Category: Rationals

Young C-P Executives Springs Label into Album Oriented Format for First Time Since 1964

NEW YORK — After a virtual absence of two years from the album field, Cameo-Parkway Records has re-entered the LP race with a six-record release. The move is a major step in the rejuvenation of the label which was among the hottest independents in the industry in the early 1960’s.

Cameo-Parkway’s resurgence reflects the aggressive policies of its young
management, with three of its top executives in their twenties.

Three of the album releases are LP debuts for artists who have hit the singles charts. They are the Five Stairsteps, ? (Question Mark) and the Mysterians and Terry Knight and the Pack.

The other three include a Sounds Orchestral package, a “Psychedelic Mood,” by the Deep, and “The Flying Saucer Story” narrated by Long John Nebel.

Cameo is basing its album push on the recent single performances of its artists – with seven singles on the charts in the last six months. These include two by Terry Knight and the Pack, two by the Five Stairsteps, one by Chubby Checker and the latest and hottest one by ? (Question Mark) and the Mysterians, currently on Billboard’s Top 10.

‘Youth’ Pays Off

Al Rosenthal, who heads the publicly-held company, feels that the youth of sales manager Neil Bogart (age 23), national promotion manager Cecil Holmes (age 29), and regional promotion manager Marty Thau (age 27), has had a lot to do with the label’s comeback.

The manner in which Cameo-Parkway acquired ? (Question Mark) and the Mysterians is a case in point. The group’s record, “96 Tears,” had been making noise in Texas, and several companies had called Paulino Bernet and Joe Gonzales of Bago Records, for whom the group recorded. Gonzales told Bogart, by telephone, that he had a contract from another label, and that he intended to sign the contract and return it.

Despite this discouraging news, and despite the airlines strike, Bogart flew that night to McAllen, Tex., met the Bago people, and wrapped up the deal. The same aggressive tactics brought into the C-P fold the Five Stairsteps and Terry Knight and the Pack.

Bogart said “96 Tears” has already sold more than 500.000 copies.

In addition to the label’s chart entries, Bogart said the firm has been getting regional hits accounting for sales of from 25,000 to 50,000 each.

[MCRFB Note: Cameo Records released single, “Respect”, was localized in SE Michigan, mainly Detroit, and in NE Ohio, in the Toledo area.]

Cites Artists

He cites recent efforts by the Rationals, Bobby Marchann, the Dantes, Dandy Dan Daniels and Eddie Holman, all of whom have had regional hits.

According to Rosenthal, C-P is embarked on a program of developing recording acts with the ability to sustain and sell albums rather than going for the hit-and-run, one-shot single. He said the label will work on a tight release schedule, so that every single can get a maximum promotional effort, and, at the same time. build the artist as a future album property.

Bogart added that the album schedule calls for four annual releases by the Sounds Orchestral in addition to the product by the newer artists. END

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Information, credit and news source: Billboard, October  1, 1966