Short and Sweet

On April 26, 1983, three days after Azoff's appointment, all the MCA Records Group vice presidents and department heads were gathered in the conference room just off Gene Froelich's old office for what would be their first and only full staff meeting with the new president. Azoff walked in wearing casual slacks and an open-neck sport shirt-in contrast to the white shirts, suits, and ties around the oval conference table. Most of those present knew him only by reputation or from terse, unpleasant telephone conversations. For them, discovering the physical presence behind the legend was a bit like pulling back the curtain and finding < a gnome at the controls of the Great Oz. ''He's even shorter than me,'' thought Sam Passamano, who was five-foot-five and had pictured Azoff as being at least six feet tall, judging from the power of his vocal cords. Azoff quickly launched into a spirited pep talk about how the new MCA Records was going to shake up the industry. He told them that, with their help, he was going to turn the label into a serious competitor, no more ''that joke of a record company in the Valley that nobody wants to sign with.'' He told them he was very pleased with the caliber of executives already in place, that there would be no major staff changes, that their jobs were safe. He was swerving again. Within a year, most of them would be gone.

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