Clive Davis is on a roll. Last night he spoke or was interviewed– or both–at the 92nd St. Y for his book. “The Soundtrack of My Life” comes in at number 2 on the New York Times Best Seller list this Sunday. His collaborator, Anthony DeCurtis, was the appointed interviewer on stage in front of a sold out crowd that barely noticed the increasing snow storm outside.
But many times, Clive simply addressed the audience without DeCurtis having to ask a question. Clive’s shpiels, especially about Whitney Houston, were sort of mesmerizing. He also played some interactive games with the audience, asking them to identify different artists from unreleased recordings or demos. We got to hear Macy Gray warble “The Game of Love” with Santana–something I didn’t even know existed.
Anyway two headlines from this evening: first, that Clive did not tell Simon & Schuster he was including the story of his bi-sexuality in the book. It wasn’t in the outline or proposal, and they didn’t know about it until they read it. How do you like that? Also, he says Bartlett Sher has definitely been hired for the Broadway revival of “My Fair Lady” that he’s producing. Clive wants Colin Firth and Anne Hathaway for Doolittle and Eliza, but that’s still being discussed. I love Anne Hathaway but I could also see Amy Adams in that part.
Back to the Times: no head of a record company has ever had a hit book like this. It’s quite an achievement.
