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Sonny Casella

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Sonny Casella
Occupation(s)Music producer, Music Executive, musician
InstrumentDrums
Musical artist

Sonny Casella is a musician, composer and music producer. He managed the group, The Magic Mushrooms as well as produced their recordings. He composed and produced the hits "(Nobody Loves Me) Like You Do" for Jenny Burton and "Let Me Be the No. 1 (Love of Your Life)" for Dooley Silverspoon.

Background

Sonny Casella was a staff producer for the Paramount Records section of Famous Music in the early 1970s.

His hit compositions include, "It's-A-Happening" by Magic Mushrooms (1966), "Ah, Ha, Ha, Do Your Thing" by The Hit Parade (1969), "(Nobody Loves Me) Like You Do" by Jenny Burton (1975) and "Bump Me Baby (Part 1)" (1975) and "As Long As You Know (Who You Are) (Part 1)" by Dooley Silverspoon (1975).

Casella also formed the companies, World Wide Music and Cotton Records.

Career

In 1965, a record " I Keep Forgettin’" / "Ooh-Poo-Pah-Doo", credited to The Thornton Sisters was released on Cuppy 102. It was produced by Sonny Casella. One of the credited musicians who is now a doctor, Dr. Yvonne Thornton is adamant that she and her sisters did not participate in the recording of that song. It has been speculated that Cassella who was a producer for the label brought in a studio band to record the track. Sonny Casella and Donna Thornton of the Thornton sisters did co-write "Bad News" which was registered in 1965.

According to Cash Box in the magazine's July 29, 1967 issue, Casella along with Bill Smith and Otis Pollard were the three independent producers who were to each exclusively produce an act for the Mercury label. Casella's assignment was to produce the recordings of Philadelphia band The Magic Mushrooms.

Casella played drums on the self-tltled The Deirdre Wilson Tabac album that was released in 1970. In addition to composing seven of the album's ten songs, he also produced and arranged the recordings.

Casella composed and produced "Bump Me Baby" for Dooley Silverspoon. It was released on Cotton 836. It was reviewed by Record World in the magazine's January 18, 1975 issue. A single pick, the reviewer said that it mingled the sound patterns of "Rock the Boat" and "Rock Your Baby" with original melodic appeal. The reviewer finished off saying "his Silverspoon is born with a hit in his mouth. A Newcomer Pick, it was reviewed in the February 1, 1975 issue of Cash Box. Giving it a positive review, the reviewer noted that it was gaining a lot of attention. The following week with the title misspelt as "Bump In Baby", it made its debut at no. 70 in the Cash Box R&B Top 70 chart. On the week of March 1 with the title now corrected to "Bump Me Baby", it was at no. 58. It peaked at no. 24 on the week of March 29.

The July 5, 1975 issue of Record World reported that Casella was releasing "New York City Bump" by Black Rock. The song which went for nearly nine minutes featured a background of street and subway sounds that Record World said gave it " a fascinating cinema verite feel".

Casella's publisher Springfield - ASCAP was listed in the December 27, 1975 issue of Cash Box as one of the publishers hitting the Top 100 chart that year. He was also listed as one of the producers doing the same.

Casella wrote "Closer to Loving You" which was recorded by Dooley Silverspoon and released in 1977 on the Seville SEV 102. It was also released in a 12" format. The following year, Clem Curtis & The Foundations recorded their version which was produced by Bill Connor and Simon Cohen, and released in the UK on the Psycho label.

