Event Album Discography
By Mike Callahan, Patrice Eyries, and Dave Edwards
Last update: July 18, 2007





The Event label was the pop label for Spring Records. Spring was owned by Julie Rifkind, Roy Rifkind, and Bill Spitowski. Event Records was established in New York City in 1969. Event issued records until the spring of 1976, after which the label and its artists were absorbed into the parent Spring label.

First Event logo Originally, five of the first ten singles and the first album issued on Event were by Cashman, Pistilli & West. All three were artists, songwriters, and producers. By 1969, they had been recording as Cashman, Pistilli & West for some years for ABC and Capitol when they took advantage of the new Event label to try to change their image. Their first (and Event's first) single was "Sweets for My Sweet"/"The Feeling That I Get (When You're Near Me)" [Event 3301], credited to "Central Park West." For their next single, they recorded as the Buchanan Brothers, and "Medicine Man" [Event 3302] crashed the national top-30, making #22 in late spring, 1969. The fall followup single, "Son of a Lovin' Man" [Event 3305] made it to #61. In December, Event released the third Buchanan Brothers offering, a remake of the Rolling Stones' "The Last Time" [Event 3307], which only reached #108. The following single, released in early 1970, was a song they recorded on Capitol the year before, "Rosianna" [Event 3309], and it missed the charts altogether.

Terry Cashman (left) & Tommy West Other singles released within the first ten were by the Staten Island Ferry and a pair by Horatio. The final single, Event 3310, was by the Dovells, the Philadelphia-based dance group that had faded from the charts some years before, with a remake of "Roll Over Beethoven." In mid-1970, after those first ten records (and an album by the Buchanan Brothers) were issued, Polydor took over distribution, at which time both the label design and catalog sequence numbers changed. The old logo was a musical note with "EVENT" written over it, while the new logo had "EVENT" as if it were in theater lights on Broadway. The singles series changed from the 3300 series to the 200 series.

A couple of additional Buchanan Brothers singles were issued on the new series in 1970, but the hit string had run out. Gene Pistilli left the trio to travel with a new group called the Manhattan Transfer ( I recall seeing the group in the days before anyone had heard of them. Pistilli played with the group on some songs and did a great rendition of "Rosianna.") Terry Cashman (nee Dennis Minogue) and Tommy West (nee Tommy Picardo) continued as a duo, recording "California on My Mind" as the Morning Mist [Event 206], which charted in the summer of 1971 but only reached #96. Cashman & West then left Event and recorded under the name Cashman & West with hits like "American City Suite" [Dunhill 4324], which reached #27 in 1972. They also pursued production, producing Jim Croce's hits in 1973.

By the time the Morning Mist single was issued in mid-1971, Spring Records was using the Event label sparingly. In fact, so sparingly that the next four singles [Event 207-210] were all by the duo (Gus) Mancini & (Neil) Fox, meted out every few months. None of the singles charted, but Event felt the group was good enough to release an album. The eponymous disc was released on a new EV-4750 series as EV-4751. It failed to chart, also.

At this point (around the beginning of 1972), Spring Records, basically an R&B label, re-thought whether their pop subsidiary was working. Apparently, they decided it wasn't, and Event fell into dormancy. Essentially nothing was issued on Event — no singles, no albums — until the fall of 1973. When Spring finally did start using Event again, it wasn't for pop music, but rather for disco and other R&B music. They were selective in their releases, only a handful of singles and a couple of albums per year, but were quite successful in placing most of these on the R&B charts (almost none of these made even the pop "Bubbling Under" charts, however). So the Event label had been completely made over from a pop label to an R&B label. Singles continued with the 200 series, but albums were issued in a new EV- 6900 series.

Pepper Box single The earliest success for the new R&B-oriented Event label was a single by the Mainstreeters, "It's My Life" [Event 212], which made #91 on the R&B charts in October, 1973. This was followed by the dance instrumental "Pepper Box" by the Peppers [Event 213] in early 1974, which reached #34 on the R&B charts and crossed over to #74 on the pop side. The Peppers were a French duo of Mat Camison on keyboards and Pierre Dahan on drums. They followed up with "Hot Carmel" [Event 215, 8/74, #76 R&B] and "Do It, Do It" [Event 221, 1/75, #100 R&B]. All six sides of the three singles were included on their Event album The Peppers [EV-6901].

The Dovells returned with a remake of Martha and the Vandellas' "Dancing in the Street" [Event 216], which reached #105 on the "Bubbling Under" charts in August, 1974, which proved to be their last chart single (and their last single for Event). Event had two other one-hit artists in 1975 and 1976, although both had hits for other labels. (Prince) Phillip Mitchell made #58 on the R&B charts in March, 1975, with "There's Another in My Life" [Event 223], and Jay & the Techniques made #96 on the R&B charts with "Number Onderful" [Event 228] in early 1976.

The Fatback Band In the summer of 1974, Event signed a group that would be their biggest seller, and also a big seller for the parent Spring label after they discontinued Event Records: The Fatback Band (later just Fatback). Although the group never broke into the pop top-100, they are recognized as pioneers in the disco and hip-hop genre. The group came from New Jersey, and included Bill Curtis (vocals, drums), Johnny King (guitar), George Adam (flute), Earl Shelton (sax), George Williams (trumpet), Gerry Thomas (keyboards) and John Flippin (bass). The Fatback Band had six singles and three albums issued on Event. Five of the singles charted: "Keep on Steppin'" [Event 217, 9/74, #50 R&B], "Wicki Wacky" [Event 219, #94 R&B], "Yum, Yum (Gimme Some)" [Event 226, 5/75, #80 R&B], "(Are You Ready) Do the Bus Stop" [Event 227, 11/75, #37 R&B, #15 Disco], and "Spanish Hustle" [Event 229, 3/76, #12 R&B, #5 Disco, #101 pop]. In fact, it was the success of the latter single that caused Spring Records to call a halt to Event Records and pull the Fatback Band and the other artists onto the parent label.

