CHRONOLOGICAL KISSTORY: THE
ALBUM FOCUSKISStory By Julian Gill of KISS FAQ IV
Chapter -1: The Prequel: Neil Bogart's Biography...
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by. And that has made
all the difference" (NEB Memoriam). Quite simply, without Neil Bogart there would have been no KISS. He was a music
industry visionary who had the tenacity, with a proven track record, to keep on pushing and pushing until America caught
up with his and KISS' way of thinking. Then again, without Neil Bogart, the bubblegum pop movement of the late-1960's
wouldn't have occurred, nor would disco have been the monster it was for that short era in the late 1970's when Studio 54
ruled the night and the Village People and Donna Summer ruled the airwaves. This brief section pays tribute to the late
founder of Casablanca Records & Filmworks for whom KISS were the first artist signed. When you consider the image KISS
would later develop, they were not the first band that Neil approached with the idea of painting up, having approached
Jinx Dawson's band Coven in the early 1970's, only for that idea to be rejected by the band. Therefore, it was a marriage
made in heaven that Bogart would find a band who had the same vision as he did, this time coming to him! KISStory is full
of ironies. Jinx recalled that she remembered, "the time legendary record producer Neil Bogart came to Coven and its
manager with a scheme to turn it into a new group with wild stage costumes and painted faces. He said, 'I want you to be
this band that's going to be huge'. Later, our manager told us not to take the deal" (Jerry Miller). Coven would have
one hit with "One Tin Soldier" without any additional gimmicks. However, others would follow Neil's
suggestions...
Neil Bogart was born Neil E. Bogarz in Brooklyn, New York on February 3, 1943 where he would
grow up in the projects with his sister. He graduated from the New York High School of Performing Art which would later
merge with the Manhattan High School of Music and Art, where later KISS founding member Paul Stanley would attend during
his youth, becoming the High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. During 1959 Neil worked as a MC on the Milt Grant
Show which was one of the premier TV variety shows which was based out of Washington DC and got some airplay throughout
the east coast. It would be here that Neil would meet an equally young Mark Stein, later of Vanilla Fudge fame. Mark
recalled, "well, see, Neil Bogart and I, we kinda took a liking towards each other, and he wanted me to cut a record,
he took me in, and he knew some people. There was famous place called the Brill Building back then, and he took me to meet
this one fella, and he got me into this studio with some people he knew. It was actually one of the bands that was on the
Rock 'N Roll show. I remember there was a guitar player, a drummer, and a bass player. I just went in and I cut this
thing, I don't even remember, we were gonna get a deal with this small record label, and next thing you know I had this
record out and we were singing it in the show. We were doing some shows along the East Coast. One thing I specifically
remember is this American Bandstand-type thing in Washington D.C., I forget the name of it now, I remember Sam Cooke was
on the show. I remember I was real excited. And I pantomimed the records on the show. That thing lasted like a few months
and it was over... it was just a single. I used the name Mark Stevens. It was Allison Records or something like that"
(Russell H. Tice). This early recording of Stein's was "Come Back To My Heart" backed with "Magic
Rose" (Allison SAJ-921) and was credited to Mark Stevens and The Charmers. It would also provide Neil Bogart with
his first production credit, shared with Al Greiner. Judging by the fame of those who resided in that famous Brill
Building - where song-writers galore churned out many of the hits of the 1950's through 1970's, including the likes of
Carol King and Barry Mann, Bogart had established some links in the music business at a very early age. Neil himself
entered the recording business at the tender age of 17. "Working in the Catskills and on cruise ships as a lounge
singer" (DS), he had a moderate recording success, recording as Neil Scott, with a song, "Bobby" (CLICK!! TO HEAR A SAMPLE), written
by Jo Davis and B. L. Porter, which he recorded for Portrait Records (P-102) in 1961. Released in May of that year the
song was backed with "I Havent Found It With Another" (CLICK!! TO HEAR A SAMPLE), written by Fred Tobias and Clint Ballard Jr., Produced
by A. Balto, the orchestra on both songs was conducted by Clint Ballard Jr. The song had managed to reach #58, during an
eight week run on the singles charts, a respectable debut. It is possible that he had recorded a piece, "Go
Bohemia" even earlier under another name though details on that are sketchy. The following year he recorded
"Tomboy" which would be released Comet Records (2151) backed with "Run To Me", but the song failed to
build on the small amount of attention his first single had garnered and died without a trace. In July 1963 Neil again
attempted to break into the pop market recording the themed and novelty "(Chantilly, Silly Sort Of Daffy, As A Dilly,
Little Fussy, Little Frilly, Little) One-Piece Bathing Suit" (CLICK!! TO HEAR A SAMPLE) backed with "Little Girl" (CLICK!! TO HEAR A SAMPLE) for Herald Records
(H-581). The A-side was certainly no "Yellow Polka Dot Bikini", the novelty type piece of the time, and can be
said to be plain atrocious by modern standards. In the case of the B-side, it would seem that very little was spent on
production judging by the mis-queued backing-vocals and sloppy production. Both songs had been written and produced by
J. Brandon and S. Wiener, and were arranged and conducted by Mike Lewis. When this too failed he concentrated his efforts
on other more tangible aspects of the music industry. During late 1961 into 1962 Neil did a brief stint in the US Army. On
discharge he returned to the entertainment industry in one form or another. In 1962 he appeared in the short (25 minute)
Joseph Sarno black and white soft-core sexploitation film "Sin In The Suburbs" which starred Audrey Campbell
(who went on to play Mrs. Beck on TV's "The Guiding Light"), Alice Linville, Lahna Monroe, and Dyanne Thorne.
