John Kalodner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Kalodner is a legendary American A&R man. His achievements include signing Foreigner, AC/DC, Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins to Atlantic Records in the seventies.
He was headhunted as the first A&R man for David Geffen's new label Geffen Records in 1980, where he worked with White Zombie, Madness, XTC, Whitesnake and Aerosmith. He brought Jimmy Page and Sammy Hagar success as solo artists and masterminded the musical collaboration Coverdale-Page.
Kalodner also placed songs on soundtracks of such films as Top Gun and Footloose. Kalodner followed Aerosmith to Columbia in the nineties, where he also worked with Cher, Santana, Journey, Manowar, Chicago, Heart, Iron Maiden, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Ted Nugent, REO Speedwagon and the Black Crowes, among others.
Kalodner's special status is underlined by the fact that he's usually credited on albums for simply being himself. According to Kalodner's web site, the phrase "John Kalodner: John Kalodner" originated with Foreigner's 1978 Double Vision album, when the album's producer, Keith Olsen, was wondering just how to credit Kalodner's involvement with the band and the album. In keeping with the double vision theme, Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones came up with idea of doubling Kalodner's name.
Kalodner worked with Billy Idol, Jack Blades, Roadstar, Steve Perry, Cher, and Suzie McNeil (of Rock Star: INXS) before retiring in 2006.[1]
[edit] Trivia
- John Kalodner appeared in a few music videos including Aerosmith's "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" as a cross-dresser and "The Other Side" as himself.
