In 1955, he and his business partners formed President Records in New York, but it had little success and was amalgamated into a larger company by 1961. He then formed another company, Seville Records, which had hits with "Shout! Shout! (Knock Yourself Out)" by Ernie Maresca and "Bobby's Girl" by Marcie Blane, but failed to capitalise on its early successes. He decided to reactivate the President label, partly inspired by the memory of John F. Kennedy after his assassination. Soon afterwards, in 1964, his London office acquired a management and publishing deal with a new group, The Kinks, who had a string of successful releases in both the UK and US starting with "You Really Got Me".