The plot of the film can be summed up as: "Mrs, Lewis is a typical bored, neglected, and unfulfilled housewife. She
spends her days with other housewives...drinking, swapping men... until she meets her daughter's boyfriend"
(Videoflicks.com). Apparently, Neil worked on the film under the name Wayne Roberts. "After appearing in the
film, job offers dried up and Neil took a job at an employment agency under the name of Neil Stewart. It was there
in 1964 that he hear the Cash Box magazine was looking for an advertising salesman. Arriving at the magazine's office
under his real name, he landed the job. After just a few brief months. He moved to a job as a promotion man for MGM
records which lasted for seven months before he joined Cameo-Parkway Records as a marketing director in 1965" (DS).
One fortunate meeting that would come out of Neil's short stint at MGM, with his rising to position as General Manager,
was his meeting of Art Kass of Karma Sutra Records. This would become important later, for as ever, Neil's connections
were gold coins waiting to be minted!
In 1967, while a vice-president of Cameo-Parkway Records, Neil had one last recording effort
with "(I Don't Stand A) Ghost Of A Chance With You" (CLICK!! TO HEAR A SAMPLE) backed with "Let Me Think It Over" (CLICK!! TO HEAR A SAMPLE) (C-476). This single did
nothing, yet maybe it was a perk of his position that allowed him to have some fun with the choice of A-side. It should also
be noted that at the time the single was released Neil was still only 24 years old. Released in
April 1967 the single lived up to its title and generated so little interest that it barely made it onto small radio
station charts! One of Neil's successes at Cameo was his production of ? (yep, Question Mark - track down the song, it's
a great listen) and the Mysterions "Can't Get Enough Of You, Baby" (Cameo-Parkway C-467). While they were more
famous for their hit "96 Tears" Neil Bogart had been responsible for bringing them to Cameo from their original
localized Pa-Go-Go (Pa-Go-Go 102, 1965) label in Saginaw, Michigan. The song soon became a cult classic, even to this day
with ? being considered one of the best garage bands of the 1960's. On 11/11/66 the single was certified by the RIAA as a
million seller. This single (Cameo Parkway C-428) was a smash hit reaching #1 in the US (it only managed to get to #37 in
the UK). Their follow-up single "I Need Somebody" backed with "8-Teen" (Cameo Parkway 441) released
later in 1966 only managed to reach #22 on the charts. Additional singles continued the downward trend, with "Can't
Get Enough Of You, Baby" backed with "Smokes" (Cameo Parkway 467) only reaching #56; "Girl (You
Captivate Me)" backed with "Got To" (Cameo Parkway 479), released in 1967, only reaching #98; and "Do
Something To Me" backed with "Love Me Baby" (Cameo Parkway 496) reaching #110 before the group moved
Capitol and several other labels before the band figured that they'd run their course. During July 1967 Allen Klein,
manager of the Rolling Stones, obtained a controlling position at Cameo-Parkway, in a reverse takeover which would lead
to the company being renamed ABKCO in 1969. Allan did not 'jell' with "Bubble-Gum" sound that Neil was so
productive with and allegedly had him forced from the company. It should be noted, though, that at the time of Klein's
acquisition of Cameo it was losing money, "Cameo-Parkway had reported losses for the past 3 fiscal years ended 30th
June 1967" (Allan Klein affidavit, 1970 #6315, McCartney V. Lennon, Ono, Harrison, Starkey, and Apple Corps). Neil's
downfall was not major and he was soon hired as general manager of the new Buddah Records being setup by the head of Karma
Sutra Records, Art Kass. There is also the suggestion that he was coaxed to that label in the first place rather than
being pushed from Cameo. Regardless, "once at Buddah, Bogart hooked up with another 2-man production team: the
so-called "Super K" guys, Jeff Katz and Jerry Kasenetz. Bogart had met the two "when they did production
work for Cameo-Parkway, bringing that label one of their last hits, 'Beg, Borrow And Steal' (Cameo 483) - a note-for-note
theft of 'Louie Louie' - by a Midwest garage band originally called the Rare Breed but renamed the Ohio Express on
Cameo" (Bob Hyde). That band was made up of Joey Levine (Vocals), Tim Corwin (Drums), Dean Kastran (Bass), Dale
Powers (Guitar), Doug Grassel (Guitar), and Jin Pfayler (Keyboards) and the single would hit #12 in October 1967. In
1967 the band teamed up with Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katzat Bogart's Buddah Records and released one of the first
'bubblegum' classics, "Yummy Yummy Yummy" (Buddah 38), which would become the band's biggest hit, managing to
reach the Top 5 on the singles charts in both the US and UK in May 1968. Their majority of their singles were both sung
