MANAGEMENT MERRY-GO-ROUND
Industryites were shocked by Weezer's sacking of manager Pat Magnarella, especially after the band's #3 chart debut two weeks ago following a five-year hiatus.
Harvard-educated bandleader Rivers Cuomo, nobody's fool, pointed to a desire for "self-management" as the chief reason behind Magnarella's ouster, but insiders say the manager balked at taking a percentage cut. There's plenty of talk about possible litigation, with Peter Paterno right in the middle of the action.
Meanwhile, Q Prime's Peter Mensch was seen sniffing around backstage at Weezer's "SNL" appearance several weeks ago, even though the management powerhouse is not known to settle for reduced commissions from its clients.
Not since Tool's canning of Ted Gardner—for cause—just after he made the band's massive Volcano deal, has there been so much chatter about acts showing such a lack of loyalty to their handlers. Gardner filed suit for $5 million in monies owed to him in May 2000 after being summarily dismissed less than two months after both sides had agreed on a renewal of their management contract. There will be a hearing in front of a court-appointed arbiter in July before a full-fledged trial begins October 2 in Santa Monica.
In other management musical chairs, Beck joins Jim Guerinot's Rebel Waltz from GAS' John Silva, while Michael Jackson's search for representation continues with John Branca and John McClain at the helm, as wonderers wonder if his proposed Madison Square Garden concert will ever take place.
Finally, is HK Management nibbling at ex-SFX mogul Robert Sillerman's baited hook? Insiders are asking if Howard Kaufman's stable of veteran artists fits Sillerman's new business model.
