Customer Reviews

And Party Every Day: The Inside Story Of Casablanca Records

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I heard about AND PARTY EVERY DAY earlier this year and have been waiting for it ever since. I got my copy the other day and was blown away. I had some high expectations and they were all surpassed ...by a mile.

The book is full of stories about Casablanca's wild parties (the money and drugs flying around the place were just amazing...how did these guys not get arrested?) and their very high profile acts like Donna Summer, The Village People, and Kiss. I thought I knew a lot about Casablanca Records, but I didn't. The book is very well written and even though it's full of details, it's very easy to read, and very hard to put down.

I enjoyed learning about the business side of the music industry, but I was just adddicted to the feeling it gives you of being right there when it was all happening. You feel transported into the 1970s and I was rooting for Neil Bogart the whole way through and found myself thrilled when the label broke through and cringing at all their mistakes.

I've always been a big fan of the 1970s and have read a ton of books and articles about it, but AND PARTY EVERY DAY is the first time I've felt like I was actually there. Highly recommended.

If you were into popular music in the seventies, you knew Casablanca. Started in 1973 by Neil Bogart, Casablanca became the house of Disco and the home of KISS. They also became synonymous with the drug fueled excesses of the seventies and the triumph of image over substance, despite the fact that the label delivered some of the best music of the decade. Hell, Casablanca was the seventies for many in the music world. Head Honcho Neil Bogart was a talent finder extraordinaire and a showman on a level with PT Barnum. No claim was too exaggerated and no gesture was too grandiose. It was once said that he would spend five dollars to show one dollar in profit, and when Casablanca ultimately fell under its own weight, a certain magic of the music industry evaporated with it. Author Larry Harris worked at Buddah/Kama Sutra Records in the summer of 1971, and in 1973 joined his cousin Neil Bogart in founding Casablanca Records. He saw firsthand the carnival of wilding that was Casablanca, and it's his first hand story that fuels "And Party Every Day."

While there are plenty of anecdotal stories about Casablanca's biggest stars, like initial signing Kiss and superstars Donna Summer and The Village People, the bulk of "And Party Every Day" focuses on how a young Neil Bogart took his idea for an artist driven record company and built his empire from the ground up. Larry starts the story with a reminiscence of being at Woodstock and realizing he's found his place in the world, then joining Neil in his dream. Along the way the two of them make millions of dollars, spend even more, give the world Kiss, Parliament, Angel and cover the globe with Disco.

But there's also the seamier side of egos, drugs, industry politics and manipulations. The decision to release the four solo albums by the members of Kiss and ship over a million copies of each that started the beginning of the end of Casablanca and the behind the scenes battles that caused it. The fudging of figures and the turf wars. Greed, excess and flamboyance. The world of Casablanca Records and Filmworks was both magic and the crazy tale of the man behind the curtain, and Harris does a terrific job in making it readable. Casablanca not only was a record and entertainment company, it was a universe unto itself. "And Party Every Day" takes you on a time machine when music people not only made and sold the music, they sold the dream along with it. It makes me miss the dream, miss the people that built it, makes me wish they were my friends. And I wasn't even there.

I knew Larry Harris back then, and lost touch with him until last month, when we found each other on Facebook and he told me out this history of his cousin Neil Bogart and Casablanca Records.

His outrageous stories of girls and drugs and booze and cash and payola and the Mob -- all true.

Neil's pad high above LaCienega Boulevard? I stayed there at Casablanca's expense on a Los Angeles vacation. I was a radio programmer for a very important rock FM station.

The crazy goings on at the Buddah >>> Casablanca office in NYC? Been there, done that. Sold a bunch of jazz albums to Joe Fields, who I fondly remember.

Michael Klenfner stories? All true, both his radio days and promo days. I remember when he came to Philly and showed off his hot-off-the assembly-lines Honda Civic which was only a little bigger than today's Smart cars.

The huge Klenfner in the little car smelled just like circus clowns.

Larry's description of the teeny Casablanca office above Sunset is perfect. It looked they furnished the joint with props from Warner Brothers.

Roys Chinese restaurant on the other side of Sunset with the notorious private room? Yesirree bob.

The book names some great names -- George Gerrity, Jerry Stevens, Larry Magid; and others not so great: Artie Ripp, for example, and Bucky Rheingold.

If you read Joe Smith's "Hit Men," stories of promo guys with guns are not new to you. I was threatened by the guy Joe accurately describes as carrying a photo of a "dead gook" in his wallet to intimidate people.

