Blackheart Records

Years with Company: 27
Address: 636 Broadway, New York, NY 10012
Phone: 212-353-9600
FAX: 212-353-8300
Web: lagunatunes.com, www.blackheart.com
E-mail: NA
Artists: Joan Jett, The Vacancies

"They [major labels] got me on the charts, got my career going and I learned how to make hit records. You’re better off getting screwed and having a hit record than not getting screwed and ending up with nothing."

BACKGROUND: He’ll forever be known for his songwriting, performing and production credits as a member of Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, not to mention his work with bubblegum artists like Tommy James & The Shon-dells and Bow Wow Wow. Yet as a founding member of Jett’s entirely independent Black-heart Records, Laguna’s also been integral in launching the careers of the label’s youthful roster, as well as the Runaway-turned-feminist-icon, whom he manages to this day.

Management As Necessity:

We manage Joan, the Vacancies and that’s it. The other artists on the label have their own management. In the past, we managed Metal Church when they were successful. We managed the Kinks during the Come Dancing period. Man-agement isn’t the reason I got into the business –– I do it out of necessity. I grew up in a world where your manager was the kid from high school who carried your bag. [Being a] manager wasn’t a glorious thing. It gradually evolved into the super managers who were as cool as the bands; I didn’t grow up with that in mind, nor did I want to be known as the manager. I produced a lot of hit records and I’d rather be remembered for that, but I’m proud of what I did as a manager.

The Good Manager Plays The Bad Guy:

Because nobody would sign Joan, everything morphed into this monstrous thing. I started this [label] with Meryl, my wife, who’s been with me through high school. She was the manager with me. She concentrated on the visuals and the clothes and things like that. I would do all the other things and was also the asshole when necessary, which was most of the time.

What Would Zep Do?:

When I first took over [managing] Joan, I was really upset, because Leiber and Krebs were supposed to manage Joan. I brought her into New York with that in mind and then they decided punks were Nazis. At least Krebs thought that. He was totally confused. What-ever the reason, I was stuck. I didn’t know what to do. He goes, “All you have to do is say to yourself, ‘Would Led Zeppelin do this?’” So the first couple of years, that’s how I did it. I didn’t even know what the hell Led Zeppelin would do. I just imagined.

Unsolicited Demos:

Carianne [Laguna] listens [to all the demos]. Joan had heard [Blackhearts Records artist] the Dollyrots and we always liked them, but there was a pile of stuff on the bus at the end of the Warped Tour. Carianne listened to everything and picked out the Dollyrots. You’re lucky if someone who really loves listening to music is willing to put in the time, be-cause it’s hard work. It’s a tough game to keep your ears open like that, to be able to listen to things. To listen to 50 songs a day, you’ve really gotta keep your ears open.

Use Your Ears:

A&R guys start out with a passion for music, then they learn how to climb ladders. They forget the passion for the music and it becomes really hard for them to have what Gene Pitney called listener’s ears. And then they’ve gotta pretend they have ears. When I was a kid, I heard one of Dion’s records. I needed that record so bad, I didn’t go home from school. I hitched six miles to get to the store that would have this record. It was such an intense thing. I remember hearing “Sloop John B” for the first time. I was driving and I almost fell off the road, the record was so intense. As you get older, you’re analyzing everything. “Is that a cover song? Who’s playing on that record?”

Indies And Advertising:

Because we are completely independent, we need to reach out into other areas that we wouldn’t have 25 years ago. We did a promo for American Chopper, which really helped our visibility. Cadillac told our story on their website, be-cause we actually started our label in a Cadillac. Maybe some day, there’ll be the right situation to do an out-and-out commercial. It’s a new world. Chrysler came to us a long time ago and wanted us to put Chryslers in the videos for a lot of money. [Joan] wouldn’t do it. Today we would.

Getting Songs On The Radio:

Getting every single Joan [Jett] record [on the radio] was a fight, including “I Love Rock ‘N Roll,” “Do You Wanna Touch Me,” “I Hate Myself For Loving You.” We’ve had 11 hits; every one was a battle. I’ve been told by all the ex-perts, “Forget about rock & roll music. It doesn’t belong on Top 40 anymore.” But I heard that about Joan in 1980. And since then, we’ve sold 25 million records. So I’m not buyin’ it. If you’re following what’s going on in radio right now, you’re already six months late.

Knowledge Can Be Dangerous:

A lot of bands today are reading too many books and studying how to be a rock star. I find that a little disingenuous and bizarre, but that’s what’s happened to our business. The guys I grew up with were barely staying out of jail. Certainly, we didn’t have any college educated guys. These kids, they’ve read the books and think, “You’ve got to own all the publishing.” Yeah, you can own 100 percent of nothing or you can be willing to be taken advantage of, like I was. They stole my money –– so what? They got me on the charts, got my career going and I learned how to make hit records. You’re better off getting screwed and having a hit record than not getting screwed and ending up with nothing.

Finding And Helping Your Manager:

Finding a manager is not an easy thing. It’s really hard to do, be-cause management is a sucky business right now. First of all, the loyalty situation is tough. Most of the bands are not loyal to their management, and when they make it they disavow any contribution the manager may have had. It’s very hard to keep the bands happy. [Also], where do [managers] make [their] money? We help our managers quite a bit. If the manager needs help being flown in somewhere, I’ll do that, because I remember what it was like for me. They’d say, “Yeah, we’ll fly in Joan, but you’ve got to pay for yourself.”

Don’t Manage Yourself:

Even if you’re smart enough to be a manager, it’s detrimental to your creativity to know too much. You don’t have to know who thinks you suck. You don’t have to know the ins and outs of negotiating with promoters. You don’t have to hear the promoters saying you’re not worth as much as you think you are. You don’t have to know the details of everything. It’s better to be pure. The further away you are from all that nonsense, the better chance you have of concentrating on the best chorus and whether or not your arrangement is perfect.

Knowing When To Stop:

It’s insane to run your life into your 40’s without a hit record. You’ve got to, at some point, cut it off and start your life over. I know too many people who’ve had half a success and spend the rest of their lives trying to recapture that moment. At the end, you’ve got to be happy. I have a clear definition of success in the music business: if you can make a living being a musician, that’s success. The rest is in the hands of God. I don’t look at success [as having] a Top 10 record. If that happens, that’s just gravy. But people shouldn’t set their sights like that, because they’re asking for disappointment. I see people talk about one-hit wonders, like that’s something bad. Do you know how hard it is to have one hit? Why should people look down on people who had one hit record? If you don’t have your own identity and your own self-esteem, you’re not gonna make up for it by having a hit record.