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> Bob Crewe, 37, a former interior decorator, model, singer and songwriter, is a rare example of an "older" independent producer who successfully adapted to rock. His 62 hits and total of 100 million sales span several styles (Mitch Ryder, Lesley Gore), but all reflect his desire to "avoid the naked, irritating sounds while using the basic force of the beat." Crewe's three-floor Manhattan penthouse—decorated with mirrored ceilings, carved panels from the Indonesian pavilion at the New York World's Fair, and kangaroo-skin bedspreads—is also the nerve center for his group of eight production, publishing and management companies (1967 gross: $4,000,000), which he recently reorganized on the advice of his astrologer.
> James William Guercio, 22, is not only one of the youngest producers but also one of the most ambitious: he has already built up a Crewe-like cluster of companies in Los Angeles that may gross over $1,000,000 this year. On the strength of his composing, arranging, conducting and producing for The Buckinghams—five singles and two albums, all of which reached the charts—he recently signed a contract to develop new talent for Columbia Records. Guercio quit college "when John Kennedy died and the Beatles were born," went on the road with such groups as Chad & Jeremy and The Mothers of Invention. Like his idol, the late avant-garde composer Edgard Varèse, he is given to such pronouncements as, "A record is sound forever, not just a disk of plastic," and, "I'm desperately trying to wake the world up."
Flourishing as their recording ventures may be, most of the new producers are already restlessly expanding to other fields. In what appears to be the major trend, Crewe is moving into the production of television specials and films, and Koppelman and Rubin are preparing a musical series for network TV next fall. Morton also plans to make television shows, publish a sex magazine and, he adds, become a movie actor. Among other things, these departures may be a hedge against the danger that grows with every year that a producer ages: "cooling," or losing the golden touch. But the way they are rolling now, these producers need not worry too much. When asked what they will do when they get older, Koppelman and Rubin reply: "We hope to be on the Riviera by then."