and written by Joey Levine, who was on Buddah's staff as a song-writer, but Buddy Bengert and Graham Gouldman performed
the vocals on some later singles. Gouldman would go on to sing in 10CC. In joining Buddah, "Bogart had some definite
ideas about the kind of hits Buddah was going to make... The ushering in of this new era was initially accomplished with
'Green Tambourine' by the Lemon Pipers, which entered the charts in December 1967 and hit #1 in February 1968. Bubblegum
was now this close to exploding. 'Green Tambourine' was a perfect, giddy bubblegum single, and two follow-up hits, 'Rice
Is Nice' and 'Jelly Jungle (Of Orange Marmalade)' were cut from the same chewy cloth, but the Lemon Pipers themselves had
little interest in becoming bubblegum's favorite sons... To be sure, the Lemon Pipers only recorded 'Green Tambourine'
because they knew they'd be dropped by Buddah if they didn't record this tune, which Neil Bogart saw as a surefire hit.
Thus, the Lemon Pipers scored the first bubblegum #1, but it was clear that their hearts were not in it" (Carl
Cafarelli - An Informal History of Bubblegum Music). Soon the so-called king of bubblegum was defining a musical style,
"Bogart, who would garner the cover of Time Magazine the next year for launching the bubblegum program, said at the
time: 'Bubblegum music is pure entertainment. It's about sunshine and going places and falling in love and dancing for
the fun of it. It's not about war and poverty and disease and rioting, and frustration and making money and lying and all
the things that really matter. It's not about these things and that is why it is so popular. It's about the good things
in life... that sometimes (you) lose sight of ... but can find again'" (The Kama Sutra/Buddah Records Story By Bob
Hyde). During the next several years Bogart brought bands like Brooklyn Bridge and the 1910 Fruitgum Company (via Katz)
to the label and turned the label into a success on its own. All of the releases by these later bubblegum groups bombed
and by 1969 the style was dead as quickly as it had arrived.
With the new-styled music already dead, Bogart looked to the past for his next fad.
"The first album by the 1950's revival group Sha Na Na saw the light of day, the start of a long (by musical
standards) and successful career... Sha Na Na's initial success was certainly due, in part, to Bogart's energetic
promotion of the group long before their first record release. Perhaps the first 1950s 'revival' group, formed at a time
when the current music scene was producing enough excitement to nearly erase any memory of that prior decade, the 10-man
group took their name from the vocal intro of the Silhouettes' 1956 hit 'Get A Job'... Sha Na Na specialized in
revitalizing classic '50s oldies with a little attitude and a lot of stage savvy thrown in, giving a theatrical
performance costumed as an old teenage street gang. Bogart made sure that the Columbia University group had a number of
well publicized live appearances before their records were heard, and they drew quite a bit of attention at both "The
Scene" in New York City and the Fillmore West in California. They even appeared on the Merv Griffin TV Show, and made
a short but lasting impression from their appearance at Woodstock. Bogart would later claim to have created the '50s
revival in the '70s, an expansive view of reality to say the least, but his efforts netted the company a number of decent
selling LPs by the group, who themselves would eventually garner their own TV show in the middle of the decade" (The
Kama Sutra/Buddah Records Story By Bob Hyde). During the next few years Bogart tread water at Buddah, where the emerging
disco sound was being crafted by the likes of Van McCoy and The Trammps. "If Buddah and Kama Sutra were experiencing
a dry run with their own releases, at least they were able to connect with their distribution deals. Arrangements with Hot
Wax (The Honey Cone, etc.), Sussex (Bill Withers) and Curtis Mayfield's Curtom label (Mayfield, the Staple Singers, the
Stairsteps) supplied more than their share of pop and R&B hits in the early '70s for Buddah, culminating, perhaps, with
Mayfield's own mega-hits "Freddie's Dead" and "Superfly". Mayfield's name may best be known for these
two big funk hits, but his star first rose as one of the leaders of the legendary vocal group The Impressions, who also
recorded for Curtom, and who originally featured soul star Jerry Butler as lead singer in the late '50s. A renaissance man
in the true sense - he was, simultaneously, a singer, guitar player, songwriter, talent scout, producer and label
owner/executive - Mayfield was one of the participants in the birth of "soul music" in 1958 and enjoyed similar
success in the '60s with hits like "People Get Ready," "Gypsy Woman" and "It's All Right."
