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The Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus was a bubblegum "supergroup" created by record producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz, consisting of various Super K Production groups. [1]
For the first album, the fictitious concept was to take eight Kasenetz-Katz produced groups and bring them together for a "live" performance at Carnegie Hall on 7 June 1968. The roster included:
According to the inner gatefold cover's liner notes, the "supergroup" consisted of 46 members. However, the album cover itself only shows 33 members (plus Kasenetz and Katz in tuxedos) while the individual inner cover photos total 37 (excluding the non-existent St. Louis Invisible Marching Band, whose photo is represented by a white block).
Of the 10 studio tracks used for this LP (not including the dialogue tracks), live audiences were dubbed into two: "Little Bit Of Soul" and "Simon Says".
To add to the confusion of the actual number of participants, the LP package came with a page of stamps with each member of the "supergroup", including their names and the individual group he or she represents. The members of The Teri Nelson Group (except Teri Nelson herself) are shown as INVISIBLE BAND on the stamps.
Side 2 opens up with Music Explosion leader Jamie Lyons announcing the individual members of the newer or lesser-known groups. Some of the names mentioned do not coincide with the members shown on the stamps.
For Super K's second effort (renamed "Kasenetz-Katz Super Circus"), the roster was reduced to five groups. Remaining were The 1910 Fruitgum Company, Ohio Express and Music Explosion, with the other groups replaced by Shadows Of Knight (who had just been acquired by Super K and signed to Buddah's Team label) and White Whale label group Professor Morrison's Lollipop (formerly the Coachmen of Lincoln, Nebraska). Despite these representations, the tracks were actually recorded by studio musicians with lead vocals by Ohio Express lead vocalist Joey Levine.
Unlike the first album, this was more of a straightforward studio album without the "concept" theme. It yielded the Top 25 hit "Quick Joey Small (Run Joey Run)", which also became a Top 20 British hit. Also included were the Shadows Of Knight's minor hit "Shake", but with Levine's vocals replacing Jim Sohns' original vocal track.
After a failed attempt to combine bubblegum music with the likes of composers Beethoven, Mozart and others with the album Classical Smoke (as "Kasenetz-Katz Orchestral Circus"), the K-K concept popped up occasionally in the 1970s but came to an end with a final single in 1977.
Kasenetz and Katz released an album in 2009, calling themselves Kasenetz and Katz Allstarz Band, featuring Jaymee Lynn Frankel, Lianne Frankel, Lisa Ganz, Kiirstin Marilyn, Donna & Laura Macaluso, Don Chaffin and more. [2] [3]
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | UK [4] | AU | ||
| 1968 | "Down in Tennessee" | 124 | - | - |
| "Quick Joey Small (Run Joey Run)" | 25 | 19 | 33 | |
| 1969 | "I'm in Love with You" | 105 | - | - |
| "Embrasez-Moi" | - | - | - | |
| 1970 | "When He Comes" | - | - | - |
| "Bubblegum March" | - | - | - | |
| 1971 | "Symphony #9" | - | - | - |
| 1975 | "Mama Lu" | - | - | - |
| 1977 | "Heart Get Ready for Love" | - | - | - |
Bubblegum is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is considered disposable, contrived, or marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a pop subgenre, originating in the United States in the late 1960s, that evolved from garage rock, novelty songs, and the Brill Building sound, and which was also defined by its target demographic of preteens and young teenagers. The Archies' 1969 hit "Sugar, Sugar" was a representative example that led to cartoon rock, a short-lived trend of Saturday-morning cartoon series that heavily featured pop rock songs in the bubblegum vein.
Joey Levine is an American singer, songwriter and record producer of pop music, who has been active since 1966.
Super K Productions was a 1960s American recording production company under Buddah Records, headed by producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz, whose groups specialized in bubblegum pop. Their biggest successes were The Ohio Express, The 1910 Fruitgum Company, Crazy Elephant and The Music Explosion. Super K also had its own label of the same name in 1969, operated under Buddah Records, but it did not last as the bubblegum genre had already started to decline in popularity.
The Ohio Express is an American bubblegum pop band, formed in Mansfield, Ohio, in 1967. Though marketed as a band, it would be more accurate to say that the name "Ohio Express" served as a brand name used by Jerry Kasenetz's and Jeffry Katz's Super K Productions to release the music of a number of different musicians and acts. The best known songs of Ohio Express were actually the work of an assemblage of studio musicians working in New York, including singer/songwriter Joey Levine. Other recorded "Ohio Express" work included material recorded by an early group of Joe Walsh, as well as a later single written and sung by Graham Gouldman
Buddah Records was an American record label founded in September 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.
The Lemon Pipers were a 1960s American psychedelic rock band from Oxford, Ohio, United States, known chiefly for their song "Green Tambourine", which reached No. 1 in the United States in 1968. The song has been credited as being the first bubblegum pop chart-topper.
