March 24, 2026 • 32 mins
Some days are better than others, and the day I sat down with a legend in the music industry, Clive Davis, was a very good day indeed!
Clive has been bringing hits to the airwaves for over 50 years. He founded Arista Records and "discovered" an incredible number of artists that went on to become super star sensations. It was he who suggested to a young Barry Manilow that he should record "Mandy", and we all know how that went!
Clive, nearly 94, and Barry, nearly 83, have teamed up once again to bring us one more hit. "Once Before I Go" has recently hit the Top 10 on the A/C Music Charts, and is hitting listeners right in the feels! Join us today to hear Clive tell us, why this, why now, why Barry? I was so honored to have this conversation! ~ Delilah
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hello, my friends, Hello, Hello, welcome to love someone with Delilah.
What songs are you listening to these days? What music
are you listening to? If it's anything recorded in the
last forty fifty years, there is a good chance my
(00:26):
guest today might have had something to do with it.
Anyone who has paid attention to the music industry knows
the name Clive Davis. Mister Davis is a record producer,
a lawyer that's won five Grammys and has been inducted
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Clive Davis
(00:47):
was born in Brooklyn, New York, in nineteen thirty two.
His road to music productions superstardom was anything but a
straight line. He graduated from Harvard Law School in nineteen
fifty six and practiced law in a small firm in
New York before being hired as assistant counsel of Columbia
(01:08):
Records at the age of twenty eight. He became their
general counsel the following year. As part of a reorganization
of Columbia Records Group, mister Davis was appointed as Administrative
VP and General manager in nineteen sixty five. He was
the president of Columbia Records until the early seventies, and
(01:31):
then in nineteen seventy four he founded Arista Records, which
he ran for nearly thirty years. In the early years,
he founded Jay Records and a few years later became
the CEO of RCA Music Group, which included RCA Records,
Jay Records, and Arista Records. As of twenty eighteen, Clive
(01:54):
Davis as the chief creative officer of Sony Music Entertainment,
and he's now ninety three years old. That's his curriculum,
but it's Clive Davis's unparalleled, inexplainable, somewhat mythical, magical ear
that has been the key to his very long, very
(02:15):
successful career in music production and the superstardom of untold artist.
How does one intuitively know a future success when they
watch a performance of a young, raw, unrefined musical artist
or group. And we're not talking just a single genre.
Tony Orlando, Pink Floyd, Janice Joplin, Santana, Bruce Springsteen, Chicago Aerosmith,
(02:44):
Billy Joel Donovan, Bay City Rollers, and the list goes
on and on and on. He brought other less known
artists into the spotlight whose names are now as familiar
to us as our own. After He's H's Sissy Houston's
daughter Whitney, perform at a New York City nightclub, mister
(03:05):
Davis signed her. Under his guidance, she became one of
the biggest stars in music history. He signed Alicia Keys
when she was nineteen and heavily influenced her image and sound,
leading her to multiple Grammys. Barry Manilow had already released
an album, nobody paid much attention to it when Clive
(03:25):
Davis saw him performing at Woolman Rink skating rink in
New York City. When Barry opened for Dion Warwick. Clive
Davis was impressed. He saw star potential in Barry and
decided to retain him. Barry was working on his second
album at the time. Clive Davis suggested that he had
(03:45):
a song called Mandy and the rest is an enduring
fifty year history between the two that's turning out hits
even today. Once Before I Go is a beautiful song
written by the late Peter Allen in his writing part
Nardine Pitchford, and was recorded by Barry last fall, and
as of March third had reached the top ten on
(04:06):
the music charts once again. It was Clive Davis who said, Hey,
maybe you should record this Barry Today. I'm thrilled to
welcome the legendary Clive Davis to Love Someone with Delilah.
We're going to hear from Clive in just a minute.
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Mercyships dot Org. Hello, mister Davis, welcome to Love Someone
with Delaila.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
I'm so happy you are here with us today. We
got a lot to cover, a lot to talk about
on my podcast. Producer Deanna, who's on here, said to me,
as I was preparing to get to talk to you,
because you're such a legend, she said, well, you guys
have been in partnership now for fifty years. And I said,
(06:09):
oh my gosh, you're right, because I started playing the
music that you were bringing to the world in nineteen
seventy five. Wow, that's when I started my radio career.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Okay, so we thought it together.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
So basically we've been in this thing together for a
minute now. Clive. That's amazing, And this is the first
time I've had the pleasure of the joy of meeting you.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
So welcome, Thank you, welcome, thank you.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
So I went down a list of just a smattering,
just a drop in the bucket, Clive, of some of
the artists that you have been instrumental in bringing to
the radio airwaves over the years, and I'm like, oh
my gosh, I've not only played music for most of them.
