A Quick History
A Quick
History
Neil
Bogart (Bogatz) was born in Brooklyn, New York on February 3, 1943 and was a singer in the 1960s,
using the name "Neil Scott".
He had one minor regional hit "Bobby".
Backed with his experience as
an artist, he moved to the business end of music
becoming MGM General Manager in the early sixties, and before
long, he was running the Michigan offices of Cameo-Parkway Records. After
Cameo-Parkway was shut down by the government for stock fraud in 1968, Bogart
became an executive at Buddah Records. Bogart is credited with being a key
player behind the rise of bubblegum pop music during his time working at both
Cameo-Parkway, and Buddah.
With movie Exec. Peter Guber, and generous financial
backing from Warner Bros., he started Casablanca Records in 1973, and his first
artist signing was a newly formed New York band "Kiss". The first KISS
performance was on January 30, 1973, for an audience of three at the Popcorn
Club (renamed Coventry) in Queens. Yet, by June of that year, the band had recorded a
five-song demo for producer/engineer, Eddie Kramer. Former TV director
("Supermarket Sweeps) "Bill
Aucoin, who had seen the group at several showcase concerts in the summer of
1973, offered to become the band’s manager in mid-October. KISS agreed, with the
condition that Aucoin get them signed to a record contract within two weeks. On
November 1, 1973, KISS became the first act signed to Neil Bogart's new label,
Emerald City Records (shortly renamed Casablanca [Bogart-Casablanca-Get it?) but
really because Warner's owned the Casablanca movie name rights and not those of
the "Wizard of Oz"). The band had already begun recording their first album at
New York City's Bell Sound Studios on October 10, 1973, and by December 31, they had their official industry premier at the Academy of Music in New York
City, opening for Blue Oyster Cult. Maintaining this unheard of pace for a new
band, Kiss's first tour began on February 5, 1974 at the Northern Alberta
Jubilee Auditorium, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
The band’s self-titled debut
album was released on February 18th.
The following day, the band performed
"Nothin' to Lose," "Firehouse," and "Black Diamond" on ABC's "Dick Clark's In
Concert" (aired March 29). On April 29, the band performed "Firehouse" on The
Mike Douglas Show. Casablanca continued to heavily promote both the album and
the elaborate tour throughout the spring and summer of 1974. Despite the
publicity and constant touring, KISS initially sold just 75,000 copies.
Casablanca Records was losing money at a record pace. The band flew to Los
Angeles in August 1974 to record their second album, "Hotter Than Hell"
(released Oct. 22, 1974). The single, "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll," failed to
chart and the album stalled at #100. The tempestuous relationship between Warner
Brothers and Neil Bogart was now reaching record proportions. The feeble sales
of "Hotter Than Hell" created a panic situation for Casablanca Records and
Bogart was desperate for a hit record. By this time, manager Bill Aucoin
was financing their tout with his American Express card. Bogart pulled KISS from their tour
and personally stepped in to produce the next album, looking for a cleaner, more
commercial sound, and most importantly, a hit single. Despite containing what
would later become the band's trademark song, "Rock and Roll All Nite", the
third KISS album, "Dressed To Kill", (released March 19, 1975), commercially
fared only slightly better than "Hotter Than Hell". By late 1975,
Casablanca was nearly bankrupt and KISS was in danger of losing their famed record
contract, and no doubt, their devoted manager. Both parties desperately needed an immediate commercial breakthrough
if either were to survive.
Their savior
came from two of the most unlikely and opposite sources. Neil Bogart was truly a
music business genius and while he was behind what was looking to be the
biggest music biz bust ever, he always was in touch with music trends, talent,
and the commercial prospects within the industry. Although Bogart was
devoting all his resources on KISS, a band unlike anything at the time, he still
kept his ears open to all music. R&B Funk group, Parliament, was moderately
successful on the R&B charts but they were the label's only big sellers at the
time. Bogart had met Italian-born artist/producer Giorgio Moroder, who with his
partner Pete Bellotte, were running a label called "Oasis" in Munich, Germany.
Moroder and Bellotte were mixing dance music for European audiences, music that
was played in dance halls (discotheques) across the continent. The music -
tagged "Euro-Disco", eventually caught Bogart's attention (and soon
all of America's)
and he agreed to distribute the Oasis label in the US. In the late summer
of 1975, Boston-born singer Donna Summer had penned a song that was being shopped around to various
German pop singers (notably Penny McLean). Giorgio Moroder was astounded with Summer's
orgasmic vocals and her imaginative moans and groans and told Summer to release
the single as her own. Summer reluctantly agreed and the song, titled "Love To
Love You ", was released. It was originally a modest success in Europe, so
Moroder offered the record to Casablanca president Neil Bogart for American
release. When Bogart played
the new record for the dance crowd at one of Casablanca's never-ending parties,
the crowd demanded that it be played over and over so they could continue to
party in that groove. Bogart called Moroder and requested a much longer version
(20 minutes),
and Moroder responded with a version that ran 17 minutes. He also requested the
title be changed slightly to, "Love to Love You, Baby." Casablanca
signed Summer and issued the single in November, 1975. Bogart put the 17-minute
disco blockbuster on one side of the first Donna Summer album, and shipped promo
copies to disc jockeys at all the leading dance clubs, making it arguably the
first 12-inch disco single.
