In late 1964, the now 19-year-old PF (Phil) Sloan became considerably influenced by Bob Dylan and others of the early protest movement. Phil suddenly became dissatisfied with his role of writing catchy and popular, but trite and meaningless, pop songs.
In a short space of time, Sloan wrote some of his earliest social commentary compositions. These included ‘What’s Exactly The Matter With Me?’ (which, many years later, became the title of his autobiography) and ‘The Sins Of A Family’, his own subsequent near-hit single. Also arriving in this burst of initial creativity was the song with which he would forever be associated.
It would become his greatest ever success, as well as the biggest millstone around his neck: ‘Eve Of Destruction’.
These were quickly followed by ‘Let Me Be’, ‘Take Me For What I’m Worth’ and ‘Child Of Our Times’. But when Sloan played these songs to his colleagues at Dunhill, he was met with either indifference or contempt.
Steve Barri, Sloan’s supposed songwriting partner, thought that Phil must be losing his marbles. He wanted no part of it (apart from his 50% share of the money, that is. They were a partnership, after all). Lou Adler and Jay Lasker, who owned and ran Dunhill Records, hated the new material, and told Sloan off for wasting his and their valuable time on writing it. Yet many of these songs became hits during ’65.
Barry McGuire, a gruff-voiced singer from The New Christy Minstrels who signed to Dunhill in ’65, courageously chose to try out three of Sloan’s new protest songs in the studio, and two of them were picked for his fi rst Dunhill single that August. These were ‘Eve Of Destruction’ and the song selected for the A-side, mainly because it was less contentious, ‘What’s Exactly The Matter With Me’. (The title was shown wrongly on the record label as ‘What Exactly’s...’). That was until radio stations began flipping the disc, and it took off. ‘Eve Of Destruction’ swiftly rose to #1 in the US and became a worldwide smash, reaching #3 in Britain.
Far from being delighted with their unexpected smash hit, the huge success of the record horrified Lou Adler and the management at Dunhill. The last thing they wanted was to be associated with any recording that was as outspoken or controversial as ‘Eve Of Destruction’ assuredly was. Or even worse, highly popular, as the disc so quickly became. The song seemed to touch a nerve in people. The nerves of Adler and Lasker at Dunhill were soon completely shredded.
When ‘Eve Of Destruction’ first charted in the US on 21st August, Dunhill were surprised and concerned in equal measure. The higher it rose on the chart, the more worried they became. Radio stations began to call them; they were getting complaints coming in from their listeners for playing the disc. Dunhill would have pulled the single, but it had become unstoppable. The potential for damage to their carefully manufactured, safe image in the music press was plain to see. When ‘Eve Of Destruction’ reached #1, the people at Dunhill were inconsolable. “We’re ruined,” Adler and Lasker wailed at one other, and anyone else who would listen.
The trade music papers, including market leaders Billboard and Cashbox, contacted Adler directly. They told him in no uncertain terms that they were finding themselves in serious trouble simply for listing ‘Eve Of Destruction’ on their published charts. Some of their major advertisers were beginning to cancel their ad programmes. Billboard and the rest were worried that they were the ones possibly on the eve of destruction. And so it continued. Dunhill felt like they were under attack as never before.
The person that Adler and his senior colleagues complained most to and about, the person they blamed, for this whole debacle, was the song’s creator PF Sloan. So where was Sloan’s partner Steve Barri in all of this? Supporting his threatened partner to the hilt? Of course not. Barri had decided at the outset which of Sloan’s new numbers he wanted to hitch his name to. He had steered clear of ‘Eve Of Destruction’, as well as the most controversial of the other songs. He knew when to keep his head down. That was why the label credit listed only Sloan as composer. If Sloan had “principles” he wanted to put himself at risk for with the company, then he, Sloan, could take the fl ak for them. All by himself. As well as ( just 50% of ) the money. After all, it was a partnership.
Record companies are normally delighted, ecstatic, when they score a big hit record, especially a big international hit record. It’s what they’re there for, after all, what they agonise over in their decision-making, what they dream about when to keep his head down. That was why the label credit listed only Sloan as composer. If Sloan had “principles” he wanted to put himself at risk for with the company, then he, Sloan, could take the flak for them. All by himself. As well as ( just 50% of ) the money. After all, it was a partnership.
Record companies are normally delighted, ecstatic, when they score a big hit record, especially a big international hit record. It’s what they’re there for, after all, what they agonize over in their decision-making, what they dream about at night. But not Dunhill. Not with this record. The only reason they’d allowed it to come out in the first place was because it had supposedly been buried on a B-side, and they were sure that in any event it would be a giant flop. Then they could forget all about it and steer McGuire into safer territory. ‘Eve Of Destruction’ becoming a hit was not a dream come true; it had become their worst nightmare.
McGuire’s remaining singles for Dunhill never came close to repeating the success of ‘Eve Of Destruction’. His contract ended and was not renewed. He never managed another chart entry for anyone else. He was forever tagged as the ‘Eve Of Destruction’ singer; a one-hit wonder.
Sloan’s remaining time with Dunhill was an unhappy one. He got The Grass Roots started with a modest hit from a great song he had written for them, ‘Where Were You When I Needed You’. He also helped The Mamas & The Papas formulate and benefit from their unique sound. But his efforts went unappreciated, and by ’67 he was gone from Dunhill, although without most of the royalties he’d earned with them along the way. He spent his remaining years in a troubled state, never too far from his next mental breakdown.
Shortly before Sloan’s forced exit from Dunhill, Lou Adler arranged to sell the company to the larger ABC Records. The deal made him very rich. He went on to create Ode Records, to whom he signed the successful rock band Spirit. He also signed celebrated songwriter Carole King.
Her second album for Adler, Tapestry, was an enormous success, shifting a staggering 25 million units in world sales. That made him even richer. ‘Eve Of Destruction’, he would’ve been pleased to reflect, had long since been forgotten in the mists of time. Just as he had hoped it would.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.