Did Clive Davis Really know what he had in Clay Aiken?

I wrote this for Beavers on Idol on 05/30/2004, not knowing when Clay would release his next CD. Two years later, we still have no news, except that the album will be out “in the fall” as per Roger Widynowski, Vice President of Publicity for RCA Records. I updated the ending. I've also been trying to add photos for the past two days but it's not letting me. Talk about frustration!

Did Clive Davis Really know what he had in Clay Aiken?

Three years ago, American Idol, Season 2, came to an end. The winner was Ruben Studdard and the runner-up was Clay Aiken. Most people couldn’t believe the outcome of America ’s #1 talent show, most people thought Clay would win. I dare say, even RCA thought Clay would win. But it was what it was.

The weeks following the end of the show were a whirlwind of promotional appearances on the morning talk shows, Larry King, and anticipation of the release of the first single from each man. When the singles were released, both did extremely well, but a strange thing happened. The runner-up started to out-sell the winner. Approximately 393,000 singles of This Is the Night, Clay's first single, moved that week, unprecedented in the world of singles.

What was it with this Clay Aiken dude? What did people see in him besides that marvelous voice? What else was going on? Everyone knew he could sing the heck out of ballads and the sales of the single proved it. But could he do more? No one really knew at that point.

Clay was signed to RCA records by the legendary Clive Davis. Clive Davis is, first and foremost, a businessman, but he has an ear for the music business that is astonishing. He knew that Clay had this outstanding voice, but did Clive Davis really know what he had in Clay Aiken? I think that no one, not even the legendary Clive Davis, knew what they had in Clay Aiken.

Take a look at the songs on "Measure of a Man." Most of the songs are ballads or mid-tempo songs. Could Clay pull off up-tempo songs? Could he pull off rock songs? No one knew.

Fast forward to the American Idol 2 tour. Clay had two full solos on that tour, This Is the Night, and what was to be his first single release off his “Measure of a Man” CD, Invisible. From the first unveiling of that song in St. Paul, Clay rocked the house. Clay proved that he could rock out with the best of them. Problem was, his CD was already recorded by that time and most of the songs were mid-tempo songs.

Invisible got really decent air-play. It was slow-going for a while, but that song was perfect for CHR formatted radio - a catchy pop song that stayed in your head long after the song ended. With the release of “Measure of a Man” on October 13th, selling over 612,000 copies the first week, people were starting to take notice of the runner-up of a cheesy TV show.

Fast-forward once again to The Independent Tour with Kelly Clarkson. Clay opened his set with Kyrie, coming out from the back of each venue in full rock-star mode, bodyguards surrounding him as he made his way towards the stage, once again rocking the house. A funny thing happened on the way to the stage. Clay Aiken shed the image of a man who could only sing ballads. He proved that he could sing anything. He proved that he could take an audience of 8,000 people and hold them in the palm of his hand. Some of the musical choices in his set were expected. He covered most of the songs from “Measure of a Man,” but some of the other songs he chose to sing made his fans sit up and take notice. Clay got everyone up on their feet, dancing along with All About Love, a Christian Contemporary song; he sang his heart out on Fields of Gold, a song penned by Sting, and he took some vocal chances that amazed us on Prince's ever-delectable When Doves Cry.

So, did Clive Davis know what he had in Clay Aiken when he first signed Clay to a recording contract? I don’t think ANYONE could have predicted the meteoric rise to fame that Clay achieved. I don’t think anyone could have predicted that Clay Aiken, North Carolina Special Ed teacher, would win the hearts of millions of fans as quickly as he did. I don’t think that anyone realized that Clay Aiken, superstar, could go from This Is the Night to Invisible to Kyrie to When Doves Cry to Proud of Your Boy to his first appearance on Broadway, singing a duet with Heather Headly, and so completely captivate his audiences no matter what he sings.

Clay’s fans are anticipating a Christmas album in October of this year and they are looking forward to his sophomore CD, “Son of Measure of a Man” in the spring of 2005. Does Clive Davis know what kind of songs to put on the NEXT CD? I bet he does now. Does Clive Davis know what he has in Clay Aiken? I bet he does now

UPDATE: Since I wrote this, Clay has toured four more times, his “Not a Tour”, or NaT, ran through the summer of 2004, his Joyful Noise ’04 Christmas Tour, the JNT04, had a 6 week run, his Jukebox Tour, a delightful romp through the decades of rock and roll ran through the summer of 2005, and he ended 2005 with the JNT05, a Holiday Tour that spanned the country.

Clay was working with producer James Foster-Levy through much of the summer and fall of 2005. According to Clay’s blogs, he was very happy with the direction of the next CD. Then he announced that Clive Davis had the idea to sing some of the great songs of yesteryear, but putting a new, modern spin on them. In December, they decided to discard what Clay previously worked on and go with a concept album featuring some of his favorite songs of the past 25 years or so, along with some originals.

And the question still begs to be asked:

Does Clive Davis know what he has in Clay Aiken?