Boardwalk Entertainment Corporation

The Boardwalk Entertainment Corporation was a 1980 Neil Bogart founded independent record company and had, among others, Joan Jett , Curtis Mayfield and Ohio Players under contract.

Boardwalk founded

Bogart, founder of Casablanca Records , sold his remaining shares in the company to PolyGram on February 8, 1980 , which had already held 50% of Casablanca since 1976, and left the company, but kept his shares in the Casablanca property.

At the end of February 1980, Bogart, along with his partner from Casablanca FilmWorks , Peter Guber , and producer Jon Peters ( Caddyshack ), founded a new company, Boardwalk Entertainment, and hired many former Casablanca employees. The company idea was to establish a multimedia company that would market videos, films, theater productions and records.

However, since Guber held 50% of PolyGram Pictures and Peters had also bought there, both partners decided to leave Boardwalk. Bogart ran Boardwalk without any other partner together with his wife Joyce.

In addition to the Bogarts, Irv Biegel (Executive Vice President), Ruben Rodriguez (Vice President of Promotion, East Coast), Ellen Wolff (Director of Creative Services), David Shein (Director of Business Affairs), Scott Kranzberg (Vice President of Promotion) and Gary LaMel to the company's senior management.

Bogart initially had its products marketed by the major CBS , but without giving the company shares in Boardwalk, and so embarked on a path as early as 1981 that only prevailed in the 21st century when artists began to market their rights themselves and As a result, record companies only acted as sales channels. Bogart's attempt failed after a short time, and he continued to operate Boardwalk as an independent label.

Broadway production

Bogart tried to break into Broadway with Boardwalk in 1981 when he became the producer of the musical The First , which was based on the life of baseball star Jackie Robinson . The musical premiered on November 17, 1981 at the Martin Beck Theater, where it ran until December 12, 1981. A total of 37 performances were shown, so the piece did not have any notable commercial success. However, David Alan Grier won the 1982 Theater World Award for best male leading role in a musical for his portrayal of Jackie Robinson . It was also The First in 1982 for several Tony Awards nominated, namely in the categories of Best Book of a Musical , Best Featured Actor in a Musical and Best Direction of a Musical .

successes

At the end of 1981 and in the first quarter of 1982, Bogart was successful again: Richard "Dimples" Fields had success with If it Ain't One Thing ... It's Another and his album Mr. Look So Good , but above all Joan Jett was responsible , which was number one on the US charts for seven weeks with I Love Rock'n Roll , for the necessary momentum the label needed. Jett's hit was also Bogart's greatest success as a manager. Numerous other artists of the label also had success in the charts, but mostly only in the "Top 40" area.

Boardwalk artists also included Ringo Starr , Night Ranger , and Carole Bayer Sager , then wife of Burt Bacharach .

Boardwalk released a total of 88 records (singles and albums).

Death of the founder

Bogart died on May 8, 1982 at the age of 39 of lymph gland cancer , which was only diagnosed in late 1981.

End of the label

After the death of Bogart, who as marketing - genius was that sales and revenues declined significantly the label so that it went bankrupt . Boardwalk closed in 1983.

In 2011, sons Neil Bogart, producer and screenwriter Timothy Scott Bogart and brother Evan Kidd Bogart founded the Boardwalk Entertainment Group with Gary Randall . The company's logo is the modernized logo of her father's company, and the aim is also the same. The company consists of five divisions: Boardwalk Films, Boardwalk Television, Boardwalk Records, Boardwalk Publishing and Boardwalk Technology.

Individual evidence

1. ^ And Party Every Day - The Inside Story of Casablanca Records by Larry Harris, Curt Gooch and Jeff Suhs; Backbeat Books, 2009; ISBN 978-0-87930-982-4
2. ↑ Neil Bogart's death mourned by Industry , Billboard Magazine, May 22, 1982
3. ^ Hit and Run - How Jon Peters and Peter Guber Took Sony for a Ride in Hollywood ; Nancy Griffin & Kim Masters, Simon & Schuster (1996), 109
4. ^ Boardwalk & CBS Accord , Billboard Magazine, Aug. 30, 1980, p. 83
5. ^ Boardwalk & CBS Agree on Disk / Tape / Video Contract , Billboard Magazine, Aug. 30, 1980, p. 3
6. ↑ Neil Bogart's death mourned by Industry , Billboard Magazine, May 22, 1982
7. ^ Entry in the Internet Broadway Database
8. ^ Entry in the Internet Broadway Database
9. ↑ Information on rateyourmusic.com
10. ^ "Tim Bogart, Evan Bogart & Gary Randall Launch Indie Music / Film / TV Company" ; Deadline.com, accessed September 27, 2011