(07:05):
I've had a chance to interview or have a lot
of them on my show over the years. So thank
you for your passion for music.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Okay, I'll take it.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
And today we're going to talk about mister Manilo Berry,
who was a kid, a veritable child when you started
working with him. Tell me about this new song why
now once before I go, and then we're going to
dive into some of the history that you two have
had together over the last fifty years.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
You know, we're in an era which is dominated by
hip hop. We're in an era that's dominated totally by
so much by streammate and so that hip hop is
not mostly known for lyric content. It's for sounds, for drums,
(07:57):
it's for baines or track And I was worried that
the ballot, but for so many years was a mainstay
of bringing forth some of the greatest talent in the
world to the front, would be ignored. That would happen
(08:17):
the roughest of times in breaking through on your charts.
And it was verified because I looked at your chart
so for many years in the wild, several and it's
rand that a ballot survived the surface. So when I
(08:39):
heard this song, and Peter Allen and Dean Food broke one.
Before I go, I said, water letric. It is a
modern day by the way, I've got to bring it
to Barry's attention. So I called him when I was
in Palm Springs and I told him I think he
(09:02):
should add it to his act. That's a very end
right now. Who's biggest in person, believe it or not,
the environment alone? He sold out ten thousand.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
He sells out every night. He is a not just
a legend, but such a mainstay when people talk about
and I don't care if you're you know, thirty or
seventy when you want to go see a good act.
You want to go see mister Manelo.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Without carts then? And why because the songs have held out?
Why because the souls are standard? Why the audience knows
every word of every song?
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Don't you think they're woven into our dna? At this point,
Clive elaborate on that, like the songs, like you said,
the lyrics are in our our dna to the point
where we know that one note, one note of Mandy
and you know that feeling that it brings up from
(10:10):
that time in your life when you were listening to that.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Oh true, Oh very trill. It's true. It looks like
we made you can't smile without your weekend in New England.
I made it through the rain and I said this,
it can't stop right now. And I made it give
with them that I would go to with Neward show
(10:34):
if he at the end, after doing I write the
songs and copa about it would come out with the
towel sam in the audience, and that I am advocating
him singing this song. And he did that. And I
looked at the audience when he was seeing once before
(10:58):
I go, and they were all sobbing and shaping and
clients fixed, and I one was all over. And when
Barry got their approval that yes he should record it,
I was so so fulfilled. And so we called Bigditas
(11:19):
and to produce the record. And the end result is
what is being played by you on your wonderful station,
so that a miracle is happening. Barn Mantel admittedly is
eighty two years old.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
That is a miracle. That is a miracle for people
who don't understand how youth driven our industry is. And
for somebody who has been around the block three times,
maybe four to have a song that is in the
top ten, right now, come on, no.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
I mean I wanted your audience. I wanted you the power,
the audience incredible that you have built over the years
to hearing. I want to see a number one. I
want to see it before it's over. I want to
see it as the same as as mandate. And that's
(12:26):
why I am here. And though it's an additional pleasure,
is a great respect for you who have revolutionized radio
and I've built this unbelievable audience today.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
I've had a hell of a lot of fun, that's
for sure. Like I said, when I was going through
that list of people that you have brought to the forefront,
brought to us the music, the songs, I was emotional.
I was very emotional because it's the story of my
life and the lyrics of the song. Once before I
(13:03):
go if I ever retire, which I'm not going to,
I mean, I'm going to have a microphone in my
face in the coffin, But if I were to ever
decide to leave this career, this would be my sign
off song. I mean, it's just so powerful, all those feelings,
(13:24):
Oh my gosh, this has been an amazing journey. But
before I go, Before I go, we got a little
more love to share here, a little more joy to
share via the airwaves, a little more magic.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
I'm buddy, well, would you want? Let's go for it?
Speaker 1 (13:44):
So what are the lyrics of the song? You said
when you heard it, you knew that it was magical,
that it was powerful. What does it speak to your
heart when you listen.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
It speaks for Chell once? Before I go, I wanted
you to know that I would be all again. I'm
sure i'd make the same mistakes, that I could make
it through the paint and join and mate I do
back then, I would do it all. I'd do it
all again before I go. I want you to know
(14:19):
that I look back with no regrets, and when our
luck was wearing thin and we were down and out
and still came back to win against all beds. Now,
when I look back, I still have no regrets. And
(14:41):
so it's hard to say goodbye when there's so much
less left uncertain in your eyes. But unless I spread
my wings again, I'm afraid I'll never saw. So hang
on to the memory and hold me close once more.
(15:02):
So kiss me for the last time, and hold me
just once more just one before I go.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
So, as I'm listening to you read those lyrics, and
as I was listening to Barry sing them, I was
feeling them from my point of view as a woman
who has been incredibly blessed to live a really, really
full life. And I was thinking, how, you know, I
(15:34):
would like to share that with my children and my
grandchildren and my great granddaughter, and share it with my audience.
