|
|
| Jeep |
From today Globe and Mail :
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060724.wxcohl24/BNStory/Entertainment/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20060724.wxcohl24
The man who keeps the Stones rolling
Canadian rock mogul Michael Cohl steps into the spotlight for the first time
GAYLE MACDONALD
Concert promoter Michael Cohl blames his cousin Dusty (same last name) for the fact he allowed himself to be talked into doing a biopic about his life and career.
"It's all Dusty's fault," rasps Cohl into the phone line of the browbeating he took from his relation (a co-founder of the Toronto International Film Festival). "He talked me into it. And you just finally give in so you can move on with your life. Now I'm going back to being the rarely seen Michael Cohl.
"It's totally embarrassing, the whole thing," grunts the 58-year-old, who rarely grants interviews.
Reticence aside, Cohl is the subject of a documentary by Torontonian Barry Avrich that airs tonight on CBC (8 p.m.) called Satisfaction: The Life and Times of Michael Cohl.
Avrich says it took him a year and a half to convince the world's most successful concert promoter to sit for his camera. When Cohl finally caved, Avrich flew to Miami, where Cohl was on tour with his biggest act, the Rolling Stones.
Avrich remembers that Cohl, who usually dresses like he just rolled off a park bench, shuffled into the hotel room, and told the filmmaker he'd give him 20 minutes. But once the cameras were on, Cohl got on a roll. He gave Avrich and his small crew four hours of tape. Avrich likes to say his documentary is the story "of the most famous man you've never heard of.
"Quite frankly, I'm surprised he even agreed to do it," says Avrich, who also directed The Last Mogul: The Life and Times of Lew Wasserman (2005). "But I thought Michael's was an important story to tell, because here is a mogul who runs the entire rock 'n' roll industry from Canada. How fascinating is that?"
In the film, Avrich interviews famous folk who work with Cohl (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards), countless business associates, Cohl's second wife, and the couple's four teenage kids.
He's described by them in mostly glowing terms -- visionary, shrewd, hardworking, loyal -- and one son cheekily adds that his dad is "ruthless." It's a trait this university dropout needed in order to manoeuvre his way to the top, where Cohl has been king since he snatched the Stones away from his biggest rival, Bill Graham, in 1989 and masterminded the band's juggernaut Steel Wheels tour.
On the phone, Cohl says his career high "is my relationship with the Rolling Stones. Period." In the documentary, there is a clip of Graham holding up his middle finger, and saying: "The Stones cut a deal with the devil," referring to Cohl. "Today, my lover became my whore."
But the multimillion-dollar deal Cohl cut with the band started his rise, enabling him to corner big music acts (U2, Barbra Streisand, Pink Floyd), theatre productions (Lord of the Rings, Tommy) and even move into film (he's working on a movie about Harry Belafonte).
"I had my share of downs," says Cohl, who early in his career booked Buck Owens and the Buckaroos into Maple Leaf Gardens and couldn't fill the floor. "But the downs led to the ups. And the ups have been the last years.
"To be a promoter on a full-time basis for the last 18 years is the thrill of thrills. When 60,000 people scream when [one of the bands] walks on stage, I still get a chill. And I get paid to do this," he adds, somewhat incredulously.
Cohl, who was born in Toronto in 1948, found his calling after attending a Grateful Dead concert at Columbia University. After his Owens flop, he managed to convince the Gardens' irascible owner, Harold Ballard, to lend him the $20,000 he needed to pay Owens. Then a few years later, Cohl beat out a handful of others all vying for exclusive rights to book Maple Leaf Gardens.
Ballard liked Cohl's savvy and spunk. The only condition: Cohl had to partner with Ballard's son Bill, a lawyer. The two men started Concert Productions International, and have remained fast friends. "I'm very superstitious," Cohl says in the documentary. "Ballard is good luck."
