Bobby Robinson

Bobby Robinson owned a record shop in New York City. He established many record labels in the '50s and '60s, on some he was the sole owner, on others he was in partnership with his brother Danny Robinson. Among them were Red Robin Records established in 1952 (Bobby and Danny), Whirlin' Disc Records established in 1956 (Bobby), Fury Records established in 1957 (Bobby), Everlast Records established in 1957 (Bobby and Danny), Fire Records established in 1959 (Bobby), and Enjoy Records established in 1962 (Bobby and Danny).

Red Robin and Whirlin' Disc recorded mostly vocal group rhythm and blues music. Originally Fury was established as a record label and Fire was to be the publishing arm. When Bobby Robinson issued "Kansas City" by Wilbert Harrison, it was a sensation and went to the top of the singles charts. At the height of this success, Robinson was sued by Savoy Records who, unknown to Bobby, had Wilbert Harrison under a 5 year contract that was to expire in August 1959, the "Kansas City" record came out in March 1959. Because Fury was tied up in litigation, Robinson began releasing material on the Fire Record label. The litigation lasted until September 1959 and prevented Robinson from issuing any follow-up Wilbert Harrison records while he was so hot.

Fire Records became known as a blues label and issued albums by Lightnin' Hopkins, Buster Brown and Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup. Bobby Robinson made occasional forays into New Orleans where he recorded Lee Dorsey and Bobby Marchan.

The biggest hits produced by Bobby Robinson were "Kansas City" by Wilbert Harrison which sold over 2 million records, "Fannie Mae" by Buster Brown and "Ya Ya" by Lee Dorsey both of which sold over one million records. In addition to these artists, he also had hits with Elmore James (some of his best work), Gladys Knight and the Pips (their first recordings), Lewis Lymon and the Teen Chords, Bobby Marchan, King Curtis, Don Gardner & Dee Dee Ford and Les Cooper.

Of the many labels only Fire, Fury, Everlast and Enjoy issued albums and are covered in the following discographies. As for stereo, the entire stereo story has only been heard on CD. The Robinsons' labels boasted "The Ultimate in Monaural Sound," and we know of no stereo issues on Fire, Fury, Enjoy, or Everlast. The Sphere Sound LPs were mono also, to our knowledge. It was only in the 1990s, when Little Walter DeVenne obtained the original multitracks from Bobby Robinson that the material began being issued in true stereo on the Relic label. For that reason, several CD issues are appended to this discography to illustrate the many songs recorded in stereo.

Sun Records

Sam Phillips is not just one of the most important producers in rock history. There's a good argument to be made that he is also one of the most important figures in 20th-century American culture. As owner of Sun Records and frequent producer of discs at his Sun Studios he was vital to launching the careers of Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Rufus Thomas and numerous other significant artists. Although he first made his mark (and a very deep one) with electric blues by Black performers, he will be most remembered for his rockabilly stars, particularly Elvis Presley.

Sam Phillips was born January 5, 1923, the youngest of eight children and was raised on a farm just outside Florence, Alabama. In high school Phillips conducted the school band. His onstage presence impressed the manager of local WLAY radio that he was hired as a part-time announcer. The Phillips were a typical middle class family until the Great Crash of 1929. Sam's father died in 1941 just after Pearl Harbor. He then dropped out of high school to help support his mother and deaf mute aunt. He worked first at a grocery and later a funeral home. It was while at the funeral home that Phillips learn how to handle people tactfully in emotional situations, a skill that later would serve him well.

Originally Phillips wanted to study law, but because of circumstances decided to go into radio. He went to Alabama Polytechnical Institute in Auburn, Alabama where he majored in engineering, including audio engineering for radio. In broke into radio in 1940 when he conducted and emceed the band for a college concert. This impressed Jim Connally the station manager at WLAY enough that he hired Phillips.

Phillips at his desk at WREC

In 1942 he married Rebecca Burns. Phillips next radio job was for three years at WMSL in Decatur, Alabama and then to WLAC in Nashville, Tennessee and finally in June, 1945 to WREC. At WREC he hosted the "Songs of the West" show daily at 4 PM. There he was able to put his engineering skills into use. In those days many programs were prerecorded on 16 inch acetate discs which were often duplicated and passed to other stations. Thus the radio engineers were also recording engineers and thus Phillips was able to develop his recording skills. He also took care of the station's sound effects and found records for its library.

While at WREC he hosted "Saturday Afternoon Tea Dance" where he played jazz, blues and pop from the Skyway Room of the Peabody Hotel. The shows were broadcast nationally over the CBS radio network

In October 1949 Phillips signed a lease on a small storefront located at 706 Union Avenue near downtown Memphis. The rent was $150 a month. With the help of two year loan from Buck Turner a regular performer at WREC he installed recording equipment. The Memphis recording studio opened in January 1950 with the slogan "We Record Anything-Anywhere- Anytime." With a Presto five-input mixer board and Presto PT900 portable tape recorder in the Trunk of his car, Phillips would whatever weddings, funerals or religious gatherings he could book.

                          

Most of his early commercial recordings were done onto acetate rather than than at that time unproven tape. By 1954 he had upgraded his equipment  and installed two Ampex 350 recorders: one a console model and another mounted behind his head for the tape delay echo, or slapback.

Memphis Recording Studio's first paying job  was transcriptions of Buck Turner's band for the Arkansas Rural Electrification Program. These were distributed to fifteen to twenty stations throughout the mid-South. It was probably five or six months later that Phillips decided to record artists to sell or lease masters.

Phillips along with his friend Dewey Phillips decided to start their own record label. The new label was simply called Phillips - "The Hottest Thing in the Country." The first record was "Boogie in the Park" by Joe Hill Louis. On August 30, 1950 three hundred copies were pressed  and shipped to Music Distribution in Memphis.

Phillips decided to get out of the manufacturing end of the business as his relationship the Biharis (Joe, Saul and Jules) Modern Records grew. The Biharis had started a subsidiary RPM Records for music with a down home feel. At first Phillips sent them samples of Joe Hill, a local gospel group and jazz pianist Phineas Newborn, Jr.

In 1950 Jules Bihari signed B.B. King to a contract and placed him with Phillips. Working under Bihari's direct Phillips recorded King from mid-1950 until June 1951. The Biharis released five singles from the material Phillips sent, making King one of the first artists on  their new RPM subsidiary.Phillips' involvement with King would later end a casualty of the dispute between the Biharis and Phillips over the placing of "Rocket 88" with Chess Records.

The Clovers

Considered one of the first rhythm and blues groups to cross over into rock and roll, the Clovers were certainly central in forming both styles of music. Their easily identifiable was sound was based on a combination of blues and gospel. The Clovers did not follow the "pop" singing style of the Mills Brothers or the Ink Spots and sounded distinctly different from the Orioles and the Larks, rhythm and blue's first role models.

