The name Clive Davis may not be immediately recognisable to a lot of people, but as the president of Columbia Records, Arista Records, the CEO of RCA Music Group, of BMG North America and finally the Creative Office of Sony Music Entertainment, you would know some of the people he has worked with; Janis Joplin, Santana, Bruce Springsteen, Chicago, Billy Joel, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Alicia Keys, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, The Notorious B.I.G.
Clive Davis has truly created the soundtrack of not only lives, but several entire generations.
The documentary is not so much a cradle-to-grave (or in this case, 2017) story of Davis, but rather a primer on his life. Despite being just over 2 hours long, the documentary does very little to show Davis the music man, but rather it jumps from one music moment in his life to the next, without ever really delving into the details. Stories are shared by notable personalities (and Simon Cowell), although in a music career spanning 60 years, not every interesting story can be put to tape. It’ll be worth checking out his official autobiography “The Soundtrack of My Life” to see if more details can be found there.
The one musician that did get a big presence was Whitney Houston. Whitney Houston holds a special place in Davis’ heart, with him being broken up with what eventually happened to her. In spots you can almost see Davis ask himself if he should have done more to help. Or if he even could have.
Ultimately, Davis’ ability to find hits, and match hits to the right musician, was and still is astounding. Regardless of whether or not you’re a fan of Westlife, you can’t ignore the fact that Clive Davis had an ear for music, and an ear for the undercurrent of music popularity. The other glaring takeaway is Davis’ range for music. From Barry Manilow, to Patti Smith, Ace of Base to Air Supply, TLC, Usher, and Outkast, to Pink, Tony Braxton and LFO, Davis’ ability to see (or hear in his case) where the wind of popular culture will blow, has been nothing short of magic.
In the end, Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives is really a telling documentary on the professional life of a man who, as Jason Hollander wrote in a 2011 issue of the NYU alumni magazine, really did have platinum ears. And this documentary is a good enough watch about a man who you may not know, but have definitely heard of.
Director: Chris Perkel
Year: 2017
Duration: 2h 4m
Available On: Netflix