
put them out there. I wanted the money, that's right,
That's what that was about. Colonel. I know guys who
worked with Colonel Parker saw Blues a million and a
half dollars in forty five minutes on the on the
Roulett Wheel. Now that's the stupidest bet in the casino.
And that was his problem. And that's why I played
in Vegas for nothing, okay, in comparison to other stars.

(39:18):
When I ended up managing Anne Murray, I asked her,
I said, did you let do you work when the
Elvis was there? He says, Healy, I worked with Elvis
there all the time. And she said and I said,
She said, I was the one who got everything changed
to one show instead of two. I said, how did
you do that? And she said, I had a kid's
two kids had one for the other two. And she said,

(39:39):
they want me to come back to Bally's. And I said,
I ain't coming. I can't do two shows. I can't
sit there doing a show at eight seven o'clock, eight
o'clock at night and another one at midnight. Okay, I
got these kids. So they gave her a break and
said do one, just do one, and then everybody followed,
I would I would have thought Elvis would have done that.
The colonel didn't give a dad. He was doing two shows,
seven nights a week, lots of time. Just just that's

(40:02):
a great story for Anne Murray. She broke the whole
two too, so Vegas and not Dr Barber's Dreis and
not Franks, not Elvis, Presley and Murray. So you know
you've had these, you know, worldwide successful acts. Is there
anybody at this point you haven't met that you want
to meet? I'll tell you. And this is gonna So

(40:23):
I turned on this thing to watch a talk last
two weeks ago, a stream of Elvis Costello talking to
Peter grell Nick okay, and I sat there and I
wanted to hear what he had to say because Peter
Groan thought, that's an Elvis guy. He's written great books
on Sam Cook, He's written books on on on what's

(40:44):
his Sam Phillips, He's written books on the on the
black music business. I mean, he's a fabulous writer. And
nearly from a sociological point of view too, you learned
about what was going on in the world at that
time and where those guys worked. And I'm sitting there
with Elvis watching him, and I think Elvis might have
talked more than more than Groulning. I mean, yeah, okay, Elvis,

(41:06):
you're you know, launch too, But I mean I want
to hear what Peter Grounnick says. And that's the one
person I'd like to meet. And I will go down
to one of the Elvis events to go down there
just to meet him because I love to sit down
in a room and talk with him. Because okay, he
never met Elvis, which is pretty weird. That is weird. Okay,
let's go back to uh bt O you make the

(41:28):
deal with Don Fox. Is the agent still involved or
now is they're no longer an agent? The agent? The
agent was still involved there, Okay. Now, just like with Elvis,
Presley and Jerry Shilling and talking about the fifties, they
were inventing it. In reality, the business music road business
was being invented in the late sixties with rock and

(41:48):
rollers and seventies. What were the lessons you learned back then?
Because you were totally green, you were learning while you
were going a learning while I was going yea, and
Randy had some experience he did and he was a
good he was a good guy. For me, it was
the thing is, it's just the biggest thing was to
him was he had a rule. Okay, we're all gotta

(42:08):
get together. We're a band. We make a time at night,
we say, okay, we're going to bed. We're leaving this
hotel at at ten o'clock in the morning to drive
twitter miles to the next place, right or two whatever
it was, we leave at ten. If he wasn't there
a ten, you left, and I remember, you know, we
only stayed in those two story holiday inns, right right,

(42:29):
So I remember, I remember Randy's he's coming, Robbie's coming,
he's coming. It's ten o'clock. Let's go and left him. Guys,
So we are you know, that's one thing. You guys
had to be on time, guys, and we and you know,
we looked after ourselves as best we could. Um, we're young,
we could take a lot more the way. But remember
Randy Backman's a Mormon, okay, And you got kicked out

(42:51):
of the guests who because his warman beliefs clashed with
their lifestyle. So it was a bit of a it
was it. I wasn't out there with a C. D
C or van Halen or pretty pretty having a ton
of fun. Okay, because Randy was the big brother, Randy
was paying the freight mostly, and uh so it was
it was. I mean, there were great stories, but I
had to keep with those stories away from Randy. So

(43:12):
I roomed with Randy continually on the road because I
was there to make sure he didn't start walking around
and wonder what the band was doing. Okay, you know,
I know you that car accident about fifteen years ago
in Tennessee. The question becomes, if you're driving a station
wagon back and forth six times, you must have some

(43:33):
close calls or falling asleep at the wheel or something. No,
but no, because you know you're driving short. The one
thing about driving tour, driving like we did, you never
drove far. Okay, you can only go as far as
the equipment could get. We're Randy wanted to play five
nights a week, so we're not we're not driving stupid distances. Um.
The only time I fell asleep, but the wheel was
going to it. Jerry Lee Lewis auction that I thought

(43:55):
I could get his piano, one of his pianos that
I was driving. I got off the plane in Nashville,
had to drive to uh Um and to to Memphis.
I was going to drive to Memphis, and I fell
asleep at the wheel driving and I went down off
the highway into between highway with dropped down to the
grass and what we have as a grass going under
the car like that, right, And a guy O trucker

(44:19):
went by and pass me and blew the horn. WHOA,
I woke up, Bob, I'm telling me something. If I
just stepped on the brakes out of flip the car, okay,
I had to flip the car and I just kept
it going. But I never fell asleep on the on
the road driving okay, But there were things that kept
you go up to if you wanted to keep up,
stay away. And I drove every nobody else drove, I drove. Okay.

(44:42):
So you're working with Don Fox. You have this incredible success.
Of course, it's a different era. As David Krebs always says,
tickets were three, four or five dollars then that we're
not a hundred dollars a piece. So, uh, how is business?
Did you go clean in most market? Did you make
a lot of money? Did he get screwed? What happened Randy?

(45:03):
Don Fox? Says to me that he never had a
fastest sellout in his career until he was doing a
young actor in the Latin the last few years. Back
to turn Over Drive suttle tickets faster than any act
he ever ever did, and they were we argued over
eight dollar tickets, and we really argued over ten dollar tickets. Okay,
but be your right, five six bucks, seven bucks, that's
what it was. Okay. Then they have all this big

(45:25):
success there on Mercury, which you were the biggest act,
but it was a mid tier label. They put out
Four Wheel Drive and it sells out of the Boxer's
not really what happens. How does bto fall apart? It
becomes it falls apart because Randy, I believe, wanted to
produce the record. I wanted to write most of the

(45:45):
songs and own the publishing. And the boys it was
it was they wanted to get a share of the publishing.
They thought they should get a share of it, and
he didn't give it up. And that's the trouble with bands, Okay,
that's why bands breakup. Part it's always over money. And
because that was my first band, I didn't have the
skill to stop it. I didn't. I didn't have the

(46:07):
wherewith all to stoff, but I couldn't figure out how
to stop it. Okay, and Randy, because Randy was Randy
was confident he could do it on his own. Again,
then he was going to leave, and this and that
and the boys just weren't going to give up. So
it all kind of blew up, Bob, and that was it?
And where did that leave you? Why? I went back
to the agency. Okay, So I go walking in the
agency trying to take over the agency, and started to

(46:29):
go back again that I've been away a long time.
The agency wasn't running the same way as I want
to understood. The boss again said that, okay, here we go.
So that's where Sam and I clashed, and uh you know,
he put in a lot of time, and I was difficult,
I think coming back from that. And uh so with
the agency split, we never split. We haven't split to
this day, Okay, but we're in different locales and actually

(46:52):
we're probably closer friends now than we ever were when
we were together. And so all of a sudden, I
was just not watching. I watched the office walkout. People
were going to good agency. If they go you haven't
got anything going this. I was left with one girl
and uh, get a call for from somebody in Calgary
said he's got the span called lover boy. Would you

