| Michael Curb | |
| Order: | 42nd Lieutenant Governor of California |
| Term Start: | January 8, 1979 |
| Term End: | January 3, 1983 |
| Governor: | Jerry Brown |
| Predecessor: | Mervyn Dymally |
| Successor: | Leo T. McCarthy |
| Birth Name: | Michael Curb |
| Birth Date: | December 24, 1944 |
| Birth Place: | Savannah, Georgia, U.S. |
| Alma Mater: | California State University, Northridge |
| Party: | Republican |
Michael Curb (born December 24, 1944) is an American musician, record company executive, motorsports car owner, philanthropist, and former politician. He is the founder and chairman of Curb Records and is the chairman of Word Entertainment.[1] He was inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2006.[2] Curb is a member of the Republican Party and served as the 42nd lieutenant governor of California from 1979 to 1983. As of 2024, Curb is the most recent Republican to be elected Lieutenant Governor of California.
Curb was born in Savannah, Georgia, to Charles McCloud Curb and Stella "Stout" Curb.[3] He grew up in Southern California's San Fernando Valley. He has one sister. After attending Grant High School, he attended San Fernando Valley State College (now California State University, Northridge).[4] [5] His maternal grandmother was of Mexican heritage.[6]
In 1963 and at the age of 18, Curb formed Sidewalk Records and helped start the careers of multiple West Coast rock and roll artists.[7] In 1969, his company merged with MGM Records. He became president of both MGM Records and Verve Records,[8] which then formed Curb Records.
Curb scored the music for the short film Skaterdater (1965)[9] [10] as well as The Wild Angels (1966),[11] Thunder Alley[12] (1967), Devil's Angels[13] (1967), The Born Losers (1967) (the first of the Billy Jack films),[14] Maryjane[15] (1968), The Wild Racers[16] (1968), The Savage Seven[17] (1968), The Big Bounce[18] (1969), The Sidehackers[19] (1969) and Black Water Gold[20] (1970). Curb has composed or supervised more than 50 film scores and written over 400 songs.[21]
In 1969, he co-wrote a new theme for the TV series American Bandstand; the theme was used until 1974.[22] [23] [24] Curb had a Top 40 pop song in early 1971. Its title was the same as that of his album, Burning Bridges,[25] which was written and composed by Lalo Schifrin and Mike Curb. The song was used as the theme of Brian G. Hutton's film Kelly's Heroes, which starred Clint Eastwood.[26] The song reached No. 1 in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.[27]
Mike Curb's group, The Mike Curb Congregation, had the adult contemporary song "Sweet Gingerbread Man," which was from the film The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart, on music charts in 1970. The group collaborated with the Sherman Brothers on the composition "It's a Small World," which reached the Top Ten Billboard AC in 1973.[28] Also in 1970, they performed "I Was Born In Love With You," the theme song of Wuthering Heights, as the title song for Frank Sinatra's Dirty Dingus Magee. The group was featured on Sammy Davis Jr.'s No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit of 1972, "The Candy Man" (the Aubrey Woods version was featured in the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory). They sang backup on Jud Strunk's 1973 hit "Daisy a Day".[29] The group was featured regularly on Glen Campbell's CBS television show.[30]
In 1969, Curb signed Christian rock pioneer Larry Norman, DeGarmo & Key, 2nd Chapter of Acts, and Debby Boone - artists considered to be the earliest contemporary Christian music artists.[31] Curb wrote and produced music for the Hanna-Barbera animated series Cattanooga Cats. The theme for the cartoon series Hot Wheels is credited to Mike Curb and the Curbstones.[32]