The Clovers started as a trio of Armstrong High School students in 1946 all from the same neighborhood in Washington, D.C. The leader of the group Harold "Hal" Lucas, sang baritone. From 1946 through 1949 the group went through many personal changes as they performed in several of the area's small nightclubs. In 1950, they were heard by Lou Kreftz, a local music dealer, while performing at the Rose Club. He got them a recording contract with Rainbow Records, a small New York label, but only one record was released in 1950. In February 1951 they signed with Atlantic Records, where they stayed for seven years. Their first Atlantic release was "Don't You Know That I Love You So," which sold a quarter million copies.The follow up, "Fool, Fool, Fool" did even better selling a half million copies and "One Mint Julip" almost went gold. Of their first nine records at Atlantic, three were number one rhythm and blues hits, three reached number two and two went to number three.

In 1952 the group consisted of John "Buddy" Bailey (first tenor), Mathew McQuarter (2nd tenor), Harold Jerome Winley (bass), and Bill Harris (guitar). In September 1952 Bailey was drafted, and was replaced first by John Phillip and then Charlie White, who had been an original member of the Dominoes and the Checkers. In 1953 Billy Mitchell, who had been a solo artist at Atlantic, became the lead tenor. When Bailey returned from Korea in May, 1954  he alternated with Mitchell and the group expanded to six members.

Their peak year was 1952 with five songs in the national rhythm and blues top ten, but had hits for Atlantic until 1957. Their last hit was "Love Potion #9" for United Artist in 1959. By the early 1960s the group had disbanded with two new groups of Clovers, one led by Bailey and one led by Lucas, touring the country. The Lucas group continued to perform in clubs into the 1970s.

The Clover's sound was heavy on the bottom. Both the vocal group and and the instrumental backing employed an accentuated bass line. No distinctive lead tenor carried the group; rather, it was a blending of all the voices over a varied mixture of drums, saxophone, and piano that gave the recordings by the group the warm feel of warmth even on the up-tempo numbers.

Few rhythm and blues groups in this period  could claim the popularity and longevity of the Clovers. While the Dominoes and the Orioles opted for the "better" clubs and hotels, the Clovers stayed within the Black community, becoming "their" vocal group more than any other at this time.

Bang Records

The Bang Records story falls neatly into three parts. From 1965-1973, the label was established and operated in New York City. In 1973, the label moved to Atlanta, where they operated doing their own distribution until 1978. Lastly, in 1978, they entered into a distribution deal with CBS. This arrangement lasted until the label was sold to Columbia Special Products in the early 1980s, where it remains today. They issued product sparingly by record label standards, but they placed most of their efforts on the charts. 

The New York Years (1965-1973): 

Bang records was started in New York in 1965, and for a time had an extremely successful string of releases. Bert Berns was the prime mover at the label, as an owner and director of operations. Berns' friends from Atlantic, Ahmet and Neshui Ertegun and Gerry Wexler helped set up the label, and the name is an acronym for the first letters of their names. Berns had been involved in making successful records for years by the time Bang was formed, either as a songwriter or as a producer. He was responsible for "Twist and Shout", "Under The Boardwalk", "Hang On Sloopy," "Brown Eyed Girl", "Piece Of My Heart", "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love," "A Little Bit Of Soap," "Push Push," and dozens of others. Berns quickly proved as adept at running his own label as he was at making hits for others. 

One of the first groups Berns signed to the label was the Strangeloves. Producer Bob Feldman was directly involved in the first four chart records on the Bang label (with three different groups!), as a songwriter, artist, and producer. As one of the people around "in the beginning" at Bang, Bob was in a unique position to tell us about what it was like being in a small, but successful, record company in the mid-1960s. Also interesting is how three songwriters from New York could become the first Australian rock group to hit the US charts! 

Although the Bang story starts in 1965, Feldman's success goes back several years before that, as producer and writer of the classic Angels' hits "My Boyfriend's Back," "Thank You And Goodnight," and others, with partners Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer in Feldman-Goldstein-Gottehrer (FGG) Productions. The following recollections on history of the label and the Strangeloves were recorded in an interview for Both Sides Now Stereo Newsletter in 1990: 

Bob Feldman: We were writing and making demos of our songs, and we were using the Angels as singers on our demos. They told us that they had been with Caprice Records, and they weren't recording and they weren't happy, so we worked out a deal with Caprice to let them go. The night we cut "My Boyfriend's Back," we cut four A sides with four different groups, because we didn't have a lot of money [for studio time] and we put the same B-side on all four songs. One was Heavy And The Companions, we sold that master to Columbia, we sold another master to Kapp Records, we sold three of the four, one we never sold. But one of the four was "My Boyfriend's Back." The 45 had an edit where the instrumental break was taken out of it, and some splicing here and there, but the long version on the album My Boyfriend's Back [Smash SRS-67039] is the uncut song.

"My Boyfriend's Back" was banned. We had to put out the record without the intro. We had to do edits for a lot of radio stations, including MCA in New York. The followup to "My Boyfriend's Back" was supposed to be "The Guy With The Black Eye." It's on the album, you've got to listen to it. It picks up the story. The boyfriend comes back and gets the guy and beats him up for saying all these things. This is the natural followup, right? When you listen to it, it sounds like in the background they're singing "look at the gal with the black guy," not "look at the guy with the black eye." In 1963, radio just wouldn't play anything as controversial as a song about a white girl going out with a black guy. Smash wouldn't put it out because of what somebody might think was in the words, even if it wasn't really there.

But it was a time when you could be any group you wanted, a Ia Phil Spector, Darlene Love, or the Beach Nuts. We could just go out and make good records. And fun records. Snuff Garrett and I were in New York together on a rainy Saturday, and he says, "Let's go into the studio and make a record." No song, no nothing. Marty Coopersmith, who was in Jay and The Americans, showed up at the studio, and we did a record called "Don't Monkey With Tarzan" by The Pygmies. And Marty Coopersmith came out and had leopardskin bikini underwear on and ran through the studio with a Tarzan scream, and the record came out [Liberty 55624, ca. 1963]. We had nothing to do that day, it was raining, so we would just go and make records. 

And early in the days of the Bang Label, the Strangeloves and Angels collaborated on a record as artists: The Beach Nuts. 

"Out In The Sun (Hey-O)" [Bang 504, 7/65] was the Strangeloves and the Angels, along with a steel band. We were one of the first people to use a steel band on a rock and roll record. But during the session, we couldn't get through that we wanted than to play "The Banana Boat Song." Seems they never heard of it. After an hour and a half; somebody says, "you know, 'Day-O'." They say, "Day-O? Why didn't you say so?" An hour and a half, we couldn't get "The Banana Boat Song" on record. Crazy times; fun times.

