David Kershenbaum

Biography and Career

David Kershenbaum is an American record producer and entrepreneur.

Born in Springfield, Missouri, David Kershenbaum is the internationally known as a record producer and A&R man. Kershenbaum's productions are responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars of record sales around the world and his touch has aided some of the biggest names in the business: Duran Duran, Tracy Chapman, Joe Jackson, Bryan Adams, Supertramp, Cat Stevens, Elkie Brooks, Tori Amos, Laura Branigan, Joshua Kadison and Blessid Union of Souls. As a producer he has earned 75 international gold and platinum albums. His work has yielded multiple Grammys and an Oscar nomination.

"You never stop learning, no matter how many records you make and no man is an island in the studio, it's a team effort and a great artist is the key element. I had a pleasure to work with many of the World's finest talents and I am so grateful to be a part of their success."- David Kershenbaum

Kershenbaum has been an executive in three major record companies. His supervision yielded many superstar artists during one of the most successful times of A&M's history. Kershenbaum's first album at A&M Records was Joan Baez's Diamonds and Rust, which was the biggest album of her career. While vice-president/A&R at A&M Records, he signed Janet Jackson and caused a major shift in Black Music. Janet went on to break music history in sales and Grammy awards, as well as in the highly publicized $50 million record deal she ultimately signed with Virgin Records.

Kershenbaum's ear for outstanding music and talent resulted in his signing of multi-platinum artist Joe Jackson and production of four other Jackson albums including the classic "Night and Day" LP which became the artist's most successful, earning two Grammy nominations and a worldwide Top 5 single, "Stepping Out". Produced by Kershenbaum, Jacksons debut album "Look Sharp" helped establish Jackson as a cornerstone of a new wave music. According to Rolling Stone reviews: "...In the studio, Kershenbaum kept the arrangements unfettered and virtually free of instrumental overdubs, a tactic that emphasized the wound-up riffing of Jackson's three-piece backing band and silhouetted the contours of the his painstakingly crafted pop songs, with their crisp syntax and high-concept refrains."

Kershenbaum is known for a hit Tracy Chapman album that resulted in a debut with sales of over 17 million copies and $200 million in revenues. The LP was recognized by the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, earning three Grammy awards, six nominations including "Best Producer Of The Year", "Best Song Of The Year", "Best New Artist" and "Best Album Of The Year". In over 17 countries, the single "Fast Car" was number one for weeks. "Chapman's melodies are wandering and slippery, and she sings them with unexpected phrasings that often call to mind a throatier, deeper-voiced Joni Mitchell. Most of the tracks are modern folk songs, and producer David Kershenbaum frames them in ways that never lose sight of that fact. He never lets you forget that this is Chapman's story and Chapman's sensibility."

"Tracy Chapman is an absolutely unique artist with the voice from Heaven and a sense of writing that deeply affects those who hear her songs.- David Kershenbaum"

Kershenbaum set new limits once again with his work with the wildly successful Duran Duran Rio album at Capitol Records. Duran Duran released their Rio album, which quickly scored four UK Top 20 singles. However, before Kershenbaum's engagement into this project "...the Rio album did not do well in the United States at first. ...and Capitol Records (EMI's American branch) was at a loss about how to sell them. After Carnival (an EP of Rio's Kershenbaum's dance remixes) became popular with DJs in the fall, the band arranged to have most of the album remixed by David Kershenbaum. Only after it was re-released in the U.S. in November, with heavy promotion as a dance album, Rio begin to climb the American charts...""Following the success of the Kershenbaum remixes, Capitol changed its marketing strategy on Duran Duran from New Romantic to dance band." This work also resulted in many awards and Multi-platinum sales and smash hit "Hungry Like the Wolf".

“David really had that attention to detail that gave the tracks that FM smoothness – made them bigger, more sonically detailed"- John Taylor (bassist and heartthrob-in-chief of the hit machine, Duran Duran).

"The album went gold in the US on March 1, 1983, and platinum on April 26, eventually reaching double platinum status. It peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US (on June 5, 1983), and remained on the charts there for 129 weeks -- almost two and a half years."

"Kershenbaum's track record shows a pattern of working with unknown artists that with his guidance have gone on to become superstars. He is a "song man" with a great talent for new artist development and music presentation. Many artists who have worked with Kershenbaum say that he knows exactly how to focus an artist and bring the best out of their work."

Kershenbaum later established his own group of companies encompassing 5 recording studios, a film music supervision division, and a music publishing company. Under this banner, he produced and recorded many projects including Kenny Loggins LP for Sony and the ground breaking new artist of the year...The Williams Brothers for Warner Brothers., as well as Internationally successful Platinum LP by Joshua Kadison. Kershenbaum scored again with debut of "Blessid Union Of Souls"/"I Believe", which held #1 slot in the country on Top-40 radio.

As a partner and co-president of Morgan Creek Music Group, Kershenbaum brought home the music for the movie "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" acting as Executive Producer of "Everything I Do, I Do It For You" by Bryan Adams. This song went on to become the biggest single in the history of the music business at that time out selling singles by The Beatles and Elvis Presley. The song won many industry accolades including Grammy, Golden Globe and Academy awards. The combined sales of Bryan’s single, solo album, soundtrack album and the greatest hits now exceed 34 million units worldwide. As a music supervisor, David has worked on many films. At Morgan Creek Pictures, he supervised and executive produced all of the music for the large slate of pictures, including “The Last of the Mohicans”, which soundtrack has now sold in excess of 1,800,000 units worldwide. Other films include "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure", "Road House", "Navy Seals", "White Sands", "200 Cigarettes".

Kershenbaum is the founder and creator of a new and cutting edge Artist Development company, "Music Pros Hollywood".". "Kershenbaum says that he created Music Pros Hollywood in response to a time in which digital downloads have changed the music business entirely, major record labels are considered ineffective or barely surviving, and radio is no longer the major focus. He adds that Internet marketing and personal artist development are paramount in achieving success."

External links

1. The official David Kershenbaums Web Site
2. Official website of Music pros Hollywood (MPH)
3. Make a Star Newsletter. October 3, 2003
4. David Kershenbaum:Cenhancing the Artist
5. David Kershenbaum at SxSW 2008
6. New York Times, Friday, March 21, 2008 David Kershenbaum's filmography
7. Producer David Kershenbaum Launches MusicProsHollywood.com
8. David Kershenbaum Appeared at the Hollywood Guitar Center event
9. Duran Duran Article by: David Medsker, 10/09/2006
10. The Joe Jackson Archive. Biography. The Joe Jackson Chronicle
11. SOURCE: Sonoma Mountain Entertainment
12. The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits
13. POP VIEW; BACKUP WHERE IT BELONGS. The New York Times
14. Joe Jackson biography