Edward Kassner (28 February 1920 – 19 November 1996) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n-born

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

executive and songwriter who was responsible for establishing the music publisher Kassner Music and the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

record label. He lived and worked in both

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Life and career

He was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

to Jewish parents, and aspired to be a composer from an early age. At the time of the German invasion of Austria in 1938, he escaped through

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

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 b ...

. His parents both were murdered at

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

. He initially worked in

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

cutting felt for hats, but began working as a songwriter with lyricist Peter Mulroney. He was then deported as an alien to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

but, after being allowed to return to the UK, joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in which he served as an interpreter attached to a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

tank corps regiment in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and Germany. David Taylor, ''Label Profile: President Records''
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 9 June 2008 He married in 1944, and with his wife Eileen set up his own music publishing company, the Edward Kassner Music Co. Ltd. He wrote songs under the name Eddie Cassen, and had his first success in 1946 as co-writer of

Vera Lynn Dame Vera Margaret Lynn (; 20 March 191718 June 2020) was an English singer and entertainer whose musical recordings and performances were very popular during World War II. She is honorifically known as the " Forces' Sweetheart", having giv ...

's hit recording of "How Lucky You Are". By the early 1950s, he had acquired rights to songs recorded by many leading singers of the day including

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signing ...

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

, and

The Inkspots The Ink Spots were an American pop vocal group who gained international fame in the 1930s and 1940s. Their unique musical style presaged the rhythm and blues and rock and roll musical genres, and the subgenre doo-wop. The Ink Spots were widely ...

, and opened an office 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 ...

in 1951. He expanded the business by acquiring several other publishing companies, including Broadway Music Corp. which held the rights to a number of

pop standard Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

s including " You Made Me Love You", " I'll Be With You In Apple Blossom Time" and "

Take Me Out To The Ball Game "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is a 1908 Tin Pan Alley song by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer which has become the unofficial anthem of North American baseball, although neither of its authors had attended a game prior to writing the song ...

". He also bought, for $250, the rights to the song "

Rock Around The Clock "Rock Around the Clock" is a rock and roll song in the 12-bar blues format written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers (the latter being under the pseudonym "Jimmy De Knight") in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was record ...

", which became one of the most recorded songs of all time and reportedly sold over 170 million copies. In 1955, he and his business partners formed

President Records President Records is a British independent record label. It is one of the oldest independent record companies in the UK, originally launched in 1957 by Edward Kassner. During the 1960s and 1970s the label, and its subsidiary Jay Boy, had hits ...

in New York, but it had little success and was amalgamated into a larger company by 1961. He then formed another company, Seville Records, which had hits with "

Shout! Shout! (Knock Yourself Out) "Shout! Shout! (Knock Yourself Out)" is a song written by Ernie Maresca and Thomas F. Bogdany, and originally recorded by Maresca in 1962. The single was released on Edward Kassner's fledgling Seville Records label. It also appeared on Maresca's ...

" by

Ernie Maresca Ernest Peter Maresca (August 21, 1938 – July 8, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter and record company executive, best known for writing or co-writing some of Dion's biggest hits, including "Runaround Sue" and " The Wanderer". Biogr ...

and "Bobby's Girl" by

Marcie Blane Marcia Blank (born May 21, 1944),, known as Marcie Blane, is a former American pop singer from 1962 to 1965. Life and career Blane was born in Brooklyn, New York. As a favor to a friend, Blane recorded a demo for Seville Records. The song was ...

, but failed to capitalise on its early successes. He decided to reactivate the President label, partly inspired by the memory of

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

after his assassination. Soon afterwards, in 1964, his London office acquired a management and publishing deal with a new group,

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...

, who had a string of successful releases in both the UK and US starting with "

You Really Got Me "You Really Got Me" is a song written by Ray Davies for English rock band the Kinks. The song, originally performed in a more blues-oriented style, was inspired by artists such as Lead Belly and Big Bill Broonzy. Two versions of the song wer ...

". With the

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" on b ...

, Kassner decided to prioritise his activities in the UK, and launched the President label in Britain in 1966. The label's early successes were " Bye Bye Baby" and " The Best Part of Breaking Up" by

The Symbols The Symbols were an English pop music band, who were founded in 1965 and lasted until 1974. They had two hits on the UK Singles Chart with " Bye Bye Baby" (1967), and " (The Best Part of) Breaking Up" (1968). Career The group began in the earl ...

, a London band, and "I Feel Love Comin' On" by

Felice Taylor Felice Taylor (born Florain Corella Flanagan, January 29, 1944 – June 12, 2017) was an American soul and pop singer, best known for her recordings in the late 1960s. The Sweets Born in Richmond, California, United States, Taylor began ...

. In 1968 the company had greater success with " Baby, Come Back" by

The Equals ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, a UK no. 1 which also made the US chart and was followed up by a string of hits for the group in the UK. The company also set up a subsidiary label, Jay Boy, for releasing US singles on the TK and other labels in the UK, and had a series of hits in the 1970s with recordings by

George McCrae George Warren McCrae Jr. (born October 19, 1944) is an American soul music, soul and disco singing, singer who is most famous for his 1974 hit "Rock Your Baby". Biography and career McCrae was the second of nine children, born in West Palm Bea ...

and

KC and the Sunshine Band KC and the Sunshine Band is an American disco and funk band that was founded in 1973 in Hialeah, Florida. Their best-known songs include the hits "That's the Way (I Like It)", "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", "I'm Your Boogie Man", "K ...

. From the 1980s onwards, Kassner's company had particular success through its association with

Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist best known as a former member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his solo albums released in the 1970s. Born and raised ...

. In 1987 Edward Kassner signed up a young English band leader, Graham Dalby and his band The Grahamophones. Four albums followed plus a Children in Need single on the President label. One of the published songs by Dalby was used as the title of a BBC 2 documentary ''I'd Sooner Be A Crooner'' in 1988. Edward Kassner continued as head of his companies until his death in London in 1996 at the age of 76. Nigel Hunter, Obituary, "Publisher Kassner dead at 76"
''Billboard'', 21 December 1996, pp.6, 87 His family, in particular his son David Kassner, continue to operate the companies.

References

External links

President Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kassner, Edward 1920 births 1996 deaths British music industry executives Jewish emigrants from Austria to the United Kingdom after the Anschluss British Army personnel of World War II British expatriates in the United States