Inside Spawn's Cape

Bruce Mactavish reclines comfortably on a couch in his basement, surrounded by artefacts of his years spent working in the music industry; gold records, framed, rest atop the uncountable shelves of his meticulously alphabetized CD collection. A framed autograph from George Harrison sits near a table stacked with more piles of more un-shelved CDs. Above this table, a signed poster from the Juno awards. I talked to Bruce briefly about his experiences in an era that died with the birth of the mp3.

When did you first become interested in music?

I became interested in music because of my family, my parents and older sisters in the early 1960s. I listened to Broadway shows mostly, and then, of course, The Beatles. It just took of from there. I used to use my pocket money to split the cost of a record with my older sister once a week, in the mid to late 60s.

Do you remember your first record?

Yes! It was the soundtrack to “Hair”. My best friend had it so I remember listening to it and buying my own copy. I bought a lot of records in that era; The Guess Who, Steppenwolf, Led Zeppelin…those were the groups I was interested in. I’d get these little part time jobs in the neighbourhood, and I used to buy records every weekend, downtown at Sam the Record Man.

So what was the music world like for you growing up? Where did you hear the majority of what was influencing you?

Well it started with my parents and sisters, but it quickly grew to listening to what my friends were playing. I also listened to Chum AM that had some influence on me. Then in junior high, I spent a lot of time listening to records in the school library. When I got more money, I went to see a few concerts with friends, but I was jealous of my older sister, who saw a lot of concerts because of dates; she actually saw The Beatles at Maple Leaf Gardens!

 Besides The Beatles, who would you saw were the major names in music while you were growing up?

The rolling stones, and elvis presley and then a ton of groups exploded in the late 60s that I was really interested in; what you would classify as FM rock music versus the AM pop music.

 Was working in the music industry something you had always wanted to do after University?

I had no idea when I started at UofT what I wanted to do, and then they resurrected the school radio station, and I had my own show. That was in 1976-77. The station had been closed, and when they reopened they put an ad in the paper, which I answered. So I was doing this show on Monday afternoons and listening to all this music they had on file, stuff I’d never heard before. That got me interested in the radio aspect, and when I got into the radio and television arts program at Ryerson, I became the music director of the Ryerson radio station. Through that little job, I got to know a lot of the promotion reps at record companies, which got me interested in that job.

What does a promotion rep do?

A promotion rep is the guy who takes the new album and single releases to the big radio stations and tries to get them to play his label’s product. Another responsibility would be taking care of an artist when they came into town; take them to the radio stations and wherever else they needed to go. I became a promotion rep at Quality Records in March of 1982.

What was it like meeting people who you admired so much in a professional setting?

It was amazing. This was in the mid 80s and I went from working at Quality, which was the smallest of the 8 record companies at the time, to Warner Music Canada, which was the largest. At Quality I got to meet some of the biggest motown artists like Stevie Wonder, and to go from that to Warner, which was the biggest rock label, was phenomenal. I calculated once, in the four years that I was at Warner, I worked three to four hundred shows. The music business was so hot back then.

What would you consider to be the most memorable moment in your career, meeting these superstars?

Well, it’s so hard to pick just one! I think it would be the times when you actually got to sit down and have a meal with the artist and get to know them a bit. Foreigner, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Gordon Lightfoot…they were just so gracious. Van Halen…Actually, I got thrown out of Van Halen’s dressing room.

What?!

I got thrown out backstage at Maple Leaf Gardens because I asked David Lee Roth for an autograph and the rule was no autographs. It was embarrassing at the time, but it makes a great story now.

You mentioned Warner Music and Quality Records but you also worked for Sony Music?

Yes, that was after Warner. I worked three different jobs at Warner, then I got a promotion and went to work for Sony, where I eventually became the manager of the Epic record label, which was a 30 million dollar label at the time.

Were there major differences between these labels?

Oh, they were very different. Sony had a lot of meetings, it was more corporate, and I learned a lot about the marketing side of the music industry. I got to travel to a lot of places for meetings. And Epic was a great label, but I worked at Warner for 11 years, so it will always have a special place in my heart.

You don’t work for Sony anymore, but with all your experience, do you have any comments about how the industry has changed in the last ten years?

There’s been a huge change. There are only four record companies left – and there really should only be three, and the industry is about 50-60% smaller, which is a pretty significant downsize in ten or twelve years. There aren’t many guys my age left; a lot of them got into other things. It’s really interesting to see what they’re doing now. The industry really changed when the mp3 was invented and music could be digitized. It’s a very, very different world now.

What was your response when programs like napster first appeared?

Well some guys embraced it right away- I didn’t. I liked the CD format, and still do. Some guys started downloading right away but I had no desire to. I never put a lot of music on the computer until I got an ipod. I was happy to just listen to CD and cassette tapes. I still listen to cassette tapes.

Do you prefer making mix tapes and CDs to playlists on itunes?

It’s very easy to make playlists on itunes, but you can’t teach an old dog new tricks! I still make cassette tapes because I have blank tapes left, and I’m used to that. I wonder if there are still people out there who use the reel to reel tapes. They had great sound quality.

Tapes versus CDs Versus Mp3s: what format do you think is the best?

The Mp3 file is the best quality. Nobody likes cassettes – the sound quality just isn’t as good as records or CDs. I can’t tell you why I don’t make mix CDs. I have started making playlists on itunes. My classic rock playlist has about a thousand songs on it. You wouldn’t want to put that on 80 minute CDs.

A final note: If you had had the opportunity to stay in the music business would you? Or are you glad you got out when you did?

That’s an interesting question, because I had no desire to leave. But I couldn’t have foreseen what would happen in the next five years. Nobody survived when the Sony label disappeared. I still love music, and I’m grateful to be working at a company – astral – that has two major radio stations which play music I enjoy. And I’m grateful for all my past experiences.