Robert Cutarella
Robert Cutarella | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Robert Cutarella |
| Born | September 15, 1950 Brooklyn, New York, US. |
| Genres | Rock, Pop, R&B, Dance, Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Recording Artist, Music Publisher, Manager, A&R, Songwriter, Producer, Educator |
| Years active | 1974-present |
| Labels | Buddah, Chappell/ Polygram, Sony Paramount, MCA, Universal |
Robert Cutarella (/ˌkjuːtəˈrɛlə/, cue-tuh-REH-luh; born September 15, 1950) is an American A&R executive, music publisher, record producer, songwriter, recording artist and educator.
His career has spanned over forty years working in different capacities at major companies ranging from Sony, MCA, EMI, Famous / Paramount Music, Chappell / Polygram ([1]) to owning and selling his publishing company, Zaymin/ Hit List Music to Polygram in the mid 90’s. He has worked with an A list of artists/ writers ranging from; Sting[2][3], Sir Elton John, Joss Stone ([4][3]), Les Paul ([4][5][6][7]) Johnny Rzeznik ([4]), Sir Paul McCartney, Smokey Robinson, The Bee Gees, Pink Floyd, Lynyrd Skynyrd[8], Alanis Morissette, Eric Clapton[4], Celine Dion[3] (Where Does My Heart Beat Now), Desmond Child, Glen Ballard, Slash, Cyndi Lauper[3], Madonna[3], and many others. Recently, he won two Grammy Awards as a producer.
Early career
Cuturella’s beginnings in Brooklyn, NY were a far cry from the career he has created for himself today. He has performed as a drummer / vocalist since he was 9 years old. The different iterations of his bands played every type of music ranging from Jazz Standards to Rock n Roll.
It wasn’t until 1974 that he decided to make music a full time career. As a drummer he had performed with Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Joe Williams, Dion and the Belmonts, the Chiffons, Bruce Springsteen and many other artists. He transitioned to a writer/producer in 1975 and had modest success with a song entitled, Foxy Trot, on Buddah Records ([9]). This was the genesis of his career in the music industry.
A&R career
Cutarella worked at Chappell / Polygram[8][10] music as the Director of Talent Acquisition for the company for 6 years when he was chosen in 1983 to be the VP of A&R for the legendary John Hammond (Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen) for his new Sony/Columbia label. The first few acts that Cutarella became involved with were Stevie Ray Vaughan([3]) and his brother Jimmy Vaughan and the Fabulous T Birds. He then signed a deal with Johnny Z in 1983 who had a fledgling label named Megaforce Records. This label included, Metallica([3]), Raven([11]) and Anthrax at the top of their artist roster. Patrick Simmons, Vanessa Williams([3]), John Palumbo ([3]), Donnie Iris, Radioactive, Matt Bianco and Gino Vanelli helped to fill out the rest of the roster, which was now around two years old.
After the label was retired, Cutarella began a boutique publishing/ management company which managed the careers of Lynryd Skynryd ([3]), Paul Rodgers and more. It had 5 hits in the publishing division including, Celine Dion’s Where Does My Heart Beat Now.
Most of Cutarella’s career after 1986 has been spent in Music Publishing/ Management and Production.
Music publishing
Before Cutarella had his first job in Music Publishing, he was writing / producing and releasing his first record as a part of a pop duo.
His initial Music Publishing job came about because his reputation for matching artists and songs had spread through the community. Chappell Music became his initiation into the world of Music Publishing. After having two big hits with Air Supply's "[[Every Woman in the World]" and Barry Manilow's "I Made It Through the Rain", Cutarella became a staple on Clive Davis’s call list whenever he needed great songs for his artists. This led to hits with Whitney Houston's "I Believe in You and Me", Melissa Manchester's "No One Can Love You More Than Me, and a host of other Arista artists.
During his tenure at Chappell, Cutarella grew to become the Director of Artist Development and was involved in the company signings of artists/ writers including; Pink Floyd, The Police, Culture Club, ABC, Elton John as well as others. Working the existing songs in the catalog, Cutarella had over a thousand songs recorded by the time he went to work for John Hammond and had hits with Diana Ross, Dolly Parton, Frank Sinatra, Bette Midler, Aretha Franklin, Sheena Easton, Chaka Khan, The Manhattans and more.
In 1986, Cutarella opened Zaymin/ Hit List Music, which was a small publishing venture that had four writers signed. The catalogue would go on to possess around 300 songs, with around 200 were earning income.
Eventually, the company had Celine Dion’s first hit, “Where Does My Heart Beat Now[10]” as well as two others in her native French language along with Alice Cooper's ([3]) platinum cd, “Poison”, Jennifer Rush's top five cd in Germany with “Higher Ground” as the leadoff single, Grover Washington Jr.'s gold cd “Time out of Mind”, 38 Special's platinum cd with “Second Chance”, The Temptations' gold cd with a Grammy Nomination and more.
During the same time period, Cutarella was co-managing six artists on Atlantic Records, including Lynyrd Skynyrd ([3]), Johnny Van Zant ([3]), Paul Rodgers ([3]) and more.
He then took a position at MCA Music in New York as the Director of Talent Acquisition.
During his time there, he worked closely with Alanis Morissette, Glen Ballard, Mark Stevens, Angie Stone, Ali Dee and their international writers as well.
Cutarella was responsible for multi platinum records with Madonna ([3]), Celine Dion, Michael Bolton, Eternal, Cyndi Lauper([3]) and a host of others.
