Mike Curb
Michael Curb (born December 24, 1944, in Savannah, Georgia) is an American musician, record company executive, race car owner (in both NASCAR and IRL), and Republican Party (GOP) politician who served as Lieutenant Governor of California from 1979-1983 during the second administration of Democratic Governor Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown, Jr., now the California attorney general.
Early career in music
As a freshman at San Fernando Valley State College, (now California State University, Northridge), Curb worked in the practice rooms of the Department of Music to write the breakthrough song that helped launch his career — "You Meet the Nicest People on a Honda (Go Little Honda)" and to establish his first record company, a predecessor to Curb Records. He left college in 1963 as his success in the music business accelerated.
Curb did the musical scoring for the short film, Skaterdater, in 1965. He also scored for many films, including Peter Fonda's Wild Angels, and The Born Losers (1967), the first of the Billy Jack films, featuring Tom Laughlin. At the age of 19 he started his own record company, Sidewalk Records, which launched the careers of West Coast rock and roll artists such as The Stone Ponies (featuring Linda Ronstadt), The Arrows (featuring Davie Allan) and the Electric Flag (featuring Mike Bloomfield and Buddy Miles). He merged his company with MGM and became President of MGM Records and Verve Records in 1969.
In the 1960s he organized his own group, The Mike Curb Congregation, with whom he wrote the Top 40 hit "Burning Bridges", the theme song from the film Kelly's Heroes, the theme song from The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart. Their recording of "It's a Small World" was chosen by Disneyland as the ride's official theme song. The group was also featured on Sammy Davis, Jr.'s number-one Billboard Hot 100 hit of 1972, "The Candy Man" (from the motion picture Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory). In 1978, the Mike Curb Congregation was featured in the musical Lassie, which starred Jimmy Stewart. In 1980 they recorded "Together, a New Beginning", the theme song for Ronald Reagan's successful presidential bid.
In the 1970s, he wrote and produced aritsts such as Roy Orbison, the Osmond Family, Lou Rawls, Sammy Davis Jr. and Soloman Burke. He also signed artists such as the Sylvers, Eric Burdon, War, Richie Havens, the Five Man Electrical Band, Gloria Gaynor, Johnny Bristol, Exile and the Four Seasons.
Politics
Curb was encouraged to enter politics in part by Ronald Reagan. Curb ran for lieutenant governor of California, and was elected in November 1978, even though the Republican gubernatorial nominee, Evelle J. Younger, lost to the incumbent Democratic governor, Jerry Brown. For much of 1979 and the first half of 1980, Brown was out of state, seeking the Democratic nomination for President of the United States against the embattled incumbent, Jimmy Carter. For approximately one year, Curb served in Brown's absence to take on the role of acting governor, sometimes vetoing legislation or issuing executive orders, yielding results that were at odds with Brown's liberal politics. Curb's actions resulted in litigation, but his legal right to act when Brown was out of state was upheld by the Supreme Court,[In re the Petition of the Commission on the Governorship of California (Brown v. Curb), 26 Cal. 3d 110.] setting an important precedent for future lieutenant governors.
Despite being seen briefly as one of the GOP's rising stars and being promised a bright political future by some national Republican leaders, Curb narrowly lost the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 1982 to attorney general George Deukmejian.
While three Republicans — Deukmejian, Pete Wilson, and Arnold Schwarzenegger — have served as governor of California since Curb left office, no Republican has been elected lieutenant governor since his single term.
Later career in music
Returning to the music industry, Curb established Curb Records. He moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1994, where his company records for artists such as Wynonna Judd, LeAnn Rimes, Hank Williams, Jr., Hank III, Tim McGraw, Kimberley Locke, Sawyer Brown, Rodney Atkins, Heidi Newfield and others. Curb is an equity partner in the gospel music company Word Label Group, in cooperation with Warner Music Group.
Involvement in car racing
A stock car racing enthusiast, Curb is the owner of the Curb-Agajanian Performance Group, a team in NASCAR's Busch Series until 2006. Curb's sponsorship and ownership have included three of NASCAR's most celebrated drivers: he previously owned Richard Petty's famed #43 in 1984 and 1985, including the 199th and 200th career wins for Petty. Curb was also a sponsor for Dale Earnhardt during his 1980 Winston Cup championship winning season, and sponsored Darrell Waltrip's #12 Toyota Tundra in the Craftsman Truck Series, driven by Joey Miller in 2006. Curb-Agajanian has also run cars for many years in the Indianapolis 500 including Top Ten finishes such as Billy Boat .
In November 2007, Curb purchased the remaining interest in Brewco Motorsports from Clarence Brewer of Central City, Kentucky, making him co-owner with Gary Baker. Forming Baker-Curb Motorsports competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2008 in the #27 and #37 cars. Operations have been moved to Nashville, TN.
Public honors
In Nashville, Curb has become something of a civic leader and a benefactor of Belmont University, where his donation toward the construction of a new arena resulted in it being named the Curb Event Center. The University also runs "The Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business." He is also endowed the Curb Center and the Curb Creative Campus program at Vanderbilt University and the Curb History Institute at Rhodes College in Memphis.
In August 2006[California State University, Northridge] Curb pledged $10 million to California State University, Northridge (in Los Angeles) to endow his alma mater's arts college and provide a lead gift for the university's planned regional performing arts center that will serve as a "learning laboratory" for students. Of the $10 million gift, $5 million will support CSUN's College of Arts, Media, and Communication, one of the university's largest colleges that offers degree and certificate programs for more than 4,400 students. Four million of that will go into a general endowment for the college, and $1 million will endow a faculty chair specializing in music industry studies. As a result, the college was named in his honor.
On June 29, 2007, Curb was honored with the 2,341st star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 2001, Curb was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame.
External links
 Mike Curb - Politics at MikeCurb.com
The Mike Curb Congregation at Allmusic
http://www.centrohd.com/biogra/c3/mike_curb_b.htm
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