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\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n\tAfter \u201cSmooth,\u201d he would call and ask, \u201cDo you have any songs? We\u2019re doing another Carlos record,\u201d which is how I ended up writing for Seal, Musiq Soulchild, Mary J. Blige, and Big Boi. Whenever I\u2019d head to his office, he would use me as a sounding board for anything else he was working on. He played me \u201cThe Game of Love\u201d with Tina Turner singing on it, before Michelle Branch came on. Only Clive would get the magic of Tina Turner on a track then have the wherewithal to say, \u201cI\u2019m not sure this is the right look for Carlos.\u201d Or he\u2019d go, \u201cThis is Maroon 5!\u201d then hit play and close his eyes. Everyone knew they weren\u2019t allowed to speak once he hit play.<\/p>\n
\n\tEver since \u201cSmooth,\u201d I played him every solo record I did, then we\u2019d go to dinner and he\u2019d give me advice. I remember sitting downtown arguing because I had a song I wrote with Benny Blanco on Chip Tooth Smile, <\/em>which I thought was a good song but didn\u2019t think was a good first single. He said, \u201cIf you have a hit on the table, you have to go with the hit!\u201d and I was like, \u201cI don\u2019t know if that\u2019s a hit. It\u2019s just a hit writer with me.\u201d Things got pretty loud in this restaurant! But in a friendly way.<\/p>\n\n\tWe would also talk about books, movies, and balancing work with your personal life. Although I\u2019m not sure there was a delineation between his personal life and work since he always had 17 projects!<\/p>\n
\n\tLosing Clive is the end of an era. There were a handful of people like him, people like Ahmet Ertegun \u2014 the last ones who weren\u2019t weren\u2019t all about the algorithm. There are fewer and fewer people running labels today who are COMPLETELY guided by their own taste meter. If you come to a label or a management company today they present you with a five-page report on your fan base, how they skew, and what brands they buy. I\u2019m sure Clive was aware of those things, but they never informed what he did. Even if everybody around him said, \u201cI don\u2019t get it,\u201d he would say, \u201cYou don\u2019t have to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n\tIt\u2019s like the old DJs, who were only beholden to instinct. He built this entire empire based on what he thought would turn the world on. That was his superpower. It wasn\u2019t about breaking an artist \u2014 it was about being a conduit that took art which made him feel a certain way and getting it to people he knew would appreciate it. The reason he was Clive Davis was because he never let anybody drown out that drive. If what his heart was telling him ran contrary to advice he was getting, he ran with his heart.<\/p>\n
\n\tAfter my first solo record, I wanted to make another Matchbox [Twenty] record and everybody went, \u201cBad idea! You have a Number One solo record. Do another solo record!\u201d It was Clive who told me to go where my heart was. He understood what I was building and Matchbox was part of my legacy as much as my solo music, so I couldn\u2019t let that slip by.<\/p>\n
\n\tAlthough I wasn\u2019t on his label, he remained my greatest advocate. The day after I played him Chip Tooth Smile<\/em>, he sent a letter to Craig Kallman [then chairman and CEO] at Atlantic Records [who is now Chief Music Officer of Warner Music Group] saying how beautiful it was and urging them not to drop the ball on it. At his parties, he\u2019d give speeches that were like soliloquies for whichever artist he was presenting and he said unbelievably superfluous, wonderful things, like how I\u2019m one of the greatest writers of our generation. I\u2019d think, \u201cWow. I hope I\u2019m half of how Clive Davis describes me to a room full of people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\tI last saw him two weeks ago when Mari and I went to watch our friend Jim Parsons in the Titan\u00edque<\/em> premiere. Getting out was a shit show and his partner Greg was helping him because he wasn\u2019t moving fast \u2014 although he was very spry for Ninety-fucking-four! Greg goes, \u201cLook, it\u2019s Rob,\u201d and Clive bee-lined over to give me a hug. He said, \u201cRob! Wasn\u2019t the play wonderful?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n\tHe had this cadence about him when he spoke and always had this sly little smile. When he pulled you in, it was like he was sharing a secret. He would whisper, \u201cRob, I\u2019ve got Alicia Keys here and she\u2019s about to tear the house down.\u201d Everybody already knew, but it sounded so cool when he was telling it! I saw him with so many artists over the years and there was such a mutual respect. He had a magnetism with musicians and was the well that everybody wanted to keep drinking from.<\/p>\n
\n\tI\u2019d love to think of him up there jamming with Janis Joplin and Aretha Franklin right now. He\u2019s that kind of icon. When you see black velvet paintings of Elvis and Bob Marley hanging out in heaven, there aren\u2019t a lot of suits there, but Clive would definitely be one of them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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