Not Larry or Neal. They were all about the love. Little packets of love.

I ended up quitting the record business in the early 1980s after a final career peak that found me way up in the 9000 Sunset Building, looking down on the Roxy.

Larry stayed in a lot longer and has lots more stories.

True stories.

No one in this book gets out alive, or so it seems, for Larry Harris and his co-writers have the scoop on everyone whether high or low, and most of them were quite high during the Casablanca years.

From a business point of view, the revelations here are mainly about hos the company never was successful, despite a milliondollar promo campaign and a lot of money juggling on Harris' part. he was ordered to cook the sales figures for PolyGram to show many more sales of Casablanca products than actually occurred; this despite the fact that the returns would be coming in constantly to contradict his lies. Harris seems to think this is a standard business practice, but for his sake I hope the statute of limitations on fraud will prevent them from carting his butt to hail like Bernie Madoff! Neil Bogart characterized the Casablanca years as a time of "profitless prosperity," and that seems apt.

I enjoyed hearing how a group of Brooklyn-born salesmen with great ears for what would sell turned the industry on its ear by making a commitment to disco, or all things. The discovery of Giorgio Moroder and Donna Summer is an amazing story, but even the flops of Casablanca have their charm. Take for example the signing of "Stallion." Ever heard of them? They were going to be Casablanca's answer to the Eagles, but when Harris asked their Svengali to make them sound more like the Eagles, he should have known right away it wasn't going to fly, since the producer genuinely puzzled, asked, "Who are the Eagles"?

The Village People and Kiss are the other big names here, but every page has a good story about someone, usually revolving around "blow." "Blow" allowed Larry Harris, one of the plainest men in show business, to live the Hugh Hefner lifestyle with a revolving cast of available and beautiful Hollywood starlets. Thus he was living every man's dream, and never had to look at a mirror throughout the entire 70s. Go, Larry, go!

Let me quantify my two-star review. I was hugely disappointed with this book, but it's not the author's fault, but more of my expectations not being met. For anyone into 70's cultural history & music, this is another welcome addition & to them, this will be a four/five star work. Problem is, i was looking forward to read the GAY history behind the life & times of Casablanca & Neil Bogart & to me that's the other 50% of this story. Mr. Harris is not to blame as he is straight & he's recounting his side of the story. He wasn't there with the boys in the backroom (lol). Considering the enormous amount of substances & partying at the time, the author offers an extremely detailed account of the business functions & promotions to the point of tediousness. Where is the decadence, where is the spice the book seems to promise? Where are the real backstage tales?

You will get a LOT of KISS. As another reader pointed out, their story has been well documented already. If you want to find out how Casablanca pushed & promoted them into rock stardom, you'll enjoy this section of the book.
I guess the ideal thing would've been to get Neil Bogart's side of the story, but he took his secrets to that great white dancefloor in the sky. The questions that I (& many others) have about this particular era & place remain unanswered.

Any stories on Andrea True, one of the first disco-stars (who recorded for Buddha Records where Mr. Harris worked before moving to Casablanca)who turned out to have been a porn star? What about handsome TV actor Dennis Parker, who cut a disco record for Neil & also had a secret career as porn star "Wade Nichols" & was rumored to be (one of?) Neil's boyfriends? There were some passages about the late, great Paul Jabara, but naturally not enough. He deserves his own biography.

And most of all, when will we get the real, unexpurgated saga about Donna Summer, THE disco diva of the era? She was the Callas of Casablanca. Mr. Harris is careful in his account of her. He mentions at some point that "there was always some drama around her" but fails to mention any, only offering that it might've been one of her handler's designs, but this doesn't get elaborated on either. What's the real story behind the beautifuly-voiced singer who provided this most carnal era with its sexy soundtrack of disco gems, who apparently was a closeted christian all along? Any truth to the homophobic statements rumours that plagued her career at some point? Her legal feud &/or estrangement from Bogart?

Any juicy stories about the VILLAGE PEOPLE, for gosh's sakes?

As i write this, i've just come across a new book coming out: PARTY ANIMALS: A Hollywod Tale of Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n Roll Starring the Fabulous Allan Carr by Robert Hofler that covers about the same era & promises to be more the real meat & potatoes story i want to read, so i'm keeping my fingers crossed & my platform shoes on. As i wrote before, if you are big into the 70's, by no means pick up a copy of AND PARTY EVERY DAY. Just be aware of what kind of party you're getting into.

