Gary James' Interview With Musician/Record Producer/Record Label CEO/Entrepreneur
Spencer Proffer



Spencer Proffer has seen a career that's taken him from being a leader of his own band to owning his own label. He started Pasha Records and signed Quiet Riot to the label. On November 26^th, 1983 Quiet Riot held down the number one spot on the Billboard charts, knocking Michael Jackson's "Thriller" off the top spot, selling seven and a half million records. Along the way Spencer has worked with The Beach Boys, Heart, Cheap Trick and Eddie Money to name just a few. To his credit, he's either produced or arranged over two hundred albums. And he hasn't slowed down. He's now the CEO of Meteor 17. Spencer Proffer spoke with us about his career.

Q - I see that you taught music and/or lectured at several universities in the United States, including Syracuse University. What were you talking about at Syracuse?

A - My son went there for four years. I showed up for four years regularly, initially because I missed my son so much. It turned out he went to work for Vice for ten years. He was in Forbes as one of the Under 30 Changing Media in the world. Sterling Proffer. He was a Newhouse scholar at Newhouse School, the communications school at Syracuse, which is where I brought some pretty major titans of industry. We did kind of a Charlie Rose give and take. We did that twice a year for four years so I did it eight times. It was for Newhouse and it was wonderful. It was really a great experience. I loved the school. So did my kid.

Q - Wikipedia has described your company Meteor 17 as a production company that engages in all aspects of deal making, marketing promotion and distribution. Was is Meteor 17?

A - We create media content that we develop and add elements (to). It's usually music anchored because that's where I came from. As we create it, we figure out how we hope it will connect with the public. So, we create stuff. We produce stuff with an eye towards getting to consumers. We help with our partner to create campaigns to bring it forward. We work on cross promotions. That's really what a full service company does. We've done very well by being pro-active on all fronts.

Q - You've also been described as a "Renaissance disrupter and a pioneer in the convergence integration of music anchored projects." That's some job description. I guess then you described what it is you do in the previous answer then?

A - To a degree. How that renaissance disrupter got thrown at me is for my whole career going back to when I put Tina Turner in the Tommy movie and produced the "Acid Queen" album back when I was in my mid-twenties. I would tend to do things that the guy down the block doesn't do in a unique way. I guess renaissance people, way back in the 14^th century, would always try to do something special and different. I've had a consistent career in disrupting the norm, meaning I helped to develop laser light shows in planetariums using Rock music in my twenties. I produced the Quiet Riot bang your head "Metal Health" album, which changed the face of Rock radio when music on the radio back in '82, '83 was really The Police, Soft Cell and Duran Duran, which was great, but I disrupted the game a little by making a record that connected with the public that was different. And I've done that throughout my whole career with things I'm now doing in media. So, I guess I got the phrase "renaissance disrupter" because it's unique stuff and it kind of doesn't go with what everybody else is doing. That to me makes it exciting because if you don't go for the Gold, if you don't set your goals real high... I don't know. I can't help myself.

Q - I recall seeing Quiet Riot at a club in Syracuse, New York in August of 1983 called The Lost Horizon. My brother's band, Mesomorph actually opened that show. And after interviewing Rudy Sarzo (of Quiet Riot) I told Gail Sparrow, I think it was to be Quiet Riot's publicist. I don't know if all that means much to you, but early on I saw how unique Quiet Riot was. I take it you weren't doing the booking of Quiet Riot.

A - I didn't do the booking. An agency called D.M.A. (Diversified Management Associates) did, but I made the record. It was on my label. We published it. I had a joint venture with CBS and put it through that system in spite of nobody wanting the record. I loved it. I thought it could connect. We went up against all odds. We disrupted the game and got a number one album in Billboard as a result, but it took years to do it.

Q - That record knocked Michael Jackson's "Thriller" off the number one slot. That's quite a disruption.

A - It did. When I made the record I made the first four cuts on side one, which were master quality demos, and I presented it to Epic Records, who distributed my label. They hated it. They didn't want to put it out. I had to cajole. I had to put up money to make a video on my own dime. I put a second mortgage on my house. I worked with a very dear friend to make the video. We by-passed the label and sent it right to MTV, who had the balls to put "Bang Your Head" on at three o'clock on the air. It got number one phones as it did in a few markets that played the record, in Dallas, Tulsa and San Antonio. Before you knew it, this thing was exploding and everybody on Epic and CBS was saying, "Oh, yeah. We loved it all along." They hated the record.

Q - That's some story.

A - It goes a lot deeper, but I carry it with me as it was disruptive, but it was wonderful because the band was unique and we just took a shot. Who knew it would be that big? I just knew that it could connect to the street because I had made a record just before that called "Children Of The Sun" with Billy Thorpe, which was a Rock 'n' Roll/Science Fiction record. It went to number one on the Rock charts. And so I had some relationships with radio that said, "What else are you doing?" When I played 'em Quiet Riot there were three or four stations in the country that had the balls to play it and the public went crazy. They called in. That's when people would call in and say "Play it again!" And the thing just spread like wildfire.

