Kris Allen’s debut CD was released today and I am confident that he will do very well, but I’m not so sure about Adam Lambert.
I came across the following article by googling for something different but after reading it, I had to comment. We all know that Clay sold a huge amount of his debut CD. 613,000 in the first week.
He was awarded a double platinum plaque by Clive Davis after only one week of sales. No other Idol has come close, but Adam Lambert’s fans insist that he will be the one to break Clay’s record. Well, they used to say that.
Nowadays they talk about file sharing and the declining sales from year to year in an attempt to soften the blow when the final sales numbers come in. They willfully ignore the fact that there are still artists that can sell huge amounts of albums if enough people are interested in the artist, and that they have full label support.
Taylor Swift can do it and if Adam is the rockest rock god that ever godded, he will too.
Unfortunately his singles are not setting music lovers on fire. His album pre-sales are actually quite anemic in spite of the hype and hyperbole. Yes his Amazon album pre-order did hit #1 for about 5 minutes but his official single didn’t even make top 10 on iTunes and is languishing in the 60s and 70s.
Clay Aiken and Adam Lambert do have a few things in common, they are both extremely talented singers. They are both over 6 feet tall. They are both gay. They both are/were contracted to 19/RCA. They both are/were at the mercy of the same PR (Roger Widynowski) and management (19) for their debut CDs. That is where the similarities end.
Adam is one week from his debut CD release. The following article was written one week before Clay’s debut CD release. Adam claims that he got everything he wanted for his album, Clay had to fight for his.
Clay Aiken fights to keep sexual “edge” out of ‘Measure of a Man’ CD – and wins
By Wade Paulsen, 10/07/2003
Time magazine reports that American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken and his record label, RCA Records, battled continually during the making of his debut CD Measure of a Man over both content and career direction. Clay’s goal, to produce an album free from both sexual innuendo and “edge,” was strongly resisted by RCA executives led by label chairman and music industry legend Clive Davis. However, Clay’s CD, scheduled for release on October 14, ultimately came out “clean” — the way that Clay wanted it.
The core of the dispute was innuendo, seen in the overtly sexual songs and videos performed by such youthful RCA Group artists as Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears, who are sometimes referred to as “pop tarts.” As Clay said, “Clive tried to tell me that saying certain words in a song—or as he says, ‘putting some balls into it’—isn’t bad, it’s just strong emotion. Well, there are certain words and emotions I don’t want kids hearing, and I’m not changing because they think it’s going to sell better. This is going to sound horrible, but I got 12 million votes doing what I did.”
For his part, Clive argues that Clay’s approach will cost Clay and the label sales. “You can’t be paralyzed by what the public expects of you. We’re now competing against Justin and Christina and Avril and Pink, and if you allow the television audience to program your music, you will not be on radio and you won’t make MTV. And then where are you? We have to stay ahead of the curve.”
However, backed by the strong support of Idol creator Simon Fuller (who has contractual authority equal to Clive’s over Clay’s CDs) Clay was permitted to make the album he wanted to make, despite the reservations of RCA’s head honcho and his underlings. Fuller’s spokesperson noted that Clay’s focus on the “12 million votes” he received wasn’t misplaced: “You have to serve many masters when you have that many people with a vested interest in you. You can’t skew yourself one way and not speak to the people who spent all that time watching you and voting for you.”
Although some people (including us from time to time) have accused Simon Fuller of creating “throwaway” artists, such as the Spice Girls and S Club 8, who create a fad and then can be discarded in favor of the “next big thing,” Clay doesn’t see Fuller, who also manages former Eurythmics lead singer Annie Lennox, as someone focused just on the short-term. Said Clay, “Simon Fuller is the one person I trust in all this.”
Clay has kind words for Clive regarding the final production, saying “I’m very satisfied with my album. I grew as a singer, and Clive deserves a lot of the credit for that.” He is also pleased that RCA’s marketing department has finally decided to “let Clay be Clay.”
As he notes, “There are many people at the record label who are afraid of me. They don’t understand the reasons that someone as uncool as me is here. In a way—and this is a horrible word to say, and once I say it you’re going to print it—it’s a revolution. Revolution is a strong word. But RCA would not have picked me or Ruben. Simon Cowell would not have picked us. America has shown them that they don’t know what they’re talking about.” We’ll see who’s right beginning next week, when Measure of a Man ships and Americans vote in true capitalist fashion: with their wallets.
