Name	Casablanca
Official name	Casablanca
Other name	Anfa, ⴰⵏⴼⴰ کازابلانکا
Native name
Old name	Anfa/ⴰⵏⴼⴰ/ أنفا
Nickname	Casa
Image seal	Coat of arms of Casablanca province.jpg
Seal size	100px
Pushpin label position
Pushpin mapsize	300
Coordinates region	MA
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision name	Morocco
Subdivision type1	administrative region
Subdivision name1	Grand Casablanca
Leader title1	Mayor
Leader name1	Mohammed Sajid
Established title	First settled
Established date	7th century
Established title2	reconstructed
Established date2	1756
Established title3
Unit pref
Area total km2	324
Population as of	2004
Settlement type
Population total	2,949,805
Timezone	WET
Utc offset	+0
Timezone dst	WEST
Utc offset dst	+1
Postal code type	Postal code
Postal code	20000-20200
Website	http://www.casablanca.ma/
Footnotes	}}

Casablanca (Arabic: الدار البيضاء "ad-Dār al-Bayḍāʼ", original name in Berber: Anfa / ⴰⵏⴼⴰ) is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.

Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture of Casablanca and 3,631,061 in the region of Grand Casablanca. Casablanca is considered the economic and business center of Morocco, while the political capital city of Morocco is Rabat.

Casablanca hosts headquarters and main industrial facilities for the leading Moroccan and international companies based in Morocco. Industrial statistics show Casablanca retains its historical position as the main industrial zone of the country. The Port of Casablanca is one of the largest artificial ports in the world, and the largest port of North Africa. It is also the primary naval base for the Royal Moroccan Navy.

Etymology

The Latinized name of the city is a Spanish word combination meaning 'White House' (blanca, 'white;' casa, 'house'). It is thought that the Spaniards adopted the name from Portuguese Casa Branca. The city is now nicknamed Casa by many locals.

The Berber original name, (meaning: "hill" in English), was used by the local, and Berber-speaking, city dwellers until the French occupation army entered the city in 1907 and adopted the Spanish name, Casablanca. "Anfa" now refers to the original old city quarters of Casablanca.

Legally speaking, Anfa is considered by the Moroccans as a prefecture (a district) with 0.5 million city dwellers, and is thus a part of the Grand Casablanca.

One of Casablanca's two airports is called Casablanca-Anfa Airport, the other Mohammed V International Airport.

Geography

Casablanca is located in the Chawiya plain which has historically been the breadbasket of Morocco.

Apart from the Atlantic coast, the Bouskoura forest is the only natural attraction in the city. The forest was planted in the 20th century and consists mostly of Eucalyptus and Pine trees. It is located half way to the city's international airport.

The only watercourse in Casablanca is Oued Bouskoura, a small seasonal creek that until 1912 reached the Atlantic Ocean near the actual port. Most of Oued Bouskoura's bed has been covered due to urbanization and only the part south of El-Jadida road can now be seen. The closest permanent river to Casablanca is Oum Er-Rbia River to the south-east.

History

Before the French Protectorate

The area which is today Casablanca was settled by Berbers by at least the 7th century BC.

It was used as a port by the Phoenicians and later the Romans.

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A small independent kingdom, in the area then named Anfa, arose around late Roman time in response to Arab Muslim rule, and continued until it was conquered by the Almoravids in 1068.

During the 14th century, under the Merinids, Anfa rose in importance as a port. In the early 15th century, the town became an independent state once again, and emerged as a safe harbour for pirates and privateers, leading to it being targeted by the Portuguese, who destroyed the town in 1468.

The Portuguese used the ruins of Anfa to build a military fortress in 1515. The town that grew up around it was called "Casa Branca", meaning "white house" in Portuguese.

Between 1580-1640, Casablanca was part of Spain, and later it became part of Portugal again. The Europeans eventually abandoned the area completely in 1755 following an earthquake which destroyed most of the town. See: 1755 Lisbon Earthquake.

The town was finally reconstructed by sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah (1756–1790), the grandson of Moulay Ismail and ally of George Washington with the help of Spaniards from the nearby emporium. The town was called الدار البيضاء ad-Dār al-Bayḍāʼ, the Arabic translation of the Spanish Casa Blanca, meaning "white house").

In the 19th century, the area's population began to grow as it became a major supplier of wool to the booming textile industry in Britain and shipping traffic increased (the British, in return, began importing Morocco's now famous national drink, gunpowder tea). By the 1860s, there were around 5,000 residents, and the population grew to around 10,000 by the late 1880s. Casablanca remained a modestly sized port, with a population reaching around 12,000 within a few years of the French conquest and arrival of French colonialists in the town, at first administrators within a sovereign sultanate, in 1906. By 1921, this was to rise to 110,000, largely through the development of bidonvilles.

