An Unlikely Collaboration, To Say the Least

From today's NY Times:

Although collaborations happen all the time in pop music, they do not generally involve R & B hitmakers and Senator Orrin G. Hatch.

But the release of a music producer from a Dubai jail this week, quick on the heels of his conviction for drug possession, turns out to be a story of high-level string-pulling on the part of Mr. Hatch, the conservative Utah Republican and songwriter, along with Lionel Richie, the singer; Quincy Jones, the music entrepreneur; and an array of well-connected lawyers, businessmen and others, spanning cities and continents.

This is the kind of story I'm sure the reporters loved writing about. Dallas Austin - mega-producer in the pop world who's worked with the likes of Madonna, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Pink, TLC, & Gwen Stefani - got arrested in the United Arab Emirates for cocaine possession. BAD place to be caught with drugs.

But that's what friends are for, right? Especially friends including really conservative Senators, '70s pop stars, and highly connected lawyers in Atlanta and Washington.

You can't make this stuff up.