And Party Every Day
The Inside Story of Casablanca Records
By Larry Harris, with Curt Gooch, Jeff Suhs
Published: September 2009
Format: Hardcover, 256pp
ISBN-13: 9780879309824
ISBN-10: 0879309822
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
"The story of Casablanca is about more than just Neil. It was about the 1970s. I take that back - it wasn't about the 1970's. it was the 1970s. It was the story of the music industry in the go-for-broke Me Decade", writes former Casablanca Records Vice-President Larry Harris, in his fascinating and definitive book on the on the story of the meteoric rise and fall of the legendary music company Casablanca Records, And Party Every Day: The Inside Story of Casablanca Records. The author takes the reader on a non-stop thrill ride through the sex, drugs, and rock and roll that personified the 1970s music industry; and nowhere was the hedonistic, over the top lifestyle more apparent than at Casablanca Records.
Larry Harris shares his experiences as part owner of Casablanca Records, along with the charismatic and creative genius Neil Bogart. The company began as an independent record label in the early 1970s, and soon became the most influential name in the industry. Through outrageous and extreme marketing ideas, free spending on image and extravagance, Neil Bogart and his crew thrust his industry leading acts into the music spotlight. Neil Bogart, along with the author and the other members of the company, turned KISS into a national phenomenon, through groundbreaking promotions and ahead of their time stage productions. The same innovative marketing techniques propelled the careers of Parliament and the Village People. Disco sensation Donna Summer was the leading performer in her genre, thanks to the creative work at Casablanca.
Larry Harris (photo left) recognizes that not everything worked out as planned by Neil Bogart and the Casablanca team. Constantly short of ready cash, the company teetered on the brink of bankruptcy for years. Not every act turned into gold and platinum records, and very often the company's extravagant spending backfired on the company. The strength of Casablanca Records, as it dominated the quintessential 1970s disco scene, was both a blessing for the company's finances, and a curse. The end of the disco era placed the Casablanca fortunes into extreme jeopardy. At the same time, the extravagant spending, and lack of cash management were destroying the company from the inside. Through it all, the company spearheaded by the visionary Neil Bogart established marketing and promotional techniques that would become industry standards for decades.
For me, the power of the book is how Larry Harris shares both the good times and the bad times in equal measure. In a book that is difficult to put down, the author describes the excesses of the lifestyle of the 1970s. For Larry Harris, Casablanca Records had a huge influence on the creation of that extravagant and hedonistic 1970s way of life. The story of Casablanca Records is part biography of company President Neil Bogart, part insider expose of the music industry of the time, and part guide to the thinking and activities of the 1970s. Readers of the book from a business perspective, will learn how to think creatively in any industry, and become an innovator that will turn even a small company into an industry powerhouse. At the same time, the author's unflinching descriptions of the financial and attitudinal mistakes that caused the downfall of Casablanca, are an object lesson for entrepreneurs and managers alike.
I highly recommend the seminal and must read book on Casablanca Records And Party Every Day: The Inside Story of Casablanca Records by Larry Harris, to anyone seeking an insider look into the music industry of the 1970s. Loaded with personal and celebrity anecdotes, confessionals, and the triumphs and failures of a brilliant entrepreneur and a cutting edge company, the book contains something for every taste. One thing is certain, the book is a page turner from beginning to end.
Read the important and insightful book And Party Every Day: The Inside Story of Casablanca Records by Larry Harris, and travel back in time to the 1970s, when excess knew no bounds and the music industry was the definitive industry of that extravagance. You will never look at the music industry, its larger than life executives, and the tumultuous 1970s in the same way again.
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