In every issue of Billboard, we ask a key industry player — from iconic artists to veteran execs to rising-star managers — to reflect on their “Billboard Moment”: A milestone in their career that took place on the charts, in our pages, or at one of our events. As Billboard celebrates its 125th anniversary, we asked four music industry veterans from different eras of the industry to reminisce on their professional highlights and the artists who made them special.
Al Bell
Former co-owner/executive vp, Stax Records
1968 was quite a time for us: Otis Redding’s death in December [1967], Dr. [Martin Luther] King’s murder in April, the loss of our distribution relationship with Atlantic, along with all of the masters. We were having difficulty getting Otis played, even on black radio stations. Many of the black DJs said he was too ’Bama, too Southern, too bluesy. After the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, he stayed in Northern California for some time and started writing “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.” Then he came back to Memphis, got with [guitarist] Steve Cropper and completed it. Jerry Wexler heard the song several days after Otis’ death [in a plane crash] and insisted it be released immediately. I know Otis would have been pleased by the reaction [after it topped the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1968]. The song is a pure, artistic masterpiece filled with emotion. In the spirit world, Otis still has to be smiling.” — AS TOLD TO GAIL MITCHELL
Bob Ezrin
Award-winning producer
Making The Wall with Pink Floyd was an intense emotional experience. The entire band was at the top of its game — playing, writing and performing better than ever before. When I first heard “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2” [the act’s sole Billboard Hot 100 No. 1], it only had one verse and one chorus. I told them it was a hit. They said, “We don’t do bloody singles. Go fuck yourself.” But they understood its power as a social statement, a protest, and it did its job. It didn’t take long for the album to reach No. 1 [in January 1980]. It was the perfect payoff, like winning the Stanley Cup. While everyone has their favorite in the Pink Floyd canon, The Wall might be the best representation of those four individuals at their very best. It was a psychotherapeutic experience. — AS TOLD TO NICK WILLIAMS
Jac Holzman
Founder, Elektra Records
I didn’t hear Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” [which topped the Hot 100 in January 1973] until I received the first round of songs [she] recorded in London that Richard Perry produced. I always trusted Carly. When she thought she had an album, we would talk abstractly about it, but I did not want to hear raw songs with piano before she took off for a session. I needed to hear the completed song before I made any comments. My comment after hearing “You’re So Vain” was “Wow!” No. 1s build an artist’s confidence in themselves. It just gets better after that. When I told her about it, she gave me a big hug and said, “Thank You.” — AS TOLD TO NICK WILLIAMS
José Behar
Former president, EMI Latin
After I opened EMI Latin in 1989, I went to the Tejano Music Awards and saw Selena. “How did it go in Texas?” they asked me. I said, “I think I found the next Gloria Estefan.” My A&R people from EMI said, “We don’t see it.” My own EMI Latin people! We had a convention in Key Biscayne [outside of Miami], and the head of the region came up to me and said, “José, she’s really good, but that music is for Texas.” For No. 1s at the time, Billboard’s former charts director, Geoff Mayfield, used to call label heads every week to say congratulations. I had heard about this call but never experienced it. When I got the call that Selena’s Dreaming of You [had topped the Billboard 200 in 1995 after her murder], I dropped the phone. I didn’t sleep for two nights. It was the culmination of so many battles. Dreaming of You was one of those dreams that really came true. — AS TOLD TO LEILA COBO
This article originally appeared in the Nov. 16 issue of Billboard.