Bang got started after Bert Berns did a lot of producing for Atlantic Records, a lot of the Drifters things, and other hits [not on Atlantic] like "Twist And Shout" on Wand. He was very close to Jerry Wexler and the Erteguns, and they gave him his own label to work with, which Atlantic distributed. The label name, "Bang," is actually the first initials of the four of them (Bert Berns, Ahmet Ertegun, Neshui Ertegun, and Gerald Wexler). He was personally involved with a lot of things with the label. I can't remember if he was actually in the booth when we put our voices on "I Want Candy," but he was personally involved with all the acts he signed to the label.

In 1964, we [FGG Productions] had basically cut "Bo Diddley" in Atlantic Recording Studios. We were looking to sell the master, and Atlantic loved it. They told us that they were starting a new label with Bert Berns. We had cut the track, they had loved the track, and we were going to do "Bo Diddley." But Bert Berns told us, "Why do Bo Diddley? Let's write a new song." That's how "I Want Candy" came about.

What happened was, we had a record out on Swan as the Strangeloves ["Love Love (That's All I Want From You)", Swan 4192] before the Bang record. It hit the charts [Billboard #122, 12/19/64]. This was in '64, just after the British Invasion hit. The West Coast was another world, but the East Coast writers and producers were having a tough time selling anything because all anybody wanted were English groups. We had a track lying around, and I convinced my partners that the only way we were going to get say product was if we were British. Being that everybody was from England, we came up with the "fact" that we were from Australia, so we became in essence the first Australian rock group to come to the United States. We had this old track lying around that we were going to do with the Angels, but we had never put out. The record was called "Love Love." On the back of "Love Love" was a demo of a song called "I'm On Fire," which Jerry Lee Lewis ultimately recorded [Smash 1886, charted 4/64, #98], and it's in the Great Balls Of Fire movie. But that was the original demo that we had cut to send to him. Somewhere in the record I went (uses British accent) "a little love that slowly grows and grows," and did this monologue with an accent.

So we sold the record to Swan and said that we were from Australia. And they bought it. So we had a record that hit the charts on Swan, but they wouldn't pay for a followup record. So we went into the studio with our own money, and cut "I Want Candy." 

Following up with the idea of being an Australian group, the three billed themselves as the Strange Brothers, Miles, Niles, and Giles, and started touring. 

I put on a wig, long hair and a beard. We invented Armstrong, Australia, and said that the reason we looked different was that we had the same mother, but three different fathers, and that I was the boomerang champion of Australia.

For our first show, we went to The Dome in Virginia Beach, and we were co-headlining with Chuck Berry. Gene Pitney was on the show, and the Shangri-Las, and a bunch of people. We drove two cars down to Newport News [an adjacent city], then got on a private jet that taxied to Virginia Beach. It never left the ground; it was like a couple of miles. There were 3000 people with banners waiting, the mayor with the keys to the city, television cameras, signs saying "Welcome to America, Strangeloves." And instead of flying in from Australia, we had driven all night from New York to get there.

On a TV show, I think it was KDKA in Pittsburgh, a guy, I think his name was Clark Race, surprised me and handed me a boomerang. I had never seen one in my life. He asked me to demonstrate my championship technique. I threw the damned thing, and they had one camera shooting, and I hit the cameraman, and the camera fell over. So he says to me, "that's not the way you hold a boomerang." I said, "That's why I'm the champion and you're not." It was just marvelous.

We did this for a year, we toured with every major British act, the Beach Boys thought we were insane, so we did three tours with the Beach Boys. They thought we were nuts, and we thought they were nuts.

"I Want Candy" was also banned! It went to #1 in St. Louis and they never played it. Crazy times.

We were doing a show in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with the Dave Clark Five. "Hang On Sloopy" was originally on the Strangeloves album, the same track "Hang On Sloopy" was supposed to be the followup to "I Want Candy." The Dave Clark Five were leaving, getting ready to go back to England, and they needed a new single. They loved what we were doing with "Sloopy." They taped it. We were supposed to fly home, and there were tornados all over the place, all over that part of the country, and I didn't want to fly in that, so I said, "No, we're driving." So an agent said, "Listen, if you're driving home, why don't you stop in Dayton, Ohio, and do a show on the way home and pick up a couple of thousand bucks?" We said fine.

I remember it was Friday night, we stopped in Dayton, and Rick and The Raiders were a substitute backup band. They were a last minute replacement as a backup for the Strangeloves. We were standing in the wings watching them, and I heard a sixteen year-old [Rick Zehringer, later Derringer] that played guitar like I'd never heard anybody play a guitar. And they backed us up. We were worried about the Dave Clark Five, because they had told us that they were going to cut "Hang On Sloopy." Being that "I Want Candy" was just out and on the way up, there was no way we were going to get it out [before they did without killing "Candy"]. We heard the group who would be the McCoys, we thought they'd be great, had them call their folks, and we all drove to New York. We named them on the way, from Dayton to New York. First it was the Real McCoys, then just the McCoys. We got there, went right in the studio, put their voices on the track, and then put Rick's guitar on it. But if you listen to the Strangeloves version of "Hang On Sloopy," listen to the track, it's the same. The McCoys single also has an edit, there was an extra verse we took out, strictly because the song was too long for a single. Bert Berns was a stickler for getting airplay, and at that time songs being under three minutes was necessary. 

The liner notes for The Strangeloves album were written with tongue firmly in cheek, leaving plenty of clues that the group was actually Feldman, Goldstein, and Gottshrer. It would seem just a matter of time before someone uncovered them... 

Nobody uncovered us. We went out on a tour with the McCoys, the McCoys were the Strangeloves' backup band, and it was the Stangeloves-McCoys, but halfway through the tour, "Hang On Sloopy" became #1, and they became the ultimate stars of the show. I remember I took off my fall, it was my wife's hairpiece, and they booed me. They didn't want to know that it wasn't real. They wanted to believe that we were from Australia. Later, Max's Kansas City and New York had all our records in the juke box saying we were the fathers of Punk Rock, because we dressed in zebra skins, leather pants, carried spears, and did all sorts of wierd things. 

One of the things that has puzzled record collectors is what came out in stereo on Bang. For example, the first album, by the Strangeloves, is listed as being stereo in some of the references from 1965 and 1966, and the album pasteover has a stereo banner on it, but nobody's ever found one in stereo. 

There wasn't really a hell of a lot of stereo on the early Bang that I can remember. The Strangeloves I don't remember doing a stereo on. We mixed it to mono. We did it actually as a two-track, I think. I don't remember doing a stereo. If it was, it was a phony stereo. As for someone finding a stereo copy, if I didn't do one, they couldn't find one. Most of what we did was recorded on four track or eight track, but it was mixed down to mono. You have to remember that AM radio was king. As for FM stereo, there really wasn't that much of a call then. That didn't really start happening until the end of 1966, or 1967.