Avrich says what he found most interesting about Cohl was his lack of interest "in being celebrated at all. He's proud of what he's done, but he's proud quietly," says the filmmaker. "He doesn't socialize or hang out with The Stones. You don't see Michael Cohl on Page Six of the New York Post."
The documentary ends with a hilarious tribute from U2's Bono, in one of the Irish rocker's rare appearances without his trademark dark shades.
For his part, Cohl snorts at the accolades. What matters to him most is that he's still having a blast. "I don't look like a kid anymore," he says, ruefully. "I've got a little belly, some white hair and bald spots. And I can't make it to first base when they throw the ball any more. But I still feel young at heart."
|
|
|
| Gazza |
In the documentary, there is a clip of Graham holding up his middle finger, and saying: "The Stones cut a deal with the devil," referring to Cohl. "Today, my lover became my whore."
Bill Graham truly was a great man and a prophet.
|
|
|
| Jumacfly |
I m ready to share the pipe with all the viewers tonight! |
|
|
| Gazza |
I'm fucking inhaling already, Ju. You'll be lucky if I pass it on anytime within the next 24 hours! |
|
|
| glencar |
Tree this one! |
|
|
| Jumacfly |
quote:
Gazza wrote:
I'm fucking inhaling already, Ju. You'll be lucky if I pass it on anytime within the next 24 hours!
Bring it back Gary I got to listen to Goddess tonight!  |
|
|
| Lazy Bones |
just finished watching the special. a nice bit. there were small clips of keith and mick praising (of course) michael. lots of talk about his family and how closely they interact and get along with the bands' families. some behind-the-scenes footage w/ mick and keith and their kids.
according to Cohl, his personal career highlights included SARS, the superbowl half-time show and Copacabana. |
|
|
| LadyJane |
Surely our own jb has used his contacts to obtain a copy of this documentary.
Eva Longoria........step aside. 
LJ. |
|
|
| Lazy Bones |
Satisfaction: The Life and Times of Michael Cohl
Monday, July 24 at 8 p.m.
Repeating Sunday, July 30 at 2:30 p.m.
When the Rolling Stones won’t make a move without talking to you first, your name must be Michael Cohl. This is the story of the man Fortune Magazine calls the Howard Hughes of rock ‘n’ roll. If his name isn’t familiar, that’s because his job is to promote other peoples’ names – U2, the Stones, Pink Floyd – just a few of his steady clients. Featuring interviews and backstage footage with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, plus a cameo from Bono, Satisfaction traces Michael Cohl’s rise from Ottawa strip club owner to the most powerful concert promoter in the world.
If you’ve been to a rock concert in the past 20 years, if you’ve bought the T-shirt, the jacket or even the beer, then you’ve done business with Michael Cohl. This man invented merchandising. But his early career showed little of that promise. Cohl was busy accumulating a resume of flops when he met an unlikely fairy godfather in the person of Maple Leaf Gardens owner Harold Ballard. Concert Productions International was born and the rest is rock ‘n’ roll history.
Cohl’s promotional empire grew from small live concerts to theatre and sporting events. But his big break came in 1987, when he stepped in to promote Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” tour. It was a huge success and Cohl now had the confidence to go after rock ‘n’ roll’s ultimate prize. He promised Mick Jagger an unprecedented $60 million advance to promote the Stones’ 1989 “Steel Wheels” tour. The Stones signed the deal and suddenly, every group from U2 to Pink Floyd wanted Michael Cohl to handle their tours.
But as the documentary reveals, the King of Concerts has also been dogged by scandal. Cohl was the subject of a controversial price fixing investigation that he found personally devastating. The investigation did go away, but it left serious scars.
Mick Jagger and Michael Cohl
Michael Cohl’s empire continues to expand. Cohl was the man behind Toronto’s hugely successful SARS FEST, and the Rolling Stones’ “Bigger Bang” tour of 2005. And this year, he mounted the largest rock concert in history – the Rolling Stones in Rio. Cohl’s theatrical ventures include The Lion King, The Producers, Spamalot and The Lord of the Rings. |
|