And then I something flipped when I was listening to
the chorus when Barry was singing it, and I thought,
what a perfect song for a child who is leaving
home to play for a parent. Like it's not just
(15:58):
those of us who've lived lived rich, full lives, but
how appropriate would that be for a best friend to
play for her best friend from grade school as she
goes off to get married. I mean, it's so good
for so many situations where you're transitioning to that next
(16:20):
chapter of life.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
That's why you're Delilah, and that's why there's only one view.
I'm telling you to answer the iss I'd feel it.
Everything you said is is true.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
There are so many, so many times in our life
where we enter a new chapter. And for me, I
didn't even know I was entering a new chapter. Like
I have a friend who used to be in radio.
She's in banking now, go figure. But when she was
in radio, she shared a story and she said, if
(17:04):
I had known it was my last night at home,
I would have enjoyed it more. But in an instant,
in the blink of an eye, everything in her life
changed and she was thrown into adulthood long before she
thought she was going to be. She said, if I
had known it was my last night, I would have
(17:24):
enjoyed it more. And shortly thereafter, I knew I was
getting fired from a radio station, Clive in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Boston.
I don't remember. I've been fired so damn many times.
But I knew that I was getting fired because I
saw a letter addressed to a radio station that didn't
exist yet. So I called a friend at the FCC
(17:47):
and found out that my station was changing formats and
we were all going to be let go, like in
a week's time. So I had the good fortune of
knowing I was about to get fired. So I said,
you know what, I remember what Linda said, if I
knew it was my last night, I would have enjoyed it.
More so I went on the air and I'm like,
(18:08):
I'm going to play every song I ever wanted to play,
because what are they going to do? Fire me? But
if I'd had this song once before I go, that
would have been my sign off song that night. It's
such a great anthem of man, I've had a great
ride and I'm going to miss this chapter, but I
gotta spread my wings and sore.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
This was used in by Hugh Jackman, right, he sang
this in Uh what was the play oz the Boy
from the Boy from Oz?
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Oh? Yeah, he played Peter Rollin and that is the
song Peter co wrote, and of course it was so touching.
That's my first exposed trip to the song.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
And when you heard him do it, you said, I
got to I gotta get I gotta get my friend Barry.
How many years have you guys been close? You and
Barry Menilo.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Barry and I met in nineteen seventy five, so we're
fifty years strong. And it's hard to believe it. I'm
sure you realize that, just very very very hard to
believe it. But this opportunity today to really break and
explode once before I go to the top of the
(19:27):
jobs is clearly burning in a hearts. I don't hesitate
to say it, and any help and all continuing help
from you is really touching and greatly appreciated.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
The first time I met Barry, I was working in
Seattle and I went to his show. I want to
say it was at the Kingdome, but it might have
been at the arena where the Sonics used to play
when they I had a team, And I saw him
on stage before I met him, and as you know,
he is larger than life on stage, He's seven foot tall,
(20:09):
and he has the energy of ten energizer bunnies. You know,
he just when he's on stage, it's like he feeds
off the energy of the audience to such a he
didn't want to stop playing. I mean it was like
a two and a half hour show, and he would
have played for two more hours, I think if they
would have let him. I met him the next day
(20:30):
in the studio. He came on my show, and I
was flabbergasted because in the studio he was so calm
and quiet and such a gentle man, such a gentle spirit,
and I'm like, wait a minute, I saw you jumping
around the stage playing your guts out with the energy
(20:52):
of a basketball team last night. And he was such
a beautiful, sweet, kind, but very subdued man in the studio.
Which version of Barry do you see more often? Because
you've I'm sure seen him perform a thousand times.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Wow, these is some of all parts. He can be
quiet and touching, he could be really out there and lively,
and Dan saying he is the sum of all parts.
And I'm amazed at the passage of fifty years. And
(21:34):
I'm amazed a song that report maybe twenty years ago
as standing for what music is today, sung by Baron Manilo,
Take it to number one.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
I beg you, it is amazing. Talking with a music
recording legend, Clive Davis, I'm not ready to let him
go just yet, but I want to shine a light
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Shop the sumptuous collection at Lauragellerbauty dot com. So you know,
this podcast that I do is a little different from
my radio show, and then I get to have much
more in depth conversations like this one. On the show,
they're two or three minutes long, and then that's that's
all you get. Most of a call that I take
(24:28):
falls on the floor. But the podcast I started because
I want to change the world for good. That's my goal.
