Russ Regan

Russ Regan
Russ Regan
Birth name	Harold Rustigian
Born	October 15, 1928; Sanger, California, U.S.
Died	May 27, 2018 (aged 89); Palm Springs, California, U.S.
Occupation	Record executive
Labels	UNI, 20th Century, Motown

Russ Regan (born Harold Rustigian; October 15, 1928 in Sanger, California^[1] – May 27, 2018 in Palm Springs, California)^[2] was an American record executive who was President of both UNI Records and 20th Century Records^[3] and was vice-president of A&R at Motown.^[4] Regan is the rare executive to have seen No. 1 hits in four successive decades.

Career

He started his career in the 1950s as a composer and record producer. His first notable hit was a 1959 Christmas novelty song, inspired by "The Chipmunk Song", titled "The Happy Reindeer" credited to Dancer, Prancer and Nervous (No. 34, Pop) issued by Capitol Records.^[5] In the early 1960s, Regan recorded "Joan of Love", backed with "Adults Only", which was released under the name Russ Regan.^{[citation needed]} He also recorded "Calling All Cars" under the name Davy Summers for Warner Brothers with producer Sonny Bono.^{[citation needed]} In the mid-1960s, he was drafted in to help form a musical direction for Warner Brothers' fledgling pop/soul music subsidiary, Loma Records.^{[citation needed]}

Regan started in record promotion with Motown in the early years of the company.^{[citation needed]} His first project there was the company's first Billboard Hot 100 number one record, "Please Mr. Postman" by The Marvelettes in 1961.^{[citation needed]} He would go on to promote songs by The Supremes, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, and Marvin Gaye.^{[citation needed]} He suggested the name of The Beach Boys when a Los Angeles group called Carl & The Passions had just recorded a song called "Surfin'".^[3] He also helped Frank Sinatra record his No. 4 hit, "That's Life" in 1966.^{[citation needed]} He struck a deal with Jimmy Miller Productions when Miller left The Rolling Stones, which resulted in albums from B.B. King, Henry Gross, Bobby Whitlock, and others.^{[citation needed]} Regan also signed Ambrosia and Harriet Schock to 20th Century Records.^{[citation needed]}

Russ Regan played a major role in the careers of a number of recording artists, as he headed up labels such as Uni, 20th Century and Phonogram Records.^[3] Dozens of recording artists, including Elton John, Neil Diamond, Barry White, Olivia Newton-John and The Beach Boys had Regan to thank for opening the doors for their success.^[6] One of his most surprising successes while at UNI was South African trumpeter Hugh Masakela's "Grazing In The Grass" in 1968, which sold over a million and reached the top spot in the Billboard pop chart.^{[citation needed]}

While President of 20th Century Records, Regan was inspired from a dream to create the movie All This and World War II, which saw Fox News footage from WWII backed with various artists singing Beatles songs.^{[citation needed]} The movie was never released on video, and it remains in the vaults of 20th Century Fox.^{[citation needed]} Regan also supervised the soundtracks for the movies Endless Love, Breakin', The Karate Kid, All The Right Moves, Love At First Bite, This Is Spinal Tap, and A Chorus Line.^{[citation needed]} Regan was also the Music Supervisor for four Academy Award-winning songs from the films The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno, Flashdance, and Chariots of Fire.^{[citation needed]}

Notes

^ Murphy, James B. (8 June 2015). Becoming the Beach Boys, 1961–1963. McFarland. ISBN 9781476618531. Retrieved 13 October 2018 – via Google Books.
^ "Russ Regan, Music Executive Who Signed Elton John and Neil Diamond, Dies at 89". Variety.com. 29 May 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 621. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
^ "Georgio Groomed For Stardom" (PDF). Americanradiohistory.com. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
^ Edwards, Dave; Eyries, Patrice; Callahan, Mike (April 24, 2007). "Universal City Records [UNI] Album Discography". Discographies. Both Sides Now Publications. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
^ Freedland, Nat (August 31, 1974). "Sometimes Nice Guys Come In First: The Russ Regan Story". Billboard. Vol. 86, no. 35. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved July 2, 2011.

References

Wayne, Artie (2006). "Russ Regan Interviewed". Spectropop. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
"Clearvision International, Inc. and Velocity Entertainment, Inc. Sign Letter Of Intent". BNET. Hollywood, California: CBS Interactive. January 20, 2007. Retrieved July 2, 2011.

External links

"Discography of Loma Records". Archived from the original on 2007-12-25. Retrieved 2008-02-03.

[1] Murphy, James B. (8 June 2015). Becoming the Beach Boys, 1961–1963. McFarland. ISBN 9781476618531. Retrieved 13 October 2018 – via Google Books.

[2] "Russ Regan, Music Executive Who Signed Elton John and Neil Diamond, Dies at 89". Variety.com. 29 May 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.

[LarkinGE-3] Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 621. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.

[4] "Georgio Groomed For Stardom" (PDF). Americanradiohistory.com. Retrieved 13 October 2018.

[5] Edwards, Dave; Eyries, Patrice; Callahan, Mike (April 24, 2007). "Universal City Records [UNI] Album Discography". Discographies. Both Sides Now Publications. Retrieved July 2, 2011.

[6] Freedland, Nat (August 31, 1974). "Sometimes Nice Guys Come In First: The Russ Regan Story". Billboard. Vol. 86, no. 35. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved July 2, 2011.

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