Casablanca Records - Other Events

Other Events

Casablanca started a subsidiary label in 1975 called Chocolate City Records. It was mainly overseen by Bogart's partner Cecil Holmes and the label focused on R&B, funk, and disco releases. Chocolate City's signings included the then-new acts of Cameo and Brenda & the Tabulations.

The offices of Casablanca Records moved onto Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles into the former A&M Records offices. Casablanca's new offices were soon modeled after the movie set of the film of the same name. Later, the record company merged with an Indie production company called Filmworks, Inc., which was founded by former Columbia Pictures executive Peter Guber. The new company became known as Casablanca Record and Filmworks, with Bogart still at its helm as President, while Guber became Chairman of the Board and head of its film division. Guber would remain with the company for two years. In 1977, PolyGram Records acquired a 50% stake in the independent Casablanca, which had been quite successful for several years.

Casablanca remained very successful throughout the rest of the 1970s. But the label's rise and fall would both be dramatic instances. The rise came with the success of several acts such as Donna Summer, Kiss, Parliament, and the Village People; as well as some success from its subsidiary label and its film division. The fall began when the 1980s rolled in. The label was also known to spend lavish amounts of money on parties, events, and promotion. Although this resulted in hit albums and singles, the profit margin suffered due to the care-free spending by the label. Casablanca spent lavish amounts of money on promoting its releases, which made its artists happy, but not necessarily PolyGram, which now owned a 50% stake in the label. When Casablanca's lavish spending habits were realized by PolyGram, it quickly made an offer to purchase the other 50% of Casablanca in 1980. Bogart accepted, however he soon found out he would not be allowed to stay with Casablanca, and PolyGram released him from his post. He used the money he acquired from the sale to start Boardwalk Records and he signed then-new rocker Joan Jett, who had experienced some success in Japan as a member of the group The Runaways. But Bogart died from cancer in 1982 and Boardwalk Records folded.