I want to leave the world a better place than
when I was born. And everybody that I interview are
people who use their gifts and talents and skills to
(24:49):
change the world for good. And Clive, do you ever
sit back and think about how much richer our world
is because the passion that you had for the last
six decades to bring music, good music, great music, some loud,
(25:11):
some rock and rolls, some rap, But your passion was
to share that with us. I can't imagine a world
without Mandy, without Barry Manilow, without the music of Santana,
without the music of Janice Joplin, and how many hundreds
(25:35):
of artists that you were instrumental in sharing with us.
Do you ever give yourself permission to sit back and
go damn, it is a much better world because the
gifts that I was given, you were given and the
intuition you have. Do you ever give yourself permission to
(25:59):
just think about that?
Speaker 2 (26:00):
You know I would give permission, But you know, Delilah,
I'm lucky enough to feel it every night when I
go out for Restall. There's never a time that someone
doesn't come over me with profound gratitude about the music.
(26:23):
I'd say, is our life inspired them, will fill them,
stayed with them. So I'm so lucky that every night
this occurs, I have to paint myself and realize, well,
we're doing it and we got to continue to do it.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
All I know is that people are always going to
want good music. People are always going to want something new,
something fresh, something that speaks to the heart. People are
always going to want to feel connected to that music.
I'm not a musician, I'm not a writer. I'm not
a singer. I've written a few lyrics, but my role
(27:10):
is to be the matre d to introduce my listeners,
whether it's you know, on this platform or another platform
in the future. My role has been to introduce my
listeners to the songs that will be the soundtrack of
their life. And you're the one that brought those songs
(27:33):
to me, to our industry, to our world. You're the
one that said, yes, I see something in this young kid,
Like what did you see in Barry Manilow he was
a kid. What was it that you saw in him
that you said, this kid's got that magic thing?
Speaker 2 (27:48):
You never think they would become out. So we're named
all over the world. You're making, you signing, you're feeling talented,
really talented enough to sign And so the rest has
been our history of taking its hire and higher. Neither
(28:10):
was thought we would have all these hits, the songs
and as current today as they were years ago. So
it's really been blessing and then brilliant.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
So what inspires you when you wake up in the
morning and you take that first breath and you're like,
I'm still breathing, I'm still standing. What inspires you to
keep going my gosh. Most people would have said, you
know what, forget about it. I'm not I am not
spending any more energy making any more hits. And here
you are doing the circuit.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Because we have a mission. We have a mission in
this day of the bab to take this song once
before I go and make it an evergreen standard and
go to the top for the drats who would have
bet on it?
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Nobody, nobody, nobody. It's the horse that's coming from behind
the chile of.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
This from the minute I wake up. It's driven me
to be with you today.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
So you like it, challenge, you like to bet on
the underdog?
Speaker 2 (29:18):
I like that exactly.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Yeah, well let's do it. Let's introduce the world to
the song, and let's let people hear these beautiful lyrics
and then gift it when it's time to close a
chapter and open the next door. Okay, okay, I'm with you, Clive,
(29:42):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
For all that. While, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
All right, you have a great day and you bye bye,
bye bye. We all know his name, but have you
any idea how he's guided and shaped our music industry?
Probably not spend some time, do a little research. You'll
be amazed at the number of hit songs he's been
responsible for over the past five decades. About Lynn Anderson's Rosegarden.
(30:13):
It was Clive Davis who insisted it be the country
singer's next single release. The song was a number one
hit in sixteen countries worldwide, and Rose Garden remained the
best selling album by a female country artist for twenty
seven years. That's just one out of so many Clive
Davis stories songs. He gave his magical touch to Mandy,
(30:37):
the first singer of Barry Manilow's second album, released in
seventy four, marked Arista's first major release. The single Sword
to number one, establishing both Barry Manilo as a star
and the record company as a serious contender in the
music industry. More singles like It's a Miracle and Could
(30:57):
It Be Magic? Since the album's huge success. On Barry's
third album, Clive Davis suggested I write the songs written
by Bruce Johnson of The Beach Boys. It became another
number one hit, of course, and like so many of
the songs Clive Davis worked his magic on, it became
the soundtrack for Our Lives. Clive Davis, now ninety three
(31:20):
years old, Barry Manilow is eighty two. They've both had
remarkably long, successful runs and have a remarkable impact. And
now they've gifted us with once More Before I Go.
Get It, listen to it, stream it, download it by
the twelve inch vinyl single available now. Wats for Barry
(31:40):
Manilow's upcoming album What a Time featuring Once Before I Go.
It will be released later this year and hopefully coincide
with an upcoming arena tour that you better believe I
will be attending. Visit Barrymanilo dot com to keep up
on all of his performances and the album release. Nobody,
but nobody has had the influence on the musical industry
(32:02):
that Clive Davis has had. He has no peer. He
continues to share his gifts and talents with the world
by amplifying the gifts and talents of music artists. Head
to Clivedavis dot com to discover more about this incredibly
talented man. Watch some of the many videos that will
(32:22):
give you more insights as to his life and his work.