The last Bang record we had anything to do with was the McCoys' "Beat The Clock," in late 1966. That's a long time ago. 

And after the Strangeloves? 

I have one of the all-time oldies on KDKA. I was part of a duet called Rome And Paris, Jerry Goldstein and I tried to imitate the Flamingos. We did "Because Of You" [Roulette 4681, 7/66 Billboard # 104]. I did sing on a couple of records besides that, but I don't remember them offhand, they weren't too memorable. 

The Strangeloves had one other chart hit, "Honey Do," [Sire 4102, #120] in late 1968. Today, the three former Strangeloves are alive and well, although scattered throughout heir "adopted" country, the US. Jerry Goldstein is on the west coast and Richard Gottehrer is on the east coast, both still in the music business, while Bob Feldman makes Colorado his home. The McCoys moved to Mercury Records in 1967, went through numerous (and essentially total) personnel changes through the early 1970s, and eventually became a country and western bar band bearing no resemblance whatever to Rick and The Raiders. Rick Derringer, at that time long since departed from the McCoys, had several solo singles chart in the mid-1970s, most notably "Rock And Roll Hoochie Coo" [Billboard #23] in early 1974. 

In addition to FGG, who produced the first three albums for Bang (The Strangeloves and McCoys albums), Berns used other producers, such as Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, who were Neil Diamond's producers. Diamond was a New Yorker who had been trying to break into the music business since he was a teenager, when he recorded an obscure single for the Duet label in 1960. He worked as a songwriter in new York in the early 1960s, where he undoubtedly met fellow Tin Pan Alley songwriters Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. After another obscure single in 1963 ["Clown Town"/"At Night" on Columbia 42809] and a songwriting success in 1965 ["Sunday and Me" for Jay and the Americans], he hooked up again with Barry and Greenwich as producers and signed with Bang Records. The three were considering which of Diamond's songs to record for a single when Barry and Greenwich heard "Solitary Man," a song Diamond wrote about his social life, a personal song he joked that he used just for self-torture. They convinced him to record it and issue it as his first Bang single [Bang 215]. Although it only reached #55 nationally, it was a moderate hit in some of the major markets like New York and Chicago, and got him some recognition. His second single, "Cherry Cherry" [Bang 528], though, reached top-10 nationally and established him as a recording star. The refrain "She's got the way to move me..." was widely misinterpreted as "She's got the wedding movement...," which, although somewhat nonsensical, was thought to be kind of quaint and inventive, and added to the public's like of the song. 

Diamond's first album was released hot on the heels of "Cherry Cherry's" success. Called The Feel of Neil Diamond, it was set up as a look into the studio life at the time. A memo on the back of the cover by Bert Berns told of things that allegedly happened during recording of the album, and the recordings themselves had studio talk at times with Barry and Greenwich encouraging (demanding?) Diamond as he prepared to sing. In addition to his own material, he made it through some other hits, sometimes seriously and sometimes not. "La Bamba," in particular, has confused anyone who knows the actual Spanish words (huh? what is Diamond singing?), since it sounds like they were taken phonetically off the Ritchie Valens single. 

More hits followed ["I Got The Feelin' (Oh No No)," Bang 536, #16; "You Got To Me," Bang 540, #18; "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon," Bang 542, #10; "Thank The Lord For The Night Time," Bang 547, #13; and "Kentucky Woman," Bang 551, #22]. A second album,Just for You, was issued in the summer of 1967, about the time "Thank the Lord for the Night Time" was current. By the time "Kentucky Woman" was a hit, however, Diamond's contract was running out and he opted to go with the Uni label. Bang issued aGreatest Hits album, but that was it. Bang issued several more singles from Diamond's back catalog, and most of them were charters due to his growing popularity. These included "New Orleans" [Bang 554,#51, from his first LP], "Red Red Wine" [Bang 556, #62, from his second LP], "Shilo" [Bang 575, #24, from his second LP], "Solitary Man" [Bang 578, #21, a reissue of Bang 215 that did far better the second time around], "Do It" [Bang 580, #36, the flip of the original release of "Solitary Man"], "I'm A Believer" [Bang 586, #51, from his second LP], and "The Long Way Home" [Bang 703, #91, from his second LP]. 

To say that Bang shamelessly exploited his material following his departure (in a tried-and-true record company manner) is perhaps a bit overstated; after all, the public bought them eagerly. (Well, maybe the issuing of the Shilo and Do It albums, with all recycled songs, was a bit much...) Eventually, Diamond himself put a stop to the reissues by buying the masters back. He now controls the CD reissue of his Bang catalog, and for the most part, his preference is to reissue the songs in mono. 

Diamond's Bang songs have some variations, with three different versions of "Solitary Man," and two versions each of "Do It; 'Shilo," and 'i'm A Believer." The original 45 versions of "Solitary Man" and "Do It" have never appeared In stereo; the alternate versions are different takes or have added instrurnentation. The discography notes the different versions. 

Another hitmaker for Bang was Van Morrison, the singer from Belfast, Ireland, who had gone back to Ireland after leaving his group, Them. Bert Berns brought him to New York and produced an album for Morrison, Blowin' Your Mind, and from those sessions, Bang eventually issued three separate albums! The big hit single, "Brown Eyed Girl" [Bang 545] reached the top-10, but it was the only hit from the Bert Berns sessions. Released in the summer of 1967, it was indeed strange times in radioland, as "Brown Eyed Girl" ran into censorship problems due to the line, "makin' love in the green grass behind the stadium." Berns quickly provided a "cleaned-up version," splicing in a line from another part of the song, the result being, "Laughin' and a-runnin', behind the stadium." This version was used for the mono version of the album, and appears from time to time on reissues. 

On December 30, 1967, Bert Berns died at the age of 38, and his wife Ilene took over the company. It was on her watch that the endless reissuing of the back catalogs of Neil Diamond and Van Morrison took place, but it was also on her watch that she found the star for Bang's future, Paul Davis. A singer/songwriter from Mississippi, Davis had fronted a group called the Reivers in the 1960s, and even had a single released on the White Whale label. He signed with Bang in 1969, and Ilene Berns shipped him to New York to work with Barry and Greenwich to learn about producing. Eventually, Davis had hits for Bang from 1970 to 1980. He then went on to a further career as a country music songwriter and sometimes artist for Arista. 

