Michael Lippman

It's easy to isolate one of the secrets behind the success of Michael Lippman and Rob Kahane, one of pop music's hottest management teams: Faith. It was faith in a young British singer-songwriter named George Michael that convinced Kahane, a fast-rising Los Angeles talent agent, to resign his position in 1987 at Triad Artists to enter the personal management field.

It's easy to isolate one of the secrets behind the success of Michael Lippman and Rob Kahane, one of pop music's hottest management teams: Faith. It was faith in a young British singer-songwriter named George Michael that convinced Kahane, a fast-rising Los Angeles talent agent, to resign his position in 1987 at Triad Artists to enter the personal management field.

Pop Management Duo Splits: Michael Lippman and Rob Kahane, the hot pop music management team that represents George Michael, Neneh Cherry and Jody Watley, have decided to split. The two managers, whose Los Angeles-based firm has been in business since 1986, will reportedly divide up the clients on their roster and form separate companies. Lippman and Kahane describe the split as "completely amicable."

Diane Plitka, hairdresser and salon owner: "News of a Kidnapping," by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Pantheon). "Marquez tells the stories of media people kidnapped by the Colombian cartel and the desperate measures necessary to get them released. I love the way this book was set up and written so that the reader has the same personal interest in the characters as the author."

When a show-biz marriage starts with a prenuptial agreement, you'll never go broke betting on a divorce. That's one way to look at last week's demise of the four-year partnership between high-profile managers Michael Lippman and Rob Kahane. The rock management split, which leaves Kahane with superstar client George Michael and Lippman with a host of top rock producers, came in the wake of insider reports that Kahane was eager to devote more time to Michael's career.

Neil Diamond has broken his own record. Diamond's eight-night run at the Forum beginning June 28 has established a new record for the most concerts at the 19,000-seat arena by a music artist during a single engagement, surpassing the seven-show mark that Diamond set in 1983. "He's a phenomenon," said Michael Lippman, who co-manages George Michael. Lippman's partner, Rob Kahane, agreed, calling Diamond "the Springsteen of MOR (middle-of-the-road) music." With all this concert success, you would think that Diamond's current album, "The Best Years of Our Lives," would be in the Top 10--or at least the Top 20. But the album, released last December, never even came close: It stalled at No. 46 on Billboard magazine's national sales chart, becoming Diamond's first new studio collection in 20 years to miss the Top 40. The Columbia album made so little impact that some industry insiders were surprised when it went gold, signifying sales of 500,000 copies.

Elton John and Bernie Taupin are due to sign a music publishing deal today in Los Angeles with Warner/Chappell Music that will give them the largest cash advance in music publishing history. The estimated $39-million, 12-year agreement is more than twice the previous highest advance--the estimated $19 million the same company paid in September to Prince for the right to administer worldwide the songs in his Controversy Music catalogue.

Janet Jackson is about to start earning that $40 million that Virgin Records agreed to pay her almost a year ago. She's just signed up producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for a record-setting $3 million to produce and co-write her first Virgin album. Jackson will join the duo in their Minneapolis studio on April 4, and they all hope have the record wrapped by Christmas.

The Bee Gees have just released their first album in six years, but don't look for a prime-time TV special or a global satellite hook-up to herald their return. It's not that the Brothers Gibb--Barry, Robin and Maurice--aren't bullish about their new album, "ESP" (see review, Page 99). It's that they're still trying to live down the last wave of hype that surrounded--and nearly sunk--them a decade ago.

This is definitely George Michael's week. The 24-year-old British pop star's first solo album, "Faith," jumps to No. 1 on Billboard magazine's national sales chart, ending a nine-week reign by the "Dirty Dancing" sound track. Michael's album is the first solo debut to top the chart since Stevie Nicks' "Bella Donna" in 1981. The former leader of the bubblegum duo Wham! is also the subject of a highly complimentary cover story in the current issue of Rolling Stone magazine.