IB-Iovine tease 2

BIRTH OF THE MONSTER: I.B. Bad looks back on the spectacular career of Jimmy Iovine in his latest posting: By 1989, 15 years into his career as an A-list producer and engineer, Iovine had become recognized as a savvy player throughout the business. Irving Azoff, who’d just resigned from the top post at MCA, had conversations with Iovine about becoming part of the start-up label that would eventually be named Giant, while Marshall Field department store heir and movie-biz entrepreneur Ted Field was recruiting Iovine for his fledgling label Interscope. Azoff chose Charlie Minor for a key role at Giant, and Iovine decided to go with Field, joining Tom Whalley, who was already in place. At that moment, the stage was set for the dominant label of the last quarter century. (5/23a)