All language subtitles for Mr.A.and.Mr.M.The.Story.of.AandM.Records.S01E02.WEBRip.x264-ION10_English

[The Go-Go's "We Got the Beat"
plays]

♪♪

♪♪

♪ See the people
walking down the street ♪

♪ Fall in line,
just watching all their feet ♪

♪ They don't know
where they want to go ♪

♪ But they're walking in time

♪ They got the beat

♪ They got the beat,
they got the beat ♪

♪ Yeah, they got the beat

♪♪

♪ All the kids
just getting out of school ♪

♪ They can't wait to hang out
and be cool ♪

♪ Hang around
till quarter after 12:00 ♪

♪ That's when they fall
in line ♪

♪ They got the beat

♪ They got the beat,
kids got the beat ♪

♪ Yeah, kids got the beat

♪♪

♪ We got the beat

♪ We got the beat

♪ We got the beat

♪ Everybody get on your feet

♪ We got the beat

♪ We know you can dance
to the beat ♪

♪ We got the beat

-♪ Jump back, get down
-♪ We got the beat

♪ 'Round and 'round
and 'round ♪

Whoo!

♪ We got the beat

♪ We got the beat

♪ We got the beat

♪ We got the beat

♪ We got the beat

♪ We got the beat

♪ We got the beat

♪ We got the beat

♪ We got the beat

♪ We got the beat

-♪ We got the beat
-♪ We got the beat

-♪ We got the beat
-♪ We got the beat

♪♪

♪♪

There weren't any
artist-oriented labels

at that time, were there?

Not that I was aware of it.
[laughs]

But it was about money
back then.

Yeah, we never thought
of A&M as a--a place

where we can just make
a lot of money.

We wanted to make good records.
I mean, that was our goal.

We felt if we made good records,
there'd be an--an audience.

In fact, in The Lonely Bull
album, Jerry and I

wrote a song called
"Tijuana Sauerkraut,"

which was a--a turkey,
but it was nonetheless honest.

[both laugh]

It was an honest turkey.
Yeah.

♪♪

Up until around 1968,
we had this kind of cool sound.

I mean, it was like middle-
of-the-road type of thing.

And we had a jazz label.
Stan Getz recorded for us.

We had Quincy, Gerry Mulligan,
Paul Desmond, Chet Baker.

And Jerry was the one who said,
"We need to get

a little bit
more into rock 'n' roll."

So on his trip to London, we got
some of those great groups

and opened up the style of music
that A&M was known for.

If you think about A&M, a lot
of the stuff comes from England.

Jerry was an Anglophile.
We all were.

We all had
kind of English music taste.

A lot of our rock 'n' roll bands
came from there.

Humble Pie was the first
English band we signed.

Peter Frampton was only 19.
Amazing guitar player.

Steve Marriott
was the lead singer.

He was an incredible artist
and an amazing performer.

Late in their 10th year, 1972,

Humble Pie lit up the charts
with"Smokin',"

their first taste of gold.

The march was on again
for Humble Pie.

[speaking indistinctly]

[chimes jingling]

I had grown so much over
the last couple of years

with Humble Pie
that I was finding

that there was music
that I wanted to make

that I couldn't make
in Humble Pie anymore.

I wanted to go
another direction.

And then abruptly,
Peter left the band.

[Peter Frampton's
"Baby, I Love Your Way" plays]

And then went on the road
for about three albums,

and he started growing a career
and growing fans.

♪ Hey, hey

♪♪

♪ Shadows grow so long

♪ Before my eyes

♪♪

♪ And they're moving

♪ Across the page

The first few years on my own,
I was climbing Everest

and not knowing if I'd ever
get to anywhere near the top.

♪ Far away

I learned I am a performer first
and foremost playing live.

♪ But don't, please don't

♪ Hesitate

That's the part of me
that I put everything together

and get my creative juices
flowing.

That's what I enjoy the most.

♪ Whoa-oh-oh, oh-oh, oh, oh

♪ Ooh, baby, I love your way

Every day.

♪ I wanna tell you
I love your way ♪

♪ Ooh-ooh-ooh, yeah

♪ I wanna be with you
night and day ♪

Everybody loves a--a--melody
that they can whistle to,

you know,
and or sing in the shower.

-Mm-hmm.
-I think it'll always be.

Whether it--Whether it's heavy
or whether it's acoustic.

you know?
-Mm-hmm.

To me, I just love anything
that's really melodic.

[Peter Frampton's
"Show Me the Way" plays]

[talk box guitar playing]

Pete Drake gets out
this little box,

and he plugs a tube
into the top of it,

starts playing the pedal steel,
and it's singing to me.

It was like...[imitates
bell ringing]...there it is.

