How Steve Popovich Signed Michael Jackson

Storytellers: Steve Popovich, Jr. & Dan Beck

 
 
 
 

Doors open at 5:00pm, with the storytelling beginning promptly at 7:00pm

• Weekly series combining great food with great stories about Cleveland’s past
• FREE ADMISSION – NO COVER CHARGE
• In addition to our regular menu, we will be offering affordable specials on these nights

Story topic this week…

How Steve Popovich signed Michael Jackson
Go behind the scenes of one of music’s biggest moments and learn how local legend Steve Popovich, the founder of Cleveland International Records, signed Michael Jackson and The Jacksons to CBS Records. Steve Popovich Jr. will share the story of his father’s pivotal role in bringing Michael Jackson and The Jacksons to CBS Records, including the seven songs they recorded at Cherokee Recording Studios. Of those seven recordings, only Blues Away —the first song Michael ever wrote by himself— has been released, while the other six have remained unheard for nearly 50 years!

Joining Steve Popovich, Jr. is music industry veteran Dan Beck, who played a major role in signing Michael and The Jacksons, and can offer his own firsthand perspective on working with Michael during this time in his career. With the 50th anniversary of these recordings approaching this is a unique opportunity to hear the story of how Dan and Steve Popovich, Sr. helped to shape the career of the King of Pop.

Steve Popovich, Jr. Bio

Steve Popovich, Jr. grew up – literally – in the entertainment business. Popovich is the son of music producer and promoter Steve Popovich, Sr. who received many industry awards for his work for Columbia, CBS and Polygram Records in the 1970s and 1980s, including six Grammy nominations, with two wins, for label and/or co-producer.

While in high school, Popovich worked for his father at Cleveland International and many of the acts his father promoted became family friends, including Meat Loaf and Steve Van Zandt. Van Zandt now sits on the board of Steve Popovich Legacy Foundation. The Foundation was started to preserve and promote the arts. It’s first project has been the creation of a music scholarship at Cuyahoga Community College.

Following in his father’s footsteps into the music business, yet taking his own path, Steve Popovich, Jr. worked for many years as a Producer of Specialty Programming/Outlaw Country for Sirius Radio. He also started his own business, Wrecking Ball Entertainment.

After his father passed away in 2011, it took eight years to close out the estate and Popovich has chosen to relaunch the Cleveland International label in his father’s honor. He has started the label relaunch with the release of a remastered Cleveland Rocks, a compilation of artists from the label’s glory years in the 1970s and originally brought together in 1995. The album contains songs like Meat Loaf’s “Paradise by the Dashboard Light,” and Ronnie Spector and the E Street Band’s “Say Goodbye to Hollywood.”

Dan Beck Bio

Dan Beck is a writer, a producer, a marketer, a manager, a mentor, and an investor in a long line of trusted relationships.

He dedicated 20 years in building and supporting the images for dozens upon dozens of artists on the roster at Epic Records, as head of publicity, as a product manager and SVP of Marketing and Sales. He founded V2 Records in 1997, as President of North America, for Virgin entrepreneur and self-made brand Richard Branson. In 2002, he launched his own boutique entertainment marketing company, Big Honcho Media, LLC, a pioneer in social media marketing and promotion.

Dan started the first major label publicity department in country music. in 1974. He was creatively at the forefront of music video production in the ‘80s, and his licensing strategy in the ‘90s launched Moby, forever changing the industry’s strategic model.

Over those Epic years, he spearheaded marketing strategies for The Clash, Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Gloria Estefan, Sade, Luther Vandross, Pearl Jam, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Charlie Daniels Band, Tammy Wynette, Charlie Rich, Cheap Trick, Ted Nugent, Living Colour, and Boston, among many others.

The goal of the Cleveland Stories Dinner Party is to bring to life some of the fun, interesting stories about Cleveland’s past – from sports, to rock ‘n roll, to Millionaire’s Row, — the series will focus on tidbits from Cleveland’s past that will really thrill the audience. The Music Box is presenting this series in partnership with the Western Reserve Historical Society’s new Cleveland History Center. We think the Cleveland History Center is one of the most important museums in Cleveland. An unknown gem that Clevelanders should know more about, and support. It is the only museum in Cleveland dedicated to preserving and documenting the history of Cleveland. The Cleveland History Center includes two mansions, the Crawford Auto Aviation Museum, Chisholm Halle Costume Wing, Research Library, Kidzibits Hands-On Gallery, rotating exhibitions, and the Euclid Beach Park Grand Carousel.

See all Cleveland Stories dates here.