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21-655: In addition to the Buddah imprint, the company distributed many other independent labels, including Kama Sutra Records (after Kama Sutra cut their distribution ties with MGM in 1969), Curtom Records ( Curtis Mayfield ), T-Neck Records (the Isley Brothers ), Charisma Records ( Genesis , Monty Python ), Sussex Records ( Bill Withers ), Hot Wax Records ( Holland-Dozier-Holland post- Motown productions) and smaller subsidiaries. Kama Sutra Records helped bolster MGM Records's profits during 1965 and 1966, primarily due to

42-553: A Christmas present for the latter's wife. "I thought it was really strange that nobody'd written a song with that title — possibly somebody had, but I'd never heard it — so I just sat down and let this stream of consciousness happen. I basically wrote it in a very short period of time, probably 30 minutes or an hour." The song's first run of popularity, as "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me," came in 1973, when country music singer Ray Price took

63-569: A controlling interest in Buddah in 1968 with Ripp, Steinberg and Mizrahi departing the company at this time, leaving Kass and Bogart in charge. As bubblegum music's popularity declined at the turn of the decade, Buddah branched out into gospel, folk-country, and R&B. Bogart, a master promoter, went to great lengths to generate hit singles for " top 40 " radio airplay, and got results; music industry historian Bob Hyde has estimated that, during their heyday, Buddah and its associated labels charted over 100 singles, with about one in five singles issued by

84-604: A song written by Jim Weatherly , and produced by Don Law . It was first recorded in 1973 by Danny Thomas. Soon after it was done by Ray Price from his album You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me . The song enjoyed two runs of popularity, each by an artist in a different genre. Weatherly told Tom Roland in The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits that he wrote the song in 1971 and let his father-in-law first record it as

105-629: The Brut Fabergé company. Bogart left Buddah in 1974 to start his own label, Casablanca Records . Shortly before Bogart's departure, Gladys Knight & the Pips emerged as Buddah's biggest success. Previously signed to Motown Records ' Soul imprint, Knight and the Pips released their biggest hits, including " Midnight Train to Georgia " and " You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me ", for Buddah. Jazz session drummer Norman Connors became Buddah's musical director in 1976 and helped to foster

126-680: The Hot Soul Singles for two weeks. The single was certified gold by the RIAA for sales of one million copies. It also reached the top 10 in the United Kingdom . In 1975, gospel singer Rev. James Cleveland & The Charles Fold Singers recorded a live version of the song, which was cited (in the song) as an adaptation of the Gladys Knight & The Pips version of the song. In 1974, The Persuaders also recorded

147-550: The accompanying album of the same name. Kama Sutra's final issue came a year later, with the Fat Boys (formerly the Disco 3)'s self-titled single. Art Kass subsequently sold the label to Essex Entertainment, who managed the Buddah catalog until 1993, when they sold it to BMG . Kass formed another label, Casino Records, in partnership with former New York Dolls manager Marty Thau and concert promoter Terrell Braly , but this venture

168-539: The company charting (vs. the ratio of one chart hit to 20 singles released that most "major labels" experienced in that time period). Hit singles released by Buddah and its associated labels during 1969–1973 included: While Buddah primarily focused on singles, several of its album releases, including Brewer & Shipley's Tarkio (1970), Bill Withers' Still Bill (1972), and Curtis Mayfield's Super Fly (1972), also charted well during this period. Neil Bogart created and distributed Brut Records via Buddah Records for

189-401: The company was more of a logo and dropped most of its more famous acts. In 1980, Curtom was disbanded. At this point, the only artists attached to the label were Linda Clifford , Mayfield and Today, Tomorrow, Forever. You%27re the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me " You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me " — also known simply as " Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me " — is

210-475: The demise of Curtom in the late 1970s: the rise of disco and the collapse of the black film market. In 1976, the company felt prosperous enough to invest in the film Short Eyes . Pruter noted that by the late 70s the label was "mostly releasing second-rate disco" and that the soundtrack to Short Eyes did poorly following the collapse of the black movies losing their audience. Curtom switched from Warner Brothers to RSO for distribution by 1979, ad this time,

231-615: The early 1960s before taking a VP/Sales Director position at Cameo-Parkway Records . Bogart quickly enlisted Cameo-Parkway producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz , the Ohio Express (a band signed to Kasenetz's and Katz's Super K Productions firm), and ex-Cameo artists the Five Stairsteps into the new label. Buddah's first single was "Yes, We Have No Bananas"/"The Audition" by the Mulberry Fruit Band;