What an opportunity this has been. I want to encourage
you to use your gifts, your talents, your skills to
encourage as many people as Clive Davis has for us
over the years.
Hello, my friends, Hello, Hello, welcome to love someone with Delilah.
What songs are you listening to these days? What music
are you listening to? If it's anything recorded in the
last forty fifty years, there is a good chance my
(00:26):
guest today might have had something to do with it.
Anyone who has paid attention to the music industry knows
the name Clive Davis. Mister Davis is a record producer,
a lawyer that's won five Grammys and has been inducted
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Clive Davis
(00:47):
was born in Brooklyn, New York, in nineteen thirty two.
His road to music productions superstardom was anything but a
straight line. He graduated from Harvard Law School in nineteen
fifty six and practiced law in a small firm in
New York before being hired as assistant counsel of Columbia
(01:08):
Records at the age of twenty eight. He became their
general counsel the following year. As part of a reorganization
of Columbia Records Group, mister Davis was appointed as Administrative
VP and General manager in nineteen sixty five. He was
the president of Columbia Records until the early seventies, and
(01:31):
then in nineteen seventy four he founded Arista Records, which
he ran for nearly thirty years. In the early years,
he founded Jay Records and a few years later became
the CEO of RCA Music Group, which included RCA Records,
Jay Records, and Arista Records. As of twenty eighteen, Clive
(01:54):
Davis as the chief creative officer of Sony Music Entertainment,
and he's now ninety three years old. That's his curriculum,
but it's Clive Davis's unparalleled, inexplainable, somewhat mythical, magical ear
that has been the key to his very long, very
(02:15):
successful career in music production and the superstardom of untold artist.
How does one intuitively know a future success when they
watch a performance of a young, raw, unrefined musical artist
or group. And we're not talking just a single genre.
Tony Orlando, Pink Floyd, Janice Joplin, Santana, Bruce Springsteen, Chicago Aerosmith,
(02:44):
Billy Joel Donovan, Bay City Rollers, and the list goes
on and on and on. He brought other less known
artists into the spotlight whose names are now as familiar
to us as our own. After He's H's Sissy Houston's
daughter Whitney, perform at a New York City nightclub, mister
(03:05):
Davis signed her. Under his guidance, she became one of
the biggest stars in music history. He signed Alicia Keys
when she was nineteen and heavily influenced her image and sound,
leading her to multiple Grammys. Barry Manilow had already released
an album, nobody paid much attention to it when Clive
(03:25):
Davis saw him performing at Woolman Rink skating rink in
New York City. When Barry opened for Dion Warwick. Clive
Davis was impressed. He saw star potential in Barry and
decided to retain him. Barry was working on his second
album at the time. Clive Davis suggested that he had
(03:45):
a song called Mandy and the rest is an enduring
fifty year history between the two that's turning out hits
even today. Once Before I Go is a beautiful song
written by the late Peter Allen in his writing part
Nardine Pitchford, and was recorded by Barry last fall, and
as of March third had reached the top ten on
(04:06):
the music charts once again. It was Clive Davis who said, Hey,
maybe you should record this Barry Today. I'm thrilled to
welcome the legendary Clive Davis to Love Someone with Delilah.
We're going to hear from Clive in just a minute.
Can I first tell you about one of my incredible
podcast sponsors. I'm so glad to get to share all
(04:29):
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(05:33):
learn about the other ways you can get involved. That's
Mercyships dot Org. Hello, mister Davis, welcome to Love Someone
with Delaila.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
I'm so happy you are here with us today. We
got a lot to cover, a lot to talk about
on my podcast. Producer Deanna, who's on here, said to me,
as I was preparing to get to talk to you,
because you're such a legend, she said, well, you guys
have been in partnership now for fifty years. And I said,
(06:09):
oh my gosh, you're right, because I started playing the
music that you were bringing to the world in nineteen
seventy five. Wow, that's when I started my radio career.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Okay, so we thought it together.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
So basically we've been in this thing together for a
minute now. Clive. That's amazing, And this is the first
time I've had the pleasure of the joy of meeting you.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
So welcome, Thank you, welcome, thank you.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
So I went down a list of just a smattering,
just a drop in the bucket, Clive, of some of
the artists that you have been instrumental in bringing to
the radio airwaves over the years, and I'm like, oh
my gosh, I've not only played music for most of them.