There's that sound.

And I said, "What is that?
Where can I get one?"

[talk box guitar playing]

♪♪

[distorted singing]

When we got to that part
in the song

and I started talking to the
audience with the talk box,

it was a magnet, that sound.

They just went berserk.

Come on, show me the way.

[cheers and applause]

♪ You

♪ Hey, show me the way

♪ Night and day

♪ I want you...

As a solo artist,
he was selling some records.

But I would go see him live, and
it wasn't what the record was.

You know, so I said,
"Let's make a live record."

And Frampton Comes Alive!
was the story of 1976.

[cheers and applause]

♪♪

♪ I'm swimming in a circle

♪ I feel I'm going down

I went away on a holiday
after mixing the live album

and came back,

and all of a sudden,
I was sold out

all over the country
on my next American tour.

And instead of doing
one night in a city,

I was booked to do four nights,
and it was really a show.

♪ To show me the way

♪ Yeah

♪ I want you

I get a call from Jerry. He
said, "Are you sitting down?"

I said, "Okay, I'll sit down."
He said, "You're number one.

The album's number one."

I said, "You're kidding me."

"You've just broken
Carole King's

Tapestrysales record.

You're the biggest-selling album
of all time."

I mean, I started off playing
in front of 200 people

to now it's 95,000, you know?

♪ Well, I wonder
if I'm dreaming ♪

♪ I feel so unashamed

♪ I can't believe
this is happening ♪

♪ To me

♪ I watch you
when you're sleeping ♪

♪ And then I want
to take your love ♪

♪ Oh, won't you

♪ Show me the way?

Peter Frampton was kind of
one of the miracles of A&M.

♪ I want you

Frampton Comes Alive!
was called the biggest-selling

live album in history.

You don't know me now,
but you will soon

when the new Styx video
premieres.

Yeah!

♪ The jig is up,
the news is out ♪

♪ They've finally found me

♪ The renegade...

We signed Styx in 1975.

Big power ballads.
It was big rock 'n' roll.

♪ This will be the end today

♪ Of the wanted man

In the very beginning, we were
five naive young men

from the South Side of Chicago.

We were damn excited
to come to A&M.

♪ ...on my head

The first time
I met Jerry Moss,

he shook my hand, and I thought,

"Oh, my God,
they've hired Charlton Heston

to pretend
that he's Jerry Moss."

♪ ...he'll see me dead

And I remember we would
put really interesting

album covers out for them.

♪ You're so scared
and all alone ♪

The art department at A&M
was second to none,

and they came up with this idea
of a block of ice on fire.

♪ ...have very long

Equinoxwas one of my favorite
Styx albums,

and for that album with that
much good music on it,

to have
this kind of an album cover...

And, J.Y., play!
Come on!

[guitar solo]

♪♪

Thought we were gonna have
a big smash record in 1976

with our second record,
Crystal Ball.

But Frampton had Frampton
Comes Alive!that year.

And we were opening for Peter
at that point in time

because that record
had started to really sell.

But then the very next year,
we got ours with Grand Illusion.

♪ Oh, Mama,
I'm in fear for my life ♪

♪ From the long arm of the law

[grunts]

♪ Hangman is coming down
from the gallows ♪

♪ And I don't have very long

♪ The jig is up,
the news is out ♪

♪ They've finally found me

♪ The renegade who had it made

♪ Retrieved for a bounty

♪ Nevermore to go astray

♪ This will be the end today

♪ Of the wanted man

Grand Illusion
sold six million copies.

There are moments
when it's incredible.

I never thought
it would get this big.

A&M knew that you needed
to develop an artist,

and they gave us the tools,
and we felt nurtured there.

There was this freedom
that we had, you know,

and we took full advantage
of it.

Because
of A&M's lasting belief in us,

we were able to record three
more triple platinum albums

consecutively.

♪ Mama, don't let 'em take me

Styx was one
of the first airplane groups.

In other words, we finally had
an act that actually could fly

on their own private plane.

Wow.

[Supertramp's
"The Logical Song" plays]

Oh. Oh. Are we on?

Are we on?
Are we on?

-Yeah.
-Oh, good, good. Okay.

-[clears throat]
-♪ When I was young

♪ It seemed that life
was so wonderful ♪

♪ A miracle

♪ Oh, it was beautiful,
magical ♪

The band's been
a sort of well-respected name

for quite a long time, you know.

It wasn't until
the Crime of the Centuryalbum

that it got going for us,
really.

♪ But then they send me away

The first couple of Supertramp
albums, I just didn't feel them,

and so we didn't release them.

Your record company,
A&M Records,

really kept behind you

through the first couple
of albums,

which didn't sell
really enough for them

to make back their investment.
-Yeah.