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252-553: The hit songs from Mayfield's group The Impressions released by ABC Records . At the inception, Mayfield was the company principal producer and A&R person. Other staff included Johnny Pate and Donny Hathaway . Pate left in 1972. Most of the artists on Curtom did not write their own music, which lead to the studio producers such as LeRoy Hutson , Lowrell Simon , Ed Townsend , Gil Askey and Marvin Yanch and Chuck Jackson to produce and write music. The first release on Curtom

273-665: The label's first album was Safe as Milk by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band . Kass and Bogart also brought along the promotion department of Cameo-Parkway, which was shutting down. Buddah initially made its mark as a bubblegum pop music label, with Ohio Express, the 1910 Fruitgum Company and Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus . However, it was The Lemon Pipers who gave Buddah its first No. 1 hit with " Green Tambourine ", produced by Paul Leka , in February 1968. The New York-area visual aids company Viewlex purchased

294-749: The label's move toward R&B and disco (e.g., the Andrea True Connection 's "More, More, More" (1976) and Chic 's " Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah) " (1977); Chic's song charted upon its subsequent re-issue by Atlantic Records ). Viewlex declared bankruptcy in 1976 and Art Kass purchased Buddah back from them, but the debt resulted in a substantial decline in the number of new releases. Arista Records took over distribution of Buddah from 1978 to 1983, with several artists, including Norman Connors and Phyllis Hyman, switching to Arista. Buddah's final release of new product came in mid-1983, with Michael Henderson's R&B hit "Fickle" and

315-619: The song to number 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart on October 6, 1973. For that version, it represented a last and a first. The "last" was Price's seventh and most recent No. 1 single, in a string dating back to his 1956 hit " Crazy Arms ". The "first": It was the No. 1 single on the debut program of American Country Countdown , which used the Billboard chart in its programming. Although it fell short of

336-450: The success of Kama Sutra's flagship artists The Lovin' Spoonful . Kama Sutra's head, Art Kass, ultimately grew dissatisfied with his distribution deal with MGM and founded Buddah Records in 1967, with his Kama Sutra partners, Artie Ripp, Hy Mizrahi, Phil Steinberg, and (allegedly) Italian mobster John "Sonny" Franzese . Kass brought in 24-year-old Neil Bogart to oversee Buddah's daily operations. Bogart had been an MGM General Manager in

357-544: The top 40 in his native United States, the song was an easy listening hit in Canada , his third such hit there. In the early- to mid-1970s, Gladys Knight & the Pips recorded several of Weatherly's songs, and in 1974, they dipped into his catalog once again with their rendition of the song. Their version, titled "Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me," reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 that spring and topped

378-466: Was This Is My Country released in 1968. Mayfield was not involved on the business aspects of the label, and instead had manager Marv Stuart focus on those things. Stuart took over direction of the company from Eddie Thomas in 1970, and formally took charge in May 1971. Mayfield said he taught the music business to Stuart and that Stuart "through his own know-how and his own go-getting-ness, he learned. He

399-470: Was a record label founded by Curtis Mayfield and Eddie Thomas in March 1968 as an independently distributed music label. It was located at 8541 South Stony Island Boulevard. The name of the label came from a hybrid of the names "Curtis" and "Thomas". Prior to Curtom, Mayfield had started two other labels: Windy C and Mayfield which both had closed down. The company's motto was "We're a Winner", taken from one

420-558: Was able to find weak spots in Curtom and he turned them around." In June 1968, distribution of the label was assumed by the New York-based label Buddah Records . Curtom grew enough to take over RCA Studio in 1973. In 1975, Curtom moved to Warner Brothers for distribution. By 1976, company had gross sales ranging between nine and 10 million dollars. Robert Pruter, author of the book Chicago Soul stated that two factors led to

441-918: Was not successful. Buddah, now known as Buddha Records, was re-activated by BMG in September 1998 as a reissue label, which was subsequently reorganized as BMG Heritage Records on January 1, 2002. The Buddah/Buddha catalogue is now owned by Sony Music Entertainment and managed by Legacy Recordings . Buddah distributed many labels during its history, including the following: Other Buddah subsidiaries or associated labels included Radio Active Gold (for reissue singles), Team, Super K , Royal American, Symbolic, Eleuthera, Ember, Pace, Desert Moon, Pi Kappa, Southwind, April, Thomas, Harbour, Music Merchant, National General, and Brut. The following artists released at least one recording for Buddah Records, or for one of Buddah's subsidiaries/distributed labels as noted in parentheses: Curtom Records Curtom Records

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