Tommy Mottola
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Thomas Daniel 'Tommy' Mottola, Jr. (born July 14, 1949) is a music executive and co-owner of Casablanca Records in a joint venture with the Universal Music Group. He headed Sony Music Entertainment, parent of the Columbia label, for nearly 15 years.
Apart from his experience in managing music outfits, Mottola is known as a mentor and former talent manager. His most famous proteges were Hall & Oates in the 1970s and 80s, and Mariah Carey (later his wife) in the 1990s. Prior to that marriage, he wed Lisa Clark in 1971.
He's known for his often ruthless and callous nature when it comes to business deals.
'Gino the Manager'
Of Italian-American descent, Mottola was raised by a strict but music-loving Italian family. Mottola learned to play the trumpet, and polished his smooth tenor voice. Blessed with good looks, he initially had aspirations of a music career, and released with CBS Records, but his singing career was short-lived.
Wishing to stay in the industry, the enterprising Mottola started Don Tommy Enterprises to manage other acts. While working at the Chappell music-publishing company, he became the mentor to Philadelphia-based soul/rock performers Daryl Hall and John Oates, engineering their rise from a blue-eyed soul act with a few hits, to the most successful duo in American pop music history.
His belief in the duo led him to push them relentlessly to do appearances and advertising promotions, including some of the first specialized music videos and one of the first modern "sponsored tours," for Beech-Nut's Care Free Gum.
In the 1970s, Mottola gained charge of the agency Champion Entertainment Organization, whose flagship acts were Hall & Oates, John Mellencamp and Carly Simon.
The duo paid tribute to him in their "Gino (the Manager)" on their self-titled 1975 RCA release, better known as the Silver Album. Mottola also figured -- this time, being mentioned by name -- in "Cherchez La Femme," the 1976 dance hit by another Mottola act, Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band. ("Tommy Mottola/Lives on the road...")
The CBS/Sony Years
Mottola left the agency in 1988, when he was picked to run Columbia Records, eventually adding the other CBS Records labels to his portfolio.
Soon afterward, Sony Corporation closed on its deal to buy the CBS Records group unit from CBS, Inc., but performed a hushed background check on Mottola due to allegations of Mafia ties, before naming him President and CEO of the music division, where he succeeded his former mentor Walter Yetnikoff, who had originally brought Mottola into CBS.
In 1989, Brenda K. Starr, a Columbia artist, handed Mottola a demo tape from one of her backup singers. Initially he tossed it aside, but later decided to listen to it. So awestruck was he by her polished coloratura soprano, he tracked down the singer, a then-unknown Mariah Carey, immediately signing her and starting one of the most expensive promotion campaigns ever for a new artist. In 1993, Mottola married Carey in a lavish ceremony. The marriage was short-lived; by 1998 they divorced. Carey later alleged that Mottola restricted her freedom and was psychologically abusive. She eventually left Columbia. He later went on to date other stars such as Jennifer Lopez, and Naomi Campbell, before dating latin singer Thalía, who later became his wife.
After Sony
Tommy Mottola was the head of Sony Music Entertainment until January 2003. Allegations of racism by Michael Jackson, backed by Al Sharpton, put pressure of Sony to sever ties with Mottola, but it is generally acknowledged that it was Mottola's lavish spending -- at a time of declining profits in the industry -- that led Sony's parent in Tokyo to dismiss him. Mottola quickly bought out the rights to Casablanca Records (a then-diminished imprint of Polygram), and resurrected it, signing actress Lindsay Lohan as his first new act. He is currently married to actress and singer Thalía. In 2005, he signed Tamar Braxton to his label.
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