DOUBLE DUTY: When Epic Records releases Social...

DOUBLE DUTY: When Epic Records releases Social Distortion’s “Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell” on Feb. 11, some of the most ardent support for the rock group’s fourth album will be coming from the Hollywood offices of rival A&M; Records.

Say what?

Jim Guerinot, A&M; senior vice president of marketing, is also Social Distortion’s manager, which might cause A&M; execs to wonder just how much time he’s spending on their acts and how much on his own.

Yet Guerinot has A&M;’s blessings. He joined the company in 1988 on the condition that he be allowed to continue managing Social Distortion, which he had been working with for six years.

“There’s never any problem--he’s a tireless worker,” said A&M; President and CEO Al Cafaro of the potential conflict of interest. He added that the management activities may even help Guerinot in his A&M; job because it lets him see an artist’s need from a different perspective.

In fact, Cafaro is so sanguine about the situation that he gave Guerinot the go-ahead to use his A&M; assistant as the band’s co-manager, freeing Guerinot from the day-to-day duties of overseeing the group during crunch times when a record is being released or a tour needs to be planned.

Guerinot’s dual role isn’t unprecedented, but the openness of it may well be. A New York-based promotion executive who also manages two bands signed to other labels says he keeps his side business “as low key as possible. My immediate superior knows, but I definitely can’t let it interfere with what I do here,” he says, asking that his name not be used. “It’s a juggling act.”

And there’s another high-profile manager who is reportedly about to go to work for a record company. Danny Goldberg, whose Los Angeles-based Gold Mountain management firm’s clients include Capitol’s Bonnie Raitt and DGC’s Nirvana, is negotiating a deal with Atlantic Records under which he would accept a top position at the label, but continue to represent some of Gold Mountain’s acts. He declined to comment for this story.