A&R Legend John Kalodner Talks Aerosmith and Why Rock Won't Reach the Masses Again

Legendary A&R man John Kalodner, center, and a few friends. Courtesy John Kalodner

A Whitesnake medallion is the only memento John Kalodner kept from his remarkable A&R career.  He keeps it in front of the desk and computer in his airy Hollywood Hills home, commemorating Whitesnake’s self-titled 1987 album, which featured the band’s epic pop-metal hits “Here I Go Again” and “Still of the Night.” It sold more than 8 million copies. Kalodner did A&R for it, which means he helped develop the band's sound and vision, as he also did for the post-rehab Aerosmith LPs that sold a bazillion copies during the 1980s and '90s. At one time or another, Kalodner also played a major role in the careers of AC/DC, Phil Collins, Cher, Bon Jovi, Peter Gabriel and even Jimmy Page. 

During his own 30-plus year career in the music business, which began in Atlantic Records' publicity department in 1974, Kalodner was awarded a literal pile of platinum and gold records. But he parted ways with those awards. “You know, I have memories of all of them, I have pictures of all of them, and they might do good for somebody so I found a collector in Arizona, and he was willing to pay me, like, six figures,” Kalodner says. He donated funds raised from selling his memorabilia to the City of Hope cancer and research center, he says.