Funkytown: Tribute To Casablanca Records
In his book And Party Every Day: The Inside Story of Casablanca Records, co-founder Larry Harris writes:
“Casablanca was not a product of the 1970s, it was the 1970s. And no person or company in that era of narcissism and druggy gluttony was more emblematic of the times than Casablanca Records and its magnetic founder, Neil Bogart.”
Spinning Gold gives a beautiful, but not always truthful image of the time. Neil Bogart who named himself after actor Humphrey Bogart, is portrayed as a disco pioneer, but in fact he only knew how to sell artists and just jumped on the bandwagon. By signing Donna Summer to the label he found a golden trump card and the lifebuoy he needed for his company. The film suggests that Bogart changed her name into Summer, but she was already a big star in Europe as Donna Summer, before she started recording in America. And erroneously, Gladys Knight is given the credit for turning the song Midnight Plane To Houston into Midnight Train To Georgia. It was Cissy Houston (Whitney's mother) who changed the title of the song. Bogart nor Gladys Knight had anything to do with it.
Tracklist:
Ritchie Family – Give Me A Break (1980)
Donna Summer – Rumour Has It (1977)
Paul Jabara – Disco Queen (1978)
Brenda And The Tabulations – Let’s Go All The Way (Down) (1977)
Giorgio – I Wanna Funk With You Tonite (1976)
Liquid Gold – Dance Yourself Dizzy (1979)
Parliament – Flashlight (1979)
Love And Kisses – I've Found Love (Now That I've Found You) (1977)
Pattie Brooks – After Dark (1978)
Lipps, Inc. – Funkytown (1980)
Captain & Tenille – No Love In The Morning (1979)
Cher – Take Me Home (1979)
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