And I was hearing
that the band was in the studio,

and if I didn't like the record
they were making,

they were gonna leave the label.

♪ There are times...

Jerry came down to the studio,

and he heard us
working on the record.

And I heard
Crime of the Century.

And I said,
"You're not going anywhere.

You got to stick around.

This is too important,
you know?"

♪ Won't you please

♪ Please tell me
what we've learned? ♪

The problem with us,
we couldn't really tour

as a support band
because by this time

we had, like, a light show
and movies and slides.

I went back to New York, and I
talked to Premier Booking,

and I said,
"Make these guys headliners.

I'll back you up. I'll pay the
promoters if we lose money.

I guarantee it's gonna work."

♪ A liberal

♪ Oh, fanatical...

Supertramp, we believe
this band is just beginning,

and as much success
as they've had,

it's just the tip
of the iceberg.

Oh, presentable, a vegetable ♪

♪ Oh, take it, take it,
take it ♪

That was a band that Jerry
saw something in,

he stuck with, and his loyalty
was rewarded when they became

one of the biggest-selling bands
in the world.

♪♪

At A&M, they made decisions

based on what was right
for the artist, confident that

it would ultimately
make good business sense.

♪ ...when
all the world's asleep ♪

It was just the right place
at the right time

with the right company.
To me, Jerry and Herb,

they understood
how to treat artists.

♪ ...I am

♪ Who I am

♪ Who I am

♪ Who I am

So Supertramp is, like, one of
the biggest bands in the world.

You know, this is
Breakfast in Americatime.

We're making a lot of money
off of a bunch of big bands,

and all of a sudden,
our focus goes to what's new--

punk bands.

1, 2, 3, 4!

[Sex Pistols'
"Anarchy in the U.K." plays]

Punk rock--
the latest trend in music

and with an antiestablishment
message behind it,

telling the youth to be
as nasty as possible.

♪ I am an antichrist

♪ And I am an anarchist

♪ Don't know what I want,
but I know how to get it ♪

♪ I want to destroy passerby

There's punks. There are punks,
and they're in England,

and there are some of them
in Hollywood.

And we're doing punks.
Okay, punks.

♪ Anarchy

No dogsbody.

We don't have
any hardcore punk,

except all of a sudden, one day,

"Hey, we signed the Sex Pistols
in England."

♪ Stop a traffic line

♪ Your future dream...

Originally from England,
they've caused

a lot of controversy
over their foul language

and their invitation
to youngsters to defy society.

How do you react to the
reputation that your group

is the most revolting
in the country?

Look, our group is creating
a generation gap

for the first time
in five years in this country.

And a lot of people are being
genuinely threatened by it.

If the kids want
to buy the record,

it's called
"Anarchy in the U.K."

It's out in the shops. They can
make their own decisions.

♪♪

I get a phone call
from Derek Green,

and he says, "Well, we're gonna
have to let them go."

And I said, "What do you mean,
we're gonna have to let them go?

We're putting out records.
It's--It's happening."

He says, "No, they actually
beat up a friend of mine,

and they really hurt him.
And I just can't abide

by this band.
You once said to me

we have to sign people
we can celebrate with

and feel good
about what we do for them.

And I just can't stand
these guys,

and I'd rather
not be around them."

All of a sudden,
they were gone.

We didn't have
the Sex Pistols anymore

because they beat the crap
out of some guy.

And you signed up then
with A&M.

-Yeah, another...
-Yeah, for a week.

-For a week, yeah.
-For a week.

In 1979, you've got
a fading hair band scene,

and it's hard for punk to really
be successful at radio,

and then you've got new wave.

And then Derek Green
called me up and said,

"You've got to go see
the movie 'Quadrophenia.'"

Oh, look at him.

Don't he look smart?
-Wallop!

-When you go see Ace Face,
you're going,

"That guy's cool-looking."

And it was like,
his name is Sting,

and his band is The Police.

The Police were, in a way,

a punk band
with a different kind of tempo.

Punk had opened people's minds
to the idea that you don't have

to sound like Electric
Light Orchestra or ABBA.

And I think that opened
the way for us

to do things slightly
differently and be accepted.

There was a lot of interest
in the group

because we were in parenthesis
a "punk" group or new wave,

and we had
a rather accessible tune.

[The Police's "Roxanne" plays]

♪♪

When I heard "Roxanne,"
I realized that this was

a lot more than I could possibly
handle myself,

and I really wanted to have
a major label behind them.

♪ Roxanne

♪ You don't have to put on
the red light ♪

♪ Those days are over

♪ You don't have
to sell your body to the night ♪

♪ Roxanne

We didn't actually realize its
potential until our manager came

and heard it
and he--he freaked out.