(07:05):
I've had a chance to interview or have a lot
of them on my show over the years. So thank
you for your passion for music.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Okay, I'll take it.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
And today we're going to talk about mister Manilo Berry,
who was a kid, a veritable child when you started
working with him. Tell me about this new song why
now once before I go, and then we're going to
dive into some of the history that you two have
had together over the last fifty years.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
You know, we're in an era which is dominated by
hip hop. We're in an era that's dominated totally by
so much by streammate and so that hip hop is
not mostly known for lyric content. It's for sounds, for drums,
(07:57):
it's for baines or track And I was worried that
the ballot, but for so many years was a mainstay
of bringing forth some of the greatest talent in the
world to the front, would be ignored. That would happen
(08:17):
the roughest of times in breaking through on your charts.
And it was verified because I looked at your chart
so for many years in the wild, several and it's
rand that a ballot survived the surface. So when I
(08:39):
heard this song, and Peter Allen and Dean Food broke one.
Before I go, I said, water letric. It is a
modern day by the way, I've got to bring it
to Barry's attention. So I called him when I was
in Palm Springs and I told him I think he
(09:02):
should add it to his act. That's a very end
right now. Who's biggest in person, believe it or not,
the environment alone? He sold out ten thousand.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
He sells out every night. He is a not just
a legend, but such a mainstay when people talk about
and I don't care if you're you know, thirty or
seventy when you want to go see a good act.
You want to go see mister Manelo.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Without carts then? And why because the songs have held out?
Why because the souls are standard? Why the audience knows
every word of every song?
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Don't you think they're woven into our dna? At this point,
Clive elaborate on that, like the songs, like you said,
the lyrics are in our our dna to the point
where we know that one note, one note of Mandy
and you know that feeling that it brings up from
(10:10):
that time in your life when you were listening to that.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Oh true, Oh very trill. It's true. It looks like
we made you can't smile without your weekend in New England.
I made it through the rain and I said this,
it can't stop right now. And I made it give
with them that I would go to with Neward show
(10:34):
if he at the end, after doing I write the
songs and copa about it would come out with the
towel sam in the audience, and that I am advocating
him singing this song. And he did that. And I
looked at the audience when he was seeing once before
(10:58):
I go, and they were all sobbing and shaping and
clients fixed, and I one was all over. And when
Barry got their approval that yes he should record it,
I was so so fulfilled. And so we called Bigditas
(11:19):
and to produce the record. And the end result is
what is being played by you on your wonderful station,
so that a miracle is happening. Barn Mantel admittedly is
eighty two years old.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
That is a miracle. That is a miracle for people
who don't understand how youth driven our industry is. And
for somebody who has been around the block three times,
maybe four to have a song that is in the
top ten, right now, come on, no.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
I mean I wanted your audience. I wanted you the power,
the audience incredible that you have built over the years
to hearing. I want to see a number one. I
want to see it before it's over. I want to
see it as the same as as mandate. And that's
(12:26):
why I am here. And though it's an additional pleasure,
is a great respect for you who have revolutionized radio
and I've built this unbelievable audience today.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
I've had a hell of a lot of fun, that's
for sure. Like I said, when I was going through
that list of people that you have brought to the forefront,
brought to us the music, the songs, I was emotional.
I was very emotional because it's the story of my
life and the lyrics of the song. Once before I
(13:03):
go if I ever retire, which I'm not going to,
I mean, I'm going to have a microphone in my
face in the coffin, But if I were to ever
decide to leave this career, this would be my sign
off song. I mean, it's just so powerful, all those feelings,
(13:24):
Oh my gosh, this has been an amazing journey. But
before I go, Before I go, we got a little
more love to share here, a little more joy to
share via the airwaves, a little more magic.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
I'm buddy, well, would you want? Let's go for it?
Speaker 1 (13:44):
So what are the lyrics of the song? You said
when you heard it, you knew that it was magical,
that it was powerful. What does it speak to your
heart when you listen.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
It speaks for Chell once? Before I go, I wanted
you to know that I would be all again. I'm
sure i'd make the same mistakes, that I could make
it through the paint and join and mate I do
back then, I would do it all. I'd do it
all again before I go. I want you to know
(14:19):
that I look back with no regrets, and when our
luck was wearing thin and we were down and out
and still came back to win against all beds. Now,
when I look back, I still have no regrets. And
(14:41):
so it's hard to say goodbye when there's so much
less left uncertain in your eyes. But unless I spread
my wings again, I'm afraid I'll never saw. So hang
on to the memory and hold me close once more.
(15:02):
So kiss me for the last time, and hold me
just once more just one before I go.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
So, as I'm listening to you read those lyrics, and
as I was listening to Barry sing them, I was
feeling them from my point of view as a woman
who has been incredibly blessed to live a really, really
full life. And I was thinking, how, you know, I
(15:34):
would like to share that with my children and my
grandchildren and my great granddaughter, and share it with my audience.
