Industry Profile: Doug Isaac

— By Jane Cohen and Bob Grossweiner

Reprinted from Celebrity Access

Doug Isaac has worn many hats in the music industry, from agent to manager to promoter, signing Meat Loaf to ICM and working with Frank Sinatra. For the past 12 years, this industry veteran, who is Art Carney’s stepson, has been producing the Super Bowl Concert Series

Like most aspiring talent agents in the business, Doug got his start in the infamous ICM (L.A.) mailroom in 1977, being one of only five people to finish its mailroom trainee program and move into Tom Ross’ concert division. In fact, Doug owes his promotion to Meat Loaf. “Meat Loaf got me out of the mailroom,” he notes. “I signed him while still in the mailroom prior to the release of Bat Out of Hell.

And how he accomplished that was a simple payback, as he explains: “My college sweetheart, Ellen Foley, was also the singer in my band. Ellen was having success with her acting career and was starting to make a name for herself. She landed a part in the National Lampoon Show after the original cast members left to start ‘Saturday Night Live.’ Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman were also members of the new Lampoon cast. Meat and Jim got a record deal from Albert Grossman of Bearsville Records and they hired Todd Rundgren (also signed to Bearsville) to produce. The result was the original Bat Out of Hell album.

“When they hired Ellen to sing the backing vocals on the record I had to find a new singer for my band. Meat and I had become friends as we shared an ongoing joke about him breaking up my band. After the album was finished, Ellen did not want to do any of the upcoming live shows and once again Meat plucked my new singer Karla DeVito. This greatly contributed to my leaving New York and giving up playing in bands.

A year later the album was getting ready to be released and I was in the mail room at ICM. As David Sonenberg, Meat’s manager, started shopping for an agent, Meat gave me the first crack at it as payback for screwing up my bands! David came out to LA, and I was able to assemble the concert agents in a room to give the record a listen. Tom Ross kept calling him Meat Ball instead of Meat Loaf!! Well needless to say, we all listened to the Bat Out of Hell album and the rest is history!!!

“When signing his agency papers, David Sonenberg made it clear to Marvin Josephson and Ralph Mann that they were coming to ICM because of me, and I was to be the key-man agent. The next thing I knew I was in an office with a secretary!”

During his four year tenure at ICM, Doug started the college department and developed new artists.

In 1981, Doug was hired by Regency Artists (later to become Triad, which went on to merge with William Morris) to develop its contemporary division. He left in 1982 to start his own agency, ITA, which Doug says was the first independent concert agency in L.A. Specializing in new acts, his roster included Missing Persons, Gary Myrick, The Knack, The Motels, Tommy Tutone, and numerous other West Coast artists.

“When I worked for Regency Artists, which was predominately a jazz and R&B agency, I was hired to develop a rock department,” Doug explains. “Our efforts were met with great resistance and at that time none of the established rock acts that I had relationships with wanted to come to that agency. After a year, one of the owners Peter Grosslight, and I both felt that it just wasn’t working out. I was given the option of staying on, but it meant getting into representation of jazz and R&B artists. So I decided to leave.”

One year after starting his own agency, Doug returned to ICM at Tom Ross’ request, to work on a special project with Mick Fleetwood. But his departure was less than auspicious, as he explains: “A friend of mine who was a junior agent at ICM was fired and needed some work. He had Robert Palmer as a client. I brought him into ITA as a full partner. At the same time we were representing The Knack. In the middle of the night my partner and the manager of The Knack conspired against me, came into the office and took all the furniture and files out. They then tried to steal Missing Persons and the rest of my clients. It was right at the point that I went back to ICM. The partner, Rob Kahane, left me holding the bag on all the bills; he went on to become George Michael’s manager. I never got a dime back from him. Missing Persons went to MPA, I let the rest of my clients go and returned to ICM.

“Being rehired by Tom Ross at ICM was very flattering to me at the time. It was also the righting of a wrong. Mick had just formed a new band called The ZOO. He wanted to play clubs and small venues. At that time I was very strong in the national and local club scene, and ICM realized that I was well suited for this project. Keep in mind that Fleetwood Mac was one of the biggest acts in the world at that time, and as their agent Tom wanted to make sure that this was handled properly.”

After Ross left ICM to form the concert department for CAA, Doug and his fiancé, Joanne Lenard decided to leave LA for New York to manage Ellen Foley where she was based. His management firm, Isaac Management operated 1984-1986.