Discography

Singles
Act Release Catalogue Year Notes
S.O.N.N.Y.
Featuring Dooley Silverspoon and Jeanne Burton 		"American Music (Made in the USA)" Part 1 / "American Music (Made in the USA) Part 2" Cotton Records C6635 1976
S.O.N.N.Y.
Featuring Dooley Silverspoon and Jeanne Burton 		"Am I Losing You? Part 1 / "Am I Losing You? Part 2" Cotton Records C6636 1976

References

  1. Record World, August 15, 1970 - Page 16 Casella at Famous
  2. MusicVF.com - Songs written by Sonny Casella, Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography
  3. Music Week, December 6, 1975 - Page 60, Soul, 'New' New York sound on Sonny Casella's Cotton label
  4. Soulful Kinda Music - Cuppy
  5. Popsike - THORNTON SISTERS I Keep Forgettin' on CUPPY US 1965 NORTHERN SOUL 45
  6. Heavy Soul Brutha, Feb 25 — New 45rpm from Soulelujah and Cultures Of Soul!
  7. C-Span, December 13, 2007 - Q&A Yvonne Thornton
  8. Heavy Soul Brutha, Feb 25 — New 45rpm from Soulelujah and Cultures Of Soul!
  9. Soul Source, 02 Jan 2014 - New Cultures Of Soul 7 Inch Coming Out!
    the B-side which is often incorrectly credited
  10. Catalogue of Copyright Entries: Third Series
    Volume 39, Part 5, Number 2
    Music July–December 1965 - 1466 Bad News
  11. Cash Box, July 29, 1967 - Page 28 Mercury Makes Deals W/ Three Indie Producers
  12. Discogs - The Deirdre Wilson Tabac – The Deirdre Wilson Tabac
  13. Record World, April 4, 1970 - Page 14 record world Album Reviews (Continued from page 12, THE DEIRDRE WILSON TABAC
  14. Cash Box, March 8, 1975 - Page 40 vital statistics, #92 Bump Me Baby Dooley Silverspoon (Cotton 636)
  15. Record World, January 18, 1975 - Page 14 RECORD WORLD SINGLE PICKS, DOOLEY SILVERSPOON
  16. Cash Box, February 1, 1975 - Page 22 cash box / "singles reviews, newcomer picks, DOOLEY SILVERSPOON (Cotton 636WEA) Bump Me Baby Pt. 1 (2:35)
  17. Cash Box, February 8, 1975 - Page 42 CASH BOX / R&B TOP 70, 70 BUMP IN BABY
  18. Cash Box, February 22, 1975 - Page 46 CASH BOX / R&B TOP 70, 62 BUMP IN BABY, 2/15 64
  19. Cash Box, March 1, 1975 - Page 50 CASH BOX / R&B TOP 70, 58 BUMP ME BABY, 2/22 62
  20. Cash Box, March 29, 1975 - Page 46 CASH BOX / R&B TOP 70, 24 BUMP ME BABY, 2/22 27
  21. Cash Box, April 5, 1975 - Page 38 CASH BOX / R&B TOP 70, 38 BUMP ME BABY, 3/29 24
  22. Record World, July 5, 1975 - Page 38 Disco File (Continued from page 30)
  23. Cash Box, December 27, 1975 - Page 106 Publishers Hitting Top 100 Singles Chart During 1975, Springfield — ASCAP
  24. Cash Box, December 27, 1975 - Page 110 Record Producers Hitting Top 100 Singles Chart During 1975, C
  25. James Hamilton's Disco Page, September 10, 1977 - DOOLEY SILVERSPOON: ‘Closer To Loving You’ (Seville SEV 1025/12)
  26. Music Week, August 20, 1977 - Page 32 RELEASES, LISTINGS, C
  27. Record Mirror, May 13, 1978 - Page 10 Singles Reviewed by ROSALIND RUSSELL, THE FOUNDATIONS: 'Closer To Loving You' (Psycho P 2603)
  28. Gripsweat - THE FOUNDATIONS Closer To Loving You 1978 UK demo/DJ copy, PSYCHO P2603 N/MINT
  29. Soulful Kinda Music - Dooley Silverspoon, SONNY (Sound Of New New York) Featuring Dooley Silverspoon & Jeanne Burton
  30. Amazon - Am I Losing You?
  31. Amazon - american music / part 2

External links

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