Chocolate City Records was a

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

subsidiary of Casablanca Records & Filmworks. It was started in 1975 by Cecil Holmes, Neil Bogart's partner at Casablanca. Its name was a reference to the album '' Chocolate City'' by

The Parliaments The Parliaments were an American vocal quintet from Plainfield, New Jersey, United States. Originally formed in the back room of a barbershop in 1956, the quintet was named after the cigarette brand. The Parliaments initially performed doo-wo ...

. The label featured artists such as Cameo, founded by

Larry Blackmon Larry Ernest Blackmon (born May 29, 1956) is an American vocalist and musician, known as the lead singer, founder and frontman of the funk and R&B band Cameo. Musical career Starting the band "East Coast", Blackmon formed the "New York Ci ...

. In 1980 the label was sold to PolyGram along with Casablanca, which are now part of

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

; in 1983 Chocolate City Records went out of business and Cecil Holmes left Casablanca Records & Filmworks and went on to be the VP of Black music for CBS Records.

Recording history

The label's first group were The New York City Players, who later changed their name to '' Cameo'', with singles "Find My Way" and "Rigor Mortis". The next groups to sign for Chocolate City were Brenda & the Tabulations, with their

slow jam A slow jam is music with rhythm and blues and soul influences. Slow jams are commonly R&B ballads or downtempo songs, and are mostly soft-sounding with heavily emotional or romantic lyrical content. The earliest known use of the term is from a ...

entitled "Home To Myself", and Blacksmoke, whose self-titled debut ''Blacksmoke'' featured the two singles "Your Love Has Got Me Screaming" and "There It Is". In 1977, both Cameo and Brenda & The Tabulations recorded their first albums for Chocolate City Records. Cameo titled their first album ''Cardiac Arrest''. The two singles were "Funk Funk" and "Post Mortem". The first Brenda & The Tabulations album was ''I Keep Coming Back For More'', from which the singles "Let's Go All The Way (Down)" and "Superstar" were taken. In the fall of 1977, Cameo titled their 2nd album ''We All Know Who We Are''. The 4 singles were "C On The Funk", "Why Have I Lost You?", "We All Know Who We Are" and "It's Serious". In 1978, two new artists signed with Chocolate City Records: the solo singer Vernon Burch, and Townsend, Townsend, Townsend & Rogers. Burch's album was titled ''Love-A-Thon'', with singles "Brighter Days" and "Love Is"; Townsend, Townsend, Townsend & Rogers' album was self-titled and included the single "Bring It Down To The Real" written by Dave Rogers and Ed Townsend. Four new groups signed with the label in 1980. Randy Brown, who was originally signed to Parachute Records, released his first album under Chocolate City Records: ''Midnight Desire''. Two singles included on this album were "We Outta Be Doin' It" and "It's The Next Best Thing (To Being There)". 7th Wonder, also originally signed to Parachute, released their first album under Chocolate City Records: ''Thunder''. The album included the singles "The Tilt" and "I Enjoy Ya". Starpoint released their self-titled first album. Three hit singles from the album were "I Just Wanna Dance With You", "Get Ready, Get Down" and "Gonna Lift You Up".

Kevin Moore Kevin Moore (born May 26, 1967) is an American former keyboardist, composer and the founder of the Chroma Key music project. He was also a member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater, co-founder of the progressive rock supergroup O.S. ...

released an album entitled ''Rainmaker'', with the hit single "The Way You Hold Me". In January 1976, another group called the Funkateers signed with Chocolate City. They recorded their hit single titled, "Give What You Got."

References

External links

Chocolate City on Discogs
{{Authority control Casablanca Records Chocolate City Chocolate City Chocolate City Record labels disestablished in 1982 Entertainment companies established in 1975