Editing Clive Davis (section)

=== Arista years ===
{{BLP sources section|date=August 2019}}
After Davis was fired from CBS Records in 1973 for allegedly using company funds to bankroll his son's [[bar mitzvah]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.answers.com/topic/clive-davis |title=Clive Davis: Information from |publisher=Answers.com |access-date=July 28, 2010}}</ref><ref name=Billboard1966 /><ref>{{cite news|title=Let CBS Tell Its Own Ugly Story|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NshHAAAAIBAJ&pg=944,2963654&dq=clive+davis+cbs+records&hl=en|via=[[Google News]]|quote=Beginning what may be the second most massive cover-up of the past months, CBS fired its records division president, Clive Davis ...|agency=[[The New York Times]] News Service|newspaper=[[Record-Journal]]|location=Meriden, Connecticut|date=June 22, 1973|access-date=January 2, 2024}}</ref><ref name="rs1">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/clive-davis-ousted-payola-coverup-charged-37191/|title=Clive Davis Ousted from Columbia; Payola Coverup Charged|first1=Ben|last1=Fong-Torres|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=July 5, 1973}}</ref> [[Columbia Pictures]] then hired him to be a consultant for the company's [[Bell Records]] label. Davis took time out to write his memoirs and then founded [[Arista Records]] in 1974.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/04/24/archives/clives-comeback-fired-four-years-ago-by-cbs-clive-davis-is-setting.html|title=Clive's Comeback|first=Geoffrey|last=Stokes|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 24, 1977}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2000/02/clive-david-bmg-entertainment-ceo-strauss-zelnick|title=Clive Davis Fights Back|first=Robert Sam|last=Anson|magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|date=February 2, 2000}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesbulletin.com/Content/News/Community-News/Article/Clive-Davis-impact-on-music/2/1170/222297|title=Clive Davis' impact on music|website=timesbulletin.com}}</ref> The company was named after New York City's secondary school honor society [[Arista (honor society)|of that name]], of which Davis was a member.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/27/business/creative-turmoil-at-arista-founder-and-chief-resists-a-successor.html|access-date=1 January 2024|title=Creative Turmoil At Arista; Founder and Chief Resists a Successor|author=Doreen Carvajal|date=November 27, 1999|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

At Arista, Davis signed [[Barry Manilow]], followed by [[Aretha Franklin]], [[Dionne Warwick]], [[Patti Smith]], [[Westlife]], [[Al Jourgensen]], [[Outlaws (band)|The Outlaws]], [[Eric Carmen]], [[Kenny G]], the [[Bay City Rollers]], [[Exposé (group)|Exposé]], [[Taylor Dayne]], [[Ace of Base]], [[Air Supply]], [[Ray Parker Jr.]], [[Raydio]], and [[Alicia Keys]], and he brought [[Carly Simon]], [[Melissa Manchester]], [[Grateful Dead]], [[The Kinks]], [[Jermaine Stewart]], [[Gil Scott-Heron]] (on whose episode of [[TV One (American TV channel)|TV One]]'s ''[[Unsung (TV series)|Unsung]]'' Davis was interviewed) and [[Lou Reed]] to the label.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} He co-founded Arista Nashville in 1989 with [[Tim DuBois]], which became the home to [[Alan Jackson]], [[Brooks & Dunn]], [[Pam Tillis]], and [[Brad Paisley]].<ref name="Morris">{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/80s/1989/BB-1989-05-20.pdf|title=Arista's New Country Division Is Ready To Roll|last=Morris|first=Edward|page=35|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=May 20, 1989}}</ref>

Davis founded [[LaFace Records]] with [[L.A. Reid]] and [[Babyface (musician)|Babyface]].{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} LaFace subsequently became the home of [[TLC (group)|TLC]], [[Usher (musician)|Usher]], [[Outkast]], [[Pink (singer)|Pink]] and [[Toni Braxton]].{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} He founded Bad Boy Records with [[Sean "Puffy" Combs]] and it became the home of [[The Notorious B.I.G.]], [[Craig Mack]], Combs, [[Mase]], [[112 (band)|112]], and [[Faith Evans]], although Davis would later admit that he never quite understood [[rap music]].{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} In 1998, Davis signed [[LFO (American band)|LFO]] from European Success. LFO charted #3 with "[[Summer Girls]]" in 1999, and went on to multiplatinum success.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

During the Arista years, he set up his own production company Clive Davis Entertainment, for a two-year first-look agreement with movie studio [[TriStar Pictures]] in 1987.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 24, 1987 |title=Record Exec Davis Signs Development Pact With Tri-Star |pages=4, 19 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref>

Davis was made aware of [[Cissy Houston]]'s daughter [[Whitney Houston]] after he saw the Houstons perform at a New York City nightclub. Impressed with what he heard, Davis signed her to Arista. Houston became one of the biggest selling artists in music history under the guidance of Davis at Arista.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com/gp/bestsellers/topalbums.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208083211/http://www.riaa.com/gp/bestsellers/topalbums.asp |archive-date=December 8, 2006 |title=Recording Industry Association of America |website=[[Recording Industry Association of America]] |access-date=November 1, 2013}}</ref>