Cecil Holmes (music executive)

Last updated

Cecil Holmes (born July 29, 1937) is an American record executive who was a co-founder of Casablanca Records and a founder of Chocolate City Records. [1] Born in New York, New York, Holmes began his career in the music businesses as member of a Brooklyn "doo-wop" group in the early 1950s before transitioning to record promotion with Colpix Records, a division of Columbia Pictures. Holmes began a long-term relationship with Neil Bogart while working together at Cameo-Parkway Records, Kama Sutra Records, and Buddah Records before co-founding Casablanca. After the sales of Casablanca, Holmes moved to Columbia/CBS Records as Vice President of East Coast A&R and Executive Producer.

Contents

Cavaliers and Fi-Tones

In 1952, Holmes, Ron Moseley, Ron Anderson, and Lowe Murray formed the Cavaliers Quartet, singing on street corners. When Anderson left for the Army, Lloyd Davis and Gene Redd joined and the new group continued as the Fi-Tones. After signing a contract with Atlas Record, the high school buddies had several regional hits – Foolish Dreams, It Wasn’t a Lie, and I belong to You and performed the first of many shows at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. Holmes joined another group – The Solitaires – after high school, touring with them throughout the East Coast for a year.

Record promotion and production

Holmes' first job in record portion was with Colpix Records handling promotions in New York City. With his success developing strong relations with the disc jockeys at Black audience powerhouse radio stations WWRL and WLIB, Mercury Records recruited Holmes to be its East Coast Regional Manager of Promotions. His first promotional hit was Mustang Sally by Sir Mack Rice[i] (later covered by Wilson Pickett).

Less than a year later, Cameo Parkway Records recruited Holmes to be National Director of Promotions for R&B where he met Neil Bogart handling Pop record promotions. Less than six months later, Bogart was promoted to Vice President and General Manager. When Cameo was sold, the two friends left to run Buddah Records, a new record label owned by Kama Sutra Records.

As Vice President of Buddah Records, Holmes signed the Impressions and curated an impressive roster of R&B acts, with million-sellers by the Edwin Hawkins Singers ("Oh Happy Day"), the Five Stairsteps ("Ooh Child"), and Gladys Knight & the Pips, whose Buddah debut Imagination (1973) marked a career resurgence with their chart-topping "Midnight Train to Georgia." While at Buddah, Holmes also produced two albums, , Music for Soulful Lovers (1973) and The Black Motion Picture Experience (1973).

Casablanca Records

In 1974, Bogart, Holmes, Larry Harris, and Buck Reingold founded Casablanca Records. Holmes was Senior Vice President, working closely with the company’s major talents. He was also President of Chocolate City Records, a label under the Casablanca brand. Casablanca became one of the most successful American labels of the 1970s. Remarkably, the former Buddah executivest had taken Casablanca from the brink of bankruptcy to a $100 million a year operation in less than five years.

Their artists included Cameo, Donna Summer, KISS, Parliament, and The Village People.

In 1980, the co-founders sold their interest in Casablanca to Polygram. After the sale, Bogart started Boardwalk Records before dying of cancer in 1982 at age 39. Holmes joined CBS Records, promoting top acts like Earth, Wind & Fire, Mtume, and Luther Vandross. He assisted in the production of Michael Jackson’s Thriller sessions. Holmes signed New Kids on the Block to their first record contract. [2] He was the executive producer of their second album Hangin' Tough (1988), which sold more than 14 million copies worldwide.

Industry awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MGM Records</span> Defunct American record label

MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the 1970s. The company also released soundtrack albums of the music for some of their non-musical films as well, and on rare occasions, cast albums of off-Broadway musicals such as The Fantasticks and the 1954 revival of The Threepenny Opera. In one instance, MGM Records released the highly successful soundtrack album of a film made by another studio, Columbia Pictures's Born Free (1966).

Cameo-Parkway Records was the parent company of Cameo Records and Parkway Records, which were major American Philadelphia-based record labels from 1956 and 1958 to 1967. Among the types of music released were doo-wop, dance hits, popular/rock, rockabilly, big band, garage rock, soul and novelty records.

Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label currently focuses on dance and electronic music under the direction of Brett Alperowitz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pye Records</span> British record label

Pye Records was a British record label. Its best known artists were Lonnie Donegan (1956–1969), Petula Clark (1957–1971), the Searchers (1963–1967), the Kinks (1964–1971), Sandie Shaw (1964–1971), Status Quo (1968–1971) and Brotherhood of Man (1975–1979). The label changed its name to PRT Records in 1980, before being briefly reactivated as Pye Records in 2006.