(47:13):
be interested in taking a look at it? And that's
how that that run started. And we like, before you
go to the lover boy, were you depressed that you
were now going to be Vancouver be booking bands again. Well,
I wasn't gonna be booking bands with against the agency
went with them, you see. I was still gonna get paid,
but I would we worked together, Okay, So I had

(47:34):
nothing to do much. I had to do something. So
that's what I just came. I went got try. I
probably tried some bands in there that didn't work. Who
a lover boy called that kind of worked. I went
down to see them and they were good. Tell a
story of lover boy. His owned But they were managed
by a guy who ran a nightclub in a big
nightclub in Calgary, lou Blair. And he's a Vancouver guy

(47:57):
and he's doing clubs when I was in Vancouver booking them,
and uh, he said, listen, I got this great band.
You've got nothing to do. Would you take a look
at And I said, okay, So I went up to
see them in Calgary and they were really good, but
they hadn't made a record yet, and he said, I'm
going to get try and make a record. I signed
it with Columbia for CBS Canada. He says, okay. So

(48:19):
I was done in Los Angeles one day and he
he was it was interesting. He knew where he was,
so he came to the same hotel and he said, listen,
where are you going? He said, I'm going to see
a friend of mine in Palm Springs and he said,
you know, want you listen to this? And he gave
me that first lover Boy album rough right or not
final mix? But turn me loose? Holy cow, you know,

(48:43):
I mean these are great. They made great he made
great records. That's Bruce Fairburn uh and Bob Rock And
I um, I well got downe this to paulm Springs
and I called him and he said what do you think?
And I think? I said this is real good? Is unbelievable,
how good this is? And he said, well good. I'm
six blocks up the street, so I'll come over and

(49:04):
see it. He followed me down. I don't know what
kind of a rendit carry was said by MS follow
me down there and uh it uh. We put a
deal together and off we went with the lover Boy.
And our big deal, of course was to move it
out of out of Canada to Colombia down the States,
and we did that. Although most bands that moved out
of Canada and go down the States, the States looks

(49:25):
very as scans at you because they know you're getting
thirty PC airplay up there and really, what do you
really mean? And uh, okay, usually though one of the
you know, there's the issue of attention, but there's also
once again the issue of money and that you know,
getting signed to the US label is supposed to sign
to the Canadian deal. The deals are different. Yes, So

(49:48):
how did you get lover Boy to the American label? Well,
first of all, we had had they had the rights
the deal Lou deal Lou made with Colombia, they had
the rights. Okay, we didn't good to shop it down there.
Had I would go in Columbia or wherever label they
were gonna put it on, and so we were just there.
So okay, now we got to make make it happen.

(50:10):
And you know what the biggest thing was was that
um I knew how to do with back and turn
over drive. I knew how to get out and give
me a shot on the radio. Give me a shot
and I'll make it happen because I knew I could
go on the road and do it. I just knew it,
and then they could. Then we hit MTV. Turned Me

(50:31):
Loose is one of the first songs ever. Believe me,
I know, I remember seeing it on the big screen
in jim rist Village country clubs, that iconic song. Yep.
So that's what happened, is that's how we got it going.
MTV came out. We were getting They worked the record
really hard. They believed in the act. I gave him
dates and that's what I was doing that We were there.

(50:51):
We were going to the radio stations. We were doing
all the things that was before all these chain book
radio stations they have now every place was individual and
we did it like it was a real lot of work.
And and we and the same thing. These guys worked
their assa. We think we were two hundred and fifty
fifty shows a year, you know, pretty regularly, and boy boy,
it would be made it and don Fox I phone.

(51:12):
I've been using the same damn formula for so long,
It's ridiculous. Don Solomon said wow, and he phoned up
Bill Ham and he said, Bill, I got an opening
act for you. He said, who love her Boy? He said,
who love her boy? Because Bill just into his body
he does down there and the tour, Bill got mixed up,

(51:34):
but got messed up with the album was not happening,
and Fox convict convinced him said, listen, this band is
ready to go. They want to go on the tour.
I've sold the tickets. I don't want to rewrote this thing.
Let's go out anyway. You don't need the record and
and Bills. I'm not going out without the record. Don No, no,
you gotta go without the record. This band and Build

(51:54):
and ZZ Top will do some out business. And he foushed.
Bill Ham rolled over and said okay, okay, okay, okay,
and he went. He went. They went out without a tour.
It was me opening and it was great and because
they could do it. They were pretty hot then that
that that was before the bull and everything on stage,
but they were still really hot. And uh, we broke
lover Boy because getting dragged around by zz talk. Okay,

(52:18):
So so how does it segue to Brian Adams real quick,
because Brian Adams came pretty fast after lover Boy, and
he was just in. He was in the bar bands.
And since we both thought since we had still had
some of the ownership or the booking rights for them
all those clubs, it was you know, I could go
see all these bands. And I went to see Adams
and he was all right. And he had a little

(52:39):
bit of hit called let Me Take You Dancing. It
was a it was more of a disco record and
what he does now. And he came to my office
and wanted to talk to me, and uh, I didn't.
I didn't talk to him. I just I remember he
just sat out there and went home. And that happened
a couple of times, and then finally my assistant just

(53:01):
go talk to the guy. Good guys, okay, come on,
and Brian sit down. So he had this conversation and
he had started he had he had let Me Take
You Dance, and he had a thing at A and M.
He had signed at A and M as a writer
and they were going to let him maybe do a record,
and uh, he said, like you to manage me, he said,

(53:23):
And I said, yeah, really, what do you do? He said,
well I got this record and uh and the record
was good, that first album with Brian Adam for it. Okay,
so he cut the first album without you boy, I
wasn't there. So was there a manager then? No, well
maybe that was I don't think so. And uh so
he said, um, I can manage me. And I said, well,

(53:45):
you know, it's a good record, Brian, real good. He says,
I said, here's my deal, blah blah blah. And he'll
argue that I wanted part of the publishing. But I
never wanted part of the publishing. But something that became
a breaking point in the in the discussion, and it
pissed me off. And I remember kicking the garbage can
at him beside my desk and he caught it and
kept talking. I thought that was really impressive, so I said,

(54:08):
he said, And I'm gonna tell you something, Bruce. He says,
I work. I know how you work. He says, I
can work just as hard as anybody. And he says,
I'm I will break this record. I can do it.
And he says I will be the biggest act you
ever had. That was before I booked my first show
with And you know, he's lived up to that. Okay,

(54:29):
so you make a deal with him. The first album
is out, so you get involved Lonely Nights, that's your
first album. Yeah, yeah, I came out. I worked that album,
of course, the first one, first one. Yeah, So how
does Lonely Okay? At this point in time, is he
still signed to A and M Canada or signed directly
in Hollywood? We never signed. We never signed with an

(54:52):
M Canada until probably the third record. Okay, so you
worked the first album. Tell me about the second Adams album.
I thought you you got it. It was one of
the best albums he's ever done. Absolutely, I think it's fantastic.
But we were still Canadian signed. Um, but we we
we worked our way into uh, into Jerry and Herbs.

(55:14):
You know they knew we were around er Jerry and
the record I thought didn't do very well. Excuse me
for how well how good it was? Okay, Brian was
piste off, I was piste off. And then we did
cuts like a knife. And when we did cuts like

(55:35):
a knife, Jerry Moss said to me. I went to
Jake Moss I said, Okay, this is a great record,
and if I don't break, if we can't break, this
record I want to release from you. And he said
to me, he said, okay, I'll make that deal. He thought.

