Early years
It all started with a man named Neil Bogart and his partners, Cecil Holmes, Larry Harris (Bogart’s cousin) and Buck Reingold. The company had a rough start, but it quickly found the sound of the 70’s and became the label of both disco and excess, churning out hit after hit.
Until September 1973, Bogart had overseen the Buddah record label that was owned by Viewlex Corporation. He tired of conforming to Viewlex’s requirements and left the company to start his own record label. Initially he used his relationships at Warner Bros. Records to obtain and arrange funding for his new venture. He brought with him his cousin, Larry Harris, along with a few other friends and colleagues from Buddah, Cecil Holmes (who would also go on to found the Casablanca subsidiary, Chocolate City Records) and Buck Reingold Initially Bogart wanted to name the company Emerald City, but the name was already taken by another label, that later ended up as an Atlantic subsidiary...