And we were so puzzled
by his sort of enthusiasm.

And then the more we listened,

it was almost like,
"God, this isgood."

♪ You don't care if it's wrong
or if it's right ♪

♪ Roxanne

The band were thinking
of themselves as a punk group,

and, of course,
"Roxanne" didn't fit.

I said, "Yeah, I like that."
I said, "It's so good,

I'm gonna take it to
A&M Records tomorrow

and get you a real record deal."

So The Police were signed
to A&M Records.

-♪ Roxanne
-♪ Put on the red light

-♪ Roxanne
-♪ Put on the red light

Jerry Moss and Herb Alpert,
who's the A and M

of A&M Records. both
came down and shook our hands.

Shook my hand.
This one right here.

♪ Roxanne

You know, it's one of those
vivid memories in life,

the first time you sign
a recording deal.

Never signed anything
in my life before.

The three of us and all the
excitement and the photographs,

and they'd give us
all these free albums,

you know,
by people we really loved.

♪ I loved you since I knew you

♪ I wouldn't talk down to you

When I first hooked up
with them,

they were playing
a bowling alley in Poughkeepsie.

They had one roadie,
and that's all it was.

And this van.

♪ So put away your makeup

Back at that time,
there was no Internet.

And it was literally
driving ourselves

right across the country
doing gig after gig after gig.

♪ Roxanne

A deejay in Texas happened
to have our single on his desk.

He played it, and it got
what's called good phone,

where the listeners phone in
their responses

to records--new records
that are played,

and it got
extremely good phone.

As we're driving
ourselves around,

we keep hearing
our record on the radio.

And it's, you know...

That memory
is just emblazoned in my head.

First, there were
stereo viewers.

-Wow.

Then there were
stereo recordings.

-Wow!
-Now stereo TVs.

Wow!

MTV. Music Television.

[The Police's
"Message in a Bottle" plays]

Ow!

♪ Just a castaway

♪ An island lost at sea, oh

Back when I started
I.R.S. Records and The Police,

it was about radio.
Radio gave you the exposure.

MTV comes along, and now
there's another exposure.

♪ Than any man could bear

Videos were called
international films.

We made them
for five grand each.

They were just
joke little films.

They were cute little films.

I had the meetings with the guys
from MTV, and they said,

"We're gonna take
your international films.

and we're gonna put them on 24/7
on cable."

♪ I hope that someone gets my

♪ Message in a bottle

With MTV, we provided
free content

for the channel to start 'cause
they provided free advertising

for us.
When they got behind something,

it could really
explode a record.

♪ I'll send an SOS
to the world ♪

♪ I'll send
an SOS to the world ♪

The Police are one
of the first bands

that are a rock band
through the MTV era,

and they were
the biggest MTV act.

♪ Sending out an SOS

I think MTV was significant
for The Police,

but they were already
happening by then.

America! Demand your MTV!

♪ Call your cable company
and say, "I want my MTV" ♪

[The Go-Go's
"Our Lips Are Sealed" plays]

They were probably more
significant with The Go-Go's

because the success
of The Go-Go's was happening

pretty shortly after
the MTV had launched.

♪♪

And MTV saw them as a good,
fun image for MTV.

♪ Can you hear them?

♪ They talk about us

♪ Telling lies

♪ Well, that's no surprise

I think we made the video
for, like, $8,000.

It was the excess of a Police
video that got left over.

♪ No secrets to reveal

♪ Doesn't matter what they say

♪ In the jealous games
people play ♪

♪ Our lips are sealed

Did you run into any prejudice

when you first started out?
The fact that you are female--

Did people not take you
seriously?

I think that at first they did.
They were--

The record companies were afraid

to take a chance
on an all-girl band

'cause none had
really succeeded before.

♪ That's
when they'll disappear ♪

♪ That's when we'll be feared

♪ It doesn't matter
what they say ♪

♪ In the jealous games...

A&M had a very,
very good promotion team,

so they would work
The Go-Go's record,

and so The Go-Go's record,
would, you know, go up to 60,

and then it would go up to 50,
and then 30 or something,

and it just
sort of seemed to stop.

♪ Doesn't matter anyway

So I went to the band
and I said, "Look,

I think there's
more life in this record,

and I think you should join
The Police tour."

And, sure enough, the record
started climbing again.

♪♪

We were very close friends
with The Go-Go's.

They were just so much fun
to have on the road.

They were
the best opening act ever

because by the time
we came on for our show,

the building
was already rocking.

So it was very refreshing
to see these five women

busting through and winning.

♪ Can you hear them?

