By Roger Friedman

Our long national suffering is over. The great Clive Davis has secured his new $180 million record label. This column can tell you exclusively it's going to be called 'J' Records, and will be distributed by BMG Music. Why 'J'? It's Davis' middle initial. You may not like the sound of it now, but no one liked Arista either when Davis started it in 1974. If those aren't enough initials and acronyms for you, consider that one group Davis is taking with him is called LFO. He's also in the process of signing O Town, the modern-day Monkees who appear on ABC's weekly Making the Band series. It's clear that Davis is investing in boy groups.

But that's not all. Eight acts are coming with him to 'J' from Arista, including chanteuse Deborah Cox, R&B up-and-comer Angie Stone, current chart hit Next and Abra Moore. Granted, these are not the big stars who Davis developed, nurtured and made into household names at Arista. But in his deal, according to my sources, he will "definitely" executive produce the next albums from Whitney Houston and Santana.

One Arista artist who has not made up her mind about whether to join Davis is Aretha Franklin. My advice: 'Ree, go with him. The two of you have done pretty well together. Very likely Barry Manilow will follow, and Davis will have his eye on acts developed at Puff Daddy's Bad Boy label as well. Davis has also expressed interest in signing George Michael. But there is no plan right now, according to my sources, to sign Mariah Carey. All of Carey's deal-making has been put on hold until she finishes filming her movie, All That Glitters, which has been discussed in this space to a fare-thee-well.

Davis also takes with him a significant chunk of his Arista team, including several execs who made Whitney, et. al. into hitmakers. 'J' Records will have offices on Fifth Avenue, near 57th Street, according to my source. An official announcement should come in the middle of next week.