From 1987-89, Doug produced shows at Sunrise (Fla.) Musical Theatre, after being hired by owner, Dr. Lenny Bloom, a dentist in San Diego, Calif., to establish the theater as a premier concert venue. “We did everybody,” Doug recalls. “At that time other than the Universal Amphitheater, we were one of the first theaters to buy and promote their own shows. Some of the artists included Stevie Ray Vaughan, Michael McDonald, Ted Nugent, Reba McEntire, and Robin Williams … if they toured, we played them!

“The year before I was there Jack Boyle had produced about eight shows in the venue over the course of the year. Dr. Bloom bought the theater from the city for $4 million and encouraged me to get very aggressive which I did, and 145 shows later Jack Boyle bought the building from Lenny Bloom for $8 million. Jack let me let go because I had just kicked his butt for two years and stole just about every act that had previously played for him. I think he was pissed! Additionally, I had an alternate offer to work for Premier Artists Services.”

For the next nine years, 1989-98, Doug worked for Eliot Weisman at Premier Artists Services, providing booking, management and promoter services for all clients including, Frank Sinatra, Julio Iglesias, Liza Minnelli, Don Rickles, Steve & Edie Gorme, Bloodline, LA Guns and Quiet Riot.

Then an opportunity came along with fledgling entertainment conglomerate-to be, SFX, which lasted a year. “I had an offer from Bruce Kapp to go to work with him in the Ft. Lauderdale office for Magic Promotions. I mentioned to Bruce that I thought this new company called SFX might be looking for someone with national touring experience, and Bruce had just finished the incredibly successful national tour for the Fleetwood Mac reunion. Bruce met with Mike Ferrell in New York, and we both ended up opening the Ft. Lauderdale office for the newly formed SFX. This was the first national touring division of SFX. Bruce, Drew Cantor and myself ran SFX’s first three national tours that summer (Stevie Nicks, Chicago/Hall & Oates and Michael Bolton/Wynonna) while SFX was out buying up promoters all over the country. At the end of the summer, simply put, I got caught in an ongoing war between Mitch Slater and Bruce Kapp. About this time SFX purchased Cellar Door, and Mitch shut down our office and cut Bruce’s operating budget. I was then let go and they moved Bruce’s office up to the Mars Amphitheater.”

Since leaving SFX Touring, Doug continues producing the Super Bowl Concert Series through his EXI Florida-based company and actively brokering concert DVD deals with a variety of artists. Through MCY Music he coordinated a deal for a Deep Purple DVD that should be coming out before the end of the year.

Has promoter consolidation affected your business?
As a special events producer, the consolidation has impacted my business in several ways. Pre SFX, special events were attractive to the artist because they represented bigger-than-usual paydays that kept the big acts interested in spite of the event being isolated. Now that most big acts are receiving huge multi-city offers, the same special events are no longer viewed by the acts as essential to that additional and usually desirable bump to their overall annual income. It makes getting the big acts for one-offs much harder.

Additionally, I enjoyed co-promoting many of my special events with other promoters. Over the years I presented several of the Super Bowl concerts in tandem with Dan Zelisko of Evening Star and Robin Tate of Contemporary. In both cases, spreading the risk over the two companies made the event more financially attractive. Now that most of the promoters are under the same roof, those kind of co-ventures become less likely.

Do you foresee any industry trends?
I’m hopeful that we will start to see that proliferation of new independent promoters popping up throughout the country. I expect that these new promoters will impact Clear Channel in a similar fashion to the synergistic relationship created between independent and major labels. We have to find a way for the continued growth and development of new and heritage acts on all levels to take place. Just as the major labels can’t afford to sign baby or heritage artists, they rely heavily on independent labels to perform that task. New promoters will hopefully provide a similar outlet in the personal appearance universe for these artists. They will also provide an option for those artists seeking one.

What is your reaction to the latest industry events — Jack Boyle retiring and John Scher being replaced as CEO of Metropolitan Entertainment Group?
God Bless them both! They have both contributed significantly to the growth of this industry and I can only hope that their sense of “doing the right thing” and being “men of their words” continues to live on.

Is there any one genre of music that is most requested for the Super Bowl Concert Series by the NFL?
Absolutely not. Just as the Super Bowl game is a unique, unpredictable once-in-a-lifetime event, we have strived to present artists that are generally not on tour and choose to perform over Super Bowl weekend because they want to be part this highly selective and prestigious annual event. In many cases they’re sports fans as well. We have been fortunate on many occasions to secure artists that were generally considered unavailable and even impossible to get.

Any genre of music they don’t want?
It’s been my experience that they are generally open to anything that is positive and makes sense for the fans.

Where are shows staged?
Generally we access the local venues in the host city. On a few occasions we have actually presented concerts that are attached to the NFL Experience, which is a multi-media interactive theme park that the NFL builds in the host city at every Super Bowl.

