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Remembering my friend Clive Davis — a music genius who changed history

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Starmaker’s stellar legacy 

A belated goodbye to my neighbor and longtime friend, Clive Davis.

Barely days before he left, we hugged one another. It was our favored Ralph Lauren’s Polo Bar dinner spot. Me, table for two against the left wall — his round table with friends alongside. Clive walked over to kiss me. Who knew it was the last I’d see him.

I recall our chat. The music genius who manufactured Whitney, Aretha, Alicia, Springsteen, Joplin and Simon and Garfunkel. I asked will a Bing Crosby- or Frank Sinatra-type song ever come again?

“Decades change music. Currently, hip-hop dominates. Also country and pop.

“Who believed this could happen to me? At 18, I lost my parents in one year. With $4,000 to my name and help from others, I got an NYU scholarship. Three years of law got me into a law firm that represented Columbia Records. I became chief counsel. That’s how I got into music.

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