Irving Azoff Personal and/or Professional News

[NightMistBlue]

Does anyone know off-hand how long Mr. Azoff has been managing Fleetwood Mac? I googled and searched but couldn't find the info.

[sodascouts]

Mick was their manager in the 70s, but he wound up making a LOT of mistakes. Lindsey has claimed Mick was such a bad manager that they actually lost money on the Tusk tour even though they were one of the biggest bands in the world. I'll look into it to see when they started with Azoff.

Irving was Stevie's manager in the '80s for her solo career. Watch this hilarious video to see what happened with he tried to get David Letterman to stop making fun of Stevie in 1986 and threatened to sue him - Letterman mentions Front Line at 1:39 and Irving Azoff by name at 4:25 while ruthlessly mocking them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKwqs1bDCnw

As a result of this, she fired Azoff (also, he apparently told her she was getting too fat and drug-addled* to be marketable, which didn't endear him toward her), but she would later rejoin Front Line under Howard Kaufman. She even names checks Front Line on "Welcome to the Room....Sara" from Fleetwood Mac's 1987 album Tango in the Night, which is a song about her going to rehab.

*To be fair, her drug use was out of control, and forcing her into rehab was a good thing.

[sodascouts]

I checked out the credits for Tango in the Night (1987). 4 artist managers are mentioned, but no band manager. The artist managers are:

Dennis Dunstan - Artist Management (Mick Fleetwood)
John Courage - Artist Management (Christine McVie)
Steve Wax - Artist Management (John McVie)
Tony Dimitriades - Artist Management (Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham)

Same for The Dance (1997), only now we're up to 6 artist managers:

Carl Stubner - Artist Management (Mick Fleetwood)
John Courage - Artist Management (Christine McVie)
Steve Wax - Artist Management (John McVie)
Tony Dimitriades - Artist Management (Lindsey Buckingham)
Howard Kaufman and Sheryl Louis (Stevie Nicks)

Say You Will (2003):
Tony Dimitriades and Robert W. Richards - Artist Management (Lindsey Buckingham)
Howard Kaufman and Sheryl Louis - Artist Management (Stevie Nicks)
Carl Stubner - Artist Management (Mick Fleetwood)

[NightMistBlue]

What an odd bird Letterman is. I would think talking about an artist's management firm would be way too "Inside Baseball" for the average viewer.

That's amazing that Mick Fleetwood was their manager at the height of their success! I imagine he would be... erratic as a businessman :)

Thank you for looking that up, Soda! Maybe the Azoff management deal is a relatively recent thang (last 10 years or so).

[sodascouts]

Ok! I think I found the answer!

After Howard Kaufman and Irving Azoff reformed Front Line in 2005, they apparently took on Fleetwood Mac as a band; however, it wasn't until 2008 that you hear about Irving undertaking negotiations for them.

Source: http://variety.com/2008/music/markets-festivals/garden-cultivates-front-line-deal-1117987328/

[NightMistBlue]

Many thanks, Nancy!

Gosh, so many interesting linkages there - Mitt Romney's Bain Capital is/was a significant owner of Front Line. Hmph.

And Aerosmith is part of Front Line's stable. Aerosmith's personal manager is Trudy Green, who used to manage Randy Meisner immediately after he left Front Line. IIRC, Trudy started her career as a partner with Howard Kaufman, who later became president of Front Line. It's all very incestuous but fascinating to me.

[AlreadyGone95]

I checked out the credits for Tango in the Night (1987). 4 artist managers are mentioned, but no band manager. The artist managers are:

Dennis Dunstan - Artist Management (Mick Fleetwood)
John Courage - Artist Management (Christine McVie)
Steve Wax - Artist Management (John McVie)
Tony Dimitriades - Artist Management (Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham)

Same for The Dance (1997), only now we're up to 6 artist managers:

Carl Stubner - Artist Management (Mick Fleetwood)
John Courage - Artist Management (Christine McVie)
Steve Wax - Artist Management (John McVie)
Tony Dimitriades - Artist Management (Lindsey Buckingham)
Howard Kaufman and Sheryl Louis (Stevie Nicks)

Say You Will (2003):
Tony Dimitriades and Robert W. Richards - Artist Management (Lindsey Buckingham)
Howard Kaufman and Sheryl Louis - Artist Management (Stevie Nicks)
Carl Stubner - Artist Management (Mick Fleetwood)

I wonder why John Mcvie doesn't have a manager mentioned on Say You Will.

