Entertainment BEAT - THEN & NOW - MARCH 2008

Mariah Carey - Mariah Carey photo - Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License Corey Daye - RCA records photo Kid Creole - photo Roland Godefroy

James Loving National Radio Text Service - Friday March 14, 2008

A web was weaved after doing our very first one on one interview (in this case 1 on 6) with and entertainment talent. It was arranged by the then RCA records and the talent was Dr Buzzards Savannah Band a wise cracking band from New York City

THE MATTOLA CONNECTION

When you look back on some of the careers of some of the talent that we've written about two things come to mind (1) The saying what goes around comes around is applicable and (2) What a small world it is. This story is about the web that was weaved after doing our very first one on one interview (in this case 1 on 6) with and entertainment talent. It was arranged by the then RCA records and the talent was Dr Buzzards Savannah Band a wise cracking band from New York City.

The interview was off to a shaky start as the group was more interested in fooling around than doing a serious interview. I was nervous being that it was my first 1 on 1. To compound the problem Corey Daye's dog knocked my 1st. use brand new tape recorder off the coffee table thus breaking the internal microphone. At that point I went ballistic and let my East Coast temper fly and let them know that I wasn't happy and wasn't there to bull$#!t. They got the message and from that point the meeting went along splendidly. During the course of the meeting I learned that the drummer was from my hometown and things got warmer and more peaceful.

The band released three albums between 1976 and 1979. The self titled debut, "Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band Meets King Pennett", and "Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band Goes to Washington". The debut album was the only one to garner some commercial success, while the latter two albums have found a cult following in the following decades.

Their biggest hit was "Whispering" / "Cherchez La Femme" / "C'est Si Bon," which hit number twenty-seven on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1977. They topped the Hot Dance Club Play chart with "Cherchez La Femme" / "Sour and Sweet" / "I'll Play the Fool."

In 1984 a smaller band lineup, known as "Dr Buzzard's Savannah Band" (omitting the word "original") released a new album, "Calling All Beatniks".

After the Savannah Band interview I attended a meet and greet party hosted by RCA where I met the bands tour manager who heard about me and took a liking to me. He later hired me to assist him with the wild bunch when they went to parties and appearances. Not a bad job. But here's the twist…..

Months later Hall & Oates became famous and had a hit record titled 'Sarah Smile.' They were managed by Tommy Mattola who also managed the Savannah Band. The Savannah Band's tour manager attended a after party following the Hall & Oates concert at LA's Greek Theater. He was there with Mattola who also managed the Savannah Band.

Though I repeatedly hear Mattola's name mentioned I didn't have a clue who he was. I did know that he was a recording artist prior to becoming involved in talent management. He had a semi hit record but didn't pursue his singing career. Wishing to stay in the industry, Mottola started Champion Entertainment Organization Inc. to manage other artists. While working at the Chappell music-publishing company, he became the mentor to Daryl Hall and John Oates.

Later in his career Mattola also managed Carly Simon, John Mellencamp, Diana Ross, and Taylor Dayne in the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1990s, Jennifer Lopez and Thalía Sodi.

The Savannah Band broke up and lead singer Corey Daye went on her own. Andy Hernandez and August Darnell formed the Kid Creole and the Coconuts Band. We stayed in touch and they called me to party when they were in LA. Mattola managed both Daye and Kid Creole and they had the same tour manager who again asked me to help him out as his assistant. We did the same activities but they also made some television appearances.

In 1988, when he was 37 Mattola was picked to run CBS Records (later Sony?CBS). During his tenure he revitalized Sony Music's publishing division by making such acquisitions as the Beatles catalogue and enabled Sony to become the first major music company to make available commercial digital downloads. Mattola also became involved romantically with Mariah Carey during the making of her debut album, and in June 1993, they were married.

Carey and Mottola officially separated in 1997. Carey noted hat though the public image of the marriage was a happy one, she said that in reality she had felt trapped by her relationship with Mottola, whom she often described as controlling. Their divorce became final the following year.

Soon after the separation, Carey hired an independent publicist and a new attorney and manager. There's no word on Daye's activity. The Savannah Band never reformed but Kid Creole has made recent appearances. Mottola is a co-owner of Casablanca Records in a joint venture with the Universal Music Group. Carey's career rocks on and now you know the story of what goes around comes around.

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