♪ They talk about us

♪ Telling lies

♪ Well, that's no surprise

♪ Can you see them?

♪ See right through them

One day, Sting walks into
The Go-Go's dressing room

with a bottle of champagne
and says, "Congratulations."

And they all looked at him and
said, "Whoa, what's that for?"

And he said,
"Well, you just surpassed us.

We're number six.
You're number one."

♪ Our lips are sealed

The first album ever
of an all-girl group

to have a number-one album
in the United States.

[The Carpenters'
"Those Good Old Dreams" plays]

Made in America.

The Carpenters to sing
"Those Good Old Dreams."

Karen and Richard.

[applause]

♪ As a child, I was known
for make-believin' ♪

♪ All alone,
I created fantasies ♪

You have to go back and look
at exactly what was happening

in our career at this time,

which was a whole lot.
-We're in and out.

Like, when you come in
to do a concert, you...

you run in, and you--
You're in there

for, like, a rehearsal
during the afternoon.

You know, you go get dressed,

and you do the show
and then zoom, you know.

It's really kind of hard because
there's not that much time.

We were booked way too much.

So on top of that,
you had to have the master in

by a certain time because we had
to be on the road again.

And looking back on it,

we shouldn't have
been touring that much.

I don't think it sold a record.

I think the records
sold themselves.

So we shouldn't have been
working like that.

It was crazy.

♪ Long ago

♪ And, oh, so far away

♪ I fell in love with you

♪ Before the second show

From 1970 to 1975,
they had 10 gold singles.

♪ It sounds so sweet
and clear ♪

Herbie believes--
and I agree with him--

that Karen never got to realize
how great a singer she was.

You know, she couldn't have
been nicer as a person,

but she had problems from fame,
from success.

♪ ...radio

♪ Don't you remember you told me
you loved me, baby? ♪

"You're just one
of the greatest,"

I would tell her
time and time again.

I don't believe she realized
just how damn great she was.

High ego and low self-esteem.

Good afternoon.
Here's the latest at 4:00.

Karen Carpenter died
this morning at 9:51,

the victim of cardiac arrest.

The Grammy Award-winning singer
with the mellow voice

was only 32 years old.

[The Carpenters'
"Rainy Days and Mondays" plays]

Tragedy befell Hollywood
and the world today,

having learned of the sudden
death of singer Karen Carpenter,

a woman who had dedicated
her life to song.

♪ Talking to myself
and feeling old ♪

Sometimes I'd like to quit ♪

♪ Nothing ever seems to fit

♪ Hanging around

♪ Nothing to do but frown

I cannot stress
how much pressure you feel

when you are
a young artist

and you have a lot of people
telling you

what your image needs to be.

♪ What I've got,
they used to call the blues ♪

♪ Nothing is really wrong

♪ Feeling like I don't belong

♪ Walking around

♪ Some kind of lonely clown

♪ Rainy days and Mondays
always get me down ♪

Here is this beautiful artist

who has an incredible voice
that still is on the airwaves,

and then knowing the pain
that she was in.

And yet we put such pressure now
on our artists to look perfect.

♪ Funny, but it seems
that it's the only thing to do ♪

♪ Run and find
the one who loves me ♪

♪ The one who loves me

I want The Carpenters
to be remembered

as the talents that we were.

And more than anything,

I want Karen
to receive her due.

♪ Hanging around

♪ Nothing to do but frown

♪ Rainy days and Mondays
always get me down ♪

♪♪

I remember going to have
a meeting

with people from PolyGram,

who were demonstrating
their new invention--

the compact disc.

You know, every company
was kind of tentative--

"Well, I don't know.

We'll do four or five
and see how that goes."

CDs come. All of a sudden,
there's so much money again

because we just got
to go regrow everything.

The wholesale price of a CD
was about 10 bucks.

And the CD only cost
about a dollar to make.

With the advance of the CD,
everybody made a lot more money.

And that was just
Christmas in July

for all the record companies
and all the artists.

♪♪

♪♪

They, more or less, said
that you were going to--

to not quit the group,
but spend a fair bit of time

away from the group.
-Who said that?

Well, this article
said this.

Well, one is quitting because
I'mquitting the group.

Oh, right. And you were
gonna go into a film career.

Actually all three of us
are quitting.

Well, wait a minute,
wait a minute.

One of us--I'm quitting first.

Well, someone's got
to say it first.

I'm quitting first.
Fine. I'm gonna quit right now.

We had tried to branch out
during our Police years,

but there was no encouragement
for anything that wasn't

the three blond heads
in the golden cage together

producing mother's milk
for the music industry.

Is this gonna be
the last formal tour?

People are talking
about the band is...