(55:57):
He said, it's gotta be this's gotta be a platinum record.
And he did it, and they did it, and we
did it, and everybody worked together. I'm very pro record
company even to this day, Bob, I'm not anti record company.
I remember being an anti record company guy. I believe
there is a team there. If you can get them
to work with you, they are just an asset. Okay.
And I and I and and A and M worked

(56:18):
their house off for Briant. We did a good job
and we had great arguments. I remember we're doing Tina
Turner show turned Tina Turner song It's Only Love. Uh,
It's only Love and that song It's Only Love member
the Tina Turner doing. So we were just big in America.
We were running around American men and they were doing
pretty good. And you know, we did some journey tours
and stuff like that. And uh, and went in there

(56:39):
and I said, Tina Turner came up to the Commodore
played a Commodore ballroom here about eight hundred seats. We
Bryan went down to Meeter. We went down to meet her.
I've met her before, but we, uh, should you come
over to the studio maybe and sing this song? We
left the song for She came over the next day
and sang that song, and so anyway was on the album.

(57:00):
Everybody loved it. When I was on the album, then
I said, Jerry, because Brian Brian was born, he wasn't
born in Vancouver. He came to Vancouver, he lived and
he lived in Israel, he lived in he lived in
this in in in England, he lived in in uh,
Spain and Portugal. He lived all over the world. So
he wasn't just satisfied just doing North America. Okay. He
knew there was another market out there, and I remember

(57:22):
I had to go into I. I talked one of
my agents, Carl Layton Pope was another small agent who
had done a Lover Boy and down doing Adams for me.
He thought he could get me on Tina Turner tour,
and uh so I Jerry Moss and I said, listen,
we're not gonna record. Was doing pretty well. He wanted

(57:43):
us to be in the States, but we've been in
the States. I don't need to do another runner, I said,
we want to go to Europe and what are you
gonna do in Europe? We're gonna got a Tina Turner
to a Tina Turner. Bruce, He's a lounge ack, which
was correct in Vegas, she was a loungeack. But this
was her. This is the big record when Roger David
got older, and this is probably the first record he

(58:04):
made with her and she we went over there and
and Tina Turner. We broke Europe and the UK on
Tina Turner's back, okay, because every night we went out
there did our show. It was okay, they do a
couple of three songs. Then she came out. Then we
went out there and sang that song with her, and

(58:25):
that was she was just Tina Turner in the UK.
That was the rubber stamp and Brian and his forehead
You're great and away it went from that. It been fabulous. Okay,
So you have that great success straight from the heart, etcetera.
Then comes the big album Everything I Do, I Do
it for you album No No, I mean when you

(58:47):
do run away All of a sudden, Brian Adams is
everywhere under you run to run to you, Well run
do you? Was on the uh that was on that
was Was that the name of the album? Pub I
still it was four? It was the fourth album. Yeah,
I'm looking around here because they're all up here somewhere. Um, okay,

(59:07):
the fourth album with a run to You on it.
That was the thing where you made the divondboard dove
into the empty swimming exactly exactly. And h yeah that
that that really exploded that album. That was a great album.
And uh we Tina Turner was on that album, as
I remember, is that correct? R right? It's only love.
I pretty sure it's on that album. But the but

(59:28):
he was literally could have been the biggest star on
MTV at that point. Yeah, he was everywhere and he worked.
Like I said, we worked, We worked everywhere. But we
played big cities, played the small cities. I always did that.
I always tried to cover off the smaller markets too.
And and and Maz there at her side, and and
did a hell of a job for us. And they

(59:48):
got no complaints over in America. Well, you know, we
we've had some publishing arguments, but I don't think anything
with the record company in general. Okay, So after Reckless,
that's the album with Run to You. Uh, then he's
sort of there's a backlash that he's not political enough.

(01:00:10):
He does the album Into the Fire, which is not
as successful as what came before. That was my fault
because I took that amnesty to her, and so he
was out there with all the you know, the intellectuals
of rock were out there with the police. We're out
there with you too, of course, and we're doing these

(01:00:31):
shows and I think Adam Brian, right, I wanted to say,
you know, I want to make a change, I want
to do something differently, got something I want to say.
What am I going to say? No, he's an artist.
That's what that's what you do, and you get you
earned the rate to do it. But it was a
it did. It was not the record that we thought
it wouldn't be. Although it's interesting now when he's on tour.

(01:00:54):
He played some of those songs and we're doing a
on each other at the Royal overt Hall. I know
we're doing a night there, but that's that's what's gonna be.
The whole night is that album. There are people do
like that album, but it wasn't the album it was.
It was a change from what we were doing. But
he felt he had to make it well. The first
three tracks on the album he did, The Night Into
the Fire and Victim of Love. I play those all
the time. I don't fight as I agree with you.

(01:01:16):
The second album is the best. You want it, you
got it, okay, but that album is not as successful
as you wanted to be. Tell us the transition to
Everything I Do and working with Mutt Lang. Um. Mutt
Lang I had worked with month before booking his band,

(01:01:39):
and he had at the time called City Boy, but
he's more a friend of Clive Calder's and Mutt Lang's
and and I booked him, uh, you know, across Canada
and they did what they did. But Uh, Adams, I
believe Bryan Adams and I had a conversation, came up
with the with Mutt Lang idea, and we gave Mu

(01:02:03):
a call. And that's a songwriter, and I think he
loved adams songwriting and he loved his voice. He's always
told me they just loved it. And Clive Calder and
I you know, he liked me. We got everybody got
along weird, you knew each other like you know, pretty
good friends. So that deal started with mud Lang album
on on that album and uh, and Everything I Do

(01:02:25):
was not on that album. It was there in the
mixing stage of that album and with two songs to go,
Michael Caman sent me a track, the instrumental track of
Everything I Do for this movie and I said, Michael,
you know, what do you want to do? He says,
I think Brian can re sing this song? Can you
get it? And I says, okay, but I'm mixing this album.

(01:02:46):
I don't know if I might get it to him.
So I sent it over to Brian right away and
I think can listen to the song Him and mut
sitting there. They wrote this song in about thirty minutes
and the way it went and it's still the long
number one, longest number one record in England to this day.
Oh okay, let's go back to that era because it's
very significant in terms of the marketplace and that Brian

(01:03:09):
was known as a rocker and let's just say that
Everything I Do is a little bit of small cy
and sappy. People criticized him for making that record, but
simultaneous within making the record, a O R radio where
he was living completely died. Correct and that and we
we survived, We survived as a result of that song.

(01:03:30):
And I we had a we had a lot more
of those ballots to it. It saved us, okay, And
we still kept up our arena business because of it, okay.
And people people think that was you know that that
was because Adams rocky. He sold out. He didn't sell out.
He wrote the goddamn song. I mean, it's not like
I'm out there hustling songs to try and make it rock.
He was. He was writing those songs, he was writing
the ballants, he was writing all that stuff. Bryan Adams

(01:03:51):
wrote every song here he ever ever recorded on around albums.
I mean, you were involved in the writing with this
partner Jim Balance or Mutt Lang or whatever. And mud
Mudd Lange could sell a battle too. He did. He did,
heaven he did, you know we he was straddling two places.
While trying to straddle two places. I remember Brian Adams
had number one and number two on the charts back
to back. He had the triple song with All for Love,

(01:04:15):
and he had he had uh I think the next
song probably who was all for Love and uh god,
I have to think of the name. But they're back
to back singles one and number one and number two.
It's phenomenal. People liked him, you know, and he could
still rock. He go out the Rocky shows, a rock
show with some ballots, but you have to apologize for them.