Sales from the clubs drove the single up the harts,
where it eventually made #2 (#3 R&B) in early 1976. This led to special long
disco versions of singles, given to deejays on 12-inch records, becoming
standard fare for the new music promotion world. Although they had dabbled in
several musical genres up to this point, Casablanca was about to become known as
"the disco label".
1975 was the
year when disco really took off, with hit songs like Van McCoy's "The Hustle"
and, of course, in November, Donna Summer's 1976 "Love To Love You Baby" reaching the mainstream. 1975 also
marked the release of the first disco mix on album, the A side of Gloria
Gaynor's remake of The Jackson 5's "Never Can Say Goodbye". Disco's popularity
peaked between 1976 - 1979, even expanding to hit films such as 1977's classic
"Saturday Night Fever" and 1978's "Thank God It's Friday".
Donna Summer became the new genre's biggest act,
Disco
artists worldwide clamored to be signed to this innovative label. In the age-old
tradition of "When it rains, it pours", Casablanca's other big group,
R&B faves, Parliament, was now being embraced by this new disco market as well. In addition
to countless other new disco artists,
Casablanca signed a group that, like Casablanca
artists Kiss and Parliament, featured outrageous costumes and staging in their
live act. The "Village People" were signed in the fall of 1977 and rocketed to
the top of the Disco craze, second only to perhaps, Donna Summer.
The irony is that "Disco" was reputed throughout the music business to be the "death knoll" for all Rock &
Roll, when, in fact. it would be Kiss's savior.
The other
breakthrough for Casablanca also came in another most unlikely form. The second actually
came from the band, KISS,
itself.
By now, KISS had earned a reputation as an outrageous live act, despite
the fact that their albums were very poor sellers. Again, what followed was
unheard of in the music business. For an artist to release a successful Live
album, they need to have a few hits to include in their performance. Even when
that is the case, no one releases a double live album. But, in a last ditch
attempt to share
the excitement experienced at their live shows (which the studio albums had failed to
do), their next album would be
a double live album
"Alive!" (released
-Sept.10, 1975). "Alive" would go on to achieve quadruple platinum status, and
it spawned KISS's first top 40 single, a live version of "Rock And Roll All Nite."
To use another old cliché, "The Rest is History". The success of "Alive!" not
only brought KISS the breakthrough they had been seeking, but it arguably saved
Casablanca Records.
Even with
KISS, now peaking as one of the biggest rock acts in the world and the
overwhelming success of the label's many disco artists, Bogart was still
besieged with financial pressures. For close to five years, Casablanca was known
throughout the music business for its extravagance at every level. Bogart lived
by a philosophy that was often difficult for money managers and financial
analysts to embrace. When projects failed, he countered by pouring even more
money and effort into it. This business method was contrary to Bogart's
financial backers, Warner Brothers, and they soon realized they stood to lose a
huge amount of money (reportedly $177 million).
Bogart was disillusioned with Warner
Brothers' promotion efforts on his behalf, and since
Casablanca's management had
all been recruited from the promotion side of the
business, Bogart was convinced Casablanca could do
better on their own. He approached Warner Brothers in the summer of 1974 and
requested that he be released from the promotion deal, and agreed to pay back
the financial loan as quickly as feasible. At this point, Casablanca had been in
business the better part of a year and hadn't had anything even resembling a
hit. Warner's management recognized a loser when they
saw one, and agreed to let Bogart and his label go, provided he paid back their
outstanding loan promptly.
Somehow, Bogart managed to
repay Warner Brothers (Casablanca had only had a couple minor hits -
Parliament's "Up for the Down Stroke", and "So You Are A Star" by the Hudson
Brothers). By November, 1974, the label was close to bankruptcy. Bogart, ever
the promoter, turned to the industry tried-and-true cash cow: the "special
products album." These projects are usually profitable because the record
company has virtually no artist or studio costs. He arranged a deal with NBC to
access the back catalog of Johnny Carson's Tonight Show.
The album, "Here's Johnny: Magic Moments from the Tonight Show" was promoted
and advertised heavily by Casablanca - "this was destined to one of the biggest
selling albums ever!". In Bogart's eyes, the hype worked. There were so many
pre-release orders, the album "shipped gold". Well, it would have qualified for
gold status if the albums had actually sold, but sadly, they didn't. At that
time, distributors could return albums for a full refund if they didn't sell.