Q - In 1982, 1983 was really when the whole Hard Rock/Heavy Metal era exploded.

A - Gary, Poison, Ratt, none of those bands could get record deals. After Quiet Riot exploded, Motley Crue actually made their "Shout At The Devil" in my studio. Tommy Lee wanted the drum sound that we created for Quiet Riot and they did a great job. I became friends with Doc McGhee, who is their manager and who is still my friend today, which is pretty cool. But yeah, that whole movement was started by Quiet Riot.

Q - That movement, that musical trend lasted until 1990, 1991 when Grunge showed up.

A - That's right. When Soundgarden and Nirvana came on the scene, that disrupted the game again, but there was a good Metal run. It was good. I made one other Metal record. Then I decided my musicality was broader than Metal. I made a Little River Band record after I did a W.A.S.P. album which went Platinum on the heels of Quiet Riot and turned down producing other Metal bands around the world because I didn't want to be known as a Metal producer. I wanted to be known as a music guy.

Q - I never like that term Heavy Metal. I prefer Hard Rock.

A - Metal didn't really have songs and hooks. Metal was really just kind of hard core. I liked Hard Rock much better and I considered myself, even for Quiet Riot, W.A.S.P. and a couple of other bands that I had worked with, a Hard Rock guy. But then Little River Band wasn't Hard Rock and I followed it with working with Stevie Wonder. (laughs) That clearly wasn't Hard Rock.

Q - If you get right down to it, all these categories come under the heading of Popular Music. It's what the public finds appealing.

A - Everybody needs to be in a lane. So I guess the industry wanted to categorize music as to, "This is Hard Rock. This is Soft. This is A.O.R." Look at how many charts Billboard has.

Q - And today the music has become so diluted it's difficult to keep up with what's out there.

A - I've always subscribed to the thing, if you get goose bumps you follow your heart, follow what you like and are good at. Maybe it will connect with the world. I've always found that maybe that's why I'm somewhat disruptive. I've never done something because it's a fad. I've done it because it was something that moved me and it was good. If it was, maybe we'd get lucky and it connected. Fortunately the stuff in my career has connected more than it hasn't, be it in music or media. So that's kind of cool.

Q - Now, where did you see Quiet Riot? Did you go into a club and see them?

A - Yes. When I got my joint venture label deal with CBS back in 1982 I was actually in the studio, working with Eddie Money, which was pretty commercial Pop music. I had heard the Slade song "Cum On Feel The Noize" on the radio in between a Police song, "Roxanne" and Soft Cell, "Tainted Love", and it jumped out of the radio. I thought, "Oh my God." I saw this band when I worked with Clive Davis back in 1972. I saw Slade in England. They were kind of asking the audience to participate and sing along, "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" and "Cum On Feel The Noize". So, I thought if I could find a band who could sing the Slade song, that could be really cool and it might jump out of the radio like I heard on the oldies station. So, I asked around and I had some pretty good relationships. There was a band call Du Brow playing at a small club in Reseda, California. I went out to see them 'cause I heard they were singing anthem participatory Rock songs. That's what "Cum On Feel The Noize" was. And lo and behold there was Kevin Du Brow and Frankie Banali and Carlos Cavazo. They were playing in front of eight or nine people in a small club. It blew me away because they were singing songs like "Slick Black Cadillac" and "Bang Your Head". After the show I went up to them and introduced myself. Kevin was really a smart guy. He said, "Wait, didn't you do that Tina Turner album, that Rock album with Tina Turner?" I said, "Yeah." He said, "Yeah, man. That' cool." I said, "I think you guys are cool. I would like to work with you. I have my own recording studio called Pasha." I kind of offered that I would do three of their songs that I've never heard if they would do a song I heard, "Cum On Feel The Noize". That could be really great. I would pay for the studio time and I would take them in and produce it myself. It was kind of a challenge because Kevin didn't want to sing anybody else's song, but the deal was too good to pass up because they couldn't get arrested. Every record company in Los Angeles and around the country had passed on them. They had all the Hard Rock/Heavy Metal bands. So, I actually took them into Pasha on a weekend and I recorded the first four songs that became the first four songs on "Metal Health".

Q - How much did it cost you to launch Pasha Records?

A - It cost me all of my time that I worked for on spec. I didn't put up a lot of money. I built a recording studio so I borrowed money against that. I had a production deal with Polydor internationally to sign talent and put it through their system. So, I took all that money. I made the product. I would waive my producer fees and I would find talent and I would then continue my relationship with CBS because I used to work there when I was a kid out of grad school. That became the beginning of Pasha Records. It wasn't about the capitalization as much as it was the vision and the fact that I would do all the stuff in my studio for next to nothing. Then it would go into the system and as a result if it connected with the public that's what would launch Pasha.

Q - When you were 19, you wrote a song that Gary Lewis And The Playboys recorded ("Picture Postcard"). How did you get that song to Gary Lewis?

