Behind the music magic
HBO’S four-parter “The Defiant Ones,” about hotshot mismatched music makers Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine — whose
magic begat Bono, Stefani, Springsteen, Patti Smith, John Lennon, Ice Cube, Eminem, Lady Gaga, LL Cool J, Nas, etc. — starts July 9. Dre, real name Andre Young, was a DJ. Iovine, a Brooklyn longshoreman kid. Dre’s black. Iovine, white.
At the premiere, Dre’s caretaker, obviously SEAL Team Six trained, grunted: “No questions. No interviews. He’s not talking.” Gayle King: “Took two years before he spoke to me.” Vanity Fair’s
Lisa Robinson: “Didn’t speak to me for 15 years.” I am heavenly blessed because Dre the Divinity, who wore a diamond ear stud, actually mouthed these words to me: “Tom
Ford made my suit.” Iovine: “It began for me with lots of stumbling. I hadn’t a lot of education. Hadn’t a lot of anything. I was scared all the time. Terrified. Over 40 years, I learned mistakes add to fear and fear gets you to fight.
“It’s Easter 1973. I’m 19. Doing clean-up work. Sunday the record studio called. Come in. Answer the phone. They had a slot open. I said, ‘On my way.’ My mom, upset, said relatives were coming over after church. I said, ‘Going to work. I’m saying no to nothing.’
“This record place looked to me incredible. Better than my dad working on the docks. I saw future possibility. And my first recording session? John Lennon. After one hit, you worry a next one won’t make it. We did three albums together.” Over a tequila: “If you dream, sometimes you get there. No worry if feelings get hurt. Fear’s a tailwind not a headwind. I’ve made many mistakes. You don’t die. You move forward. You learn: Don’t do that again. You have to develop a muscle.” His wife, gorgeous model Liberty Ross, wore a short short short tight tight tight dress with enough fabric left for black and gold beads: “’ 90s vintage Versace,” she said. Right. Iovine’s definitely developed all his muscles. HBO chairman Richard Plepler: “These two guys are a cultural phenomenon. This project, born at my kitchen table, took me 11 seconds to say yes.”