The Manhattans & Olympics cutting for Atlantic; late 68

[Roburt]

It's news to me that both the Olympics and the Manhattans had / were signing with Atlantic in late 68 ...

The US music mag section was usually on the money & they were right with all the other Atlantic acts -- Dusty, the Soul Survivors & Otis Clay all had Atlantic label releases in 69.

Anyone got an 'in' with regard to the Atlantic Records vault and can say what tracks (if any) each group cut for the label ...  

The Olympics certainly were label hopping around that time, but nothing produced by Leiber & Stoller ever escaped on them.

Edited July 4, 2023 by Roburt

[The Yank]

I don't which Atlantic employee worked with the Trade papers in the 60's but, here are 2 more examples of releases that never came out on Atlantic- 

Edited July 3, 2023 by The Yank

[Roburt]

Heikki (as always) has interviewed the Manhattans & Joe Evans. They touched on this subject .... 

Joe: “The Manhattans got very, very popular in the areas, where I did most of the promotion – New York, Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia, the East Coast.  I was not big enough at that time to have all of that nationally.  I had spots in the west, but I didn’t have a complete distribution out there.  I had 35 distributors, but I didn’t have all covered all out west.” 

  “But the main reason was, when they would be in the theatres, the other artists would come around and they would be talking ‘we’re with ABC Paramount, and they’re doing so and so, you should be with them, too’.  I once overheard this.  But these groups didn’t last long.  They didn’t come up with another hit right away, and the company dropped them.  I was determined to develop my group, and develop them correctly, to establish their name.  I built the group on solid, solid foundations, and wherever they played they could always go back, whether they had a hit or not.  They left me and they went with another company, but they didn’t come up with hits for many years.”  Indeed, during the next four years chart-wise the group didn’t fare as well as with their Carnival singles with the exception of one song, which eventually paved them the way to bigger things.  The group, however, never made it to the West Coast until in 1973.

  In spite of an existing contract, Joe decided to put his business interest and feelings aside and started negotiations about selling the contract first to United Artists, Kapp and Jubilee, who all made it a condition that Joe continues to produce the group.  Then Joe came to an agreement with Atlantic Records.  Joe: “I was going to put them with a company that I knew could get records out on them and promote them, because that’s mostly what they needed.  I took more time with the material for them than with anybody else, because I knew them.  I knew what they could sing, and I could write music even without going to them.  They’d be out of town, and I’d be writing music, and when they’d get back I’d record them.”

Bobby Schiffman ... a manager at the Apollo Theatre in the late 60s. ... Blue: “Bobby knew we were looking for a manager, so he got in contact with an attorney to let him know the Manhattans wanted to be managed by someone.  We felt that Bobby Schiffman, who knew music and had the control of the Apollo and the acts that came there, was a good person to recommend us.” 

  Bobby hooked the group up with an attorney named Jack Pearl.  Blue: “He represented Hermine Hanlin .... She needed an act and we needed a manager, so Jack put us together and we signed with her in 1969.  Jack also became our musical attorney.”  Jack Pearl was affiliated with King Records and worked as their attorney and even vice president ever since the 40s.

So that's how the Joe Evans proposal that the group sign with Atlantic never came about & how come they signed with King / DeLuxe.

We just need the story on the Olympics now.

 

[Roburt]

The Manhattans were wowing their audience in Baltimore in Aug 66 ... performing "That New Girl" live (my fave of their Carnival releases).

Edited July 7, 2023 by Roburt