LONG PLAYER CLIVE DAVIS HAS HIS NEW RECORD LABEL ON THE FAST TRACK TO SUCCESS.

Byline: Fred Shuster Music Writer

CLIVE DAVIS is all ears. It's a description that might cause a less easygoing record executive to suggest something a little less surreal.

Davis, considered the last real music man remaining in pop's executive suite, just chuckles.

``I've been called worse,'' he says. ``Actually that description is quite apt. Ears - that's got to be a prerequisite for the job.''

As the record industry's most innovative, influential and longest-running head honcho, Davis prides himself on being in tune with ``the street.'' That, after all, is where the buzz begins for many of today's young stars.

You may remember Davis signed Janis Joplin, Bruce Springsteen and Santana at Columbia after picking up rumblings along the asphalt. Not to mention Patti Smith, Whitney Houston and, more recently, Alicia Keys.

Two years after being pushed out as president of Arista Records in a very public power scuffle, Davis is again ahead of the pack in developing acts that quickly rise to the head of the class and the top of the charts.

The biggest and most coveted prize at Davis' start-up J Records is Keys, who recently snagged five Grammy Awards and is clearly the hottest female r&b property since Lauryn Hill made a big splash in 1998. Keys' appealingly tuneful gospel-tinged debut, ``Songs in A Minor,'' has sold nearly 10 million copies.

In tune with times

``You've got to know when you've got something that could be a hit,'' Davis, 69, said. ``You need to be able to recognize the aspects of an act that will click with the public. A lot of music today has gotten away from the tradition of great songs but the one thing that will never go away is the desire for fresh melodies people can sing along with.''

With first-year sales of almost $200 million, Davis' 2-year-old J imprint - also home to top sellers such as boy group O-Town, r&b crooner Luther Vandross, rapper Busta Rhymes and hip-hop songbird Angie Stone - is expected to break into the black far sooner than some expected.

``Clive Davis has the knack of hiring the right people, finding the talent - and promotion, promotion, promotion,'' says music author and analyst Rob Durkee, author of ``American Top 40: The Countdown of the Century'' (Schirmer; $24.95) and other titles. ``When you're talking about across-the-board success in r&b music, I think of one model above all and that's Motown. Clive's label is taking a page from that book. He's an exceptional businessman surrounded by exceptionally good people who know what to do and how to market their artists.''

So, how does Davis do it? The answer: Sharp ears tuned to the ebb and flow of the market; a familiarity with all genres of popular music including r&b, hip-hop, rock, pop, country, Latin, Broadway show tunes and jazz; foresight and an unusually strong talent acquisition team.

Not bad for a Harvard Law School grad with no musical training.

``Usually, somebody here first recommends an artist,'' he said. ``We get together, listen, try to decide where it'll go, figure out if there's potential for growth or whatever. Make sure the bar stays high. Somebody has to have the final word - and that's my job.''

Many knew Davis would bounce back after the ouster from Arista, the label he'd founded 25 years earlier and turned into a hit factory with multimillion sales of Whitney Houston, TLC and, most notably, Santana's blockbuster comeback album, ``Supernatural.'' Davis, they predicted, wouldn't be down for long.

``He's a true music man and there aren't many left,'' Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun said. Universal Music Group chief Doug Morris just calls him ``The Guy.''

Davis dubs the New York-based J Records ``an instant major,'' referring to the fact that it immediately joined the ranks of the world's most important record companies (Sony Music, Warner Music, EMI, Universal and BMG). Funded with $170 million from Arista's German-owned parent company BMG, J is a joint venture owned 50-50 by Davis and BMG.

Named after the middle initial of Davis, his three sons and three grandsons, J was initially staffed by Davis' most trusted Arista employees.

With Keys, whose summer tour brings her to the Greek Theatre on July 30 and 31, still selling by the truckload, Davis has turned his attention to J's galaxy of up-and-comers. Among the roster's most closely watched names are pop-soul singer Joi Campbell, 15-year-old r&b singer Mario and hip-hop/dance chanteuse Lamya. Their albums are due this summer.

``Working with Clive is a learning experience,'' Campbell, 20, said from her San Fernando Valley home. ``He knows so much about music that you can't help but learn from him. It's really an incredible experience. He really does believe the artist's own creativity and personality should come first.''

Campbell's signing with J came after Davis' talent scouts got wind of the young songbird and requested a demo tape.

``With Clive, lightning can strike,'' she says.

Another buzzed-about new talent is Lamya (pronounced lamb-ya), who was born in Kenya and studied opera in Britain, where she was raised. She said she chose to sign with Davis after interest from several companies because the chief executive impressed her with a desire not to soften her edges.

``I saw what he did with Alicia Keys, to get at that passion and make a really original and personal record,'' she said. ``And he's worked with a broad range of music and kept the integrity of the artist. He also really knows the marketplace.''

Waiting out the drought

But knowing the market may not be good enough in an economy where worldwide music sales fell 5 percent last year to $33.7 billion, the worst slide since the mid-'80s, partly due to growing consumer piracy.

Davis believes that while demand for music is strong, widespread access to free music on the Internet, mass copying of CDs and competition from DVDs are immediate concerns.

``Look, music plays no less a role in people's lives than it always did,'' Davis says. ``What's happened is technology has moved faster than the courts. There will be a solution in time. The American way of life has always been to protect intellectual property.''

Davis has seen gloomy predictions regarding the future of pop music before. As president of Columbia Records from 1965 to 1973, Davis presided over the birth of the rock era and its presumed death - when Bay Area promoter Bill Graham closed his revered Fillmore auditoriums in New York and San Francisco.

``The headlines read, 'Is rock dead?' '' Davis said. ``Then 10 years later, MTV came along and everyone said, 'Is the album dead?' The future of the music industry is bright. I'm totally optimistic.''

CAPTION(S):

6 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) SPIN DOCTOR

Two years since his departure from Arista Records, impresario Clive Davis shows he's still all ears

(2) CLIVE DAVIS

(3) JOI CAMPBELL

(4) ALICIA KEYS

(5) MARIO

(6) LAMYA