Davis started with the non-charting single "Mississippi River"/"If I Wuz A Magician" [Bang 568] in 1969. When that failed, he switched to the Bert Berns-penned "A Little Bit of Soap," which had been a top-15 hit for the Jarmels in 1961 [Laurie 3091]. It also had been done by the Exciters in 1966, during their days with Bang [Bang 515, #58]. Davis did a bit better with it, making #52 in 1970 [Bang 576], demonstrating that at least the song had staying power. Davis' followup, "I Just Wanna Keep It Together," did about the same at #51 [Bang 579]. Davis then dropped off the charts for more than two years until "Boogie Woogie Man" made #68 in early 1973. An album released to follow up on the single didn't sell well. 

The Atlanta Years: 

The label moved to Atlanta in 1973, opting for one last Van Morrison reissue on the way. Actually, T.B. Sheets was not a reissue in the strict sense, but an album of outtakes and alternates from the Blowin' Your Mind session. As such, it was at least interesting to Van Morrison's fans. 

Paul Davis' next single, "Ride 'Em Cowboy" [Bang 712, #23], was a tear-jerker about a aging rodeo bronc rider. It was his biggest hit yet, and portended his move into country music. It wasn't until "I Go Crazy" in 1977 [Bang 733], though, that he finally reached the top 10. The song seemed to hang around forever on the charts, lasting an astonishing 40 weeks, at that time setting the chart record for longevity. He had two more top-30 hits for Bang with "Sweet Life" [Bang 738, #17] and "Do Right" [Bang 4808, #23] before moving to Arista in 1981. 

Besides Paul Davis, Bang had one other major hitmaking act during its days in Atlanta: a funky soul group called Brick. Brick hit the scene with "Dazz" ("dazz, dazz, disco jazz") in 1976, and followed over the years with six albums that made the charts for Bang. Other than Paul Davis and Brick, and Elton John's band member Nigel Olsson, the label had a few scattered one-and-done albums, including a comedy album by New York deejay Don Imus. The label was sold to CBS in 1982. 

Speciality Records

Art Rupe was born Arthur Goldberg September 5, 1917 in Greensburg, Pennsylvania to David and Anna Goldberg. David was a furniture salesman. David, who played the bass, instilled into Art his love of music. In his youth Art listened to music sung at a local black Baptist church and love this music with it's rich traditions.

After attending Miami University in Oxford, Ohio Art left to Hollywood in July, 1939. After settling down in Los Angeles and attending UCLA Rupe decided he'd like to be involved in the entertainment industry. His first choice was the movies but, found it to be to clubby and hard to crack. He felt that the record business  was more open to newcomers.

Art, (now using the more show bizzy sounding name, Rupe) became partners with Bob Scherman in Atlas Records in 1944. Atlas, though having Frankie Laine, Nat "King" Cole, and Johnny Moore's Three Blazers featuring Charles Brown under contract, had nary a hit and soon folded. Rupe lost his investment but, looked at his time at Atlas as an learning experience.  That experience taught him  that he couldn't complete with the major labels on their own turf   The majors had decided to forego the specialty and ethnic music markets because of the wartime shortage of shellac. For this reason Rupe decided to go into black popular music.

He took $200 and went down to Central Avenue in the black section of Los Angeles and bought race records. He made a analysis of each record, technically, musically, etc. so as determine why some were hits and others weren't.. Out of this he established a set of rules or principles that he was to use in making records.

Next he began looking for artists. Looking in after-hours clubs he found the Sepia Tones,  a small group that fitted into his budget. During his research he had noticed that an inordinate number of successful records had the word "boogie" in the title, jukebox operators were the biggest customers for these race records and also acted as wholesalers for small independent companies. Boogie #1 was the first release on his Juke Box label. It sold 70,000 copies and enabled Rupe to record Marion Abernathy "The Blues Woman," Roosevelt Sykes "The Blues Man," and Roy Milton and His Solid Senders.

"Voo-it! Voo-it!" by the Blues Woman and "R.M. Blues" by Roy Milton were hits in 1946.

Al Middleman, who had co-owned Hit Records with Eli Oberstein, became partners in Rupe's Juke Box Label and Rupe became a partner in Middleman's Sterling label. Rupe soon found out that Oberstein, a talent chief for Victor Records, was a partner in Sterling and wasn't pleased.

To make a long story short Rupe  sold his entire interest to Middleman and kept some masters which were recorded by his new label Specialty Records.  Some of the masters included sides by the Sepia Tones, the Blues Man, the Blues Woman, Buddy Banks and Roy Milton.

Encouraged by Jules Bihari of R.P.M. Records Rupe started Specialty Records.  The first office was located at 2719 W. 7th Street in Loa Angeles, California. Specialty moved to 311 Venice Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles in 1947.  Venice Music was the name of Rupe's BMI publishing arm while Greenwich Music published ASCAP songs.

Roy Milton who had left Juke box records was persuaded by Rupe to come to Specialty. Right away they became successful on  a par with Louis Jordan, the master of the jump blues.  This success attracted other artists.  Among them were Joe Lutcher who had a hit with "Rockin' Boogie" and Jimmy Liggins who had hits

In 1948 Rupe began recording gospel quartets.  The Pilgrim Travers were the first and sold well. Rupe's memories of the black churches of his youth served him well as he recorded  gospel greats such as the Soul Stirrers, The Swan Silvertones, Alex Branford, Brother Joe May, Sister Wynona Carr, the original Gospel Harmonettes, and the Chosen Gospel Singers.

Rupe's love of gospel music carried over to his taste in secular music and influenced his artist selections, such as Guitar Slim, Don and Dewey, and his biggest star Little Richard. It, too, influenced his approach to recording as he valued feeling over technique.

1949 saw the end of the recording ban. Among  Specialty's hits was "The Hucklebuck" Joe Liggins who had  hits with "The HoneyDripper" and "Got A Right to Cry"  was signed to Specialty as  his Exclusive label folded.

His first record  with Specialty "Rag Mop" went to #4, followed by "Pink Champagne" was the #! record of 1950, as well as Specialty's first number one.

1951 saw more hits and Specialty switching to the 45 r.p.m. format.that had been introduced in 1949 by RCA . The independents were slower to change over as their market couldn't afford the new record players.

Impressed by rival Imperial Records Fats Domino Rupe decided to enter this new field in 1952. While on a talent hunt in New Orleans he discovered seventeen year old Lloyd Price. In Specialty's first recording session in New Orleans Rupe produced   Price singing "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" using Dave Bartholomew's Band which featured Fats Domino.  "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" would be Specialty's third number one hit and would be among the first records to "cross over" and sell to both blacks and whites, setting the stage for rock and roll.

Late in 1953 Guitar Slim recorded "The Things I Used To Do."  It became Specialty's fourth number one in early 1954.  The year would end with Jimmy Liggin's his last and biggest hit "Drunk." Saleswise the year would be a disappointment.