One thing that is clear, though, is the depth of the media and industry bias against Clay’s success so far. The Time article states, “It’s also possible that [Clay’s] denigrators love music—and the process of making music—far more than Aiken can imagine and that they resent having their passion marginalized by anyone with a telephone and a taste for Bee Gees medleys.” Meanwhile, the president of leading “rackjobber” (a company that supplies CDs to department stores such as K-Mart and Wal-Mart) Handleman Entertainment Resources describes Clay’s fans thusly: “These are moms and dads making $26,000 to $36,000 a year … We’re not catering to Napster or Kazaa folks, just people who like a nice song sung by a nice kid.”
We find ourselves amazed that Time magazine doesn’t believe that a professional singer like Clay can even “imagine” how much his denigrators “love music” and “the process of making music” … although, to be honest, we aren’t even sure that we know what “the process of making music” means in this context, since it doesn’t appear to refer to playing or singing but rather to deal-making, manipulating and proselytizing. We find ourselves amused by the wounded sensibilities of this elite, whose “passion” has been “marginalized” by the hoi polloi, who like – horror upon horrors – “Bee Gees medleys.” And we find ourselves skeptical that Clay’s audience is limited to people making “$26,000 to $36,000 a year,” especially after viewing the $150-$400 prices that Clay’s promo-only single of “Invisible” fetched on eBay.
More interestingly, we note that Time positions Clay and Ruben differently with regard to the same issue, even though each was doing the same thing. Both were warned by Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini, the first two Idol finalists, that if they were happy with 50% of their completed albums, they’d be “doing real good.” Thus, both fought for more control over their sound and won. However, the different treatments given to these identical battles is telling. Ruben, who apparently fought to be LESS like his Idol image, is praised. Quoting Time:
This is my car,” Studdard said, according to an executive who was on the call. “If you guys want to navigate, that’s great. If you guys want to drive, then you better get a new car.” Studdard is now working with Missy Elliott and R. Kelly on what an RCA executive termed “a credible, clean hip-hop album.”
Meanwhile, Clay, who fought to stay true to his Idol image, is blasted by Time:
“I’m a battle picker,” [Clay] says. “I try not to get upset about all this marketing stuff because I’m saving it for the time that they tell me that I need to do a song about ‘Let’s hook up and have sex.’ But I’m like, ‘Do not—ugh!—don’t pretend that the public are a bunch of idiots! Don’t pretend that you know what they want and they don’t know what they want.’ That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard in my life!” Of course, anticipating the tastes of the public—knowing that the world might be ready for a black woman to sing about respect, for example—is exactly what great creative executives do. They don’t make art, but they facilitate it, fight for it and nurture it, often in the face of public opposition or apathy.
Clearly, the only difference between the fights being waged by Clay and Ruben is this: Ruben fought to make the album that RCA executives wanted to make, while Clay fought to make an album different from what they wanted. Time sides with the record executives and cites Aretha Franklin’s version of “Respect” as an example of their acumen.
Of course, the Time writer is either too young or too incompetent to know that Aretha Franklin stands as example #1 of how a “great creative executive” – Columbia’s John Hammond Jr. – completely failed with an artist by not staying true to her style. When he signed Aretha, Hammond called her the “greatest voice since Billie Holiday” and positioned her to sing jazz and supper-club blues. She recorded over 10 albums for Columbia, which was headed by Clive Davis at the end of her tenure, without ever breaking through with a hit. (Anyone hear “Runnin’ Out of Fools” lately?) After being dropped by Columbia (!), Aretha signed with Atlantic, where another legendary executive, Jerry Wexler, took her in a very different direction. Wexler pushed Aretha into “rhythm and blues” by having her record pop songs at the legendary Muscle Shoals Studios in Alabama … and that combination produced “Respect” among several other classics.
So why didn’t Hammond find the vein of Aretha’s talent? Perhaps because, as this article in Salon points out, “rhythm and blues” wasn’t “cool” before Aretha made it cool; instead, jazz was cool. Thus, in his desire to go against the “cool,” Clay may have learned from John Hammond and Clive Davis’s failure with Aretha. Also, the lesson that Jerry Wexler drew from the experience (in his biography Rhythm and the Blues) was to go with a singer’s strengths, regardless of what’s hot for others. It sounds like both Clay and Ruben have learned these lessons better than either RCA or Time has.