Mayfield also worked with Butler on a number of his hits (he sang harmony on "He Will Break Your Heart," for
instance) and with Gene Chandler on Constellation, and wrote Major Lance's big hit "The Monkey Time" (with the
Impressions singing background!)...While at ABC Records (with the Impressions), Mayfield established his own label,
Curtom; when the ABC deal expired, he took the label first to Cameo/Parkway and then, following Neil Bogart's move, to
Buddah for distribution. Of Bogart, Mayfield has said: "He was a man to be respected in the business. I can recall
the first time with Neil, even before Buddah. He came to me, we sat down in a restaurant. He was totally broke. He was
asking me questions, how to bring himself about, how to find himself. The next year or so he was a millionaire" (Bob
Hyde). One of Bogart's final coups was wooing Gladys Knight and The Pips from Motown. While they hadn't been happy at
Motown for sometime their first album for Buddah included their biggest hit, "Midnight Train to Georgia"...
The Pips would later record for Casablanca. Bogart's time with Buddah/Karma Sutra would see other important links
develop. One band signed to Karma Sutra was Dust, which was a hard rock act in a similar vein to the Stooges and Blue
Cheer. Bassist Kenny Aaronson recalled, "they were doing covers of Stones, The Who, a lot of English rock. I was in
eighth grade, and we spent a few years just rehearsing... every single day. I dropped out of high school around this time,
this was around '68... My folks weren't thrilled at first, but they came to accept it. The guitar player, Richie Wise,
started writing with a lyricist, Kenny Kerner, and we started to take it further. Over a period of a few years, we started
making demos, and eventually we got hooked up with Domenic Facilia, who got us signed to Neil Bogart's first label, Kama
Sutra records. We were Neil's first experiment with hard rock before he found KISS. Dust did a lot of heavy stuff, some
experimental, and I got to play steel guitar, slide guitar on almost every track of the first album, and I'm a bass
player!" (Gurerra, Tom - From Dust to Dylan). One other member of Dust was Marc Bell who would later go on to fame
with The Ramones, another New York band to leave their mark on the world. With this transition from one musical genre to
another, Bogart was laying foundations to make yet another move in his musical career. Interestingly, around this time
Peter Criss' post-Chelsea band auditioned for Karma Sutra. Guitarist Stan Penridge recalled that audition: "Bob Reno,
VP at Kama Sutra is the guy I contacted and the person we auditioned for. He's the guy that paid for both 5 song sessions.
He also gave me the masters after Neil passed on LIPS later that month" (JG). Dust would record two albums by 1972
but would never break big like other similar bands such as Black Sabbath would. However, they would build a strong
following in Detroit...
In 1973 Bogart made the move and left Buddah Records to found his own label which would
have distribution via Warner Brothers. Originally intended to be called Emerald City Records it was unfortunate in that
the name had already been used. Instead, Bogart took a nod from the same source of inspiration which had provided his own
surname and christened the label Casablanca Records. On November 1st, 1973, KISS became the first band to sign with the
label with an advance of $15,000 for a four record deal. While they wouldn't have the honor of releasing the label's first
music (that would go to Canadian Bill Amesbury's single "Virginia" [NEB-001]), their debut album would be the
label's first full length album release (NB-9001) in February 1974. House producers for the fledgling label would be Kenny
Kerner and Richie Wise would had moved on in the music business following their brief recording career in Dust. Soon other
artists, like the rising Funk stars Parliament, disco diva Donna Summer, the Village People, and rockers Angel would sign
to the label, but most of the releases would be fodder. Neil would willingly sign any artist during his efforts to build
the label. Innovation continued to be central to Neil's being. By stretching the length of the Donna Summer song
"Love To Love You Baby" to some 17 minutes, Neil and Casablanca brought 12" singles into the mainstream.
