Buddah Records - History

History

Kama Sutra Records helped bolster MGM Records' profits during 1965 and 1966, primarily due to the success of Kama Sutra's flagship artists The Lovin' Spoonful. Kama Sutra's head, Art Kass ultimately grew dissatisfied with his distribution deal with MGM and started Buddah Records in 1967, with his Kama Sutra partners, Artie Ripp, Hy Mizrahi, Phil Steinberg, and (allegedly) Italian mobster Sonny Franzese.

Kass brought in 24-year-old Neil Bogart to oversee Buddah's daily operations. Bogart had been an MGM General Manager in the early sixties before taking a VP/Sales Director position at Cameo-Parkway Records. Bogart would quickly enlist Cameo-Parkway producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz, the Ohio Express (a band signed to Kasenetz's and Katz's Super K Productions firm), and ex-Cameo artists the Five Stairsteps into the new label. Buddah's first single was "Yes, We Have No Bananas"/"The Audition" by the Mulberry Fruit Band (BDA 1); the label's first album was Safe As Milk by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band (BDM-1001/BDS-5001).

Buddah Records initially made its mark as a "bubblegum pop" music label as that music genre's success peaked in 1968-69, with Kasenetz's and Katz's bands Ohio Express, the 1910 Fruitgum Company and Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus regularly placing Buddah on the map. However, it was The Lemon Pipers who gave Buddah its first #1 hit with "Green Tambourine," produced by Paul Leka, in February 1968.

The New York-area visual aids company Viewlex purchased a controlling interest in Buddah in 1968 with Ripp, Steinberg and Mizrahi departing the company at this time, leaving Kass and Bogart at the helm.

As bubblegum music's popularity declined at the turn of the decade, Buddah branched out in various musical directions, including gospel, folk-country and R&B. Bogart, a master promoter, would go to great lengths to generate hit singles for "top 40" radio airplay, and got results; music industry historian Bob Hyde has estimated that, during their heyday, Buddah and its associated labels charted over 100 singles, with about one in five singles issued by the company charting (vs. the ratio of one chart hit to 20 singles released that most "major labels" experienced in that time period). Hit singles released by Buddah and its associated labels during 1969-73 included:

• Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge's "The Worst That Could Happen" (1969)
• The Isley Brothers' "It's Your Thing" (1969)
• The Edwin Hawkins Singers' "Oh Happy Day" (1969)
• Lou Christie's "I'm Gonna Make You Mine" (1969)
• Melanie's "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)" and "Look What They've Done to My Song, Ma" (1970)
• The Five Stairsteps' "O-o-h Child" (1970)
• The Jaggerz' "The Rapper" (written by and featuring a young Donnie Iris) (1970)
• 100 Proof (Aged in Soul)'s "Somebody's Been Sleeping in My Bed" (1970)
• Brewer & Shipley's "One Toke Over the Line" (1970)
• Ocean's "Put Your Hand in the Hand" (1971)
• Honey Cone's "Want Ads" (1971)
• Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), "Lean on Me" (1972) and "Use Me" (1972)
• Gallery's "Nice to Be With You" (1972)
• Curtis Mayfield's "Super Fly" and "Freddie's Dead" (1972)
• Gunhill Road's "Back When My Hair Was Short" (1973)
• Charlie Daniels' "Uneasy Rider" (1973)
• Stories' "Brother Louie" (1973)

While Buddah primarily focused on singles, several of its album releases, including Brewer & Shipley's Tarkio (1970), Bill Withers' Still Bill (1972), and most notably Curtis Mayfield's Super Fly (1972), also charted well during this period.

Neil Bogart left Buddah Records in 1973 to start Casablanca Records. Soon after Bogart's departure, Gladys Knight & The Pips would emerge as Buddah's biggest success. Previously signed to Motown, Knight and the Pips would release their biggest hits, including "Midnight Train to Georgia" and "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me," for Buddah.

Jazz session drummer Norman Connors became Buddah's musical director in 1976 and helped to foster the label's move toward R&B and disco (e.g., the Andrea True Connection's "More, More, More" (1976) and Chic's "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)" (1977), the latter hit the charts on its subsequent re-issue by Atlantic Records). Viewlex declared bankruptcy in 1976 and Art Kass purchased Buddah back from them, but the resulting debt resulted in a substantial decline in the number of new releases. Arista Records took over distribution of Buddah from 1978 to 1983, with several artists including Norman Connors and Phyllis Hyman switching to Arista.

Buddah's final release of new product came in mid-1983, with Michael Henderson's R&B hit "Fickle" (BDA 9007) and the accompanying album of the same name (BDS-6004). Art Kass subsequently sold the label to Essex Entertainment, who managed the Buddah catalog until 1993, when they sold it to BMG. Kass would form another label, Casino Records, in partnership with former New York Dolls manager Marty Thau and concert promoter Terrell Braly, but this venture was not successful.

Buddah, now known as Buddha Records (a more widely used spelling), was re-activated by BMG in September 1998 as a reissue label, subsequently reorganizing as BMG Heritage Records on January 1, 2002. The Buddah/Buddha catalogue is now owned by Sony Music Entertainment and managed by Legacy Recordings.