Lawrence Uttal (December 2, 1921 – November 25, 1993) was an American music business executive who led the

Madison Records Madison Records was an American record label. It was founded in 1958 by Larry Uttal. It lasted until 1961 when Uttal absorbed the label into his newly acquired Bell Records. Artists *The Bell Notes * Dante and the Evergreens *Nino and the Ebb Ti ...

, Bell and Private Stock

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the pr ...

s in the 1960s and 1970s. He was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He joined Bill Buchanan in the publishing firm Monument Music in 1955, taking sole control the following year and launching

soon afterwards. In 1961, he closed the Madison label and took over

Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benny ...

, which had previously largely issued children's records, together with its associated labels

Mala Mala may refer to: Comics * Mala (Amazon), an Amazon from Wonder Woman's side of the DC Universe * Mala (Kryptonian), a villain from Superman's corner of the DC Universe Films and television * ''Mala'' (1941 film), a Bollywood drama film * , ...

and

Amy Amy is a female given name, sometimes short for Amanda, Amelia, Amélie, or Amita. In French, the name is spelled ''" Aimée"''. People A–E * Amy Acker (born 1976), American actress * Amy Vera Ackman, also known as Mother Giovanni (1886– ...

. The labels had success in the early 1960s with records by Joey Powers, Ronny & the Daytonas, Del Shannon and Lee Dorsey, before moving into the

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...

and R&B market in the late 1960s with distribution deals for such leading producers as

Papa Don Schroeder Gerald Don Schroeder (December 29, 1940 – November 15, 2019), known professionally as Papa Don Schroeder, was an American radio station owner and former record producer, radio personality, and singer-songwriter, who was responsible for producin ...

Allen Toussaint Allen Richard Toussaint (; January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) was an American musician, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the end of the century, descri ...

, and Thom Bell. He issued records by rock and

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...

ians such as

The Box Tops The Box Tops is an American rock band formed in Memphis in 1967. They are best known for the hits " The Letter", " Cry Like a Baby", "Choo Choo Train," and " Soul Deep" and are considered a major blue-eyed soul group of the period. They perfo ...

The 5th Dimension The 5th Dimension is an American popular music vocal group, whose repertoire includes pop, R&B, soul, jazz, light opera, and Broadway. Formed as the Versatiles in late 1965, the group changed its name to "the 5th Dimension" by 1966. Betwe ...

, David Cassidy, The Partridge Family and Tony Orlando, and set up several subsidiary labels including Philly Groove. The Bell, Amy and Mala labels were bought by Columbia-Screen Gems in 1969, but Uttal remained as part-owner and president until leaving in 1974 when

Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 19 ...

merged all the Columbia Pictures Records labels into one and created

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertain ...

. He then set up the Private Stock label, releasing records by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, David Soul, Starbuck and others. In 1978, Uttal closed Private Stock and moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, where he worked in the film industry. After returning to New York, he worked in the travel business. He also became active in the

Gay Men's Health Crisis The GMHC (formerly Gay Men's Health Crisis) is a New York City–based non-profit, volunteer-supported and community-based AIDS service organization whose mission statement is to "end the AIDS epidemic and uplift the lives of all affected." His ...

organization and the National Gay and Lesbian Caucus. He died in New York in 1993, aged 71, from

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ma ...

. The musician Jai Uttal is his son and his daughter Jody Uttal (also known as Jody Uttal-Gold) was a cofounder of Rock the Vote and director of corporate videos.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uttal, Larry 1921 births 1993 deaths AIDS-related deaths in New York (state) American music industry executives Businesspeople from New York City 20th-century American businesspeople