Kama Sutra Records was started in 1964 by Arthur "Artie" Ripp, Hy Mizrahi and Phil Steinberg as Kama Sutra Productions, a production house. The "Kama Sutra" is an ancient Sanskrit text.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buddah Records</span> American record label

Buddah Records was an American record label founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's founding. Buddah handled a variety of music genres, including bubblegum pop, folk rock (Melanie), experimental music, and soul.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Bogart</span> American record producer

Neil E. Bogart was an American record executive. He was the founder of Casablanca Records, which later became Casablanca Record and Filmworks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brewer & Shipley</span> American folk rock duo

Brewer & Shipley are an American folk rock duo who enjoyed their peak success in the late 1960s through the 1970s. The duo consisted of singer-songwriters, Mike Brewer and Tom Shipley. They were known for their intricate guitar work, vocal harmonies, and socially conscious lyrics which reflected the concerns of their generation – especially the Vietnam War, and the struggles for personal and political freedom. Their greatest commercial success was the song "One Toke Over the Line" from their 1970 album Tarkio. They had two other singles on the Billboard charts: "Tarkio Road" (1970) and "Shake Off The Demon" (1971). They continue to perform, both separately and together, usually in the Midwest United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Five Stairsteps</span> American rhythm and blues group

The Five Stairsteps, known as "The First Family of Soul" and later "The Invisible Man's Band", were an American Chicago soul group made up of five of Betty and Clarence Burke Sr.'s six children: Alohe Jean, Clarence Jr., James, Dennis, and Kenneth "Keni", and briefly, Cubie. They are best known for the 1970 song "O-o-h Child", listed at number 402 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Bloom</span> American singer-songwriter (1946–1974)

Robert Bloom was an American singer-songwriter. He is known best for the upbeat 1970 hit, "Montego Bay", which was co-written with and produced by Jeff Barry.

The Jaggerz are an American rock band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They came to national attention with their single "The Rapper" which was released on the Kama Sutra label. "The Rapper" was No. 1 in the Record World Charts and No. 2 in the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1970. Having sold over one million copies, the recording received a gold record awarded by the R.I.A.A.

Chocolate City Records was a record label subsidiary of Casablanca Record and FilmWorks. It was started in 1975 by Cecil Holmes, Neil Bogart's partner at Casablanca. In 1980 the label was sold to PolyGram along with Casablanca, which are now part of Universal Music Group; in 1983 Chocolate City Records went out of business and Cecil Holmes left Casablanca Records & Filmworks and went on to be the VP of Black music for CBS Records.

Robert Alan Krasnow was an American record label executive and entrepreneur who had a long and successful career in the music industry. He founded Blue Thumb Records, later became chairman of Elektra Records, and was a co-founder of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

<i>John B. Sebastian</i> (album) 1970 studio album by John Sebastian

John B. Sebastian is the debut album by American singer-songwriter John Sebastian, previously best known as the co-founder and primary singer-songwriter of the 1960s folk-rock band the Lovin' Spoonful. The album, released in January 1970, includes several songs that would become staples of Sebastian's live performances during the early and mid-1970s. Most notably, the album included "She's a Lady", Sebastian's first solo single, and an alternate version of "I Had a Dream" which was used to open the soundtrack album of the 1970 documentary film Woodstock. John B. Sebastian also featured support performances by David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash several months before that trio agreed to work together as a performing unit.

Larry Alan Harris was executive vice president and co-founder of Casablanca Records, with his cousin Neil Bogart, Cecil Holmes, and Buck Reingold.

Arthur Marcus "Artie" Ripp is an American music industry executive and record producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Myddle Class</span> American garage rock band

The Myddle Class was an American garage rock band from Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, which was active in the 1960s. Signed to Tomorrow Records which was owned by the songwriters Gerry Goffin and Carole King, they were one of the most popular live acts in the New Jersey/New York region during the 1960s and released several singles, enjoying hits in various local markets such as Albany. In the late 1960s, band members became involved in college and other musical projects. Charles Larkey, who joined the Fugs in late 1967, later married King, following her divorce from Goffin, and played bass guitar on some of her recordings in the 1970s. The Myddle Class intended to record an album in 1969, but was thwarted due to the murder of the guitarist Rick Philp. The band broke up shortly thereafter. The singer, Dave Palmer, later joined Steely Dan in the 1970s and sang on King's hit "Jazzman".

<i>Spinning Gold</i> 2023 American film

Spinning Gold is a 2023 American biographical drama film written and directed by Timothy Scott Bogart. It is based on the life of his father, Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart.

The Sermon were a rock band from Syracuse, New York that lasted from the late 1960s to early 1970s. They are known for their 1969 hit "Never Gonna Find Another Love" which was released on the Kama Sutra record label. They re-united decades later.

Steve Brodie was an American record label owner and founder who was very active during the 1960s and 1970s. He owned or co-owned Thunderbird Records, Sahara Records, Forever Music and various others. He also produced recordings for artists.

References