(01:04:35):
It's how the Ronthos battles. People love them. Okay. Uh.
But if the simultaneous you have another business managing producers,
you have Bob Rock and Bruce Fairburn, how does that
come together? Well, Fairburn played for one of my big
bar bands. Fairburn and I grew up together the same neighborhood.
He's a couple of years younger and I. He was

(01:04:55):
in a bar band called, um, what was it called.
It's called that did Man because just a bar band.
And I looked at him and doing these things. And
he he was a graduate student in town planning, and
he was he was a smart guy from university. And
he didn't want to be in the bars plane plane trumpet,

(01:05:15):
which he played a tough instrument in the bars. So
so he wanted to become a producer and actually the
person records he did first of course, we're the lover
of some of the lover Boy records and uh, and
then Bob Rock came in and Bob Rock used to
deliver the tea bags around it at at the record
at the in the studio. He used to run around

(01:05:37):
and you know, look after things there. And he got
into a band called the Payolas. I managed. I managed
the Payolas, and the Payolas couldn't get out of Canada.
They made a mistake. Is we made a mistake. We
went down there and Charlie Miner was working the records
for Am down there, and we gave him a record,
We gave him the song they could. He could never
work a band called the Payolas. Okay, Drove he couldn't

(01:06:00):
do it. He said, I can't do it. I'm not
gonna do it, blah blah blahs. And Bob want to
hang on to it. But anyway, that band could only
goes so far. Okay, they were not a bad band,
but they didn't have what I knew would break through.
But I knew Bob Rock, and when he was coming
out of his engineering thing that I said, I believe
Bob Rock could be a producer, and I kind of
made him quit the band and he went into what

(01:06:22):
he did now. But he was brought up as an
engineer with Bruce Fairburn and okay, but you know the
Fairburn worked with Adam Then all of a Sudden he
had mega success. He did Slippery when Wet, he did
Errol Smith. How did that all come together? Well? That
was that was John Kalander. John Kloner was a big
fan of what of what Bruce had done with with

(01:06:44):
with with some of the records that we've made with
Loverboy records, especially, I mean John bon Job used to
come to every Loverboy show when we were out in
the East co He loved He thought lover Boy is
fantastic and John Kladner liked it. And Fairburn made that record,
the first lover Boy record, the second lover Boy record too.
But he he uh he he got hired by Klauder

(01:07:05):
to do Sweat all the bon Jovi records and and
they were done all the bank, all those Vancouver had
a great scene that I mean more I talked about it,
all those acts that came out of there, the producers
that came out of there, the studios that were there
and still there today. The warehouse is one of the
greatest studios in the world. Okay, it's still here. But Fairburn, Fairburn,

(01:07:28):
Fairburn was amazing. He could sit there because I used
to have figure out the budgets. He said, I'm gonna
start this record July fifteenth, and gonna mix it on
September four, and we'll be finished by and uh first
of the end of September. And he nailed those all
the day because he's a planner, and he he and
he tried. He was with family too, and he said,
I only worked from you know, at ten o'clock till
six o'clock and I to go home for dinner. And

(01:07:49):
then I coached soccer and he and he and Roxell
Rockbery had to do a lot of it too, right,
So he learned it with Fairbor learned business of production
and uh, okay, he's very successful also. So Fairburn tragically
dies really very sad. How does Bob get the gig
with Metallica? They the band called him, and the band

(01:08:13):
called him because of some record they'd heard. Who was
that ahead of Bob? Would Bobbly that ahead of I
should have sat here? That got Bob. I don't sit
here and go over my past. I should have had no, no, no,
you're doing what I should have been sitting here with
my fucking things. I could say, okay, well, but that
they heard a record that they were really liked, and
I think it was I think it was the one
with John Sykes um like White White White Snake. Yeah,

(01:08:35):
but was that ahead of him and Metallica? Yeah, Okay,
that was a record that they really liked. And how
he got a call for for to do Metallica and
he made that that great record. The first record that
he made was great. And then of course he went
through that little psychological thing for the other You know, Bob, Bob, Bob,
Bob has done great records. He's a great producer to

(01:08:57):
this day. Okay, you're talking about fairburning budgets when you're
managing Bob at this point in fairburned back in the
old day. You can't spell budget, fair rock, you can't stop.
Those are big battles. Fairburn can spell. Fairburn could get records.
He knocked him right out. He said, it's gonna cost
this much, It's gonna cost that much. And so but
as Bob's manager, how deeply you and do you get

(01:09:18):
involved beyond just getting him the gig? Um we do
we do properly everything for Bob. Um we don't. And again,
you know, we take get out his money, we collect
his money, we give him his money. I get my
commissioned the same thing. It always has and uh, we

(01:09:38):
do get him to get him the gigs, and but
he's now I don't have to get him the gigs.
I have to answer the phone, big Bob Rock. Bob
Rock gets called a lot, okay, And it's tough business
for him now because the budgets that we had in
Metallica era and and after that and Slippy and um
sorry not Slippy went and the Motley Crewe records. You know,

(01:09:58):
those budgets gone. Now, Bob, it's tough to get a
big budget. You've got to be able to get the
records done quicker because they just don't throw that kind
of money actually anymore. I mean, it's gonna be interesting
when they do the Booblet records because we have their
expensive records. There's lots of musicians in their live music,
and it's it's gonna be interesting coming up for this
next Booblet record. So tell us the story of Boo Blay.

(01:10:22):
Bo Blay was played. I I owned some clubs for
a while and last for a while, I had bought
some clubs after I got out of the booking businesses
more rocked in the menagerement. I had two or three
clubs and he played in a month in a while,
he played in a bar called the Georgia Street Bar
and grill and need to play all the records, all
the songs he plays today. He played there with a
trio and stuff like that. Um, he goes to uh,

(01:10:46):
he gets a lot. He goes to sing for the
Prime Minister's daughter's wedding because Foster was at it and
fostered and said, you'd get this guy. He can sing
this stuff. And so he came out there and sang
for the Prime Minister to two or three songs. I was.
I wasn't there at the time and wasn't involved at
that time, and the Prime Minister said, Foster, you've got
to make this do a record for this guy. And

(01:11:07):
Foster took it as a challenge and said he would.
And I had managed David, like I told you before,
when he's eighteen nineteen, and he he came back and
started working on this record and unbeknownst to me, and
he's down the stage making it and uh, probably in
the record. He phoned me he said, uh, listen, um,

(01:11:28):
I'm making this record. I wonder if you'd be interested
in the artist. He says, he says, you ever heard
of Michael Booby. I says, yeah, I used to work
in a cocktail lounge type of thing that I had.
He said yeah, he said, I'm making this record with
him and so Reverie. What kind of record are you making?
I'm making a romance record, a romance record. Why would
you be making a romance record, Bruce, he says, I
listen to everything is on radio, there's no romance. People

(01:11:49):
always want romance. I'm making this romance record. I said,
that's interesting. He says, okay. He says, you interested all.
I says, well, you know, David, you're making the record.
Of course I got to be interested. He said, well,
how interested? He says I Abo? I said okay. He said,
what's gonna take? What's gonna make you go to? I said, well,
you better send it to me so I can hear it.