What is the audience demographic for the Super Bowl Concert Series?
Going to the Super Bowl is an expensive day out. The audience tends to be young adult to adult in nature. However, our concerts are marketed very heavily to the local fans, whatever that make-up may be.

Who are some of the acts that have performed at these shows?
Robin Williams in a rare performance; Jimmy Buffett in a small 7,000-seater; Whitney Houston in her first show after a three-year absence; Richard Pryor’s last concert appearance in LA; Tim Allen, Frank Sinatra, Lynyrd Skynyrd in a 4,000-seat theater for the first time in years, Jay Z’s first concert date of the tour, to name a few.

When are these performances staged in relation to the Super Bowl game?
The Super Bowl experience is actually filled with dozens of activities that run for two weeks in the host market leading up to the game itself on Super Bowl Sunday. Traditionally the concert series is the culmination of these events taking place on the Friday and Saturday of Super Bowl weekend.

Describe a typical weekend of the show
The Super Bowl experience is unlike anything else. It’s amazing!! All hotel rooms are on a four-day minimum so most people that are going to arrive on Thursday, with the game taking place on that Sunday. So you have about 60,000 partygoers roaming the streets looking to have a good time. Aside from the numerous NFL activities that include celebrity flag football, celebrity golf, the NFL Experience, the awards dinner, the Commissioner’s Ball, etc., you have each NFL Sponsor throwing street parties that usually feature very hip performers, MTV always is up to something cool and on and on…it’s very electric.

Have any of the acts performed at more than one Super Bowl Concert Series?
No. That would undermine the whole point!

First Industry job
I had been playing in bands from the age of 13 up to the age of 25. When I hit 25 I sadly accepted that I wasn’t going to be viewed as the next Eric Clapton so I moved to Los Angeles with a job in hand answering phones for the Dinah Show at CBS TV City. After working with many TV agents over the next six months, I believed that I was well suited to become a talent agent, and I was able to land a position in the mailroom at ICM as a member of the agent-trainee program.

Career highlights
I have been blessed with many wonderful moments throughout my career. Certainly those that stand out are being accepted by Tom Ross as a full agent into the ICM Concert Department, after delivering a lot of mail!!!, signing Meat Loaf to ICM prior to the release of Bat Out of Hell, breaking Missing Persons wide open and finally having the incredible opportunity to be an executive on the management team for Frank Sinatra, Liza Minelli, Julio Iglesias, Don Rickles and Bloodline.

Career disappointment
I’ve had and continue to have the opportunity to work with so many talented musicians that I truly enjoyed and believed in that it still comes as a disappointment when their careers don’t ignite the way I think they should. Unfortunately there’s only so much shelf space and for every one artist that breaks, there are hundreds that don’t.

Greatest challenges
Getting through the mailroom trainee program at ICM without blowing my cool was very difficult. When you are in the mailroom you are absolutely the lowest form of life in the office food chain. However in hindsight it was an excellent way to learn the business. During my nine years with Premier Artists Services earning the trust, respect and friendship of Eliot Weisman was a very rewarding but also a very challenging task.

Best business decision
To relocate to Florida in1 1986.

Worst business decision
Trusting people that I shouldn’t.

Best business advice you received
Be careful what you put in writing…it’s there forever.

Most memorable concert/event
There are two that really stand out. The first was presenting Robin Williams in Ft. Lauderdale over Super Bowl weekend just four months after the release of Good Morning Vietnam — still his only hard ticket concert in the last 15years–was very memorable. I think we still hold the gross box office record for a 4,000-seater from this event. This was for the first-ever Super Bowl Concert Series in 1990.

The second was presenting Jimmy Buffett in New Orleans also for the Super Bowl Concert Series. For this show we built a 7,000-seat theater inside two of the halls at the convention center. It was one of those magic nights when everything went just right and the music was incredible. Buffett had just released Off To See The Lizard. Even Howard Rose was smiling that night!

What people would be surprised to learn about you?
That my mother was married to actor/comedian Art Carney who was a wonderful and generous stepfather to me. Growing up with Art routinely exposed me to many famous personalities as well as provided me with a real inside view to the entertainment industry from a young age. Getting to play charades on Friday nights with Lucille Ball and other celebrities was definitely cool!

Industry pet peeve
I am surprised by the lack of industry personnel voicing their concerns about the potentially dangerous effects from the merger of Clear Channel Communications and SFX Entertainment. This marriage could possibly severely restrict, whether intentional or unintentional, the fair and equal opportunities for all new and established artists to unencumbered airplay and personal appearances.