Report: Casablanca Records - Play It Again

August 17, 2009, 15 years ago

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Legendary record label Casablanca Records is celebrating its 35th Anniversary this year. As a result, PopMatters.com has issued a 5-part feature titled Casablanca Records: Play It Again.

NYC journalist Christian John Wikane wrote the 41,000-word article which covers the history of Casablanca and includes interviews with artists and industry figures associated with the label such as members of KISS, ANGEL, Bill Aucion, DONNA SUMMER, PARLIAMENT, FUNKADELIC and many more.

Part One was released today and the rest will follow consecutively each day this week. Visit this location.

Formed by Neil Bogart in the early 1970s, the independent label sold millions of records within a few years of its inception. Casablanca had a diverse roster ranging from rock icons KISS, disco queen Donna Summer, The Village People and countless others.

As previously reported, And Party Every Day: The Inside Story Of Casablanca Records, a 300-plus page hardcover biography will be released this fall through Backbeat/Hal Leonard Books. This is the first time a full-length book has been published on the legendary 1970s record label and its enigmatic founder Neil Bogart. Casablanca was home to iconic hard rock acts KISS and ANGEL, as well as several of the decade's most visual and influential artists like PARLIAMENT, THE VILLAGE PEOPLE and DONNA SUMMER.

And Party Every Day was written by Larry Harris, former Casablanca Vice President, who co-owned and co-founded the infamous record label with Bogart. Harris shares credit with co-authors Curt Gooch and Jeff Suhs, whose critically-acclaimed 2002 publication KISS Alive Forever is widely regarded as the most authoritative book ever written on the band.

With Harris's unique perspective, the world will finally gain a first-hand glimpse inside Casablanca, the record label which discovered KISS and was the living embodiment of the 1970s and the hedonistic, sex- and drug-filled Bacchanal that defined the Me Decade. The story of Casablanca Records is a thrilling three-act drama that perfectly captures the American Dream. On nothing more than a whim and the momentum of Neil Bogart's unstoppable enthusiasm, Casablanca launched in 1973. A mere five years later, Casablanca was the hottest record label in the world. In the pages of And Party Every Day, you'll walk the halls of Casablanca's Sunset Boulevard casbah, past mounds of cocaine and empty Quaalude bottles, and watch from the front row as Casablanca carefully orchestrated the record industry to its designs, successes, and ultimate demise.

In keeping with the Casablanca philosophy of "always give the fans something more," And Party Every Day will contain over 30 never-before-seen images and a heavily annotated Casablanca discography/videography section. The book will also become one of the very first publications to be promoted online featuring unreleased vintage film and video clips.

The owners of the Casablanca label, Universal Music Group, have even made available the classic Casablanca logo and artwork for the cover via a first-of-its-kind licensing deal. Several additional co-promotes with prospective major media vendors are being considered. Official And Party Every Day Twitter and Web pages will be launched in the coming weeks, along with a YouTube channel.

And Party Every Day: The Inside Story Of Casablanca Records' cover art will be released later this week when it dons the cover of the prestigious Hal Leonard Group's 2009 Fall Catalog.


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