-♪ Dunh, da-dunh, da
-Yeah. Is coming apart,

breaking up, taking a break.
What are you gonna do?

No, we're--we're just taking
a long break.

We came to the realization
that the only way to try

any of the other opportunities
that life might present,

we had to kill the golden goose.

And so that was when the three
of us decided together,

"Let's kill this thing."

We never informed officially
that The Police had broken up,

so there was
no official announcement.

It was just that Sting's
gonna do a solo record.

[radio tuning]

There's no reason to assume
that The Police have broken up

because we haven't.

We are all just free,
independent individuals.

You know, after five albums,
I think Sting

had arrived at a place in his
own mind where he figured,

well, he's kind of been there,
done that.

Seven years as a member
of The Police

and that sort
of meteoric rise...

...that we had was--
was--was very difficult.

And I think we all became
sort of casualties

of that success.
-Right.

And the pressure.

God, the pressure.

♪ Free, free, set them free

♪ Free, free, set them free

Why would you leave
the biggest band in the world

at the time
to take any kind of risk?

♪ If you need somebody
-♪ Free, free, set them free

-♪ Call my name
-♪ Free, free

My feeling is
that risk is vital.

I like the beginnings of things.

♪ You can do the same

♪ Free, free set them free

♪ If you want to keep
something precious ♪

It's all up in the air,
and--and I love that.

I love the fact
nothing is certain.

-Mm-hmm.
-Because if it is certain,

then--then you've got yourself
in a sort of prison cell.

This is 1985, this is now,
and I'm living for now.

♪ If you love somebody

♪ If you love someone

♪ If you love somebody

♪ If you love someone

♪ Set them free

♪ Free, free, set them free

I had a wonderful trajectory
into a solo career.

Even though I'd branched away
from The Police,

I still felt safe at A&M.

♪ Set them free

♪ Set them free

♪ Free, free, set them free

I think it was loyalty
on my part

and loyalty on their part.

Why would I go
anywhere different?

You know, it was a family.

♪ You can't control
an independent heart ♪

♪ Can't hold
what you can't keep ♪

♪ Can't tear
the one you love apart ♪

♪ Can't love
what you can't keep ♪

♪ Forever conditioned to
believe that we can't live ♪

♪ We can't live here
and be happy with less ♪

If you look at the history
of rock 'n' roll

from 1978 to today,
Sting is still there.

He becomes probably,
other than Herb,

the most important A&M artist.

I remember when they signed
Suzanne Vega.

♪ I am sitting in the morning
at the diner on the corner ♪

♪ I am waiting at the counter
for the man to pour the coffee ♪

♪ And he fills it only halfway,
and before I even argue ♪

♪ He is looking out the window
at somebody coming in ♪

I signed with A&M Records
in 1984.

We tried to get onto A&M,

and we were rejected,
I believe, three times.

♪ "It is always nice
to see you" ♪

♪ Says the man
behind the counter ♪

♪ To the woman who has come in,
she is shaking her umbrella ♪

I think at first they were wary
of signing me 'cause--

'cause I came from the folk
scene in--in New York.

And I think they expected
the album to sell,

I guess, about 30,000 copies,

and they would have been
really pleased with that.

And instead,
it sold a lot more than that.

♪ I open up the paper

♪ There's a story of an actor

♪ Who had died
while he was drinking ♪

♪ It was no one I had heard of

♪ And I'm turning
to the horoscope ♪

"Tom's Diner" was a song
I'd written in the early '80s.

I hung around the folk scene
in New York City.

So I decided rather than wait
for it to be arranged,

I would just sing it
a cappella onstage,

and it always got people to stop
drinking and stop talking.

And I started to use it
to open all of my shows.

♪ And I finish up my coffee, and
it's time to catch the train ♪

♪ Doo-doo-doo-doo,
doo-doo-doo-doo ♪

♪ Doo-doo-doo-doo,
doo-doo-doo-doo ♪

The first album
had done so well that I thought,

"Let's be bold
on the second album,

and let's put 'Tom's Diner' on
there and have it a cappella."

[Suzanne Vega's "Luka" plays]

A song about a 9-year-old
who is battered,

a 9-year-old child battered...
-Right.

...is not normally
a hit pop song, is it?

No, it isn't. And I must say
that when the record company

said that they were thinking
of releasing it as a single,

I was extremely dubious.

You know, I was wondering
how it would do,

and I didn't have
any expectations

that it would go sailing up
into the top 40.

♪ My name is Luka

♪ I live on the second floor

♪ I love upstairs from you ♪

♪ Yes, I think you've seen me
before ♪

"Luka" was a big step forward
for me,

and I'm very proud
of that video.

They had wanted
to make it more graphic.

