The Making of Michael Buble
Thanks to a Mulroney family wedding, Celine Dion’s producer, Bryan Adams’s manager, and a voice that recalls Sinatra and Harry Connick Jr., a fisherman’s kid from Vancouver is the new king of croon. By David Hayes, Saturday Night, April 2005 Malibu is the quintessential symbol of North American celebrity, a glamorous, wealthy enclave, 40 kilometres […]
Bush Bashers New and Recycled
By David Hayes, The Globe and Mail Book Review; October 30, 2004 Attack Poodles and Other Media Mutants:The Looting of the News in a Time of Terror by James Wolcott (Miramax, 2004, 313 pages) Bushworld: Enter at Your Own Risk by Maureen Dowd (Putnam 2004, 523 pages) The U.S. economy has been lacklustre for the […]
Star Crossed
When John Honderich announced he was leaving his beloved Toronto Star after 15 years at the helm, his staff were stunned. They assumed he had been forced out by Rob Prichard and the new corporate culture, and they were probably right. But the old-fashioned newspaperman with ink in his veins and a hearty lust for […]
So Immature
Boomers, forever young and free-spending, dominate at the cash registers. Yet marketers are only concerned with reaching a few broke kids. What gives, man? By David Hayes, Report on Business Magazine, June 2004 A few weeks ago, I was flipping through 50Plus magazine and realized, to my horror, that I was interested in some of […]
Squaring Off
By David Hayes, The New York Times Magazine, November 16, 2003 Andy Camann, a tall, gangly 14-year-old, wears a serene expression on his face as he stares down at the colorful blur of a Rubik’s Cube spinning in his hands. In public — on the street, at his school — he is usually alone doing this, and […]
The Boys in the Brand
When Diana Krall is on stage, nobody sees Sam Feldman and Steve Macklam. But when it comes to selling the acclaimed jazz artist, they’re the two guys who really make the operation sing By David Hayes, National Post Business, March 2002 At the end of a gruelling afternoon at a Paris rehearsal space, a frazzled-looking […]
Song Corpse
It seemed like an answer to the industry’s prayers. Allan Gregg’s record label promised to combine the artistic integrity of an indie with the corporate clout of a major. But in the end, the clashing cultures at Song Corp. couldn’t make beautiful music together. By David Hayes, ˆ February 2004 When Molly Johnson met Allan […]
Black and Whyte and Read All Over
With close to 300,000 readers across the country, the loud, opinionated, irreverent National Post has outperformed all expectations. But is there enough substance underneath all that style to sustain its success? By David Hayes, Toronto Life, December 1999 SHORTLY AFTER 11 A.M. on a Friday in July, 15 editors seat themselves around a table in […]
The Chosen One
Rufus Wainwright was playing piano in Montreal bars when DreamWorks signed him to a big contract. Everyone agrees he has talent. But does he mean business? By David Hayes, Saturday Night, May 1999 Eyes wide in reverence or closed in rapture, The Damned Ladies found nirvana in Toronto’s Trinity-St. Paul’s United Church one night this […]
Die Hard
He’s the star of a $250,000 commercial for Cineplex Odeon. He’s an adventurer, a romantic, a lover. He’s Harrison Ford, John Wayne, Leo Dicaprio. But will Frank the Fly’s big-screen debut — and comedic demise — deliver the buzz that advertisers are after? by David Hayes, National Post Business, April 1999 It’s the afternoon of […]