And Party Every Day: The Inside Story Of Casablanca Records
Neil Bogart died in 1982 and, though there has been talk of a biopic for years (it was rumored in 2001 that Gene Simmons wanted to produce it as a Mike Myers vehicle), the actual story of the Los Angeles label he masterminded remained just a series of tall tales and exaggerated drug gossip until now. Larry Harris has emerged from his music-industry semiretirement to pen And Party Every Day: The Inside Story of Casablanca Records.... Harris says, We came out with a New York attitude, trying to change things and made a little noise in the process. The book conveys this sense of excitement, as this ambitious, wild bunch from [New York] lands in the supposedly chill, post-hippie L.A. of the Eagles, CSNY and the long-haired ladies of the canyons.... The book contains detailed evidence of the chaotic manipulation of the music charts in the wild days before computer scanning. This fell mostly under Harris purview, and he offers fascinating insight on what these legendary promo men did back in the day. --LA WeeklyA delightful new memoir pulls back the veil on an almost-forgotten era.... Larry Harris was front and center--from Woodstock and the discovery of KISS, to the founding of Casablanca, Studio 54 and the origin of Disco. He relates each story with a refreshing humility, often sharing the recall of his own overwhelmed surprise.... And Party Every Day: The Inside Story of Casablanca Records is not just an insider account of a major portion of American rock n' roll history--it's a work of cultural anthropology. Those dreams, those experiences, those trips and those days, may well be gone forever...but thanks to Larry Harris we've been blessed with an unabashed look back into our most fantastic and frivolous past. --Blurt.com<br /><br />The rise and fall of the world s most debauched label. The home of Donna Summer and The Village People during their 70s heyday, flamboyant mogul Neil Bogart s Casablanca Records had a license to print money which they promptly blew on drugs, bribes, and outrageous promotional stunts. As cofounder and Bogart s cousin Harris had a front-seat view of the madness. It s all in here, from the drug-fueled meetings to flying a birthday cake first class to Donna Summer, though there s the inescapable sense that it was always going to end in tears. --Q MagazineAll this is detailed in no-holds-barred fashion in Harris new memoir, And Party Every Day: The Inside Story Of Casablanca Records, co-written with Curt Gooch and Jeff Suhs. The most dirt-filled music book since MÃ¶tley CrÃ¼e s The Dirt, And Party Every Day is always entertaining and frequently jaw-dropping, from Harris description of acting as runner for an enormous amount of cocaine for Curtis Mayfield and several female hotel guests during the Buddah days to tales of calling his own positions on the Billboard charts. --The Onion AV Club<br /><br />Casablanca Records, whose roster included Donna Summer and the Village People, symbolized the excesses of the era better than any other label. Harris, cofounder of Casablanca, with Gooch and Suhs (coauthors, Kiss Alive Forever), tells the insider s story of Casablanca, from its 1973 founding through corporate struggles (and lots of sex and drugs) to its 1980s disintegration under the conglomerate PolyGram. Harris details the early career and the breakthrough of Kiss as well as Parliament Funkadelic. He also corrects the story of Casablanca as told in Fredric Dannen s Hit Men. Verdict While the graphic details may make even adult readers uncomfortable; anyone open to finding out what the disco era at Casablanca was really like will love this. --Library Journal Xpress ReviewHome to Kiss, Donna Summer, and the Village People, Casablanca was the quintessential 1970s record label, run by hype-crazed promo men who believed the best way to make money was to spend mountains of it. Former Casablanca VP Harris tells jaw-dropping tales of chart manipulation, desks piled with drugs...label execs throwing Frisbees out office windows at hookers, and Rodney Dangerfield, who was signed to the label, carrying a Noxzema jar of cocaine. --Rolling Stone MagazineCasablanca Records, whose roster included Donna Summer and the Village People, symbolized the excesses of the era better than any other label. Harris, cofounder of Casablanca, with Gooch and Suhs (coauthors, Kiss Alive Forever), tells the insider s story of Casablanca, from its 1973 founding through corporate struggles (and lots of sex and drugs) to its 1980s disintegration under the conglomerate PolyGram. Harris details the early career and the breakthrough of Kiss as well as Parliament Funkadelic. He also corrects the story of Casablanca as told in Fredric Dannen s Hit Men.  Verdict While the graphic details may make even adult readers uncomfortable; anyone open to finding out what the disco era at Casablanca was really like will love this. --Library Journal Xpress Review