I had no clue that Irving Azoff managed Stevie back in the day or that he is the current Fleetwood Mac manager!

[sodascouts]

I wonder why John Mcvie doesn't have a manager mentioned on Say You Will.


I guess he figures he doesn't need one. Managers negotiate deals and try to get you gigs. He doesn't do anything outside of Fleetwood Mac, which is a guaranteed gig, and he doesn't seem interested in renegotiating whatever he gets as the bass player for Fleetwood Mac. Why pay some guy 10% of your income when they aren't doing anything?

[AlreadyGone95]

I guess he figures he doesn't need one. Managers negotiate deals and try to get you gigs. He doesn't do anything outside of Fleetwood Mac, which is a guaranteed gig, and he doesn't seem interested in renegotiating whatever he gets as the bass player for Fleetwood Mac. Why pay some guy 10% of your income when they aren't doing anything?

True. John pretty much goes along with whatever the bands wants to do as a whole.

[Dawn]

Irving Azoff one of three bidders in running for purchase of Rolling Stone.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulfletcher/2017/11/20/three-bidders-remain-in-running-for-purchase-of-rolling-stone/#11b8b03c4450

Dear Mods:

I am looking for an Irving Azoff dedicated thread if there is one please let me know and I will deletethis thread and move my post.

With my sincere appreciation and apology for any inconvenience,

Dawn

[sodascouts]

Irving Azoff one of three bidders in running for purchase of Rolling Stone.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulfletcher/2017/11/20/three-bidders-remain-in-running-for-purchase-of-rolling-stone/#11b8b03c4450

Dear Mods:

I am looking for an Irving Azoff dedicated thread if there is one please let me know and I will deletethis thread and move my post.

With my sincere appreciation and apology for any inconvenience,

Dawn

Dawn, our Azoff thread is old and in another subforum, but I found it and moved your post accordingly!

[New Kid In Town]

Irving Azoff one of three bidders in running for purchase of Rolling Stone.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulfletcher/2017/11/20/three-bidders-remain-in-running-for-purchase-of-rolling-stone/#11b8b03c4450

Dear Mods:

I am looking for an Irving Azoff dedicated thread if there is one please let me know and I will deletethis thread and move my post.

With my sincere appreciation and apology for any inconvenience,

Dawn

WOW - Very Interesting ! Irving seems to have his hands in everything.
QUESTION : Soda - Are the old subforums available for our reading pleasure ?

[NightMistBlue]

Woah! If he succeeds, one wonders what kind of magazine it will be. Very interesting.

[buffyfan145]

That is really interesting and will be to see who ends up buying it. They really have been struggling recently and I've noticed even Entertainment Weekly and other entertainment sites don't really cover the music industry as much as they used to.

[NightMistBlue]

I'd bet money that if Azoff buys RS, the first cover will be Harry Styles.

[Freypower]

I'd bet money that if Azoff buys RS, the first cover will be Harry Styles.

He was on the cover not long ago.

It would be a massive conflict of interest for someone who is a current manager of many major acts to also own a rock magazine. You would have to think that given the way Azoff operates, his acts would get preferential treatment.

[sodascouts]

QUESTION : Soda - Are the old subforums available for our reading pleasure ?

Sorry, I didn't see this question. This subforum (Cheap Talk and Wine) is the one I was referring to - so yes!

[New Kid In Town]

Sorry, I didn't see this question. This subforum (Cheap Talk and Wine) is the one I was referring to - so yes!

Ok, thanks

[Dawn]

:yay: Yay, this is great can't wait to read all the posts. Thanks for your help Soda!

I also wonder if Azoff gets the deal how this will impact RS and the industry in general. I enjoy the magazine and wouldn't be opposed to any improvements in online content access to make it more user friendly. I also like Billboard and appreciate the rankings and ratings of various groups, solo artists, songs, etc. over the years.

[buffyfan145]

Saw the update on Rolling Stone and they were bought by the owners of Variety, which is another entertainment based magazine/website.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/12/21/rolling-stone-owner-sold-variety-magazine-owner-penske-media/972418001/