French rule

In June 1907, the French attempted to build a light railway near the port and passing through a graveyard. Residents attacked the French, and riots ensued. French troops were landed in order to restore order, which was achieved only after severe damage to the town. The French then took control of Casablanca. This effectively began the process of colonization, although French control of Casablanca was not formalised until 1910.

The famous 1942 film Casablanca underlined the city's colonial status at the time—depicting it as the scene of a power struggle between competing European powers, carried out with little reference to the local population. The film's vast cosmopolitan cast of characters (American, French, German, Czech, Norwegian, Bulgarian, Russian and some other nationalities) includes only a single (uncredited) local character, "Abdul" the doorman whose role is marginal.

Europeans formed almost half the population. During the 1940s and 1950s, Casablanca was a major centre of anti-French rioting. A bomb attack on Christmas Day of 1953 caused many casualties.

The Casablanca Conference

Casablanca was an important strategic port during World War II and hosted the Casablanca Conference in 1943, in which Churchill and Roosevelt discussed the progress of the war. Casablanca was the site of a large American air base, which was the staging area for all American aircraft for the European Theater of Operations during World War II.

Since independence

Morocco gained independence from France on March 2, 1956.

In 1930, Casablanca hosted a Grand Prix. The race was held at the new Anfa Racecourse. In 1958, the race was held at Ain-Diab circuit - (see Moroccan Grand Prix). In 1983, Casablanca hosted the Mediterranean Games.

The city is now developing a tourism industry. Casablanca has become the economic and business capital of Morocco, while Rabat is the political capital.

In March 2000, women's groups organized demonstrations in Casablanca proposing reforms to the legal status of women in the country. 40,000 women attended, calling for a ban on polygamy and the introduction of divorce law (divorce being a purely religious procedure at that time). Although the counter-demonstration attracted half a million participants, the movement for change started in 2000 was influential on King Mohammed VI, and he enacted a new Mudawana, or family law, in early 2004, meeting some of the demands of women's rights activists.

On May 16, 2003, 33 civilians were killed and more than 100 people were injured when Casablanca was hit by a multiple suicide bomb attack carried out by Moroccans and claimed by some to have been linked to al-Qaeda.

A string of suicide bombings struck the city in early 2007. A suspected militant blew himself up at a Casablanca internet cafe on March 11, 2007. On April 10, three suicide bombers blew themselves up during a police raid of their safe house. Two days later, police set up barricades around the city and detained two more men who had escaped the raid. On April 14, two brothers blew themselves up in downtown Casablanca, one near the American Consulate, and one a few blocks away near the American Language Center. Only one person was injured aside from the bombers, but the Consulate was closed for more than a month.

Climate

Casablanca has a very mild mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification BSh). Most precipitation falls from November to March. See table below. Casablanca's climate is strongly influenced by the cool currents of the Atlantic Ocean which tends to moderate temperature swings and produce a remarkably mild climate with little seasonal temperature variation and a lack of extreme heat and extreme cold.

Economy

The Grand Casablanca region is considered the locomotive of the development of the Moroccan economy. It attracts 32% of the country's production units and 56% of industrial labor. The region uses 30% of the national electricity production. With MAD 93 billion, the region contributes to 44% of the Industrial production of the Kingdom. 33% of national industrial exportations, MAD 27 billions, which is comparably with US $3.6 billion, come from the Grand Casablanca. 30% of Moroccan banking network is concentrated in Casablanca.

One of the most important Casablancan exports is phosphate. Other industries include fishing, fish canning, sawmilling, furniture making, building materials, glass, textiles, electronics, leather work, processed food, spirits, soft drinks, and cigarettes.

The Casablanca and Mohammedia seaports activity represent 50% of the international commercial flows of Morocco.

Almost the entire Casablanca coast is under project, mainly the construction of huge entertainment centres between the port and Hassan 2nd Mosque, the Anfa Resort project near Megarama cinema which is a business, entertainment and living centre, Morocco Mall, a giant shopping and entertainment complex, and finally a complete renovation of the coastal walkway to be finished in June 2009. The Sindbad park is planned to be totally renewed with rides, games and entertainment services.

Royal Air Maroc has its head office on the grounds of Casablanca-Anfa Airport in Casablanca. In 2004, it announced that it was moving its head office from Casablanca to a location in Province of Nouaceur, close to Mohammed V International Airport. The agreement to build the head office in Nouaceur was signed in 2009.

Demographics

The population of Grand Casablanca was estimated in 2005 at 3.85 million. 98% live in urban areas. Around 25% of them are under 15 and 9% are over 60 years old. The population of the city is about 11% of the total population of Morocco. Grand Casablanca is also the largest urban area in the Maghreb. The number of inhabitants is however disputed by the locals, who point to a number between 5 and 6 million, citing recent drought years as a reason for many people moving into the city to find work.

Judaism in Casablanca

There was a Sephardic Jewish community in Anfa up to its destruction by the Portuguese in 1468. Jews were slow to return to the town, but by 1750 the Rabbi Elijah Synagogue was built as the first Jewish synagogue in Casablanca. It was destroyed along with much of the town in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.