1954 was a slow year as the market began to change as teenagers began making themselves known. Though Rupe had tried to tap into the teen market with Lloyd Price in 1952 nothing had hit nationally. However, Specialty did have a few regional hits.

Things became so bad in 1955 that Rupe, who detested it payola, finally broke down and began using it.

The end of 1955  saw the release of "Night Owl" by  Tony Allen and "Tutti Fruiti" by Little Richard. "Tutti Fruiti" was exactly what the teenagers were looking for loud, spirited music with a beat, performed by a flamboyant singer who their parents wouldn't like. Little Richard would have fourteen top ten r&b and two top ten pop hits in eighteen months.

1956 Little Richard's follow up to "Tutti Fruiti"   "Long Tall Sally" was Specialty's fifth number one and first gold record. Rupe's publishing company, Venice music, thrived as all the big rock and roll stars recorded Little Richard songs.

1957 saw Little Richard's religious conversion and leaving Specialty. Rupe with the help of A&R Sonny Bono, were able to make a Little Richard clone out of Larry Williams. Williams, Lloyd Price's former valet, had  hits with "Just Because," Short Fat Fannie," and "Bony Moronie."  The last two made it to the top ten.

Sam Cooke dissatisfied  with singing only gospel music wanted to sing pop.Rupe was afraid Specialty would lose of Cooke's gospel audience if he began releasing him singing pop.

The end of 1957 saw Specialty with three top ten records "Bony Moronie," "I'll Come Running Back to You," and "Keep A-Knockin'."

1958 saw Specialty's last Top Ten record "Good Golly Miss Molly, " a Little Richard master from 1956.

The lose of Little Richard, the break up of his marriage and the feeling he should have seen Sam Cooke's success and kept him under contract, along with the development of other business interests, caused Rupe to lose interest in the record business. Having made a lot of money from other interests, tired of music business headaches he turned the day-to-day operations over to others.

Rupe pursued his oil and land interests until he received a call from Little Richard in 1964. Richard  who had only recorded gospel music unsuccessfully since leaving Specialty was considering recording secular music again. Also, Richard had been touring Europe with four British musicians who excited him called Rupe to see if he might interested in the group. The group was the Beatles. Rupe said no, but was interested in recording Richard if he was ready.

Richard recorded "Lama Bama Lama Loo'" which went nowhere. During that time he also recorded Don and Dewey and Percy Mayfield with even less luck.

In 1970 he reactivated his old catalog, releasing albums from time to time by classic, gospel and secular artists over the next twenty years until  the company was sold to Fantasy Records in 1990.

"Uncle Art (Rupe) has formed a charitable foundation (The Art Rupe Foundation) which he is currently running, among other things he's endowed a chair somewhere in the California University system dedicated to studying the impact of media on society. It has also funded a library for the small town in Pennsylvannia where he grew up.

Extremely alive, still very active, no known health problems and hundred of projects from his charitable work to doing genealogical research about his ancestors----- might be because he has been a vegetarian for decades, never smoked --- or at least not during my lifetime and his always exercised moderately " .....   D.K. Goldberg

Kanye West

Entrepreneur, record producer and singer. Kanye Omari West was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 8, 1977. His parents divorced when he was three. He was raised on Chicago's South Side by his mother, an English professor, and spent summers with his father, an award-winning photographer who became a church counselor.

West graduated from Polaris High School and completed one year of art school at Chicago State University. After spending time rapping and working with local artists, West moved to New York in 2001 to pursue his music career full time. Respected rapper Jay-Z hired him to produce songs for his album The Blueprint, which sold more than 420,000 copies in the first week alone. West went on to produce for a handful of stars including rapper Ludacris and singer Beyonce.

While serving as producer to the stars, West cut his own demo and began shopping it around. He signed a deal with Roc-A-Fella Records, Jay-Z's label, in 2002 and began recording in the studio.

On the way home from a session in Los Angeles, West fell asleep at the wheel and was involved in a head-on car collision that left him with a fractured jaw.

With his jaw wired shut, West returned to the recording studio to complete his debut release The College Dropout. The album, which was released in 2004, sold 2.6 million copies and earned him a Best Rap Album Grammy. He matched that feat with 2005's Late Registration and 2007's Graduation.

West also has won three Best Rap Song Grammys for his hits "Jesus Walks," "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" and "Good Life." For his hit "Gold Digger," he took home the Best Rap Solo Performance award in 2005. West also won a Grammy for Best R&B Song for "You Don't Know My Name," sung by Alicia Keys. His collaboration with Common on "Southside" earned West the Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in 2007.

West was devastated when his mother, Donda West, died to complications from cosmetic surgery on November 10, 2007. During his first concert following the funeral, he dedicated a performance of "Hey Mama" to his mother.

Moving on after his tragic loss, West put out his next album, 808s & Heartbreak, in 2008. The recording reached the top of the charts and featured several hits, including "Heartless" and "Amazing." That same year, West earned two Grammys for his work with other artists. His duet with Estelle, "American Boy," won for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, and his work with Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, and T.I. netted the honor for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.

The following year, West released two albums on the same day—Good Morning Good Night: Dusk and Good Morning Good Night: Dawn. Also in 2009, Kanye West debuted the line of shoes he designed for the luxury goods brand Louis Vuitton. He engages in a number of charitable activities as well. Founded by his mother in 2007, he supports the Kanye West Foundation, which works to reduce the number of high school dropouts.

West and designer Alexis Phifer began dating in 2002. He proposed in August 2006, but the engagement ended 18 months later. West has also been romantically linked to model Amber Rose.

Big Top Records

BigTop was a New York label owned by Julian and Jean Aberbach as a subsidiary of Hill and Range Music. It was run by their nephew, Johnny Bienstock (President) with Fred Beinstock named as Executive. 

BigTop's acts were a variety of pop music, rock and roll, and even comedy. They issued few albums, and much of their singles output was never issued on album by them. Their singles catalog included such acts as Del Shannon, Sammy Turner, Bobby Pedrick, Jr. [Robert John], Johnny & The Hurricanes, Ocie Smith [O.C. Smith], Travis & Bob, Don Covay, Maximillian, the Shepherd Sisters, Arlene Smith [of the Chantels], Don & Juan, Johnny Gibson, Cliff Richard, Lou Johnson, Miss Toni Fisher, Jamie Coe, the V.I.Ps, and Andrea Carroll. Some of the major acts, such as Sammy Turner, were from Hill and Range in New York. Others, such as Del Shannon and Maximillian [Max Crook, Shannon's instrumental accompanist and co-writer of "Runaway"], were from Detroit, managed by a duo of Balk and Micahnik. 