Ever the businessman, Neil, would bring the likes of Cher and other big names onto his label. Neil continued to expand
Casablanca Records during the 70's developing and purchasing a variety of sub-labels. The first of these would be
Chocolate City Records which had been founded by former Buddah Record's 'blaxploitation' recording artist Cecil Holmes
(famed for his "Black Motion Picture Experience" record on Buddah in 1973) in 1975. While Oasis Records would
initially be an imprint dominated by Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder, it would be deactivated in 1977, by which time its'
roaster had transferred to Casablanca or failed. Parachute records was incorporated into Casablanca around 1976, as was
Millennium Records, which had been formed by Jimmy Ienner. That label brought the likes of The Godz and Meco under the
Casablanca umbrella, though Parachute would transfer to RCA in 1979. Neil eventually sold out to Phonogram, as he saw the
decline in the disco market with which his label had become synonymous, and started Boardwalk Records in the early 1980's
with artists like 707 and Joan Jett. The end of his time with Casablanca would see his prime artists like KISS and Donna
Summer in flux. Bogart's wife, Joyce, who with Neil was Summer's manager was sued by her in 1980 for alleged "breach
of contract and misuse of funds". Summer would then become the first artist signed to David Geffen's label. Sadly,
Neil died from cancer on May 8, 1982 and was interred at Hillside Memorial Park, Culver City, California. Goldmine
Magazine's obituary would sum up Neil as "the record and film executive who headed Casablanca Records And Filmworks
during its peak and more recently founded and headed Boardwalk Records, died of cancer in May. Bogart began his career at
age 19 selling ads for Cashbox. He then worked his way up the ladder to become president of Cameo/Parkway Records and
later to Buddah Records, where he developed the bubblegum music craze, and worked with such artists as Sha Na Na, Melanie
and Gladys Knight. At 30 he founded Casablanca, which launched the successful careers of Kiss, Donna Summer and the
Village People, before leaving to start Boardwalk, whose roster includes Joan Jett and Ringo Starr" (Goldmine, July
1982). His death inspired the foundation of the T.J. Martel Foundation for the assistance of cancer stricken children.
"Joyce Bogart-Trabulus and songwriter Carole Bayer Sager founded the Neil Bogart Memorial Fund in 1983 in honor of
Joyce's late husband, President and owner of Casablanca Records and Filmworks, who died of lymphoma at age 39... Serving
as the West Coast division of the T. J. Martell Foundation, the Neil Bogart Memorial Fund established its laboratories at
Children's Hospital Los Angeles in 1984. The Neil Bogart Memorial Laboratories are dedicated to clinical hands-on research
for the treatment and cure of these diseases, giving more and more children a chance at life" (TJ Martell Foundation
History).
While Neil Bogart is gone he has not been forgotten. Gene Simmons was the third Hot Seat
contestant on the Rock Star Edition of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" which was originally broadcast on Sunday,
February 11, 2001. With prize money being awarded to charities of the contestants choice, Gene played for the Neil Bogart
Memorial Fund of the T. J. Martell Foundation. Winning $32,000 for the charity Gene commented, "Neil Bogart founded
Casablanca Records. He signed KISS. We were the first act on the label. Neil Bogart passed away unfortunately as a very
young man... I'm also proud to be the producer of the Neil Bogart movie that is being produced for Paramount
Pictures" (ABC PR). That, for some, was the first mention of the Neil Bogart biopic which had been under development
since 1999. "Like all great innovators, Neil Bogart completely ignored convention", Simmons said. "He was
like no other man, a modern-day PT Barnum" (D'Angelo, Joe - VH1). Whether anything comes of this project remains to
be seen.
Rev. Monday, October 08, 2001 9:34:50 PM
Sources:
Carl Cafarelli - An Informal History of Bubblegum Music @ http://home.att.net/~bubblegumusic/goldhist1.htm
Gurerra, Tom - From Dust to Dylan, Interview with Kenny Aaronson @ http://www.tomguerra.com/kenny-aaronson.html
Hyde, Bob, The Kama Sutra/Buddah Records Story @ http://www.bsnpubs.com/buddah/buddahstory.html
Miller, Jerry, Little Stars - Chapter 8: Jinx Dawson of Coven @ http://psj.franklincollege.edu/miller/lschap8.html
Sherman, Dale, Black Diamond
Tice, Russell H., interview with Mark Stein @ http://www.mark-stein.com/interview/mintview.htm
96 Tears information @ http://www.pharaohweb.com/96tears.html