Peace.

This is a thoroughly entertaining and informative book for anyone interested in the music business of the 70s; the flamboyance, the excesses, the daring risk-taking, and the behind-the-scenes manipulation of the music charts. Casablanca Records was at the epicenter of the disco scene and author Larry Harris was at the epicenter of Casablanca; he dishes in juicy detail about all aspects of Casablanca's rise and fall. What a fun and fast-paced story, and the photos are epic; reading it is like being at the party!

A must-have for the KISS book library, or any library heavy on music and entertainment books.

While KISS is frequently mentioned in the text, this is about Neil Bogart, a true record industry pioneer and legend, and the formation/evolution of Casablanca and its philosophy of "perception is reality" -- which funnily embodies a lot about KISS.

The book is essentially Larry Harris' take on things. Harris is the label's cofounder and rose to the ranks of senior vice president. The book is written very well and given his close proximity to Bogart, the book comes off as accurate, compelling and fun.

Alongside KISS are the tales of Donna Summer, George Clinton, Angel, the Village People; drugs and sex in the office; Studio 54; stories including a list of various label staff and industry professionals; paying off Billboard and 'fixing' the charts; and Casablanca ultimately becoming 'the disco' label -- all to a backdrop of 1970s excess and glamour. Also mixed in are fun pop culture factoids, which helps provide a nice snapshot of the times.

A couple of KISS points detailed nicely in the book....Harris cannot "overemphasize enough" the importance of "Beth" to Destroyer and KISS' career; KISS was dangerously close to leaving the label before Alive! broke -- Aucoin issued a formal letter of intent and Bogart caved; the solo albums are again painted as a commercial failure and a huge problem for the label. And a couple of fun early stories....Harris recounts driving to a Who show with the band, the "Kissin' Time" fiasco, the Century Plaza industry showcase, etc. It's written clearly early on that Casablanca believed in the band and in Bogart's words, "KISS is magic." Well-known KISS authors Curt Gooch and Jeff Suhs collaborated with Harris on the book as well.

All this and much more. This book oozes 1970s and transports you to an industry before the dawn of the CD, Internet, smartphones and torrents. Fantastic read.

[...]

From the rock music of Kiss to the Queen of disco Donna Summer, as well as other great disco acts, this book has it all. Disco lovers like myself be advised though that the first 1/3 of this book is about Kiss which I also enjoyed learning about... Reading this book about Casablanca records in the 70s and how they put the music out to the market was an enlightening experience. I had no idea as a New York City disco dancer that all the maneuvering with Billboard, Record World and other companies was going on to get Casablanca's music to the top of the charts. Back in the day, we always waited with anticipation for the next Casablanca dance record to come out. Casablanca's "Film Works" movie division was also successful as they put some great movies out in the 70s: Thank God Its Friday, The Deep, Midnight Express and more. That's all in the story line too. If your looking for a book about the inside story of Kiss, The Disco Years, Filmworks, and how the executives (The beloved Neil Bogart and his right hand man Larry Harris), went to extremes to put the great records and movies out to the 1970s market this is the book to read. You'll take a journey back in time of mostly highs, some lows and the finality as I see it as complete success of the top disco record company of the 1970s. Casablanca's "And Party Every Day." is a must read for Kiss lovers and Disco Lovers.

...of the music industry. I read all 300+ pages in one sitting. I could not put it down. I thought "Hit Men" held my attention, but this was just amazing. One of the characters mentioned, Roy silver, I knew through his wife, who when I was a cosmetics buyer, was one of my vendors. Too bad I really didn't know all of his connections...I would have picked his brain for "dirt." But back to the book. Each chapter drags you in deeper and deeper into one of the most successful "independent" labels and certainly the label that when you think '70s, you think Casablanca. There were several keys points, from his first hand perception, I found extremely fascinating. The first was that Donna was not well loved by the folks at Casablanca....they viewed her as a prima donna (no pun intended). I always thought that may have been the case with her, but Larry just confirms that in a very polite way. The other area which he handles in a polite way, is , without mentioning names, but is is obvious, being they only had one rock act on the label, and that was KISS' homophobia towards the other Casablanca artists. Again, a factor of Gene Simmons and Company I have always felt and see in his TV show, but again, Larry handles it in a polite manner but makes it clear the two "camps" did no like each other. Neil is presented in the manner one would expect him to be presented, and not much there seemed new. He just elaborated more on his excesses, which are legendary. After reading the book, and being a lover of the label (minus KISS) and the fact that it occupied the old Liberty Records building on Sunset, one thing still seemed unanswered to me. Was Neil a great ear, or was he just in the right place at the right time and could spot a trend and work it to death? Unfortunately, I feel it is the latter. Still a fascinating read! A MUST!