Harry Balk and the late Irving Micahnik were based out of Detroit and negotiated deals with BigTop as Embee Productions, including the Del Shannon and Johnny & the Hurricanes material, with rights reverting back to them after a short period of time. Balk was the "in studio" producer, with Micahnik more of the "wheeler-dealer." In the picture at right, Balk, Beinstock, and Michanik join Johnny & the Hurricanes in the studio during the recording session for The Big Sound of Johnny & the Hurricanes. [Back row, from left: Dave Yorko, guitar; Lionel "Butch" Mattice, bass; Johnny Beinstock, label executive; Irving Micahnik, manager; Johnny Pocisk (Paris), saxophone. Front row, from left: Paul Tesluk, keyboards; Bo Savich, drums; Harry Balk, producer.] 

Del Shannon was born Charles Westover in Coopersville, Michigan, in December, 1934. His career spanned radio (a US Army show in Germany), hit singles as a singer/songwriter, and later in the studio doing production work for other artists such as Brian Hyland. He had eight chart hits for Big Top, including his #1 debut 45 "Runaway" [Big Top 3067] in the spring of 1961. He followed this with "Hats Off to Larry" [Big Top 3075, #8 in summer, 1961], "So Long Baby" [Big Top 3083, #28 in fall, 1961], "Hey! Little Girl" [Big Top 3091, #38 in late 1961]. His next single, released in spring, 1962, "Ginny in the Mirror"/"I Won't Be There" [Big Top 3098], failed to make the top 100, peaking at #113. It looked like Del was done for, like so many other artists of the day whose "sound" eventually wore out its welcome with the public. His next single, "Cry Myself to Sleep" [Big Top 3112] only made #99 in June, 1962, despite a driving, pounding rhythm. But in the fall of 1962, he took a different approach, recording a Roger Miller tune, "The Swiss Maid" [Big Top 3117], which was a completely new sound and was rewarded by making #64. By early 1963, Del was back in the top sellers with "Little Town Flirt" [Big Top 3131], which reached #12 and revived his career. The followup, "Two Kinds of Teardrops" [Big Top 3143], only reached #50 here, but the flip side, "Kelly," was a hit in Europe. His popularity in Europe led to a tour, where he heard a new British group, the Beatles, do a song called "From Me To You." He decided to cover the song and his version [Big Top 3152] made #77 in the US, while the Beatles' own version on Vee-Jay here could not crack the top 100! Del Shannon left Big Top in the fall of 1963, forming his own Berlee label, a contraction of his parents' names. He had chart records into the 1980s, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He died in February, 1990. 

Johnny and the Hurricanes were formed in Toledo in 1958 as the Orbits, where they first recorded for the Twirl label for Harry Balk. By early 1959, they had signed with Morty Craft's Warwick label in New York, where they registered four chart hits ("Crossfire," "Red River Rock," "Reveille Rock," and "Beatnik Fly") before switching to Big Top in 1960. They had five minor chart hits for Big Top, including "Down Yonder" [Big Top 3036, #48], "Rockin' Goose"/"Revival" [Big Top 3051, #60/#97], "You Are My Sunshine" [Big Top 3056, #91], and "Ja-Da" [Big Top 3063, #86]. 

During 1962, Johnny and the Hurricanes toured Germany and appeared at the Star Club in Hamburg. We received a note from Tony Hendrik, owner of the Coconut label in Germany (Haddaway's "What Is Love," etc.), about Johnny and the Hurricanes' appearance: "I happened to discover your page when searching for Johnny and the Hurricanes. I ran a fan club in the sixties for them and had contact with Johnny Paris even in the late 80's. I met Irving Micahnik, their manager and co-producer, in Hamburg, Germany, in 1962 and 1963 , and recorded demos of German folk tunes for Johnny and the Hurricanes after a meeting with Rudy Slezak, the manager of Aberbach Music, Germany, and Irving Micahnik (songs that were never released, however). The concert of Johnny and the Hurricanes in December, 1962, at the Star Club, Hamburg, was unforgettable for me, as the Beatles were playing as one of the warm-up bands for the Hurricanes that night! I liked the Hurricanes' show very much, and when I asked Johnny Paris if they had records to sell, he said no, they were only touring! Quite a mistake, don't you think?? Kind Regards, Tony Hendrik" 

Johnny Paris later issued the Star Club recordings on his own Attila label. 

		The regular Big Top 45 label was pink with black print (far left photo). The promotional 45 label (near left photo) for BigTop had the same design as the commercial label, but was white with black print. BigTop also had a special 45 sleeve design.
		BigTop recorded most of their material in multi-track, although they didn't release it all on LP. One particular song, "Lavender-Blue" by Sammy Turner, does not appear to have been recorded in stereo, since the 1959 stereo 45 (far left photo) was rechanneled. BigTop's stereo 45s had a black label like the albums. Many of Sammy Turner's other singles, including "Always"/"Symphony" (near left photo) and "Paradise," have been issued on early stereo 45s in true stereo. The Del Shannon albums and the Johnny & the Hurricanes album were issued in true stereo, although the stereo version of "Runaway" is an alternate take and the stereo version of "Hey Little Girl" is missing some of the vocal overdubs of the 45.
		Big Top occasionally put out picture sleeves for their 45s. At far left is the sleeve for the Kenny & Corky single, "Nuttin' for Christmas." Kenny & Corky were a knockoff of the Chipmunks, with speeded up voices, and the single was played on the radio in some cities in 1959, although it did not chart nationally. At near left is the sleeve for Johnny & the Hurricanes' "Down Yonder."
		In 1965, BigTop started a new series, distributed by Bell Records. The Bell-distributed singles had a blue molded plastic label (see photo, far left). Big Top also distributed the Dunes label, primarily known for the hits by Ray Peterson. "Corinna, Corinna," shown near left, was produced by a young Phil Spector. Although Dunes did not issue an album, the Ray Peterson Dunes material later was issued on an album on MGM in true stereo.
		The Big Top album label was black with silver print, with the BigTop tent logo at the top. Around the bottom of the label, it read, "BIGTOP RECORDS, INC., NEW YORK, 19, N.Y." Stereo labels were the same design. LP-1302 had "STEREO" at the right of the center hole, while 1303 had "STEREO" both to the right and to the left of the center hole.

By the mid-1960s, BigTop was kaput. Balk and Micahnik had a falling out in 1965. Irving went on to manage Chubby Checker, Roberta Swede, Roberta Flack, and others. Harry went on to form the Impact label in 1966, along with a few other labels, including the short lived Inferno. He also controlled Twirl Records, which reissued some of the Del Shannon material. There was a Del Shannon "Greatest Hits" album planned for issue on the Twirl label, but it apparently never came out. 

Jack Foster and Archie Lamb

Jack Foster and Archie Lamb decided to leave school half-way through sixth-form to set up a recording label Takeover Entertainment, with no experience or qualification in management.

