Articles — 90s

On March 16, 1999 the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the organization that issues Gold, Platinum and other music sales certifications, held a special ceremony in New York City. The affair was organized to celebrate the launch of the organization's brand new RIAA Diamond Award program, designed to recognize albums which have achieved the milestone of selling 10 million copies or more in the U.S. The RIAA created a special poster to celebrate the launch of this new award. It features photos of all 63 albums that had reached Diamond sales at that point. A rarified group indeed, with classic albums from the literal...

Tom Zutaut arrived as a record label A&R (Artists & Repertoire) man in an unlikely way. Given an entry-level job at Elektra Records at the beginning of the 80s, he felt that the label's current artist roster was weak and that they needed to sign new artists. He first suggested Joan Jett. No, they said. Jett would soon hit it big in her post-Runaways  life with a smash cover of The Arrows "I Love Rock 'n' Roll." After that he pegged The Human League as future hitmakers in the U.S. after seeing their fledgling but promising start in the U.K. No, they said, and the U.K. outfit went on to...