(01:12:10):
He says, okay, I'll send it up to you. So
about a week later, up came the record songs and
listen to the record. Foster makes great records, and and
I didn't know what to do with it. And I
but as much as I bet on Randy Backman for
Backman turn Over Drive, I bet on David Foster because
he was coming off Josh Groban. I bet on David Foster,

(01:12:31):
it's Michael Bobble because he was on a roll a
bit in that genre. But then I got the record
and I thought, what do I do with it? How
do how do we what is this a theater actor?
I didn't, you know, trying to get a grip of this,
and I sent it to my send it to Don Fox,
probably I would bring into America because I know he

(01:12:52):
killed for it because he's independent. And I gave it
to my agent in Europe and they both thought he
was making a joke. And I said, no, this is
this is gonna be a record. I'm gonna do this
record and I Don, I said, Don listen, we're gonna
put this record out and you're gonna help me with it.
And I'd like you to help me with it. And
he said, I don't know, But I just don't know

(01:13:13):
what he says, but he says, get the kids singing.
A kid happen to be in the office, and and
I says, put him on the phone of me, says
I want this is Don Fox. Michael, Yeah, Don Fox, Yes,
I heard you, Don Okay singing returned to me for
me because Don kind of likes that. Returned to me

(01:13:33):
Fox that I think this is fantastic. Okay, So he said, okay, okay, okay, okay,
and he went to his office. He played the record.
The office looked at him like he was from Mars
and says, we're going to try and break this act.
So I said, he said, let's say you put a
bunch of shows together, Phoenix, Seattle, small small cities in
the record results, small cities in uh California, so on
and so forth, and uh put on put the tickets

(01:13:58):
on sale. Remember he phoned me after the first again,
okay ticket accounts. Here we go Phoenix, Okay, some surplace
in California, eight Seattle. What does his family drive down?
You know, like we sit there and I go, okay. Well,
you know, and he worked at he believed in it.
But all of a sudden we hit TV. Michael Bubby

(01:14:20):
got put on TV. And have that happened? That just
that the record company pushing We ended up two people
people of the record company. We're behind us. One person
who was behind us at that record company who did
a hell of a job is Liz Rosenberg. And if
I say, I bring up Lizzard Road. If I bring
up Liz Rosenberg in front the name, in front of
any pr person in the world, they know who the
hell she is and they whoa whoa right, So she

(01:14:44):
had some muscle and she muscled us on too, like
to the day show. And it worked and people say wow,
you know, and he started to sell records. Who was
the other person who was behind you at the label? Oh,
at that time, there's two guys. It was him and
the the girl who there was a guy who's gone
Jeremy something who used to work there too. But the guy,

(01:15:06):
the product manager, was behind us. So it was Liz
and him they were and he was but he was
one of these product managers like to make toys, you know,
I'll send your stuff. That's Michael right right, right right,
you know the guys that used to and and and he.
But then then and of course then another guy or
who caught it in South Africa was a friend of
mine now a friend of mine named Dion Singer, and
he caught it in Toronto in South Africa and started

(01:15:28):
to do some stuff over there. So we had these weird,
weird markets South Africa. The States are starting to warm
up Canada, Canada. That's your phone, not mine, Canada, Canada,
because it was because of course he's in Canada. But
you know it, it's just he did great press. He
did every time he was on TV. And that's a
record that was broken, Bob by us doing TV show

(01:15:49):
really because then and then the music caught up to
us and uh, Bob, it's it's unbelievable. And and he
had you know, and and Foster, Foster did a great
job us. All those albums that heat, all the albums
that that David's done with Michael have been very very good.
And then of course, of course it is a big
home run with a Christmas album. And you know, as
as I go into my ninth year now, that Christmas

(01:16:11):
album out and your Bob, that's very neat to do
in the Christmas albums only you only work on for
about eight weeks max, you know, And that's the biggest
selling album known in Christmas record history. Okay, so let's
talk about today. Certainly the business has changed. For fifteen
years we were arguing about the disruption of the music business.

(01:16:31):
That's basically over what do we know? Streaming has paused
revenues to go up, but generally speaking, the revenues go
primarily to those at the very top of the Spotify
top fifty. So as a manager today, what is your
you know, what is your plan for an act? Well,

(01:16:53):
that's what I'm looking into now. And I think the
only thing that I'm feeling good about Spotify is that
I hear and only reading stuff, reading and reading because
I ever put out a record on Michael for a while.
Is that the dead generation now fifty plus is going
over to streaming because they have no option. Now you
would know that better than me, but that's what I'm told, Okay,

(01:17:15):
And I believe that how am you know? In terms
of breaking the record is one thing, In terms of
getting paid is another. But keeps Yeah, and so I've
always I think, you know, it's gonna be interesting how
how this record is, Well, see the next record, no
matter what he does. But the one thing I've learned,
Bob is I can't I don't think I know is
I can't chase it. I can't sit there and look

(01:17:37):
what's getting played on the radio and say, Michael, this
is we gotta do some of this, we gotta do
some of that. We have to. I think I believe,
stay in our lane and do what we do, okay,
because basically our our life is sensational. Okay, people want
to see this guy, okay, and we I put on
ticket sales in in in your in the UK ten
days ago for this tour we're doing just le around

(01:18:00):
with it with called the Stately Home Store. We are
playing in front of these mansions outside the country in
England and put our ticket sales on sale in the
midst of this thing the pandemic and did eighteen thousand
tickets in two days. Okay. Now he's done. When are they?
When are these days supposed to play? Post to schedule
in July August this year? Okay. Now, this is a
guy who's done in one single run ten nights at

(01:18:21):
the O two. Nobody does that then and ended up
had to split a couple of days. We came back
and do two more, so twelve nights. Is this guy
sells tickets around the world, So why should be chasing
radio because what's my chances there? Michael's forty two years old,
He's a he's great, great joy, great guy, great singer,

(01:18:41):
great performer. Okay, if I can just get good records,
we'll do fine, our our audience will find us. Okay.
Will they be buying records, probably not, will be the
same Alexis play whatever, Probably yes. But I still don't
want to give up making records because there are there
is still I think that I believe there's a real

(01:19:03):
big market out there for Michael Buble still this day. Okay,
but let's just say, in general, an act that already
has a career, how important is the record in terms
of road business? Where you make the lions share of
the money, if you're if you if you're if you're
an act, if you're a heritage act. It's not because

(01:19:25):
they're going there to see the songs they want. I
was out there touring Brian Adams. A bill was Brian
Adams and and uh and Uh Billy Idol. That audience
stood up from beginning to end. Fantastic, Okay, they knew
every song. They don't know what Billy's last albums or
Brian's okay, but they love to hear those songs. Though
that generation was brought up with music, music was a

(01:19:46):
big part of Bob less tess life. It's a big
part of mine, Okay. It was a big part of
Brian's and it was a big part of of of
of of journeys, or a big part of all all
the different that all those guys, that was a big
part of our life. Those acts and those songs, and
those people still want to hear them. They want to
hear them. I will guarantee you that they're not gonna
go and want to go to see Little Punk or

(01:20:08):
what these acts are. They're not gonna go see him
when they're fifty. I don't believe that, Okay. I believe
our guys will keep coming. And I believe young people
like our music too. They do. You can see it
in festivals. You get up there, you put a band
Brian Adams playing any festival. I can sit him there
and say, you can bang out ten hits in a row.
And I don't care who you are, you go whoa boy.
And that's that's the and that's why did the Eagles

(01:20:30):
stay the Eagles. The Eagles can sell tickets anywhere for
any price. Irving's proved her over and over again. You
look at hundred bucks, are you insane? I mean I
went through that ere They're going there and people go
to see those songs, and those songs my kids have
sat in my house listening to my music for such
a long time has become their music, and my daughter

(01:20:51):
was down. I had to go to Irving to get
tickets for that show in Vegas, but you had when
they had their orchestra there. He loves us and to
come back homes. He's only but that gimes. She's like
twenty eight or night. She came back and said, that's
the best show I've ever seen, you know, and that
and that's pretty cool. But how do you decide on
ticket prices for Boo bleyan atoms? Well, Dawn Fox does

(01:21:13):
never want anybody to not be able to come, be
able to buy a ticket. He can't stand some of
these prices he's seen, and so we have huge arguments
over that. But we do have to scale the house.
You know. There's reasons why you can get more money
at the place. We were out there with nineteen trucks.
We got out there with thirty six musicians. Okay, this

(01:21:34):
isn't cheap. Okay, So I mean we gotta make money,
we gotta make a living. So the hundred dollar ticket market,
I thought that Irving was nuts and it's going to
screw up the business. That's nothing now, so we can
sell a ticket. Mike can sell a ticket for hundred bucks,
and he can sell ticket for a hundred fifty bucks
at a certain place. They can do that and people
will come because and the one thing you gotta remember,