A - Long story. It was a demo that I had made that wound its way through a company called Almo Irving, which was Herb Alpert's publishing company that I was signed to, to Snuff Garrett, who was the producer. He actually replicated my demo and it became a record that Gary Lewis did. How I got the publishing deal is a whole other story. It wound its way through having a good publisher, a guy named Chuck Kayne, who was friendly with Gary's producer, Snuff Garrett, and he actually had me sing the song, me playing guitar on the phone, to Snuff. He liked it a lot, so Chuck paid for me to go into the studio with my songwriting partner and we made a demo and that became what Snuff Garrett copied to be the Gary Lewis recording.

Q - Gary Lewis had some big hits from 1964 to 1966. That song of yours that Gary recorded came out when? 1967?

A - I think so, yeah. It was on his album that had "Rhythm Of The Rain" on it. It was a big deal at the time. I was writing Pop songs while being a student at UCLA and got lucky.

Q - I forget when Gary Lewis went into the Service.

A - I forget too, but all I know is he was coming off a big hit and my publisher, Chuck Kaye heard me play the song. He just wanted to hear what I was working on and I had my guitar with me as I always did. I would teach kids guitar. That was how I paid my way with tuition and being in a band 'cause my parents were so poor. I played Chuck the song and he was blown away with it. He called Snuff right on the phone. That's what good publishers do, and I sang it on the phone. (laughs) He said, "Give me a demo." So, two days later my buddy Jeff and I went into the studio to make a demo of the song which Snuff copied as the record.

Q - That's a great story!

A - Yeah. That was me at the age of 19.

Q - If only the music would have stayed like that.

A - It was wonderful. You know why? Because it was organic. It was pure. It was spontaneous. That's why I love now that I'm a little older bringing the authenticity of what made the business great, bringing it forward and modernize it, getting new interpretations of classic music through media, which is what I'm doing now with my company.

Q - After graduating college you were in a group that recorded for three different labels. You negotiated the terms of the recording deal?

A - Yeah.

Q - I know you went to law school, but is that how you were able to do that?

A - Well, I did it because I was too poor to pay an attorney. I got my B.A. at 20. I got my law degree at 23. So, I didn't fall off a truck intellectually. I just instinctively... I didn't get great deals, but I was at least able to get a contract so that my band and I could perform on the labels and I could produce, arrange and write the music, which is what I did. Did I make a lot of money? No. Did I make enough to pay my tuition? Yes.

Q - You understood then the terminology of the recording contract?

A - Enough to make a lot of mistakes, but enough to get signed and get an advance and to go into the studio and learn my way around. To me it was all good. My Dad made twenty bucks a week. So anything was looking up from there.

Q - When your band was signed to Columbia Records by Clive Davis, you got to both produce and arrange the songs on the album.

A - Correct.

Q - At that time in music history how was that even possible? Clive Davis didn't insist on bringing in an outside producer?

A - I'll cut right through it. We has such a mini-deal, such a cheap deal that we got a number. We had to deliver the record in that number. We couldn't afford to pay any third party producers, so I was forced to do it. Plus, I kind of had been in the studio creating demos. So, I just took charge and did the work. It turned out pretty good. Now, they could've assigned a producer, but we would've had to pay them. We didn't have the money to pay anybody, so I did the work.

Q - Recently I've been told there is no longer any record business. If you're an artist you pay for everything. I maintain no up and coming singer or band can do the work needed to promote themselves the way a record company can. And you would say?

A - My view of it is, it's a democratic world. The digital age has taken over and it's more democratic. I think it's exciting artists could make a record in his garage with Pro Tools that don't cost much other than the gear and get it up on YouTube and if somebody hears it, it could get viral. If it's really good, how do you get attention to it? You play local gigs. You get a buzz and you get people talking about it and it's kind of the street dictates what's happening. These days record companies I think, and I don't deal with them that much anymore 'cause I produce media, but record companies I think do pay attention to what's going on in the street. If something is really hot on the internet, that's probably how somebody can get a record deal, meaning get a big company to embrace what they do and put money behind it, but you can bust out and have cool stuff happening without a record deal if you what you do is really cool. The internet democratized the world in a really wonderful way. So, I think it's actually more exciting to hear new stuff from the street. Spotify helps the game. Pandora helps the game. Records companies aren't what they used to be.

Q - If someone was to be offered a record deal today, they would want your publishing...

A - They want everything.

Q - Your merchandising, your master tapes, a percentage of your live gigs. By the time you pay out all these percentages, what are you left with?

A - I don't know. I'm on a different part of the playing field these days. I think if an act or artist can do their own thing and build their own following by playing gigs, even if they don't have much money, if you're really good you create a buzz. If you create a buzz you can make your own money. If the record company wants to embrace you, if you've got enough going, you can kind of dictate the terms a little more than if you had nothing going. It's all really up to the street to get it going these days I think, but I don't know. I'm not in that day to day business anymore. So, if if I were starting today from scratch, boy oh boy, it's a whole different game from when I was coming up.

Official Website: www.Meteor17.com

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