Favorite Disco Promotion Person of the 70's

[DanceMan]

Now that we have named our most favorite songs, artists, labels, style of dance music, etc...what about some of the behind the scenes people that helped their record labels acquire the songs/artists and then helped shape them into the turntable faves that have become legend....

I have many (not counting myself - my reign was too short-lived) and I would have to say
my fab five were:

Dee Joseph - Butterfly Records, L.A.
Bobby Shaw - TK/Warner Bros./MCA, NY
Michael Gomes - Prelude Records, NY
Joni Skoblar - Peter's International, NY
Howard (DJ)Merritt - Casablanca, NY

Of course, there were a lot of so-called promo/p.r. folks who fashioned themselves bigger stars the the artists they were promoting...but that is another chapter....

By the way, if anybody here remembers me from the old days in the NY record and club scene, (either from Emergency Records or Michael's Thing magazine) please get in touch with me...would love to hear from you!....

[nrgbeat]

By the way, if anybody here remembers me from the old days in the NY record and club scene, (either from Emergency Records or Michael's Thing magazine) please get in touch with me...would love to hear from you!....

What exactly was Michael's Thing magazine?

A porno magazine devoted to pictures of Michael Jackson's thing?? :lol:



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: nrgbeat on 2002-08-15 21:19 ]</font>

[DanceMan]

By way of a little more explanation.....if you were around in the 70s (and I don't mean in diapers - on either end of the age spectrum), gay, bi or "with-it" and lived in the NY tri-state area...you would know what I meant and not have to ask!

[nrgbeat]

On 2002-08-15 21:21, DanceMan wrote:
By way of a little more explanation.....if you were around in the 70s (and I don't mean in diapers - on either end of the age spectrum), gay, bi or "with-it" and lived in the NY tri-state area...you would know what I meant and not have to ask!

Gay? Bi? I guess my first guess was right.

[QUINNY]

I BOUGHT MOST OF MY RECORDS; IT WAS A PRIDE THING!!!
In the UK you'll probably find one name above all others FRED DOVE of WEA. He was very involved with the Disco scene over here and probably had the best product, so anyone fortunate enough to be on his list would have love him. And No, I wasn't.

[NickNack]

I would pick Howard Merrit, always a sweetheart; Ray Caviano, seriously on the fast-track back then; Ray Martinez, obviously more than a PR man but always had a 'gift' for me.

Do you remember who the guy was at TK Records that was always stoned out of his mind? I don't think he lasted too long. I used to come out of there hysterical, thinking this man can't think he's really working.

One more question: It was Larry Rossiello from The Anvil that introduced me to most of the promo people. Did you ever meet him?

[DanceMan]

Yes..the one who was always stoned was Craig Scott Druckman.....he preceded me at Michael's Thing magazine where I worked and he was a vicious person....in many senses of the word....that is all i will say about him as he passed back in the 80s of something we have all become very familiar with...

I liked Ray's twin brother, the late Bob Caviano (he managed Grace Jones and a few other acts)a lot better than I did Ray...Ray was one of those people who thought his stuff didn't stink and he increasingly lost favor with the record labels as his head became bigger than his hits.....plus he was involved in some scandals in the 80s for which he paid dearly for...US magazine had him on their cover also....as one of their 100 Most something of the Year, cannot remember what tho...lol!...too bad...he was really an entrepreneur when he started his disco label, RFC, and I loved a lot of what he did and what didn't really come to fruition because of the 80's backlash, etc....oh well....i have no idea if he is still around...does anybody?.....

[NickNack]

On 2002-08-16 18:35, DanceMan wrote:
Yes..the one who was always stoned was Craig Scott Druckman.....he preceded me at Michael's Thing magazine where I worked and he was a vicious person....in many senses of the word....that is all i will say about him as he passed back in the 80s of something we have all become very familiar with...

I agree with you here. I remember the attitude the first time we met. Several people I knew wanted to knock him on his ass.

I liked Ray's twin brother, the late Bob Caviano (he managed Grace Jones and a few other acts)a lot better than I did Ray...Ray was one of those people who thought his stuff didn't stink and he increasingly lost favor with the record labels as his head became bigger than his hits.....plus he was involved in some scandals in the 80s for which he paid dearly for...US magazine had him on their cover also....as one of their 100 Most something of the Year, cannot remember what tho...lol!...too bad...he was really an entrepreneur when he started his disco label, RFC, and I loved a lot of what he did and what didn't really come to fruition because of the 80's backlash, etc....oh well....i have no idea if he is still around...does anybody?.....

I met Bob only once but people told me he was a nice guy. I remember Ray's launch party for RFC. No one had to pat him on the back, he was doing it all by himself. I didn't hear about the scandals that happened later.

What was your role at Michael's Thing? I remember being asked to submit playlists to them for a while. Did you do the compilation or were you writing on the artists of the day? Oh, **** --- did you know 'Ruby Rims' (his real name escapes me) --- he worked there in the 80's.

[DanceMan]

Nick:

Interestingly, isn't Catch The Rhythm, the name of an LP on RFC by a group called, Carress? Correct me if I am wrong.....

[NickNack]

On 2002-08-16 20:44, DanceMan wrote:
Nick:

Interestingly, isn't Catch The Rhythm, the name of an LP on RFC by a group called, Carress? Correct me if I am wrong.....

Yes, sir. Boris Midney heaven. The lp and group are titled Caress, RFC 3384. "Catch The Rhythm" and "Love Spell" are two of the four songs, each side a medley.