It's Jason Derulo's thing as Ron Isley alongside SNL 's Jay Pharoah and Chris Redd in Spinning Gold
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Move over, Humphrey! There's a new Bogart in town with a film about Casablanca.
Neil Bogart was the founder of Casablanca Records, the wildly successful independent record label that counted among its roster of talent Donna Summer, Parliament, Gladys Knight, the Isley Brothers, the Village People, Bill Withers, and KISS.
That's right, the Knights in Satan's Service were on the same label as the Pips. The '70s, baby!
Now, Spinning Gold, a new biopic starring Tony nominee Jeremy Jordan (Smash, Supergirl) as Bogart, uncovers the story of Casablanca Records, featuring Wiz Khalifa, Ledisi, and Jason Derulo as some of the label's iconic stars.
Wiz plays the Crazy Uncle of Funk George Clinton of Parliament/Funkadelic fame, Ledisi portrays legendary soul diva Gladys Knight, and Derulo can be seen in the clip above as Ron Isely singing the Isley Brothers classic "It's Your Thing." Saturday Night Live's Jay Pharoah and Chris Redd give Derulo a hand as Casablanca co-founder Cecil Holmes and famed deejay Frankie Crocker, respectively.
Hero Entertainment (L-R) James Wolk, Jeremy Jordan, Jay Pharoah, and Jason Derulo.
Founded in 1973 by Bogart and fellow Buddha Records employees Holmes, Larry Harris, and Buck Reingold, Casablanca signed its first artists with the rock band KISS. After three underperforming studio albums, the label and the band scored their first hit album with Alive!, a double live album. Casablanca then signed Donna Summer in 1975, releasing her epic, proto-disco track "Love to Love You Baby" the same year.
From 1975 to 1979, Summer established herself as the label's most successful artist, with a string of hits including "MacArthur Park," the Barbra Streisand duet "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)," "Bad Girls," "Hot Stuff," the Oscar-winning "Last Dance," and the landmark "I Feel Love." In Spinning Gold, Summer is portrayed by Tayla Parx (Hairspray), and super-producer Giorgio Moroder is played by comedian Sebastian Maniscalco.
With Summer's massive success, Casablanca became synonymous with disco, but its scope also included funk outfit Parliament, glam rock pioneers T. Rex, and pop diva Cher. The label became known for its lavish spending and glamorous parties promoting its acts because, well, '70s, baby. But with 1980 came Bogart's ouster. After Polygram acquired 50 percent of the label and decided to clamp down on Casablanca's spending, Bogart was bought out of the company.
Bogart soon started his own label, Boardwalk Records, signing a then-unknown Joan Jett shortly before his untimely death at age 39 from cancer and lymphoma in 1982.
Spinning Gold has been toot-toot-heeeey-beep-beeping around Hollywood for about a decade and once had Justin Timberlake attached to star as Bogart. Written and directed by Bogart's son Timothy Bogart, Spinning Gold hits theaters Mar. 31.
Related content:
