CBS Launches West Coast Record Label

In one of its first major moves since being purchased late last year by Sony for $2 billion, CBS Records has launched a Los Angeles-based label to increase the company’s West Coast presence.

Jerry Greenberg, the former president of Atlantic Records who has been named to head the new WTG Records, said he believes the move will help CBS better compete for talent here.

CBS--the world’s largest record company, with profits of more than $200 million last year--already operates five record labels, most notably Columbia and Epic. Though the firm has sizable promotion, development and publicity staffs in L.A., all five divisions are headquartered in New York.

The new WTG--the initials, in part, are a playful salute to CBS executives Walter Yetnikoff, Tommy Mottola and Greenberg, whose first name is formally Gerald--is not, he stressed, designed to be a small boutique operation.

It is, he said, viewed as a major partner in the overall CBS Records group--a label that may eventually have as many acts as Epic, whose roster now totals about 50.

“I think this is CBS’ statement that they’re going to have even more visibility in Los Angeles,” Greenberg said this week. “The tendency for L.A. acts now is to think about companies that are based here--like Warner Brothers, Capitol (MCA) and A & M,” he said. “Now, they’ll come here, too.”

Tommy Mottola, the former talent manager (Hall & Oates, John Cougar Mellencamp, Carly Simon) who took over as CBS Records president in May, has known Greenberg since the early ‘70s and praised him for his “all-around experience and leadership.”

“We look for it to be another Epic Records, a worldwide label,” Mottola said by phone from New York. Epic’s roster includes such huge sellers as Michael Jackson, Luther Vandross, Cyndi Lauper, Sade and Gloria Stefan.

Two of WTG’s three initial releases are from local acts. After the release next month of an album by the British pop group Eighth Wonder (which features “Absolute Beginners” star Patsy Kensit), the label will issue debuts from local R & B singer Michael Rodgers and L.A. hard-rock band Beau Nasty.

Greenberg--who signed such best sellers as ABBA, Chic, Genesis and Foreigner while at Atlantic--said finding and signing acts is the enjoyable part of his job.

“I’m the type that at the end of the day I’ll change from my suit into blue jeans and go to the clubs,” he said during an interview in his Century City office on Monday.

“Rock ‘n’ roll bands seem to be nurtured here,” Greenberg said, pointing to the rise in recent years of such local hard-rock outfits as Guns N’ Roses, Poison and Motley Crue. “They can practice at any time . . . they’re not in some garage freezing. On any Friday night, you can go to the clubs and hear 15 (new) bands.”

But the industry veteran said he also wants to concentrate on the L.A. dance-music market, which he thinks has been underdeveloped. He plans to begin moving into this area with a series of 12-inch singles aimed at dance clubs.

Greenberg rose quickly in the record business. Joining Atlantic in 1967 as assistant to executive vice president and producer Jerry Wexler, he moved through various departments and was named--at age 31--president of the company.

Reporting to founder and chairman Ahmet Ertegun, Greenberg oversaw a roster that included such major pop figures as Aretha Franklin, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Bette Midler and AC/DC.

“I don’t remember his changing into blue jeans,” Ertegun said with a laugh, recalling Greenberg’s years at Atlantic.

“But yeah, he gets out there. . . . He’s a fine record man and there’s no reason he shouldn’t do very well. He’s very personable, liked by everyone in the business . . . a straight dealer . . . and he has a very good ear.”

Can Greenberg recapture the glory that he had at Atlantic in the ‘70s?

Gesturing to the couple of dozen gold and platinum albums from his Atlantic years that adorn his newly carpeted office, Greenberg said: “I don’t mean to be cocky, but if you look at the wall. . . .”

He said CBS has assured him of its full support. “We (have the budget) to compete with any major label for any major artist,” he said.

Before adopting WTG, Greenberg said, he and Mottola searched for a name with a West Coast flavor. Among those considered: Pacific, Sierra, Century City and Avenue of the Stars. But all, he said, were already copyrighted.

Asked about the WTG name, Greenberg smiled.

“There have been all kinds of suggestions about what the initials stand for: Where Talent Grows . . . Wax Turns Gold . . . West Coast Talent Group . . . and, yes, it could stand for Walter, Tommy and Gerald. I don’t think the name matters to the public. Nobody goes out and says, ‘I’m going to buy a Columbia record today.’ ”

Regardless of the name, does the world really need another record company?

“The industry is the healthiest it’s been in 15 years,” Greenberg said. “What the world needs now is, yes , more record companies, because there’s more great music now, and if no one releases it no one hears it.”