The 1910 Fruitgum Company is an American bubblegum pop band of the 1960s. The group's Billboard Hot 100 hits were "Simon Says", "May I Take a Giant Step", "1, 2, 3, Red Light", "Goody Goody Gumdrops", "Indian Giver", "Special Delivery", and "The Train".
Doctor Father was the band name used by British musicians Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme – later of 10cc – for the release of a single, "Umbopo" b/w "Roll On", in August 1970.
Crazy Elephant was an American bubblegum pop band noted for their 1969 hit single, "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'". Crazy Elephant was a studio concoction, the Marzano-Calvert Studio Band, created by Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz of Super K Productions, promoted in Cash Box magazine as allegedly being a group of Welsh coal miners:
Kasenetz-Katz discovered their latest hitmaking group, the Crazy Elephant in a Welsh coal mine. As everyone can plainly see by looking at the charts, they rose to overnight fame. 'We come up on the elevator,' said the group's lead singer. Nevile Crisken, London nightclub owner, read an article in The Mining News, the country's leading underground newspaper, about a group of miners who hadn't been in the sun in four years. Working in the lowermost depths of the mine, they spent their spare time playing in a rock and roll band. 'We had lots of rocks down there too,' grins the group's drummer. McSteve hopped the first train to Wales, located the mine and descended 18,372,065 feet beneath the surface of the earth and signed the group to a long-term management pact.
The Music Explosion was an American garage rock band from Mansfield, Ohio, United States, discovered and signed by record producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz. The quintet is best known for their number two hit, "Little Bit O' Soul", that received gold record status by the RIAA. Written by John Carter and Ken Lewis, who had previously written big hits for The Ivy League and Herman's Hermits, the song was the band's only top 40 hit. This single paved the way for tours with contemporaries like The Left Banke and The Easybeats.
Jeffry Katz is an American music producer, one of the first exponents of bubblegum pop.
Jerry Kasenetz is an American bubblegum pop producer who worked with Jeffry Katz, the two working together as the Super K Productions company, to manufacture and produce bands such as Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus, The Music Explosion, 1910 Fruitgum Company, Crazy Elephant, and The Ohio Express.
Simon Says is the first album by the American bubblegum pop group the 1910 Fruitgum Company on the Buddah Records label. Released in 1968, it included two songs that appeared on the Billboard Hot 100—the most from any of the group's albums—although it was not their highest-charting album. It's been debated whether or not the members of the band actually played on the album since the Ohio Express, another band put together by Super K Productions, actually consisted of two groups: one that produced the records and another that toured and promoted the name. This is countered by original drummer Floyd Marcus, who has stated that all five men listed really were behind the instruments.
1, 2, 3, Red Light, the second album by American bubblegum pop group the 1910 Fruitgum Company, was released six months after their debut album, Simon Says. The title song written by Sal Trimachi and Bobbi Trimachi, was the albums' only hit single for the band, peaking at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, with both the album and the single just barely missing the success of their first release.
"Simon Says" is a bubblegum pop song written by Elliot Chiprut and originally recorded, in 1967, by the 1910 Fruitgum Company, becoming their most successful chart hit.
Indian Giver, the fourth studio album by American bubblegum pop group the 1910 Fruitgum Company, was released in 1969. The title song written by Bobby Bloom, Ritchie Cordell, and Bo Gentry peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song "Special Delivery" went to #38 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album went to 147 on the Billboard 200.
"Indian Giver" is a song written by Bobby Bloom, Ritchie Cordell, and Bo Gentry. It was first recorded by 1910 Fruitgum Company for their 1969 album, Indian Giver. The song went to #5 on The Billboard Hot 100 in 1969 and was on the charts for 13 weeks. Its B-Side, "Pow Wow", was actually a song called "Bring Back Howdy Doody" deliberately pressed backwards as a way of deterring radio stations from playing the B-Side, which was later recorded by another Buddah bubblegum music group produced by Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz called Flying Giraffe.
Ritchie Cordell was an American songwriter, singer and record producer. He wrote and produced several hits for Tommy James and The Shondells, including "I Think We're Alone Now" and "Mony Mony", and co-produced Joan Jett's I Love Rock 'n' Roll.
Arthur Resnick is an American songwriter, record producer and musician. His most successful songs as a writer include "Under the Boardwalk", "Good Lovin'", and "Yummy Yummy Yummy".
Shadows of Knight is the third studio album by American garage rock band The Shadows of Knight, and was released on Super K Productions, SKS 6002, in 1969. Recording for the album came after lead vocalist Jim Sohns revamped the Shadows of Knight's line-up and signed with Super K. Although Shadows of Knight did not chart and was the last album featuring new material by the group until A Knight to Remember, a single taken from the effort, "Shake", became a moderate national success in the United States.
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