I really enjoyed reading AND PARTY EVERY DAY: THE INSIDE STORY OF CASABLANCA RECORDS by Larry Harris, along with Curt Gooch and Jeff Suhs. This is truly an insider's account of one of the hottest record companies to come along during the 70s -- if not ever -- that burned hot and fast, and eventually imploded.

Larry Harris was Neil Bogart's cousin and he was there with Neil from their days at Buddahh/Kama Sutra Records to the formation of "Casablanca Records," an indie record label that would literally bring disco from the underbelly of New York and Munich and turn it into a household word.

Harris takes you inside the recording industry and discusses chart positions, payola (paying disc jockeys to play records on the radio), and the tours, cooking the books, etc., and explains it in layman terms. This isn't a "how-to" book to become a record promo man, but it gives you an idea of how one song becomes a hit, while another becomes an obscure footnote in music history. And it takes you inside Casablanca Records and the dealings that went on behind the hits.

AND PARTY EVERYDAY... had me staying up late nights reading because I couldn't put it down. Although we now know what happened to Casablanca Records, or at least had a vague idea, the book was still a thrill ride, as readers learn how the company came close to folding before it even started. And even after the hits started, the company was always in the red.

Although Harris does provide names of many behind the scenes people, as well as those who would become famous, who were part of the "Casbah," this book isn't a nasty-gossip like tell-all, which might disappoint some readers. The book is tastefully done and any sex or drug use mentioned, including turmoil within groups, or with management and artists, is told matter-of-factly and without judgement.

I bought the book initially to learn more about the Donna Summer - Giorgio Moroder - Pete Bellotte and the "Munich Sound" connection with Casablanca, but it didn't really go into much details except when Harris and Bogart met Moroder and how "Love To Love You (Baby)" came about. I read in an unauthorized bio of Summer that the month (December) before the meeting between Moroder, Harris and Bogart, when Casablanca was in dire financial trouble due to the failure of a release of "The Best Of Johnny Carson" record, Bogart had created company Christmas cards that read, "In every desert there is an oasis." That January, Harris and Bogart meet Moroder, and Moroder's record company in Munich is named "Oasis." Harris touches briefly on this strange coincidence in the book, that Neil took as a sign, and signed Moroder (something very risky at the time because Moroder was unknown and creating experimental synth/computer type music that was very new and unproven, and Summer was unknown in America), which of course could be argued started the domino effect with the lush "Love To Love You (Baby)" and put the record company on the fast track to becoming the "disco" label.

Some reviewers complained that there's too much of an emphasis on the rock group Kiss, but that's because, as Harris explains in the book, that rock and roll was sort of his department.

Even though the book turned out to be different than what I expected, it's still a very thrilling book and readers will go along with Harris as he sits in on an audition by a then unknown rock group named Kiss, listens for the first time to an Italian born producer living in Germany and making electronic music, along with his studio works with an American born, German singer named Donna Somer. And how once the hits started, there was a never ending party from houses to music shows to concerts to Studio 54, from East Coast to West, and of course the drugs, it's all in this exciting book.

The tone is very conversational and Harris with his co-writers Gooch and Suhs have written a memoir that is easy to read and gives the reader an insider's look at the recording industry.

There are color and black and white pictures in the book, as well as bullet information of some of the big news stories of that year. At the end of the book there's an afterword on the continuing impact that the music of Casablanca Records and its legend continues to have, a "where are they now" section, complete discography, and a complete list of the promotional films of artists like Donna Summer, Kiss, the Village People, among others (that the record company filmed for industry trade shows and conventions etc., some I'm sure have found their way to YouTube) that's sitting in a warehouse somewhere owned by Universal Music Group, according to Harris. If Universal had any sense they'd get to remastering these promos and put them out on a DVD box set, which I would definitely buy.

Anyway, if you're a fan of Casablanca Records or of the music industry or just even of the decadent 70s, AND PARTY EVERYDAY is the book for you. And to Larry Harris, thanks for the memories.