Marcus

His first teenage try at a career in music didn't get off the ground, so New Yorker Marcus Linial turned to another side of the business -- running nightclubs -- instead. But the proprietor of Big Apple hot spots like the Cocktail Room and Shine would get another shot at the brass ring, signing with Clive Davis' brand-new J Records in 2001 (and clearing the decks by selling the Cocktail Room and turning over Shine to his brother ). A self-confessed "pop-oholic" and fan of '80s electro and hip-hop, Marcus immediately invited new wave icon Howard Jones into the studio to record a new version of Jones' single "Like to Get to Know You Well." He also covered M's classic "Pop Muzik," which had already been exhumed three years earlier by U2 , although Marcus' version was offered without a whiff of cynicism in an expression of his simple, feel-good musical ethic and name-dropped everyone from the Jackson 5 to Britney Spears in the retooled lyrics. ~ Dan LeRoy