They had wanted to show the boy
with a black eye,

and I told them
to please take that away

because I did not want
that kind of graphic depiction.

♪♪

Huge MTV hit.

The single went to number two
on the Billboardcharts,

and I said, "We got to sit

and just savor this
for five minutes

because this could be
the high point

of all of our careers
right now."

♪♪

I remember coming back from
the American Music Awards,

and Quincy Jones
was recording all these stars

for a fundraising record

that was happening
at A&M studios.

There's this flurry of activity.

Cars, lights, recording studio,
extra security.

-[camera shutters clicking]
- [indistinct conversations]

Herb's brother, who ran
the physical plant, was there,

and he explained to me that all
these superstars were there.

They were recording
this song "We Are the World,"

and was I interested
in going in and taking a look?

♪ We are the world,
we are the children ♪

I mean, nobody knew
what "We Are the World" was.

We just knew something
was going on.

And I've never felt
more out of place in my life

because there were
no hangers-on there.

It was just the artists

and the people
working on the record.

"We Are the World" was done

as one of those
great charitable things.

Everything had been donated--
the talent,

the studio, and the royalties

that would be earned
from the recording.

♪ There comes a time

♪ When we heed a certain call

♪ When the world

♪ Must come together as one

It was just inspiring
to work at that lot.

There was so much
going on there.

I remember the first time
I drove into the gates of A&M,

and it was like, "Wow."

The A&M lot was kind of
a--a relaxed, magical place.

It was a break
from the old record companies

where everybody wore ties
and everybody had suits.

It was a different world.
It was a world in itself.

It caught people.
It trapped you.

It made you want to be there.

These are Charlie's footsteps
right there.

-Yeah.
-See this?

-Yeah.
-You see that?

-Uh-huh.
-You see that?

Did he really walk like this?

[whistling]

♪♪

[laughs]

It wasn't just
a sterile office building.

The lot kind of mandated
interaction between people.

It had little cottages,

so you felt you were
in a village community.

You almost felt
as if you were going in

and out of people's houses.

It always felt open
and friendly.

A&M was like home, man.

It was so comforting, you know.

All the artists would hang out.

And it was
a very creative atmosphere.

I felt it was like going to the
college that I never went to.

Herb's office was open.
My office was open.

Anybody could come in
and play a tape.

And you could go and sit on
their desks and talk music

or talk business
or just talk about life.

When these two guys
came together

and formed
that partnership,

I don't think they even knew
how special it was going to be.

They were certainly the yin
and yang of the music business.

They just knew how to
make artists feel comfortable

so that they could just
be free to create.

And one point, I embedded a
crystal in the wall of Studio B,

and now and then,
you know,

I see artists davening
in front of the crystal--

"Give me a hit record,"
or whatever.

It was beautiful.

That was a nice place to be.

♪♪

♪♪

We signed Janet
when she was doing a TV show.

We made a deal with her father,
Joe Jackson.

They used to shoot "Soul Train"
on that lot.

So I would go there
when my brothers would perform.

And I was just 14 at the time.

We put out a couple of albums
that we'd produced,

and they were
semi-successful.

But clearly,
Janet was growing up

to be a really
special person.

And what she was trying
to get away with

was all kinds of control,
including her dad.

Janet wanted to make
an album.

She wanted
to be creative.

And nobody had really
asked her her opinion.

I parted ways with my father
as being my manager.

And I wanted my voice
to be heard

as the young adult
coming into her own.

Five, four, three, two...

♪♪

Control is just about me
taking control of my life,

as well as my career.

Band!

The Janet on Control
was the 18-year-old,

the moving-out-of-my-house,
taking-control-of-my-life Janet.

♪ When I was 17

♪ I did what people told me

♪ Did what my father said
and let my mother mold me ♪

♪ But that was long ago

♪ I'm in
-♪ Control

♪ I'm never gonna stop

♪ Control

There was a lot that I kept
inside of me

that I needed to express.

And that's how
the different songs came about,

along with Jim and Terry.

♪ First time I fell in love

♪ I didn't know what hit me

[tires screech, crash]

We just, as producers,
just we're always like,

"Let's get the personality
and the attitude that she has.

Let's put that
into the records,

and we think that'll resonate
with the people."

And ultimately,
that's what happened.

♪ I want to make
my own decisions ♪

♪ When it has to do
with my life, my life ♪

♪ I wanna be the one
in control ♪

When we knew it was a success
is when we'd hear it

blasting out of people's houses
in the neighborhood.

And it just turned out
that the album got played

in a lot of houses in a lot
of different neighborhoods

all over the world.

The Controlalbum
was not just Jimmy,

not just Terry,
and not just myself,

but also A&M.