We continue to be baffled by the attempt of some in the record industry and the media to pit Clay and Ruben as rivals or opposites. But at least we aren’t baffled by the multiple name changes that Measure of a Man went through any longer. According to Time, Clive Davis was strongly opposed to Clay’s preferred title and “lobbied for any other title.” Again, he ultimately lost.
Finally, we turn to RCA executives, who are quoted (anonymously, of course) as saying that American Idol is proof that “Americans have no taste” and as describing Clay as “Barry Manilow.” (We note, by the way, that Idol judge Simon Cowell is an RCA executive, but we doubt that his ego would permit him to serve as an anonymous source.) Even the president of RCA recognizes that some of his team has no interest in selling Clay because they’re “skeptical about the selection process and skeptical about selling a pop artist with no credibility.” We presume that “no credibility” is longhand for “uncool.”
At the same time, we read record industry executives lament that sales are so bad – dropping from $40 billion to $26 billion in just two years, according to the RIAA – that they have no choice but to target online file-swappers. So, we have an industry that denigrates popular taste and blasts artists who appeal to it, then turns around and complains about its declining sales. Pardon us, but we don’t think we need our MBA to figure out that file-swapping is only a small part of the problems in the music business; sales can never reach their peak if product offerings are designed to appeal to only a portion of your target audience. Although we thought that Clay’s platinum single and streak at #1 would get the point across, we are beginning to wonder if these people in the record industry even understand the concept of a “mass market.”
Possibly Related Posts:
- Preview Clay Aiken’s Tried and True Album
- Clay Aiken Notches Another First
- Clay and Ruben Hitting the Road
- Adam Lambert Recommends LSD. What?
- Clay Aiken: Sold Out Concert releases additional tickets
If you think that song is edgy you should hear This song http://edgy-life.com/?p=98 It made my eardrums burst and bleed upon my laptop! bad life(Quote)
Correction. I meant to say FYE has been at # 80 just a few weeks after its debut. not a few years. Mary(Quote)
Merrian, FYE has been at # 80 just a few years after its debut, when Kris’s song was at # 50 or 51, something like that, then AL fans start downloading the song like crazy but then it tanks again. Don’t try to fool yourself. Look at “Fireflies” from Owl City. It has stayed in the top 3 for weeks, most of the time is at number 1. Mary(Quote)
@Merriam,
Don’t know WHERE you got YOUR info, but on i tunes charts the Single FYE is #51 right now..
http://www.apple.com/itunes/charts/songs/
…And the FYE Album hasn’t even MADE the top 100 list.. http://www.apple.com/itunes/charts/albums/ January(Quote)
Do you always lie?
FYE album hit number one on itunes and the single number 10.
Fix your grammar. Idol’s …on your nav bar does not get the apostrophe. dopes Merriam(Quote)
Each person steps to a different drummer and I’m happy I’m marching to Clay Aiken’s drum, not AL. sbleu(Quote)
Good point Mary. Lambert has said far worse things and even described his fans a few not so flattering adjectives. Lambert has no filter between what is class and what is nasty. Lambert is a poser trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator. His thinking seems to be that if he is truthful (no matter how nasty) it is ok to say it or do it. His fans excuse the nastiness that comes out of his mouth, his emphasis on his crotch, and his actions because afterall, it’s Adam and he’s so truthful. Did Lambert ever think about keeping some things unsaid? Most stars probably have done some similar things–but just because t hey do it doesn’t mean it must be announced to the public. Even the record label is trying to reign him in. richard(Quote)
I just want to add that if Clay mentions the word “idiot” some people make a big deal of it and see an opportunity to bash him. They are truly idiots. Mary(Quote)
AL opens his mouth just to say obscenities, he doesn’t have any respect for women, Ok, he is gay, he is not sexually attracted to them, but it doesn’t mean that he can not be respectful to them. He despises women, it is very obvious, I don’t understand why his fans don’t see it. his mom is also a woman. I never ever seen anybody like him before, so extremely rude and vulgar. His fans approve his vocabulary and everything he does, but those fans are just a very low percentage of the population. This is going to affect his sales, definitely. Who does he think he is to act like this on every interview, or every time a fan approaches him? He never has anything nice to say about women, those women who might have buying his music but who changed their minds and won’t spend a penny on him. At the beginning of AI I was thinking about downloading “Mad World” on itunes when it was available, the ONLY song that he really sang during the whole season, but by the time it was already available I had changed my mind completely and I’m glad I didn’t spend any money at all on him, nor I intend to spend it in the future, not even a cent. Mary(Quote)
Very interesting articles about Adam and Clay Aiken. Very different guys. kallie(Quote)
I think RCA is screwing Kris Allen like Clay Aiken. They’re trying to make Adam Lambert their golden boy. Unfortunately, he’s a bit tarnished. sbleu(Quote)
The differences between Adam and Clay Aiken are as wide as the ocean, but they are different people and I hope they aren’t compared. dani(Quote)
Excellent article about what Clay Aiken went through in 2003. kallie(Quote)
Crude and rude pretty much sums it up for my opinion of Adam Lambert too. He has a good voice when he is not screaming but alas, he does it on every song. I did listen to the snippets of his new CD, sorry but NO THANKS. He’s just another flavor of the month, and the songs on his CD prove it.