Currently, Cutarella has been represented in the top twenty on the Billboard charts 3 times over the last few years as a writer and producer ([11][12][13]) .
Personal life
Cutarella was married from 1972-1975.
Discography
Notable Publishing and A&R Successes
• Barry Manilow’s Greatest Hits
• Chaka Khan - What’cha Gonna Do For Me
• Helen Schneider - Schneider With a Kick
• Whitney Houston The Greatest Hits
• Melissa Manchester - Emergency
• Sir Elton John - A Single Man
• Celine Dion - Falling into You
• Cyndi Lauper - 12 Deadly Cyns ([3])
• Eternal
• Madonna - This Used to be My Playground ([3])
• Linda Rondstadt - For Sentimental Reasons
• Barbra Striesand - The Broadway Album
• Frank Sinatra - She Shot me Down
• The Police - Ghost in the Machine
• Dolly Parton - Burlap and Satin
• The Temptations - Together Again
• Johnny Van Zant - Brickyard Road ([3])
• .38 Special - Rock N Roll Strategy
• Jennifer Rush - Wings of Desire
• Wynton Marsalis - Hot House Flowers
• Soundtrack - Forrest Gump ([3])
• Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood ([3])
• Stevie Ray Vaughan - Couldn’t Stand the Weather ([3])
• The Fabulous T Birds - Tuff Enuff
• John Palumbo - Blowing up Detroit
• Les Paul and Friends - American Made/ World Played [2][4][5][6][15]
• Les Paul - A Tribute to a Legend ([3])
Productions
• Les Paul and Friends - American Made World Played (Multiple Grammy Awards) - Capitol [2][4][5][7][6]
• Les Paul - A Tribute to a Legend - Koch [2][4][3]
• Yoshiko Kishino - Fairytale - GRP/MCA[16]
• Yoshiko Kishino - Photograph (Won Awards and Chart Success in Japan) - GRP/MCA[16]
• GRP - Tribute to the Beatles: I Got No Kick Against Modern Jazz - MCA[16]
• Lost Voices - Tribute to Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin & Jim Morrison - Polygram[17]
Filmography
• Little People, Big World - TLC: Appeared as a Record Producer.
• The Real Housewives of Orange County - Bravo: Appeared in 5 Episodes as a Record Producer during Season 1 and 2.
• Chasing Sound - Documentary/ American Masters: Appeared as a Record Producer.
• Picture This - MGM DVD Featuring Ashley Tisdale: Appeared as a Record Producer/ Music Supervisor.
• Les Paul and Friends: Live from the Universal Amphitheater AXS TV DVD: Appeared as a Record Producer.
• Appeared on the MTV of Lisbon, Portugal as a Record Producer.
Educator
• Guest Speaker for UCLA’s Music Business Program
• Chairman of the Musician’s Institute, Los Angeles
• Creator of Curriculum for Musician’s Institute, Los Angeles
• Guest Lecturer for Mercy University, New York
• Developer of Continuing Ed Program of Music for Mercy University
• Guest Lecturer for NYU, Clive Davis School of Music
• Guest Lecturer at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ([15])
• Guest Lecturer at the Songwriters Hall of Fame
• Guest Lecturer at FIDM Los Angeles
• Guest Lecturer at FIT New York (18)[18]
• Curriculum developer for FIT Evening program [19]
• Guest Lecturer at Manhattan School of Music
• Guest Lecturer at ASCAP
• Guest Panelists for Songwriters Hall of Fame
• Songwriting Instructor for 15 years for the Songwriters Hall of Fame
• Curicullum developer for Institute of Audio Research
• Guest Panelist for The Orange County Songwriters Association
References
- ↑ "Executive Turntable Robert Cutarella named Professional Manager, Chappell Music". Billboard Magazine. March 10, 1979.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "More of Les, Les Paul Tribute Album". Mix Magazine. July 7, 2005.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 3.23 3.24 3.25 Baur, Bernard (July 2015). "Producers Sound off On Studios and Recording". Music Connection. pp. 46–47.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Les Paul & Friends - American Made World Played, 2005, retrieved 2025-04-28
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Les Paul American Made, World Played: 2008 Les Paul, A Tribute to a Legend: Robert Cutarella". All Music. 2005.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Les Paul Going Strong at Ninety. David Fricke Interview: Bob Cutarella". Rolling Stone Magazine. June 16, 2005.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Les Paul Interview: Bob Cutarella". Jazz Times. June 2005.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Executives on the Move: Robert Cutarella to Chappell". Cashbox Magazine. March 10, 1979.
- ↑ "Cutarella to Chappell- Foxy Trot and Joe Thomas". Record World. March 10, 1979.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Cutarella to Chappell". Variety Magazine. March 28, 1979.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Bob Cutarella | Music Department, Producer, Executive". IMDb. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
- ↑ "Dance Club Charts". Billboard. March 4, 2017.
- ↑ "Dance Club Charts". Billboard. February 13, 2016.
- ↑ "Cutarella says " We Recut the Tracks around Sam Cooke's original vocals....."". ICE Magazine. June 2005. p. 4.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum &CWRU Present The 13th Annual American Music Masters The Wizard of Waukesha LES PAUL Nov 10-15 2008 pg 30 Bob Cutarella Panelist
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 "Dance Club Charts". Billboard. August 29, 2015.
- ↑ "Lost Voices New Releases". Billboard. 1998.
- ↑ "Studying the Stars: Robert Cutarella". Women's Wear Daily. September 2, 2004.
- ↑ FIT Meet the Makers, 2003, 2004, 2005 Music Business Robert Cutarella
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