And then I something flipped when I was listening to
the chorus when Barry was singing it, and I thought,
what a perfect song for a child who is leaving
home to play for a parent. Like it's not just
(15:58):
those of us who've lived lived rich, full lives, but
how appropriate would that be for a best friend to
play for her best friend from grade school as she
goes off to get married. I mean, it's so good
for so many situations where you're transitioning to that next
(16:20):
chapter of life.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
That's why you're Delilah, and that's why there's only one view.
I'm telling you to answer the iss I'd feel it.
Everything you said is is true.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
There are so many, so many times in our life
where we enter a new chapter. And for me, I
didn't even know I was entering a new chapter. Like
I have a friend who used to be in radio.
She's in banking now, go figure. But when she was
in radio, she shared a story and she said, if
(17:04):
I had known it was my last night at home,
I would have enjoyed it more. But in an instant,
in the blink of an eye, everything in her life
changed and she was thrown into adulthood long before she
thought she was going to be. She said, if I
had known it was my last night, I would have
(17:24):
enjoyed it more. And shortly thereafter, I knew I was
getting fired from a radio station, Clive in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Boston.
I don't remember. I've been fired so damn many times.
But I knew that I was getting fired because I
saw a letter addressed to a radio station that didn't
exist yet. So I called a friend at the FCC
(17:47):
and found out that my station was changing formats and
we were all going to be let go, like in
a week's time. So I had the good fortune of
knowing I was about to get fired. So I said,
you know what, I remember what Linda said, if I
knew it was my last night, I would have enjoyed it.
More so I went on the air and I'm like,
(18:08):
I'm going to play every song I ever wanted to play,
because what are they going to do? Fire me? But
if I'd had this song once before I go, that
would have been my sign off song that night. It's
such a great anthem of man, I've had a great
ride and I'm going to miss this chapter, but I
gotta spread my wings and sore.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
This was used in by Hugh Jackman, right, he sang
this in Uh what was the play oz the Boy
from the Boy from Oz?
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Oh? Yeah, he played Peter Rollin and that is the
song Peter co wrote, and of course it was so touching.
That's my first exposed trip to the song.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
And when you heard him do it, you said, I
got to I gotta get I gotta get my friend Barry.
How many years have you guys been close? You and
Barry Menilo.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Barry and I met in nineteen seventy five, so we're
fifty years strong. And it's hard to believe it. I'm
sure you realize that, just very very very hard to
believe it. But this opportunity today to really break and
explode once before I go to the top of the
(19:27):
jobs is clearly burning in a hearts. I don't hesitate
to say it, and any help and all continuing help
from you is really touching and greatly appreciated.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
The first time I met Barry, I was working in
Seattle and I went to his show. I want to
say it was at the Kingdome, but it might have
been at the arena where the Sonics used to play
when they I had a team, And I saw him
on stage before I met him, and as you know,
he is larger than life on stage, He's seven foot tall,
(20:09):
and he has the energy of ten energizer bunnies. You know,
he just when he's on stage, it's like he feeds
off the energy of the audience to such a he
didn't want to stop playing. I mean it was like
a two and a half hour show, and he would
have played for two more hours, I think if they
would have let him. I met him the next day
(20:30):
in the studio. He came on my show, and I
was flabbergasted because in the studio he was so calm
and quiet and such a gentle man, such a gentle spirit,
and I'm like, wait a minute, I saw you jumping
around the stage playing your guts out with the energy
(20:52):
of a basketball team last night. And he was such
a beautiful, sweet, kind, but very subdued man in the studio.
Which version of Barry do you see more often? Because
you've I'm sure seen him perform a thousand times.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Wow, these is some of all parts. He can be
quiet and touching, he could be really out there and lively,
and Dan saying he is the sum of all parts.
And I'm amazed at the passage of fifty years. And
(21:34):
I'm amazed a song that report maybe twenty years ago
as standing for what music is today, sung by Baron Manilo,
Take it to number one.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
I beg you, it is amazing. Talking with a music
recording legend, Clive Davis, I'm not ready to let him
go just yet, but I want to shine a light
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Shop the sumptuous collection at Lauragellerbauty dot com. So you know,
this podcast that I do is a little different from
my radio show, and then I get to have much
more in depth conversations like this one. On the show,
they're two or three minutes long, and then that's that's
all you get. Most of a call that I take
(24:28):
falls on the floor. But the podcast I started because
I want to change the world for good. That's my goal.
I want to leave the world a better place than
when I was born. And everybody that I interview are
people who use their gifts and talents and skills to
(24:49):
change the world for good. And Clive, do you ever
sit back and think about how much richer our world
is because the passion that you had for the last
six decades to bring music, good music, great music, some loud,
(25:11):
some rock and rolls, some rap, But your passion was
to share that with us. I can't imagine a world
without Mandy, without Barry Manilow, without the music of Santana,
without the music of Janice Joplin, and how many hundreds
(25:35):
of artists that you were instrumental in sharing with us.