I have liked ALL of Clay’s CDs and look forward to hearing his next one.I know I will hear great music with Clay’s crystal clear, beautiful voice front and center. I am sure Universal/DECCA knows what they have in Clay or they wouldn’t have sought out and signed him. afan(Quote)
It will be interesting to see what happens next Tuesday. I am sure there will be plenty of people watching the sales very closely. And I suspect quite a few “I told you so’s and high 5’s being tossed about. Lou Who(Quote)
Clay Aiken is the true measure of a man. I love Ruben, Kelly, Clay, Carrie, and now Kris. Adam is not a nice person. Fleeting fame for him I think. katy(Quote)
Adam Lambert disgusts me.
I have a lot of respect for Clay after reading that article. He stuck to his guns even though many at RCA refused to support him unless he did things their way. I am beginning to think his break with RCA was the best thing for him. terri(Quote)
Adam and Clay are nothing alike. Adam I believe will do and say anything to gain his idea of fame. He will I believe be his own downfall. Clay has had and still does have the respect of many people in the music, TV and Broadway scene. He will be around long after Adam disappears. yk(Quote)
The best of Clay being away from RCA and 19 is that he is away from that slimey snake Roger W.
Adam can have him. LOL Just Me(Quote)
I remember being so excited that Clay Aiken was going to be in Time Magazine. But, it was just so disappointing to read about the RCA exec’s. disdain for him. It really spoke volumes about his talent and popularity that MOAM sold so well.
So glad he is with Decca now–looking forward to respect from that label and promotion and a great next CD. That voice needs to be heard!! RIFAN(Quote)
Adam Lambert is a classless, crass, hyped-up poser. He’s a novelty act right now and in most cases, novelties are completely a passing thing.
Clay may have gotten screwed by RCA/19, but he stood his ground and never SOLD OUT like Lambert is doing. If Adam is told to jump, he would reply with “how high?” He may succeed initially, but in the end…. my bets are not with him at all.
The guy has a voice when he’s not screaming, but it’s really too bad that so much vile and conceit comes out before the music.
It is true that Kris Allen did win by a landslide. There are people that know people that work at AI and Kris ran away with the show. It wasn’t even close. Not by a long shot.
The best MAN won! Give me a break(Quote)
thank you MJ for this insightful blog. i would agree that Clay basically signed his “death warrant” with RCA when he fought them so hard on MOAM…but thank goodness he did. although the number of fans have dwindled some over the past 7 years, he still has kept a strong fanbase intact and because he has been such a class-act who has worked so hard to stick to his clean image, that the media has tried so hard to dirty up, he will be able to continue to endure the longevity of his career. i love this new beginning with Universal’s Decca Records. they really seem to have their heads on straight when it comes to staying ahead of the curve in the music industry, and they also seem to be on the same page with Clay. it’s almost like Decca is one of the very few labels that actually “get” Clay and realize the potential they have with him. i just hope Clay will finally get the experience of having full-fledged support behind him when they promote his new album for early 2010. he has certainly deserved it. Matt(Quote)
Clay Aiken and Adam Lambert could not be more far apart as artists and as people. Adam has gotten his head stuck in the clouds and the recognition he received on American Idol has gone to his head. The more I read his interviews the smaller he becomes in my eyes. He is crude and rude and doesn’t show one bit of gratitude for the opportunities he has been given. Kayne West thought he could say anything to anyone and look at what’s happened to him lately. He’s become a punchline for many. Lucky for Kayne that it won’t be long before Adam replaces him as the butt of the joke if he keeps on shooting off his mouth like he has lately. Chickeeta(Quote)
Thanks for a most interesting article. It reminds us how much Clay Aiken had to go through with RCA to get the kind of product he wanted for his first album, Measure of a Man. Clay has endured and is still standing. RCA appears to be handing Adam Lambert everything he wants for his first album, but only time will tell what kind of interest it captures and the longevity of the career ahead for him.
