10 Questions with ... Chuck Field

NAME:Chuck Field POSITION:Senior Vice President COMPANY:Blackground Records BORN:In a dumpster RAISED:Under a freeway overpass

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

On-air Z-90 and Q-106 in San Diego
afternoons at WQUE/New Orleans
OM/afternoons KSFM/Sacramento
National Promotion Sony Music
Promotion Jeff McClusky and Assoc.
VP/Promotion Universal Motown
Sr.VP Blackground

1. Do you remember your first day on the job in the record business? What stands out about that day?

Great question! Remember it like it was yesterday. It was raining in LA and I couldn't find the office from the airport. One of my new bosses, Neda Tobin, was brooding at me when I walked in, "You're late! Not a good first impression. Sit down and start getting airplay!" Neda and I went on to be GREAT friends and she taught me so much. She is truly a one of a kind personality that's warm and genuine...but on that day, she frightened me.

2. You went from working at a very big record company, Universal Motown to a small label, Blackground. Why the move?

A lot of it had to do with me wanting to grow in other areas than promotion. I had championed JoJo for Blackground and she went on to stardom. Barry (Hankerson) came in my office one day and asked me to come do promotion along with help him and Jomo (Hankerson) run the company. I LOVED my time at Universal and still work with them on our projects on a daily basis. It was just time to grow.

3. What was the biggest transition for you in the move to Blackground?

Well, at a major label there are 50 releases a year. Some work, some don't. At Blackground there are much fewer releases. Every record has to count and we have to fight, claw and scratch for everything we earn as well as be very creative in the way we break new music.

4. How has the radio community been treating you since the move?

Great. Those are my friends. I just turned 39, but have been in radio and records for 23 years. I used to be young and upcoming with all of the guys like JB King and Chet Buchanan, Jay Stevens("that can happen?"), Erik Bradley, Eric Powers, Dr. Dave...etc...now, we're the old men who sit around and talk about the good old days...oh, and about our music, too.

5. If you went back to radio today...what would you do differently in regards to relationships with record companies?

LOL. You asked me that because I was hated by record people back then. I would be a lot warmer, kinder and gentler and more respectful that record execs are just doing their job and can actually be a great source of information with stories on their projects nationally.

6. List two things that the last two years have taught you?

I enjoy having freedom to do what I want in the workplace. Freedom at work is a blessed thing. Being chained to a desk sucks sometimes. I have also learned that I have good ears for hits, but unlike I felt back when I picked JoJo's first single and it went to #1, my ears, like everyone else's, are not perfect. Oh, yeah, and that I like taking meetings with Barry on his yacht more than I do in the office.

7. Who do you consider to be your mentor(s)?

I learn a lot now from the guys I originally mentored like JB King and Dennis Martinez. Sean Lynch taught me a ton about how to manage expectations and how to win people over. Dr. Dave, of course. Kurt Baker, JoJo "Cookin'" Kincaid, Neda Tobin, Gary Marella ("time to go back to the Ritz, hoss"), Barry and Jomo (I know what they're capable of), Monte Lipman, Val DeLong to name a few. Greg Lawley has meant a lot to me over the years. Just watching how Greg works and how Greg runs is business.

8. List two record execs and two programmers you could take in a bar fight?

Hell, Byron Kennedy and I almost got into it on a golf course once after 54 holes played and about as many beers drank...so him. Phil Becker drunkenly pulled me down a flight of stairs accidentally at a strip club in Key West, so him. I could take Sujit Kundu's skinny, one-eyed ass, so him. And Rick Sackheim, he's another beanpole that deserves to have his ass kicked by me, so him too.

9. Who is the last programmer you would want to face in a bar fight?

Cat Thomas' big, hulking carcass. Can you imagine him all juiced up on Bud Light after The Buckeyes lost to some other Big 10 team? Lurking, spoiling for a fight, angry, brooding, inconsolable. I have seen this look on him before. I want no part of it.

10. What's on the way from Blackground?

New artists, Money called "The Future," Static f/Li'l Wayne "I Got My." Static just tragically passed away and we will be bringing his great first single out shortly. Li'l Eazy E., Melrose and JoJo is going back in the studio with Timbaland. Tim will have an album as well.

You get a "mulligan" on one moment or one decision in your career...call it.

LOL, there are so many to pick from. Probably the now infamous "Time to go back to the Ritz, hoss" incident at the 2005 Cleveland R&R where me and a girl I had just met decided to play tonsil hockey in a crowded bar in-front of 200 of our peers. Gary Marella came up to me, put his arm on my shoulder and whisked me away saying "Time to go back to the Ritz, hoss."

You are given a blank check to sign ANY artist...who would you go after?

I'd sign Elliott Spitzer. As it turns out, he's a con-artist.

Assorted "Chucker" moments:

"I could tell the story about the first time I met the Chucker, back stage at a concert after he 'hooked up /banged' a groupie in Silk's dressing room.....or when he puked on a stripper on our Viking Trip to Key West.....I got it, how about when he got bubble guts on the golf course, then OOPS.... and ended up leaving his underwear in the bushes." - JB King

"The S.I.N. awards where I called him a "motherf*cker" and he didn't recognize me and spent the whole night wanting to kick my ass." - Dennis Martinez