I mean, everyone worked so hard
to make that happen.

Every now and then,
we put out an amazing record,

and I get on my high horse,
and say,

"Hey, have you heard the new
Janet Jackson record?"

It's on A&M," you know?

I'd like to thank
the A&M family

and all of you
for supporting me

and for making this
what it is--

such a success.
Thank you.

[applause]

Periodically, with A&M,
there were rumors

that the company
was gonna get sold.

It happened
pretty regularly.

And I would
always go to Gill

and he'd say,
"No, it's just a rumor."

So we were used to the rumors
and used to it not being true.

One day,
the Polygram rumors started,

and I just figured
it was more of the same.

I'd gone through this
three or four times before.

But it wasn't the same.

♪♪

First of all, I'd like to say
thank you all for coming here.

And I know that it seems
a wee bit cruel,

because a lot of rumors
have been floating around

for the last--
actually, since 1967.

Herb and Jerry called a meeting
on the soundstage

for the whole lot

and announced
that the company was for sale.

It was announced that Polygram
was acquiring A&M.

If it works out,
and we do,

you know, consummate this
situation with Polygram,

it's gonna be a great deal
for everyone.

I mean, it's gonna take A&M
to that next plateau.

By that time,
I'm talking '89,

and in 1990,
the industry was changing.

Artists were getting
huge advances,

and we just didn't have
that kind of money,

to give somebody 60 million
bucks or $40 million.

So we sort of had to sell
the company to make it grow.

But conditions in our industry
are requiring that we

create an alliance somewhere,

and, uh, I think we've got
a great one with Polygram.

We got at least
a five-year deal,

which is real nice
to think about.

Selling the company would be
a way to make it bigger,

if we could both stay,

because we both like
what we were doing.

You know, no problem
with what we were doing.

We liked what we were doing.

And the plan was to sell
49% of the company.

That's what we held on to
for a while,

until they kept
upping the deal.

Is that true?

Sort of.

[laughter]

If this thing works out,

there's not gonna be
any great change.

I'm gonna still be looking for
a great way to put up

Christmas lights

and finding new ways
to put plants around this place.

Several weeks later,
we were sold.

I never forgot that.

It was strange,
especially for us

who had been there
for 20, 25 years.

♪♪

We got along very well with
the then-president of Polygram.

And at the end of 1991,

after our first year
in sort of business with them,

he gave me a call one day,
and he says, "You know,

we have an automatic retirement
age here, and it's 61.

And I just had
my birthday yesterday.

And you're gonna have to
report to another guy."

And...

that other guy wasn't laughing
at our jokes.

[laughter]

I was.

Jerry felt like they were
gonna just let him continue

to run the company
in the way he wanted,

but that wasn't the case.

I think it was
a financially happy end,

but not a spiritually
happy end.

We were, you know,
kind of paid off, basically.

And in the middle of '93,
we had to leave A&M.

That particular Christmas,
following their leaving,

was the saddest party
I had ever gone to.

And while everybody knew that
the name would be there, A&M,

the life of A&M as we knew it
would change.

♪♪

Jerry and I were friends
long before we became partners.

A&M started on a handshake.

There was nothing formal.

You know, it's all about
the music.

That's what we believed in.

And, uh,
it was a marvelous experience.

I can't believe how lucky I was.

And, uh--

We were.

[laughs]

Well, to be partners,
number one, with this guy.

Well, same goes for me.

And to just be ourselves,

You know,
"Welcome to our world."

You know, "We think
it's pretty good here.

Join us if you will."
-Yeah.

And Jerry and I,
as the story goes,

we never signed an agreement
when we started A&M.

It was only
when we finally sold

that we put our Hancock
on the dotted line.

And it was
an amazing experience,

because we were friends
when we started,

and we're
better friends now.

So it's an amazing story.

♪♪

A&M Records
was the number one

artist-oriented label
in the world.

I don't think it's ever
going to happen again.

It was a very special time with
a lot of very special people.

♪♪

It's about the art.
It's about the love.

It's about the heart.
It's about the soul.

It's about all the things
that make music great.

♪♪

It was the magic
record company.

And for all of us
who worked there,

we all have a little grin
in our hearts,

the smile about that place.

♪♪

♪♪

♪ A gathering of angels
appeared above my head ♪

♪ They sang to me
this song of hope ♪

♪ And this is what
they said ♪

♪ They said,
"Come sail away ♪

♪ Come sail away

♪ Come sail away
with me, lads ♪

♪ Come sail away

♪ Come sail away

♪ Come sail away with me

♪ Come sail away

♪ Come sail away

♪ Come sail away with me, baby

♪ Come sail away

♪ Come sail away

♪ Come sail away with me

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