Adam may think he is being shocking and edgy, but many people who buy music have good memories and can recall when this rock-god attitude was new and interesting. We have been there, done that, and used to have the t-shirt. It’s just no longer new, it’s rock-god nostalgia, reheated and tarted up with a liberal dusting of glitter. We are not fools. Sometimes glitter is not enough. In this economy, it’s going to take substance and talent, rather than rehashed glitter, to prompt the music buying public to spend money on it. madyjax(Quote)
American Idol and 19 knew America would not support Adam Lambert using sex to sell his music on what was supposed to be a family show, so they decided to deceive the viewers. They never did give out the voting totals so I think that Kris Allen did win by a landslide. If the vote were close they’d be hyping that. Now RCA is trying to market this guy to the buying public with his mic humping, his whips and chains, and his bare assed dancers. No thank you!
I think we’re watching a train wreck in progress. Sandi(Quote)
Thank you for this very informative article. There is no way that ANYONE is going to sell 613,000 albums in one week unless they are Michael Jackson. luluasst(Quote)
Clay more than likely signed his “death warrant” by fighting so hard for Measure of a Man. I say good for him, shows a man of character, one who isn’t blinded by money and fame. Karma(Quote)
This is a wonderful article. Thank you for all the information.
People forget how much grief Clay got from the people who were supposed to be helping him. Yet, he still broke records in sales.
It is too early to say what will happen with Adam. He is not anyone I would choose to see or hear…..too over the top and full of himself. Marty(Quote)
Clay Aiken & Adam Lambert are 2 totally different people, and have different backgrounds and goals. Yes, they are white, gay male singers. Clay Aiken has proved himself to be a successful entertainer and humanitarian. The jury is still out with Adam. He certainly appears to want to go a different direction, edgy not family friendly. lulu(Quote)
Oh how times have changed! Clay Aiken is a class act and will never sell out his morals just to sell a few CDs. On the other hand I believe Adam will do anything for it. Llana(Quote)
Lambert pretty much gets his nasty ass kissed everywhere. He says vile, disgusting things with absolutely no filter whatsoever and he gets praises to the ends of the earth. He’s a nasty, filthy mouthed fame whore and I can’t stand him, I hate him with a burning intensity, like I’ve never hated anyone before in my life. He’s conceited, arrogant, self-inflated, completely full of himself and says stuff that should turn off just about anyone. Here’s some of what he said in the OUT magazine interview:
I have to say, I didn’t really expect to see someone on Idol tour jerking off a mic stand.
AL: You know what was really funny about that — a woman came up to me in the autograph line and was like, “This is a family show. You need to make this more appropriate.” And I looked at her and said, “I don’t need a lecture from you.” I kinda smiled and she was like, “But there’s little girls in the audience.” I said to her, “They probably don’t know what I’m doing. You do. They don’t know what I’m doing. They just think I’m playing with my mic! They don’t know that I’m jerking off. They don’t get that yet. Come on! And, if they do, then…sorry.”
And this lovely gem:
Q:Are you toying with perception when you talk about how you could be bi-curious? Or are you generally attracted to women?
A: I will make out with a girl at a bar. I mean, after a couple of drinks.[Laughing] That doesn’t make you any less gay. Get three mai tais in a gay boy and he’ll make out with a girl. Sex is something different.
That’s why I say I’m curious. There are gay guys that gag and go “eww” at the thought of having sex with a girl. I’m curious about it, because I’ve never done it.
Q: Have you ever had any sex with a girl?
A: Oral.
Q: You went down on her?
A: Uh-huh.
Q: Was it gross, or it was just not what you wanted?
A: It was a little gross because I don’t think she was as clean as she could’ve been. It wasn’t the act of it that really turned me off. I don’t really remember. I was 18 and I was drunk. Or maybe I was 17… The point of the matter is that I would not rule it out. The idea is intriguing.
He is beyond vile DL(Quote)