(01:21:56):
you gotta stay in your lane. But guess what, he's
so lucky. He's the only guy in the lane. Right. Absolutely,
there's no better business than that, No, I know it.
So you know if the people he's he's the guy,
they'll go and see because he can do it. And
and it's it's it's it's really a battle over over ticket.
It is with down because he just doesn't believe in

(01:22:18):
the high ticket prices. He doesn't like it, okay, but
he knows he has to be competitive with me. And
so yeah, could I get more somewhere else? Probably? Is
that the right thing to do? Maybe, but maybe not
too because at least bou Blaze Michael spaper stuff stuff
on it too. Bob. He he didn't want me to
walk in there and say our top prices two hundred bucks.
He doesn't want to get the phone calls. He doesn't

(01:22:39):
want to get people talking to him about it. You know,
he's doing fine, okay now big topics. I don't know
how much they affect your market, but in the business
in general, big topics are the secondary market and the fees.
What are your takes on those fees for? How which fees? Uh?
You know, ticket fees. Oh well, I got a promoter

(01:23:00):
who bashes away at that better than anybody. So I
I think I've never been I've never had a problem
because Michael Bobble. First of all, there's a big demand
from the city, from the town, from the places in
small markets too, to have Michael Bobble there. We gotta
get Michael Booble into this building. Okay. You don't have
to get the ever the everyday rock act in the building.

(01:23:21):
We've got to get Michael Boobery here. It's important that
Michael boober week and that's what we get. So don
fox when he cuts those deals, I think he does
a hell of a job. So I don't sit here
complaining too much about the feast because they already haven't
affected me. Okay, Because if somebody wants you because they
need you, because they want to go to get to
this type of they want to get that crowd in there,

(01:23:42):
guess what Michael Booble will come in, and he doesn't
mean you get read don't need we don't need to
get raped in pillage by the building. Okay. And that's
so far it hasn't. Or the ticket thing, I mean,
Don goes through Ticketmaster. You know, we all sell our
tickets the same way, but we price our stuff the
way we want to. Bob, I don't, I don't we
don't you want to get big fees? I mean, yeah, yeah,

(01:24:04):
you go in. You're going, sir, here's what don Don
sees the Madison Square Garden bill and just about commits suicide. Okay,
you can sell all the tickets. We want to walk
out of their fifty grand I mean, it's just the
way it is. Okay. But where we can go down
the street, the Barklay Center. Now we can go back
to Nassau Coliseum, it's done. How we can go to
Prudential across the river. We do all of them, okay.
And it's you don't have to go there, but yes,

(01:24:25):
you have to go to the Madison Square Garden because
that's the thing that that's that's the ones you want
to play in Madison Square Garden. You want to play
Wembley and you want to play the Buddha Coot. Okay,
that's great. Now you're a national, worldwide act. But I said,
I said, he gets mad at me. But I want
to go to the I don't care what I have
to pay pay to play the Garden. I want to
play there because I think it's a must. I think

(01:24:45):
it's a stamp. We made. We made a we made
that deal. Michael Michael Booble meets Madison Square Garden. That
was a Grammy winning video DVD. And think for and
because it was. It's a big deal for a guy
who was play the what's that thing? The Blue in
New York, The Blue Bird of the Blue, the Little

(01:25:05):
Blue Angel. I'm trying to remember what it is, remember
a little jazz club and he plays that. That's what
we were playing. That's where I started with him. He
went to Madison Square Garden. I don't think he believed it.
He did that and did and he died three four
nights there. Great, So I don't have I don't have
big bitches, Bob with prices and what about what's the
plan with Adams these days? I gotta hear a new record.

(01:25:28):
He's all excited about this record. His birthday to day
so I wished him happy birthday and I said, I'm
looking forward to hearing your record. But he's done and
mustie and he says, yeah, the engineer becoming back. I'll
after quarantine for fourteen days and I'll you know, he
he'll kind of I'll wait to get it and I'll
probably have it in a couple of weeks and it'll
be interesting and the record will be good. But now
I gotta sit there and say, okay, now, where what

(01:25:49):
do we do with this record? How do we have
how do we promote this? That's gonna be That's gonna
be something I gotta sit down with and discuss, okay,
because that it's not the way it used to be.
And we and I got brought up in a different era,
and we just it's hard for these artists to figure
out what to do with this music. But if he
tours all the time, which he will, and uh, and

(01:26:10):
we don't like I mean, I'm glad Billboard. I'm glad
Billboard took away the buy a ticket, get them c
D stuff. You know, I'm just I hated that that's
a fake chart. If you ever saw listen, the chart
is still fake. It's you know, it's not meaning exactly
is a magazine come out. Just's like Sports illustrat It's
not five times a year. I mean what you know,
I just I never get the magazine. I get the

(01:26:32):
Billboard bulletin. But maybe that's the thing. The problem is,
you know, I don't pay I get it as part
of Apple News. Plus it's too consumer facing. At this point,
there's just not enough insider information and it's bad writers
writing about pop stuff. There's really no insight in it.
And as far as the charts, the funny thing, of
course is Pensky now owns them all variety Hollywood reporters,

(01:26:54):
Sound Ski and Rolling Stone, and they have to competing
you know, uh counts. But it's really the industry doesn't
want an accurate account. They want to manipulate it so
they can promote. It's like, you know this, I'm a
Springsteen fan, but they put out a hype He's got
a new album. He had a top five album in
the last six decades. Okay, what does that mean? Almost

(01:27:16):
no one bought it, almost no one heard it. They're
like doing it so they can have the publicity. Yeah,
I know. Anyway, there's all these gimbicks to you know,
look at that. I mean, I put out the records.
I've done it with my own acts. Okay, here we go.
We gotta debut this at number one. We gotta put
our tour at the same time. Every time you buy
a ticket, you gotta buy the album. The album is included,
or whatever you do. Bang it is number one, first week,
number two, it's twenty two, okay, I mean second week.

(01:27:37):
I mean that. That's not the way it's supposed to be.
Bob's find a debut number one, but you want to
hang around in the five, in the top five for
the least a month. Absolutely, And it's not that way
with certainly the Heritage X. But with Bryan Adams, is
there a plan he wants to make a record, he
makes the record. Is there a way to get his
new music heard? The best way, the best way to

(01:27:59):
get it, It's hardest way is via film. Okay. If
you can get something in a film, it might work.
If you get something a big TV show, it might work.
That's a that's a long, long, long shot, okay. And
you can't stand around waiting for it. He's gonna come
with a record. He's gonna want that record out and
he's want to go out. He wants to go out
there and play it. Brian Adams. We had a deal
if we put together a deal in Germany two months

(01:28:20):
ago where the Merrick Lie we buried. The promoter there
had made a deal with a city that we were
going to do a show stadium show with three three
Germans and Adams, Adams headlining for twelve thousand people in
seventy five thousand seat soccer stadium. But he wanted to
get music going again. Everybody got we all got going.
And I was against it because I I think there's

(01:28:42):
a vibe to music. I think there's old vibe to
be sitting in a car. I think there's no vibe
in those pens stock pens they made the people stand
in London in and I don't think there's any vibe
in sitting there in twelve thousand, five hundred people in
the seventy five stee stadium. I think it's a terrible thing.
But he wants to play. So what am I gonna do.
I'm gonna put together other tour. I'm doing it now.
He'll go and play again. He'll play the new album

(01:29:04):
and hopefully hopefully some people will like it and be
driven to it. But can I really promise, can I
promise a radio hit bop? I wouldn't say that. I can't.
I can't do that. If I if I went to
Brian am said I would make this. I'll take this
top five pop radio. First of all, you think I
was mad. But he still wants to create. He wants
to create. This guy is a creator. So I'm there

