Electra Celebrates Its Tradition

Rock music has a notoriously short memory.

That makes it especially refreshing to see Elektra Records celebrate its 40th anniversary this week with “Rubiyat,” a double album that features both memorable songs by vintage Elektra artists--and covers of those same tracks by a new generation of Elektra acts.

When Bob Krasnow first took over Elektra Records in 1983, he wasn’t worried about the label’s history--he simply wanted to keep the struggling company afloat. “Elektra had really lost its identity,” Krasnow recalls. “My mandate was to revive the label and put it in a position of being attractive to new artists again.”

Krasnow quickly slashed Elektra’s 150-artist roster to a skeleton crew. “We had Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, the Cars, Queen, Don Henley and Glenn Frey and not much more,” he recalls. “There were some days when we were lucky to do $30,000 in business.”

Today, Elektra’s 45 or so acts offer an impressive array of pop artistry, including critic faves (Tracy Chapman and 10,000 Maniacs), black popsters (Anita Baker and Keith Sweat), headbangers (Metallica and Motley Crue), British imports (Simply Red and Billy Bragg), rock hipsters (the Cure and the Pixies) and world-music faves (the Gipsy Kings and Ruben Blades).

“What distinguishes us from other labels is that we see talent in terms of long-term achievement,” says Krasnow. “We don’t look for quick hits. When you make a decision today, you want to be able to live with it five years from now.”

Elektra’s “Rubiyat” project embraces that theme. “I thought the greatest respect we could pay to the company would be getting our artists involved in the music of our past,” says Krasnow, adding that 25% of the proceeds from the record will go to the United Negro College Fund, Greenpeace and Save the Children. “There’s a certain sense of romance about a record company. How many artists have said, ‘I want to be on Columbia because Bruce Springsteen is there’ or ‘I want to be on Atlantic because of Led Zeppelin’?”

“Rubiyat” features a host of tantalizing matchups. Faster Pussycat covers Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain.” The Georgia Satellites handle John Fogerty’s “Almost Saturday Night.” The Pixies revisit Paul Butterfield’s “Born in Chicago” while the Cure tackles the Doors’ “Hello, I Love You.”

“We gave the artists a menu of options or they came up with their own ideas,” Krasnow says. “We went through nine deadlines to get everyone involved. Sometimes I had to rely on my powers of persuasion, but no one refused to participate.”

It’s hard to imagine many labels inspiring such commitment from its artists. Yet former Elektra execs--even execs who didn’t leave the label willingly--view Elektra as a pop oasis.

“What’s great about Elektra is its overriding belief in the music,” says Peter Philbin, a former Elektra A&R; exec who now runs an L.A. production and publishing firm. “I don’t think you can find any label that does a better job of making every signing count. Krasnow has a great saying: ‘You can’t turn (manure) into chocolate ice cream.’ Elektra doesn’t make artists do a ton of demos or 20 different mixes. They just let the music speak for itself.”

“Bob Krasnow is the reason Elektra is a great record label,” says Island Records President Mike Bone, who spent 4 1/2 years at Elektra in the 1980s. “Krasnow is simply one of the best A&R; people alive. Look at Elektra’s roster--it’s the envy of the entire industry.”

Even Zoo Entertainment chief Lou Maglia, who left Elektra after a falling out with Krasnow, praises the label. “When I got there, Elektra was still a ‘70s label with David Geffen-signed artists like Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne,” says Maglia, a key exec at Elektra from 1974 to 1984. “We went through a difficult period during the Joe Smith years when we weren’t developing enough new talent. But Krasnow came in and focused everybody on making good records. Bob and I had our differences of opinion--I never felt I had the freedom to run the company without interference. But you have to give Bob credit. He has tremendous vision.”