LUTHER VANDROSS: THIS YEAR’S CHIC?

When I did A&R for a major record company, I periodically got demo tapes from Luther Vandross. At the time, Luther was pretty well known in the music business, since he had written "Fascination" with David Bowie, had done backup vocals on the Young Americans album and tour, and was a continually employed session singer. There was always a lot of interest in Vandross's tapes, and many attempts were made to sign him. The one hang-up was that Luther kept insisting on producing himself, and since he had done three unsuccessful albums for the group Luther on Atlantic, some of which he produced, none of the record companies were willing to take that chance.

Then how come Luther Vandross is now one of the most in-demand producers in the business? You know the story, you've seen it with Chic and now with Kashif and Luther. Writer/producer makes the rounds of record companies and is universally shown the door (some record companies are nicer about it than others). Finally, someone soys "yes," and the writer/producer's product rockets to the top. The next week all the very same record companies are feasting the writer/producer in their executive suites and sending for him in long black limousines. It happened with Chic, who peddled the tapes of "Dance Dance Dance" until their shoe leather almost gave out. It happened with Kashif, who tried to place many of the same songs that later became hits for Evelyn King ("I'm In Love") for nearly two years before someone said "yes."