by Richard Skelly » Thu Jun 07, 2018 4:38 am
Life is full of little ironies.
By sticking with their controversial name, The Payolas virtually ensured they would never break big in the US. The stain of pay-for-play payola from record companies to deejays never went away. Probably because payola never went away, simply morphing into in-kind favours rather than crass cash. But no one in the industry wanted reminders.
Plenty of prominent record spinners likely benefited. But it was Alan Freed who became the fall-guy for the original payola scandal. In late 1959, Alan lost his radio and tv shows and could have faced jail time, but instead was fined. He died in January 1965 after radio stints in Santa Monica, Florida and Los Angeles.
Lance Freed, Alan’s son from his first marriage, also entered the music industry...albeit from a different angle. He caught on in the publishing division of A & M Records around the same time the musical Payolas were signed to the label. The Payolas soon splintered with guitarist-harmonist Bob Rock achieving later acclaim as a producer. Lance rose through the ranks to become president of Rondor Music. Currently part of the Universal Music Group, Rondor likely still controls publishing of old Payolas tunes.