In this segment from Lenny Beer's overview of the Promotion Family Tree, we look at Capitol promo topper Greg Marella.

A few years ago, when Greg began his promo reign at the Tower, the buzz in our office about him excelling became almost a company mantra. Wow, he’s gonna get that one. Damn, he’s really overperforming on that one. Yeah, but no way in hell is he taking the Capaldi ballad to #1! Radio hates ballads; stations are gonna bail—whoa, he did it. Naturally, the talk has changed. Surfaces, yeah, it’s on Capitol; Greg will get it. His path to overnight success was long and winding. He started at Priority Records, mentored by one of my all-time favorites, the late Nancy Levin. Next came a stint at MCA during Craig Lambert’s heyday. Then he truly earned his stripes during a long, successful National promo run on Brenda Romano’s Interscope team, then took his first #1 role for Kemosabe. Greg really learned to be the man from all-time greats. Now, as a major label kingpin, he has his own strong, dedicated crew of lieutenants to tutor. His story is simple and elegant: Greg gets records played.

Young Greg in the groove with K-Ci & JoJo and radio legend Rick Dees.