The unsold albums came back in such quantity that comedian Robert Klein wryly
observed, "The record shipped gold, and came back platinum."
To Bogart, such details didn't matter. The situation had proved the label's
promotion prowess, and most importantly, had provided a huge cash flow boost for
Casablanca at a crucial period. Yes, they owed money, what's new? Bogart moved the label's corporate
offices to 8255 Sunset Boulevard, building offices in the style of
the Humphrey Bogart film, "Casablanca". To top that extravagant
move, he rewarded
his entire staff with a fleet of new (leased) Mercedes.
Still in need of distribution, and smothered by immense debt,
Bogart sold half the company to international conglomerate,
PolyGram Records in 1977.
They mistakenly viewed Casablanca as a money machine,
not paying
particularly close watch on the bottom line, choosing to delight instead in the
gross sales numbers. PolyGram proved to be somewhat of an absentee landlord,
halfway around the world. They were selling
tons of records internationally,
had a succession of hits beyond their expectations, and they were delighted with
the gross sales numbers. Casablanca's "whatever
it takes" approach to selling records often meant that
the endless promotional parties,
the extravagant lifestyle of the staff, outrageous
promotional "costs", and such, usually surpassed what
the album sales were bringing in.
By not paying particularly close watch on the bottom
line, almost paradoxically, the more success
achieved by Casablanca, the deeper in debt they got.
Ironically, the business style which had made
Casablanca successful in 1975, would now eventually lead
to its demise.
As the music industry was preparing for the burial of Disco
at the end of the '70's, Casablanca was left with four
major acts, Donna Summer, Kiss, Parliament, and the Village People, two
of which were clearly identified with the dying disco
craze. By 1980, Kiss, although still a substantial seller, had
definitely cooled off, and
Parliament's George Clinton
was busy doing projects for other labels
(Funkadelic - Warner Bros.).
Other occasional big sellers, like Minnesota-based Lipps, Inc.
( #1 single in early 1980 -
"Funkytown"), were also associated with disco.
Sales of disco music came crashing down
during 1980, disco essentially died, and the record
industry went into a deep slump in sales.
In early 1980, PolyGram was getting mighty fidgety. Their financial types were feeling
like there was something wrong at Casablanca Records and
finally recognized that the enormous revenue was being spent as fast as
(or worse, before) it came in.
PolyGram soon bought the remaining 50% of
Casablanca for $15 million and promptly dismissed Neil
Bogart. Bogart used what there was
of the proceeds to set up his new label,
Boardwalk Records.
Now PolyGram,
led by European corporate
types, unfamiliar with the
day-to-day operations of a record company, finely
realized the extent of their problems.
Disco was dying, the industry was tanking, and they had just bought a
company that was tens of millions of dollars in debt. Donna Summer, a legitimate
singing star who could easily sing non-disco material, left Casablanca for
Geffen Records in mid-1980, and the other disco artists
looking for jobs, Casablanca scrambled to sign new talent,
or at least some "known talent".
The label did manage a few hits in 1980-81
by signing music veterans Mac Davis, the Four Tops,
the Captain and Tennille, Tony Joe White, Pure Prairie League, Dr. Hook, and
Dusty Springfield. Even with the sporadic hit, it was
near the end of the chart career for all of these artists,
and combined, they failed to fill the gigantic hole left by the departure
of Donna Summer and the demise of disco. PolyGram continued
pouring millions into the company, finally breaking
even in 1983, thanks to
the soundtrack album from Flashdance becoming
a huge international hit. Sadly, by then,
Casablanca was truly a shell of its former self.
Even their two remaining big
acts from the early days were done, Kiss left for
Mercury Records, (a PolyGram
company), and by then, Parliament's
record sales had totally dried up. The company folded its tent in 1984, with
Polygram reviving it in 1986
as a label imprint, with the label being used to
market reissues and compilations from the old glory days.
In 2004, the name was revived for a joint venture between Universal Music Group
and music biz legend, Tommy Mottola.
In a Billboard article, Mottola said that he selected the Casablanca name as an
homage to the original label, but that there was no direct connection between
the old and new labels. Casablanca is now a part of the Universal Motown Records
Group and has recently (2006) lost their #1 artist, Lindsay Lohan, to Motown
Records, another label struggling to survive on the reputation of its name.
Neil
Bogart ran the Boardwalk label for a couple of years,
attempting to jump on the New Wave
bandwagon, with Joan Jett among his last signings.
He died of cancer and lymphoma on May 8, 1982,
at the age of 39.
His Boardwalk label struggled on for about a year,
and eventually, unceremoniously folded.
Despite his financial management shortcomings, Neil was a
true "Record Man" and his premature passing left a gaping hole within the music
industry. He had a style all his own (rivaled only perhaps, by the late,
great, A&M promo legend, Charlie Minor) and his spirit and contributions will
forever be remembered by all who worked for or with him.
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