Mike Curb

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Michael Curb (born December 24, 1944, in Savannah, Georgia) is an American musician, record company executive, race car owner (in both NASCAR and IRL), and Republican Party (GOP) politician who served as Lieutenant Governor of California from 1979-1983 during the second administration of Democratic Governor Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown, Jr., now the California attorney general.

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[edit] Early career in music

As a freshman at San Fernando Valley State College, (now California State University, Northridge), Curb worked in the practice rooms of the Department of Music to write the breakthrough song that helped launch his career — "You Meet the Nicest People on a Honda (Go Little Honda)" and to establish his first record company, a predecessor to Curb Records. He left college in 1963 as his success in the music business accelerated.

Curb did the musical scoring for the short film, Skaterdater, in 1965. He also did the scoring to The Born Losers (1967), the first of the Billy Jack films, featuring Tom Laughlin. A "boy wonder" in business, at the age of twenty-one he started his own record company, Sidewalk Records, sold it out for a large amount of money, and was then appointed head of MGM Records in 1969.

At MGM in the 1970s, he was associated with Roy Orbison and others such as the Osmond Family. But he was perhaps best known for his culturally conservative policy of ridding the company of bands that were associated with drugs or hippies, thus dumping the Velvet Underground, the Mothers of Invention and others. In 1969 he organized his own group, The Mike Curb Congregation, which along with the Osmonds was accused by critics of presenting a "white bread", MOR-oriented sound but which sold millions of records. The band scored a Top 40 hit in 1970 with "Burning Bridges", the theme song from the film Kelly's Heroes also played during the Vietnam War, the theme song of The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart, and their recording of It's a Small World was chosen by Disneyland as the ride's official theme song. The group was also featured on Sammy Davis, Jr.'s number-one Billboard Hot 100 hit of 1972, "The Candy Man" (from the motion picture Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory). In 1978, the Mike Curb Congregation was featured in the Sherman Brothers' musical The Magic of Lassie soundtrack and in 1980 they recorded Together, a New Beginning, the theme song for Ronald Reagan's successful presidential bid.

[edit] Politics

Curb was encouraged to enter politics in part by Ronald Reagan. Curb ran for lieutenant governor of California, and was elected in November 1978, even though the Republican gubernatorial nominee, Evelle J. Younger, lost to the incumbent Democratic governor, Jerry Brown. For much of 1979 and the first half of 1980, Brown was out of state, seeking the Democratic nomination for President of the United States against the embattled incumbent, Jimmy Carter. Curb often took advantage of Brown's absence to take on the role of acting governor, sometimes vetoing legislation or issuing executive orders, yielding results that were at odds with Brown's liberal politics. Thereafter, Brown took pains not to leave the state unless absolutely necessary. Curb's actions resulted in litigation, but his legal right to act when Brown was out of state was upheld in most instances,[1] setting an important precedent for future lieutenant governors.

Despite being seen briefly as one of the GOP's rising stars and being promised a bright political future by some national Republican leaders, Curb lost the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 1982 to Attorney General George Deukmejian. Curb polled 1,020,935 votes (44.8 percent) in the primary to Deukemjian's 1,165,266 (51.1 percent). Although Curb rebounded to win the lieutenant governor nomination in 1986, he was defeated in the general election by incumbent Democrat Leo McCarthy, even as Deukmejian was winning his second term as governor over Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley.

While three Republicans — Deukmejian, Pete Wilson, and Arnold Schwarzenegger — have served as governor of California since Curb left office, no Republican has been elected lieutenant governor since Curb's single term.

[edit] Later career in music

Returning to the music industry, Curb established Curb Records. He moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1994, where his company records for artists such as Wynonna Judd, LeAnn Rimes, Hank Williams, Jr., Hank III, Tim McGraw, Kimberley Locke, Sawyer Brown, Nemesis and others. Curb also, in cooperation with Warner Music Group, is an equity partner in church music publishers Word Label Group.

[edit] Involvement in car racing

A stock car racing enthusiast, he is the owner of the Curb-Agajanian Performance Group, a team in NASCAR's Busch Series until 2006. Curb's sponsorship and ownership have included three of NASCAR's most celebrated drivers: he previously owned Richard Petty's famed #43 in 1984 and 1985, including the 199th and 200th career wins for Petty. Curb was also a sponsor for Dale Earnhardt during his 1980 Winston Cup championship winning season, and sponsored Darrell Waltrip's #12 Toyota Tundra in the Craftsman Truck Series, driven by Joey Miller in 2006. Curb-Agajanian has also run cars in the Indianapolis 500.

In November 2007, Curb purchased the remaining interest in Brewco Motorsports from Clarence Brewer of Central City, Kentucky. Making him co-owner with Gary Baker. Forming Baker-Curb Motorsports competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2008 in the #27 and #37 cars. Operations have been moved to Nashville, TN.

[edit] Public honors

In Nashville Curb has become something of a civic leader and a benefactor of Belmont University, where his donation toward the construction of a new arena resulted in it being named the Curb Event Center. The University also runs "The Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business."

In August 2006[2] Curb pledged $10 million to California State University, Northridge (in Los Angeles) to endow his alma mater's arts college and provide a lead gift for the university's planned regional performing arts center that will serve as a "learning laboratory" for students. Of the $10 million gift, $5 million will support CSUN's College of Arts, Media, and Communication, one of the university's largest colleges that offers cutting-edge programs for more than 4,400 students. Four million of that will go into a general endowment for the college, and $1 million will endow a faculty chair specializing in music industry studies.

On June 29, 2007, Curb was honored with the 2,341st star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[3]

In 2001, Curb was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame.

[edit] References

  1. ^ In re the Petition of the Commission on the Governorship of California (Brown v. Curb), 26 Cal. 3d 110.
  2. ^ http://www.csun.edu/pubrels/press_releases/fall06/curb.html
  3. ^ Music Mogul Mike Curb Honored with 2,341st Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Mervyn M. Dymally		 Lieutenant Governors of California
1979 – 1983		 Succeeded by
Leo T. McCarthy
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