They started off by promoting ̉student parties while they were still at school, and were soon making ‘real money’ from promoting grime nights in Norwich with a host of London-based urban artists.

They later met Tinchy at one of those nights and quickly struck up a good friendship.

Archer even got his father Norman Lamb MP to remortgage his house to give them a £10,000 business loan.

Mr Lamb, a solicitor by training and North Norfolk MP since 2001, has been known to attend gigs wearing his suit, having voted in the House of Commons.

He said this about his son’s career choice, he said: “We take the view that, had he gone to university, we would have given him as much financial support as we could afford.

“My younger son is applying at the moment, so he will get that support.

“It would have been unfair if we had not done the same for our older son, who is doing something entrepreneurial and exciting.

“The only bad thing is that my Vauxhall Astra was driven around the country, taking Tinchy all over the place. It was ruined, so I had to use a Citroen instead.”

Just Imagine Norman Lamb listening to one of tinchy’s song on his i-pod preferably “number one” with a star in the hood t-shirt on, Quite a thought right??

Although their journey has been nothing but easy, having to embark on tours and long journey around the country to expand Tinchy’s fan base and also to get support and increase their profile from indie and pop acts.

They said the only source of money they had coming in was from the sale of their Star in the Hood T-shirts at the time.

Until they finally hit the jackpot, after the release of Tinchy stryder’s single stryderman, after its release, it quickly got into Radio 1’s playlist, The next day Island Records got in touch, wanting to sign him.” The rest is grime history.

Takeover recently acquired the support of Universal Records, whose influence will doubtless further Stryder’s career.

Richard Melville "Moby"

Moby was one of the most controversial figures in techno music, alternately praised for bringing a face to the notoriously anonymous electronic genre and scorned by hordes of techno artists and fans for diluting and trivializing the form. In either case, Moby was one of the most important dance music figures of the early '90s, helping bring the music to a mainstream audience both in England and in America. Moby fused rapid disco beats with heavy distorted guitars, punk rhythms, and detailed productions that drew equally from pop, dance, and movie soundtracks. Not only did his music differ from both the cool surface textures of ambient music and the hedonistic world of house music, but so did his lifestyle; Moby was infamous for his devout, radical Christian beliefs, as well as his environmental and vegan activism. "Go" became a British Top Ten hit in 1991, establishing him as one of the premier techno producers. By the time he came to the attention of American record critics with 1995's Everything Is Wrong, his following from the early '90s had begun to erode, particularly in Britain. Nevertheless, he remained one of the most recognizable figures within techno; after he abandoned the music for guitar rock with 1996's Animal Rights, he returned to a heavy electronic base with 1997's I Like to Score and 1999's Play, the latter of which made him a genuine breakout pop star.

Born Richard Melville Hall, Moby received his nickname as a child; it derives from the fact that Herman Melville, the author of Moby Dick, is his great-great grand uncle. Moby was raised in Darien, CT, where he played in a hardcore punk band called the Vatican Commandos as a teenager. Later, he briefly sang with Flipper while their singer was serving time in jail. He briefly attended college before he moved to New York City, where he began DJing in dance clubs. During the late '80s and 1990, he released a number of singles and EPs for the independent label Instinct. In 1991, he set the theme from David Lynch's television series Twin Peaks to an insistent house-derived rhythm and titled the result "Go." The single became a surprise British hit single, climbing into the Top Ten. Following its success, Moby was invited to remix a number of mainstream and underground acts, including Michael Jackson, Pet Shop Boys, Brian Eno, Depeche Mode, Erasure, the B-52's, and Orbital.

Moby continued performing at dances and raves throughout 1991 and 1992, culminating in a set at 1992's Mixmag awards, where he broke his keyboards at the end of his concert. Moby, his first full-length album, appeared in 1992. In 1993, he released the double A-side single "I Feel It"/"Thousand," which became a moderate U.K. hit. According to The Guinness Book of Records, "Thousand" is the fastest single ever, appropriately clocking in at 1,000 beats a minutes. That same year, Moby signed a record contract with Mute and his first release was Ambient, which compiled unissued material recorded between 1988 and 1991. Later that year, The Story So Far, a collection of singles released on Instinct, appeared. In 1994, the single "Hymn" -- one of the first fusions of gospel, techno, and ambient music -- was released.

In 1994, Moby signed a major-label contract with Elektra Records in the U.S. Everything Is Wrong, his first album released under the deal, appeared in the spring of 1995 to uniformly excellent reviews, especially in the American press, which had previously ignored him. Despite the promotional push behind the album and his popular sets at the 1995 Lollapalooza festival, the album wasn't a commercial success. The following year, Moby suddenly abandoned techno to record heavy guitar rock for Animal Rights, which received mixed reviews. A partial return to electronica, 1997's I Like to Score, was followed by 1999's Play. Surpassing everyone's expectations, the album became a platinum hit and reached number one in the U.K., while Play's tracks were licensed by dozens of advertisers and compilers. His releases during the first decade of the 2000s -- 18 (2002), Hotel (2005), Last Night (2008), and Wait for Me (2009) -- weren't nearly as popular, ranging from ironic rock to austere downbeat electronica, but they maintained his devout following. Destroyed (2011), written in hotel rooms during the middle of the night, offered a natural extension of Wait for Me's alienated feel. Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Andy Kellman.

Jimmy Iovine

James Iovine, who is commonly known as Jimmy Iovine is a famous music producer of this era. This American entrepreneur holds the position of chairman in the Interscope-Geffen-A&M.

He was born in the city of Brooklyn. He started his career in the 1970s as a recording engineer. He was lucky that he got the chance of working with stars like Bruce Springsteen and John Lennon. He provided support for recording for albums for Stevie Nicks, U2. He also produced albums for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Dire Straits, Simple Minds and Patti Smith. He co-founded the records company in Interscope Reco 

rds. He co founded it in the year 1990. Later it is called as Interscope-Geffen-A&M. It was called by this name when PolyGram was claimed by Universal. Iovine was selected co-chairman that time. In the year 2001, he was named as Chairman.

He helped Eminem to get signed with him for Aftermath. He co produced the Eminem hit movie 8 Mile. In the year 2004, he along with Paul Rosenberg signed a deal with MTV Films and Paramount Pictures so that they can work on their banners like Aftermath or Interscope or Shady. 

The first film that was co-produced by Iovine which fell under this deal was Get Rich or Die Tryin'. In the year 2008, the combined group released the hit "Beats by Dr. Dre" . Iovine co-produced the album "Seven" of Enrique Iglesias. Iovine worked as co-producer for Maverick and LeBron James. 

He married the famous model and writer Vicki Iovine. Vicki's was famous as a writer for her book "The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy". They used to live in Staten Island in New York together. They have four children together.