The other album released on Event was a compilation from the TV show Hollywood Squares. In late spring, 1976, the parent label halted further issues on Event Records.


The label (far left) for the 1970 Buchanan Brothers LP (ES-100 Series) was a dark pink with the musical note logo at the left of and above the center hole. Canadian pressings (near left) used the same graphics but an orange label with black print. There was no fine print at the bottom of the US label indicating ownership of the label. The Canadian version stated, "MANUFACTURED AND DISTRIBUTED IN CANADA BY THE COMPO COMPANY, LTD. BROADCAST UNDER LICENSE ONLY".
Starting in 1970, the label began being distributed by Polydor, at which point it changed design. The EV-6900 series (near left) used a red label with "EVENT" in block letters at the top. The logo changed to "EVENT" in block caps as if it were in theater lights. The 45 label (near left) was similar. Around the bottom of both the album and single labels during the Polydor days was, "DISTRIBUTED BY POLYDOR INC., NEW YORK, N.Y. 10019 MADE IN U.S.A."


Early Event single This Event Records label had no relation to the earlier label of the same name that operated between 1956 and 1962 out of 10 Hardy Road, Westbrook, Maine. The earlier record label (see right), which put out at least one album, and the doo-wop hits "I" by the Velvets and "Dear One" by the Scarlets, was run by B.L. Hawkes. It had a yellow label with black print.

We would appreciate any additions or corrections to this discography. Just send them to us via e-mail. Both Sides Now Publications is an information web page. We are not a catalog, nor can we provide the records listed below. We have no association with Event Records. Should you be interested in acquiring albums listed in this discography (which are all out of print), we suggest you see our Frequently Asked Questions page and Follow the instructions found there. This story and discography are copyright 2007 by Mike Callahan.



EVENT ALBUM DISCOGRAPHY

Number - Title - Artist [Release Date] (Chart) Contents



Event ES-100 Popular Music Series:

ES 101 - Buchanan Brothers [aka Medicine Man/Son of a Lovin' Man] - Buchanan Brothers [1969] Cover gives the album title as Medicine Man/Son of a Lovin' Man on both front and spine, but label and back slick give the title as Buchanan Brothers. Since the single was in mono, this was the first true stereo release of the two chart records. Annoyingly, "Medicine Man" crossfades in from the previous song. The song with a clean intro can be found on the later Cashman & West CD release The AM-FM Blues (Their Very Best) [Razor & Tie RE 2028, issued in 1993]. Son Of A Lovin' Man/The Feeling That I Get/People Gotta Be Free/Do You Love Me/Medicine Man (Pt. I)//Medicine Man (Pt. II)/A Sad Song With A Happy Soul/The Last Time/Same Kind Of Love/I'll Never Get Enough



Event EV 4750 Popular Music Series (Distributed by Polydor):

EV 4751 - Mancini & Fox - Mancini & Fox [1971] Gus Mancini & Neil Fox. Produced by Stuart Weiner. Hand Me Down Phrases/The Apartment House/Please Sweet Savior/Light Song/Hard Time//Don't Cha Believe I Put Him Down, Ma/The Colors Are Still There/Jazz Me Blues/Never/From The Moment We Rise



Event EV 6900 Disco Series (Distributed by Polydor):

EV 6901 - The Peppers - Peppers [1974] Issued in Canada and elsewhere as Pepper Box (pictured at right). Hot Caramel/Oh' Oh' I Am Goin' Home/Blue Ballad/Double Signature/Athena Beach/Pinch Of Salt//Pepper Box/A Taste Of Honey/Do It, Do It/Roses For Mary/Just A Rock/Au Revoir

EV 6902 - Keep on Steppin' - Fatback Band [1974] Mr. Bass Man/Stuff/New York Style Love/Can't Fight The Flame//Wicki Wacky/Feeling/Keep On Steppin'/Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

EV 6903 - Zingers from the Hollywood Squares - Various Artists [1974] A collection of questions and smart-aleck answers from the television show Hollywood Squares. Marty Allen/Mel Brooks/Dom Deluise/Totie Fields/Red Foxx/George Gobel/Buddy Hackett/Alan King/Don Knotts/Harvey Korman/Rich Little/Paul Lynde/Freddie Prinze/Don Rickles/Joan River/Rose Marie/David Steinberg/McLean Stevenson/Charly Weaver/Desmond Wilson

EV 6904 - Yum Yum - Fatback Band [1975] Yum, Yum (Gimme Some)/Trompin'/Let The Drums Speak/Put The Funk On You/Feed Me With Your Love//Boogie With Fatback/Gotta Learn How To Dance/If You Could Turn Into Me/(Hey) I Feel Real Good

EV 6905 - Raising Hell - Fatback Band [1976] (1/76, #158, #37 R&B) (Are You Ready) Do The Bus Stop/All Day/Put Your Love (In My Tender Care)/Groovy Kind Of Day//Spanish Hustle/I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)/Party Time




Thanks to Stuart Weiner and Jim (at recordsarecool).



Back to the Discography Listings Page


Back to the Both Sides Now Home Page