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

Bell A bell /ˈbɛl/ () is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be m ...

and Private Stock record labels in the 1960s and 1970s. He was born in New York City. He joined Bill Buchanan in the publishing firm Monument Music in 1955, taking sole control the following year and launching Madison Records soon afterwards. In 1961, he closed the Madison label and took over Bell Records, which had previously largely issued children's records, together with its associated labels Mala and Amy. 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 and R&B market in the late 1960s with distribution deals for such leading producers as Papa Don Schroeder, Allen Toussaint, and Thom Bell. He issued records by rock and pop musicians such as The Box Tops, The 5th Dimension, David Cassidy, The Partridge Family and

Tony Orlando Michael Anthony Orlando Cassavitis (born April 3, 1944), known professionally as Tony Orlando, is an American Pop music, pop/Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and music executive whose career spans nearly seven decades. He is best known for h ...

, 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 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 American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

. 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, England, 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 organization and the National Gay and Lesbian Caucus. He died in New York in 1993, aged 71, from AIDS. 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 Rock the Vote is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit organization in the United States. Through registering new young voters, the group aims to "channel the energy among young people around racial, economic, and health justice into one of the mo ...

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