Do you ever give yourself permission to sit back and
go damn, it is a much better world because the
gifts that I was given, you were given and the
intuition you have. Do you ever give yourself permission to
(25:59):
just think about that?
Speaker 2 (26:00):
You know I would give permission, But you know, Delilah,
I'm lucky enough to feel it every night when I
go out for Restall. There's never a time that someone
doesn't come over me with profound gratitude about the music.
(26:23):
I'd say, is our life inspired them, will fill them,
stayed with them. So I'm so lucky that every night
this occurs, I have to paint myself and realize, well,
we're doing it and we got to continue to do it.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
All I know is that people are always going to
want good music. People are always going to want something new,
something fresh, something that speaks to the heart. People are
always going to want to feel connected to that music.
I'm not a musician, I'm not a writer. I'm not
a singer. I've written a few lyrics, but my role
(27:10):
is to be the matre d to introduce my listeners,
whether it's you know, on this platform or another platform
in the future. My role has been to introduce my
listeners to the songs that will be the soundtrack of
their life. And you're the one that brought those songs
(27:33):
to me, to our industry, to our world. You're the
one that said, yes, I see something in this young kid,
Like what did you see in Barry Manilow he was
a kid. What was it that you saw in him
that you said, this kid's got that magic thing?
Speaker 2 (27:48):
You never think they would become out. So we're named
all over the world. You're making, you signing, you're feeling talented,
really talented enough to sign And so the rest has
been our history of taking its hire and higher. Neither
(28:10):
was thought we would have all these hits, the songs
and as current today as they were years ago. So
it's really been blessing and then brilliant.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
So what inspires you when you wake up in the
morning and you take that first breath and you're like,
I'm still breathing, I'm still standing. What inspires you to
keep going my gosh. Most people would have said, you
know what, forget about it. I'm not I am not
spending any more energy making any more hits. And here
you are doing the circuit.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Because we have a mission. We have a mission in
this day of the bab to take this song once
before I go and make it an evergreen standard and
go to the top for the drats who would have
bet on it?
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Nobody, nobody, nobody. It's the horse that's coming from behind
the chile of.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
This from the minute I wake up. It's driven me
to be with you today.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
So you like it, challenge, you like to bet on
the underdog?
Speaker 2 (29:18):
I like that exactly.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Yeah, well let's do it. Let's introduce the world to
the song, and let's let people hear these beautiful lyrics
and then gift it when it's time to close a
chapter and open the next door. Okay, okay, I'm with you, Clive,
(29:42):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
For all that. While, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
All right, you have a great day and you bye bye,
bye bye. We all know his name, but have you
any idea how he's guided and shaped our music industry?
Probably not spend some time, do a little research. You'll
be amazed at the number of hit songs he's been
responsible for over the past five decades. About Lynn Anderson's Rosegarden.
(30:13):
It was Clive Davis who insisted it be the country
singer's next single release. The song was a number one
hit in sixteen countries worldwide, and Rose Garden remained the
best selling album by a female country artist for twenty
seven years. That's just one out of so many Clive
Davis stories songs. He gave his magical touch to Mandy,
(30:37):
the first singer of Barry Manilow's second album, released in
seventy four, marked Arista's first major release. The single Sword
to number one, establishing both Barry Manilo as a star
and the record company as a serious contender in the
music industry. More singles like It's a Miracle and Could
(30:57):
It Be Magic? Since the album's huge success. On Barry's
third album, Clive Davis suggested I write the songs written
by Bruce Johnson of The Beach Boys. It became another
number one hit, of course, and like so many of
the songs Clive Davis worked his magic on, it became
the soundtrack for Our Lives. Clive Davis, now ninety three
(31:20):
years old, Barry Manilow is eighty two. They've both had
remarkably long, successful runs and have a remarkable impact. And
now they've gifted us with once More Before I Go.
Get It, listen to it, stream it, download it by
the twelve inch vinyl single available now. Wats for Barry
(31:40):
Manilow's upcoming album What a Time featuring Once Before I Go.
It will be released later this year and hopefully coincide
with an upcoming arena tour that you better believe I
will be attending. Visit Barrymanilo dot com to keep up
on all of his performances and the album release. Nobody,
but nobody has had the influence on the musical industry
(32:02):
that Clive Davis has had. He has no peer. He
continues to share his gifts and talents with the world
by amplifying the gifts and talents of music artists. Head
to Clivedavis dot com to discover more about this incredibly
talented man. Watch some of the many videos that will
(32:22):
give you more insights as to his life and his work.
What an opportunity this has been. I want to encourage
you to use your gifts, your talents, your skills to
encourage as many people as Clive Davis has for us
over the years.
Host
Delilah
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