(01:29:26):
to help him do that. He can always tour. He knows,
he knows that people love those songs, and and and
and isn't he lucky he's got them? I remember said
there with Elton John and some private we didn't ball
rain or someplace like that, and Alton John sat there
and he said, Brian used to listen as when when
when When everything I do is hot? He says, Brian,

(01:29:47):
you better like that record because you'll be sending it
for the rest of your life. And you know what,
He's right, He's right. We have to And I mean,
and and what's wrong with that, Bob? What's wrong with it? Nothing?
But it's great that Brian can still put out records
and people to put them out, and we do. He
does a good job. On him He's still a great writer.
And it's just if I said to you and said

(01:30:08):
I got a plan, I can know I can put
this thing top ten, you'd say you're an asset. I mean,
because we know what we're dealing with. Okay, you're not
at all. You're a guy's guy. Why is everybody in
your office, same with Irving? Why is everybody in your
office a woman? Because they're smarter and they and they
are better, better, and they work better and then you

(01:30:29):
know what they are. They're dedicated to what they do. Okay,
only they have to do with a woman is hopefully
I believe this anyways, treat them politely and properly. And
I go to my girls are tremendously tuned into you
because the young ages from twenty five some of them.
So one of my sisters twenty five years old. The

(01:30:49):
stuff she knows that I don't know, you know, And
and and I got my marketing girls probably one of
the best in the country. I mean, my accountant is
it's been doing that and looking after these guys money
or getting our settlements for probably eighteen years. And I
guess you know what other one other thing, Bob, they
don't want my job swinging dicks want my job. You

(01:31:10):
know that. That's an excellent point. Absolutely, So will you
ever retire? Do this till you drop? Well, you know,
I'm seventy five now, and I don't think so. I think, Bob,
as long as I'm winning, I'll keep doing it. Okay,

(01:31:30):
we got some we got some really cool stuff coming. Okay. Um,
and not necessarily music all the time. But you know,
Michael has done very very well with Pepsi and the
Bubbly thing, you know that, and uh, and there's a
lot of demand for him for that stuff. And and Brian,
you know, he had that, He had the thing on Broadway,

(01:31:51):
Pretty Woman on Broadway and stuff like that. These guys,
these guys love music. So we I know we can.
I know we can keep them going. We have a history,
we have a we have a legacy, okay. And I
believe as long as you put on good shows and
give the audience their money's worth, and we could play
some of the new music to not a problem. That's

(01:32:11):
why Michael, Michael is the best deal of all. He
puts out music anyway exactly, you know. But I mean,
I just believe you've got a career there, and you
can keep going. I know Brian does, and you know,
like Jann Arden, I just took over John Ardens. You know,
I took over Joann Arden for for for whatever reason,
basically the girls wandered in the office, you know, because

(01:32:33):
she thought he thought would be good. And jan got
a TV show and just got picked up down in
US too. She's fifty seven years old, and we're gonna
break this girl. We're gonna break this girl fifty seven
years old. Are you kidding? You're gonna break her musically,
musically and as I know as a celebrity too, as
a person who's who's a viable artist. Okay, I want
to break your music. Bruce read the cup. I just
sent it down. He said he didn't even know this happen.

(01:32:55):
And all of a sudden, Hulu picked up this series
and the same people did Ships Creak and you know
Ship's Creek. We're okay, and so this is gonna follow
and she'll have a massive career. Her book came out.
Today's the third time and she's had a book out
the number one in the number one in Canada three
times in a row. Now they're moving it down to
the States. Do you watch what will happen fifty seven
years old? Are you fucking kidding me? And it's it's

(01:33:17):
a real I'm really proud of it. Okay. And I
got the call from Bob Rock to help him out
with the Offspring. We got involved with the Offspring, Okay,
I did, Bob. Bob's making these records. Nobody's helping the
records are going to dine in the ditch. Okay. So
he says, Bruce, come on, he helped me help out
the boys. I don't. I don't know the Offspring music
that well, but people in the office knew it, okay.

(01:33:39):
And I said, let's given a shot on you know,
I met Dexter and and uh and I'm preay quite
excited about it. I never thought i'd work in a
band again. I did. I didn't want to work in
a band again. I don't want to argue with a
bunch of guys. But you know, Randy Bursticks carrying the
ball on that and other people in my office. I mean,
I'm doing what I can do, but you know, these

(01:34:00):
I'm winning. As long as I keep winning, I think
I'll stay in it. What is that is? Is that unreasonable?
Not whatsoever? I don't plan to retire as all. I've
got my faculties, but I just know your personality. I
was setting it up, and I don't see how you
don't continue to win. As you say, you know, Boo
Bleat and the Atoms, they can sell tickets till they
don't want to work anymore. Oh yeah, But I mean,

(01:34:21):
but also, you know, it forces guys like me, the
situation we're in with radio, in the situation we're in
in our business, it's it's it forces me and my
people here to look elsewhere to do stuff. And there's
a lot of stuff out there. There's a lot of
things that can be done, and and I'm trying to
do some of them, and I kind of enjoy it,

(01:34:42):
you know. But you also you also tell me a
couple of times we've been together, and you go, I'm thinking, Bob,
I'm always thinking, and you're coming up with ideas. You're
not someone I mean, you're essentially in the business all
the time. You're not taking a vacation and check it out. No, no,
And you know, I mean, I I love what I do,

(01:35:04):
and Bob, but I know, I know, I understand why
guys leave. Okay, I understand why guys get out of
the business, and uh, it's management. You care about the
bubbler like kids. I care about these guys. Okay, I said,
I got out to see Martina McBride and because Joe
Galante his wife died, had to go to the and

(01:35:26):
been to back to Nashville. Since I left and I
saw John and Martina. It broke me down like a
twelve year old. Okay's crying because you know, I can't
hate the person. It just didn't work. Okay. We told
a lot of records. We want everything. It was to win.
But I mean, you're involved with these people. It's it's
it's it's important. That's why you say you've got a

(01:35:47):
contract with Bubble. You know, you got a contract with
the Offspring. No, you got a contract with Bob. No
you got a contract? No, no, no, Okay, because but
I've never got to the point where I said this
is funny. I gotta get out of here. Okay, are
they never have? We failed? I failed and had to
go on. There's no sense. I know when sometimes when
I can't can't keep doing it. So I'm not going
to break this act or didn't work, The thing doesn't

(01:36:07):
somehow doesn't work. I can leave and walk away and
said the best I can. But isn't it a lot better,
Bob than then? Okay, remember I got you guys signed
for life. Now, every time that song gets played, I
want to make sure I'm gonna check your Come on, man,
fuck this, I did you know? I don't do that, Martin.
I shook. I phoned her up and and when I quit,

(01:36:27):
and I never I didn't ask for a sunset clause.
Sunset fuck you know we did all right altogether, That's
what I believe. Okay. Now, it used to be a
very unitary business where there was one chart, everybody knew
the same songs, and all the business has been completely flattened.
So do you feel okay, I'm in the atoms business,

(01:36:49):
I'm in the art and is I'm the offspring business.
And what's happening in Billboard, what's happening and who's running
the labels is an interesting thing, but it's not really
me anymore. I'd love to go, I go. I love
to go talk. I love talking to record company people, Bob,
because in the in the end, a lot of them
that I talked to, and if I talked to Tom
corson Okay, and if I talked to UH, if I

(01:37:11):
talked to the guys at Universal, or if I talked
to Reznikov, or I talked to these guys, I have
to work with their their music guys. Bob, there's music guys.
I said. There was Paul Kremin over there at UH
at the label, and he's a music guy. They know music,
they talked. They still love it. Okay, they're they're forced
to work where they gotta work, but they still like music.

