In September 1947, Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson based Atlantic Information with a $10,000 mortgage from Ertegun’s dentist. In 1948, Atlantic started placing out its first releases. Seventy-five years later, Atlantic stays one of the vital storied labels in American historical past as dwelling by means of the many years to such artists as Ruth Brown, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin, Genesis, Stevie Nicks, Matchbox Twenty and Crosby, Stills & Nash; and, extra just lately, Twenty One Pilots, Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran and Lizzo.
This yr, Atlantic is paying homage to its wealthy heritage with a multi-pronged, year-long marketing campaign that celebrates a few of its most iconic titles. Already began is the discharge of 90 basic titles, many on crystal clear, coloured or recycled vinyl, curated by Atlantic Information chairman/CEO and famous audiophile Craig Kallman.
Among the many releases within the Seventy fifth-anniversary commemoration are John Coltrane’s Olé Coltrane, Sure’ Fragile, Dusty Springfield’s Dusty in Memphis, Phil Collins’ No Jacket Required, Hootie & the Blowfish’s Cracked Rear View and Crosby, Stills & Nash’s self-titled album. More moderen titles within the assortment embrace Mars’ 24K Magic, Gucci Mane’s Mr. Davis, Lizzo’s Cuz I Love You, Sheeran’s Divide and Gayle’s A Research within the Human Expertise. All titles are for buy by means of Atlantic Information’ website and a quantity can be found by means of varied brick-and-mortar retailers.
Kallman started engaged on the mission, which is working at the side of Rhino Leisure, various years in the past, printing out spreadsheets highlighting each important title of the previous 75 years. “It was stacks of paper ensuring we didn’t miss anyone. It was painstakingly performed. There was a whole lot of inside debating,” he says.
His mission was to cowl the “breadth and scope of Atlantic’s historical past by style,” he says. “We tried to incorporate information that had been culturally important, that had been groundbreaking for the corporate, that had been blowout gross sales successes. It was about information that outlined the label and the tradition of the corporate.”
Although painstaking and intensely time-consuming, Kallman says the method “was a whole lot of enjoyable and brings again a whole lot of reminiscences as a result of I used to be right here for 32 years of it.” Kallman joined Atlantic in 1991 when the corporate bought his dance label, Massive Beat Information, and, in some ways, he had unintentionally been making ready for this second. When he began at Atlantic, “I assumed a part of my duty was to actually know and perceive the historical past and legacy of the corporate so I can’t consider any [release] I didn’t already find out about, however we wrestled with ensuring that the depths of the early catalog had been there,” he says. “My DJ’ing background additionally got here in useful in making the choices.” Kallman’s private assortment numbers greater than 2 million LPs.
Whereas titles began rolling out a couple of months in the past, forthcoming releases embrace Coldplay’s A Head Filled with Goals (together with The Chainsmokers and Coldplay’s 2017 hit, “One thing Simply Like This,” as a bonus observe) on Oct. 20 and Led Zeppelin’s Led Zeppelin IV on Oct. 27. The gathering consists of various titles which have been out of print, like Lil Uzi Vert’s Luv is Rage 2, in addition to releases which have by no means come out on vinyl. All releases are tagged with a Seventy fifth-anniversary brand.
Kallman tried to maintain the releases to 75, however finally, he may solely whittle it right down to 90. “We’re like, ‘Oh my God, that is too robust to slim down,’ and we figured we may err on the facet of going past 75 titles,” he says.
Courtesy Photograph
The anniversary has a number of different parts. Atlantic has partnered with high-end audiophile label Acoustic Sounds to launch 75 basic titles in 180-gram, 45RPM black vinyl and SACD variations. That providing consists of such Genesis albums as Promoting England by the Pound and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Coltrane’s Large Steps and My Favourite Issues, Otis Redding’s The Dock of the Bay and Buffalo Springfield’s self-titled set.
One other tie-in is with vinyl subscription service Vinyl Me Please (VMP), by means of which Atlantic will supply a number of titles by means of VMP’s report of the month program. 5 titles can be out there to VMP members as November choices, together with Charles’ Ray Charles in Individual, Lupe Fiasco’s Meals & Liquor and Stone Temple Pilots‘ No. 4. Kallman says the deal may prolong past the preliminary 5 titles relying upon the response.
One other element is a group of remixes, out there completely for streaming through DSPs. Among the many choices are DJ Nora En Pure’s contemporary tackle Donna Lewis’ “I Love You At all times Perpetually,” DJ Spinna’s remake of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly” and Italian DJ Luca Olivotto’s model of Sure’ “Proprietor of a Lonely Coronary heart.”
The anniversary additionally features a espresso desk guide from luxurious artwork guide writer Taschen, which is predicted to return out in 2024. “That’s been a labor of affection,” Kallman says. “We’re excited to have a becoming chronicle of the historical past of the corporate with extraordinary images and nice essays.”
