March 8, 2000 pst

Sure the Grammys were nice, but what were all those other people doing on there taking time away from Clive Davis ?

Music fans tormented by this question will be relieved to hear of the upcoming NBC special, “25 Years of #1 Hits: Arista Records’ 25^th Anniversary Celebration,” a concert broadcast scheduled to tape at L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium on 4/10 and air 5/15 at 8pm EST—right in the middle of sweeps.

The dick clark productions-presented evening will benefit amFAR, City of Hope and the TJ Martell Foundation. Artists slated to appear include Grammy victors Santana, Whitney Houston and Sarah McLachlan as well as label stalwarts Aretha Franklin, Deborah Cox, Kenny G, Bad Boy gunslinger Puff Daddy, LFO, Annie Lennox, Monica, Alan Jackson, Next, Patti Smith, Brooks and Dunn, Barry Manilow and Carly Simon. What, no Milli Vanilli?

But don’t worry—there’ll be lots of Clive-thanking, Clive-honoring and, with any luck, a Clive speech or two. The Arista founder—who made enough trips to the Grammy lectern to earn frequent-flyer miles—was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last Monday (3/6).

“Ever since that day at Monterey when I saw both Big Brother and the Electric Flag, the course of my life has never been the same,” he proclaimed during his induction speech. The Electric Flag could not be reached for comment, but keyboardist Barry Goldberg offered to play on the next Ace of Base album.

In a related story, the domain name CliveDavis.com has been purchased by a group of Silicon Valley businessmen and sold to BMG for $3.75 and two bottles of Strauss Zelnick barbecue sauce.