(01:37:33):
And I so I I don't have any problem. You know.
When I talked to guys in Land, Tony Harlow over
there who runs runs it over in the UK, and
and Max Maxwell Soda and stuff like that, they're really
notedgable music guys that they they don't think anybody likes
particularly likes where the business is right now, except except
the money that comes in and the money they make
and the bonuses and the bullshit they do. They like

(01:37:55):
it for that. But sure, every guy, every guy I
have talked to in the business says the same. You
know what, Bruce, It's a great business, but just isn't
fun like it used to be. That's what they say.
Every guy who's like sixty or fifty five. You know,
that's what they say, and I think that's right. Now.
I'm lucky that I got great artists and I get

(01:38:15):
writing the creative thing. I said, So, I'm kind of lucky.
I don't have to work. Should I don't want to work? Okay,
it's just it's just different. Okay, Just a couple more
things for those who aren't informed. You know, you're a
guy living in Vancouver, but your acts are international acts
from the you know, certainly going to Canada many a time.
What stuns me in Canada is everybody knows everybody, okay,

(01:38:39):
and it's like a high school and if you raise
your head too high, they want to tear you down, etcetera.
But where is Canada's place in the world market today?
And what is the difference between Canada and it certainly
United States? Well, the different the difference in Canada is
I think his status probably the top five countries and
people want to break I think that's one of the
top five countries. Um as far as as far as musically,

(01:39:04):
I think we're trying to find our way again, okay,
but there has been some stuff out of here. You
stand there and say, oh, Drake, um Bieber. Oh what's
the kid's name? Sean Mendez? Oh boy Weekend? Who come on? Man?
That Toronto seems really booming now. Used to be all
out of the west. Okay, the Toronto guys stayed in Toronto.

(01:39:25):
They can run around the Golden Triangle out there and
to make money. They didn't have to go with me.
I had my next stop after Vancouver was Calgary. Seattle
was closer. So I mean, you know, I I try
to I work north south. Those guys are used to
working back there for the longest time, just in that triangle.
But those guys, those people behind those acts, they've done
a great job. And I think I think Canada has
got a place in the map. I remember there's three

(01:39:46):
songs on the top five in the were Canadian. Okay,
you sing Celindy on you're throwing some of these people,
you know. I mean, it's it's it's a booming music country. Really,
there's just not enough people here to sustain you know
that there's not enough. You can't sell enough here. It's
but it's it's a great I mean, I know you
enjoy yourself when you come up here. You know, people

(01:40:08):
talk about Canada and they talk about the health and
I moved to Canada in a minute. I mean, it's
like it's a better life than living in the United States.
The people just haven't been there. I mean, that's typical Americans.
They haven't been outside of the United States, never mind
just into Canada. But speaking of the United States, you know,
there are a lot of people up north who were snowbirds.
You you are a little bit different. You have a

(01:40:29):
place in the South, but not in Florida and not
in Arizona. Can you just tell us a little bit.
I have a place in Las Vegas. And the reason
I have a place in Las Vegas is I just
need I thought I should. It's the right thing to do.
A big fight fan. I go to the fights a
lot down there. Uh my girlfriend, the photographers, she likes
to go out there and and take pictures in that

(01:40:51):
area and stuff like that. And but basically when I
went to she sat there, we looked around, did the
typical Vancouver thing. Let's go to home. Why we'll get
a place in a way. Everybody's got a place in
a way. Okay. We went over there ten o'clock at night.
I didn't know what to do. Okay, Okay, then she said,
let's go okay, let's try Palm Springs. Palm Space for

(01:41:12):
me is for old people, okay, and I'm old. Actually
I shouldn't even say that. But there's nothing happening there either,
and I don't go. Okay. So then we tried Phoenix.
This is what Canadians do. So I went to Phoenix
and I didn't like it. Then she said, why don't
we try Las Vegas? And I know she had to
grit her teeth and say, why don't we try Las Vegas.
I went up to Las Vegas and Dr Paul Anko

(01:41:34):
who guided me through where the livers or stuff like that,
and uh, ended up in Las Vegas. And I love
going to Las Vegas. Okay, great, great, great, great restaurants,
lots to go on, and got a hockey team there. Now,
I mean they're coming to me now. They got a
hockey team there. Now, they got pro football there. Now,
I mean, why would you not live in Las Vegas.
I I look at people live in California, say, wait
a minute, you're paying this kind of taxes. Why you

(01:41:55):
drive across the border and live in Las Vegas? Everything
is there. They got just as good restaurants as you've
got in Los Angeles, California. How often you're there pre COVID.
I'm not there now. I haven't been there since March.
But I tried to hit. I tried to hit about
sixty days a year. And here's the other thing about
Las Vegas, Palm Sphinx doesn't happen is Phoenix, Las Vegas
and Southwest Airlines is direct. Las Vegas as a city

(01:42:16):
is direct anywhere, NonStop to London, nonstopped to Germany. Right, Okay,
perfect for me. It's a business decision. So Bruce, we
certainly know you're a man of opinions and you're not
afraid to express them, and you certainly have done that
on the radio in Vancouver for years and years. What
is your take on the world situation? For those people

(01:42:37):
who don't know, Certainly we have we have an election
going on right now. As we do this, we don't
know the exact results. Let's not talk about those right now. However,
the US has moved towards the right, Canada has always
started much further to the left front than the United States.

(01:42:57):
What is your take on politics in the world today? Well,
I said there's a lot, there's a lot of we
see it above. A lot of populist politics going on
in a lot of places, um, you know in America's
of course one of them, with a lot with Trump
in there. Um. But there's also I think what I
find more most interesting is young people getting involved in
politics now and actually making some changes. Okay, the youth

(01:43:21):
are gonna have to be are going to be served again,
you know. I got I watched the uh Chicago seven
movie and that I think, Bob, is that right? Okay?
And I watched that movie and I sat there and
I said to my girl, said, that's the last time
that I ever saw protests work in the United States.
And I said, Plus, I said, the music that came

(01:43:42):
out of there was unbelievable. Some girl gets shot in
Kent State, and and and and this guy's got a
song on the radio about it five days, you know
what I mean. I mean, music was really involved in
that stuff. And Uh, I think that I think the
future lies with the young people. I really do. I
think they're going to clean up the environment. You know,
they're there. They're not gonna have the same arguments that
we our generation has right now, and it's it's disappointing

(01:44:05):
to me, So you're still as excited as you always were.
Yeah about the business in life. I make business of
life or the business of the business, business and life. Well,
I'm I'm stone, col healthy, touch wood, Okay I am,
and uh I'm going to the gym now more and
they ever do do because you know what, COVID drove
me to the gym. Okay, I'm on the road all

(01:44:26):
the time. Now I'm going to the gym three times
a week for the trainer. I can't believe it how
it's changed me. Okay, I'm eating better. Okay, So I
this is the kind of COVID worked for me for
that and uh, I think that UH as excited. I mean,
I sit there. I know I said it five times
to you today. The jan Arden project for me has
been wonderful to watch that happen. Okay, And and I

(01:44:47):
hope that there will be other things that that I'll
be doing happen. I got some pretty cool things coming
with bou bleg that they're different for me, just different.
I'm learning and that's great if I can keep learning
because I've done you know, people say to me, what
what do you what do you have to prove You've
done everything I want. Why are you go? Enjoy yourself?
And I enjoyed myself sitting here. Thank you very much.

(01:45:09):
And on that note, Bruce, thanks so much for doing this.
You know we skimmed the top. We could go on
for days. You're a fountain of information and knowledge, and
thanks so much for doing this. Thank you, Bob, enjoy
to enjoy the hell over it. Next time? Do I
want to have all my albums in front of me
so I get the goddamn peats right? Okay, until next time.
This is Bob left sense

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Bob Lefsetz

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