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"It was such a small industry that we both did everything," remembers Simon. "We had to find the talent, find the songs, take them to radio and promote the concerts ourselves. But it was very important to get out of South Africa because of the terrible political situation, so we decided to try to make a mark internationally."
In 1975 they launched Zomba in London (and opened a New York office six years later), naming their company after the former capital of Malawi, in central Africa. Simon recalls that they knew the name was right after learning of a tribe living outside Zomba near Lake Malawi whose members are said to possess extraordinary hearing. The name Jive is after "township jive," a form of South African music and dance. "We would study the makeup and construction of each of the five major record companies and debate which parts of them would be an exemplar of how to best make a new record company work," recalls Simon. "The idea was to have a broad, international-minded business." From Berry Gordy's Motown, for example, Calder picked up the idea of pairing his artists with a team of in-house songwriters and producers, which could not only guarantee a steady flow of material but was less costly than hiring outsiders.
Calder's greatest stroke was assembling the team that enabled Jive to capitalize on teen pop. For talent, he went to the Svengali-like Lou Pearlman, whose Florida teen-band boot camp cranked out Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync, two acts with broad demographic appeal. For composing, Calder hired Swedish producer Max Martin to create light but carefully structured songs. And he caught a lucky break when a former Mousketeer named Britney Spears turned up at Jive's office for an audition.
The toughest test for young stars is crossing over to mature markets. Jive's biggest test will come when Spears releases her third CD (Nov. 6) and stars in her first feature film early next year. Is she the new Madonna or just another Tiffany? British pop star Dido has co-written a track for Spears that Jive no doubt hopes will help lure listeners old enough to drive. Also in the next few months, Backstreet Boys will know whether member A.J. McLean's alcohol rehab will cause the slipping band to disintegrate. But even if the teen-pop boom goes bust, Jive is making plans to move forward. Last year it signed a deal with rock label Volcano to further diversify itself. The first release under that deal, Tool's Lateralus, was an instant hit.