Main sights

The French period New Town of Casablanca was designed by the French architect Henri Prost and was a model of a new town at that time. The main streets of the New Town (Ville Nouvelle in French) radiate south and east from Place des Nations Unies, where the main market of Anfa had been. The New Town is possibly the most impressive in Morocco. Former administrative buildings and modern hotels populate the area. Their style is a combination of Hispano-Mauresque and Art Deco styles.

Casablanca is home to the Hassan II Mosque, designed by the French architect Michel Pinseau. It is situated on a promontory looking out to the Atlantic, which can be seen through a gigantic glass floor with room for 25,000 worshippers. A further 80,000 can be accommodated in the mosque's courtyard. Its minaret is the world's tallest at 210 metres. The mosque is also the largest in North Africa, and the third largest in the world.

Work on the mosque was started in 1980, and was intended to be completed for the 60th birthday of the former Moroccan king, Hassan II, in 1989. However, the building was not inaugurated until 1993. Authorities spent an estimated $800 million in the construction of the building.

The Parc de la Ligue Arabe (formally called Lyautey) is the city's largest public park. On its edge is situated Casablanca Cathedral (Cathédrale Sacré-Coeur), which is disused, but is a splendid example of Mauresque architecture.

The Old Medina (the part of town pre-dating the French protectorate) attracts fewer tourists than the medinas of other Moroccan towns, such as Fes and Marrakech. However, it has undergone some restoration in recent years. Included in this project have been the western walls of the medina, its skala, or bastion, and its colonial-period clock tower.

A popular site among locals is "The Marabout de Sidi Abderrahmane". This is on a small rocky island off the coast of Casablanca and can only be reached when the tide is low. This outcrop, is where the tomb of Sidi Abderrhamane Thaalibi, original founder of Algiers, is located. He is considered a saint by most people of Morocco. Because of his status as a saint, many people of Morocco make informal pilgrimages to this site "to reflect on life and to seek religious enlightenment". Some believe that the saint possessed magical powers and so his tomb still possesses these powers. People come and seek this magic in order to be cured.

Other sights

Casablanca Technopark

Transport

Air

Casablanca's main airport is Mohammed V International Airport, Morocco's busiest airport. Regular domestic flights serve Marrakech, Rabat, Agadir, Oujda, and Tangier, Laayoune as well as other cities.

Casablanca is well served by international flights to Europe, especially French and Spanish airports, and has regular connections to North American, Middle Eastern and sub-Saharan African destinations. New York, Dakar and Dubai are important primary destinations.

The older, smaller Casablanca-Anfa Airport to the west of the city, that served certain destinations including Damascus, and Tunis, was largely closed to international civilian traffic in 2006. It currently services domestic flights and freight.

Coaches

CTM coaches (intercity buses) and various private lines run services to most notable Moroccan towns as well as a number of European cities. These run from the Gare Routière on Rue Léon l'Africain in downtown Casablanca.

Metro

An underground railway system is currently being projected, which when constructed will potentially offer some relief to the problems of traffic congestion and poor air quality. The metro will not be ready before 2017, having a length of and costing 46.7 billion dirhams (approximately 5.8 billion USD). However, it should be noticed that none of the preparatory works for this project have started. In addition, no discussion of it has been observed in the media. The anecdote among Casablanca population is that "water is too near below, that they cannot dig tunnels."

Taxis

Registered taxis in Casablanca are coloured red and known as petits taxis (small taxis), or coloured white and known as grands taxis (big taxis). As is standard Moroccan practice, petits taxis, typically small-four door Fiat Uno or similar cars, provide metered cab service in the central metropolitan areas. Grands taxis, generally older Mercedes-Benz sedans, provide shared mini-bus like service within the city on pre-defined routes, or shared inter-city service. Grands Taxis may also be hired for private service by the hour or day, although typically only foreigners do so.

Trains

Casablanca is served by two rail stations run by the national rail service, the ONCF. The main long haul station is Casa-Voyageurs, from which trains run south to Marrakech or El Jadida and north to Mohammedia and Rabat, and then on either to Tangier or Meknes, Fes, Taza and Oujda. A dedicated airport shuttle service to Mohammed V International Airport also has its primary in-city stop at this station, for connections on to further destinations.

The second station, Casa-Port, serves primarily commuter trains running the Casablanca - Kenitra corridor, with some connecting trains with running on to Gare de Casa-Voyageurs. www.oncf.ma

Tram

A tram system is currently under construction should open in December 2012.

Administrative divisions

Casablanca is a commune, part of the Region of the Grand Casablanca. The commune is divided into 8 districts (prefectures عمالات), which are themselves divided into 16 subdivisions (arrondissements دوائر) and 1 municipality (بلدية).

Districts

+ Administrative divisions of the Casablanca City
Districts (fr: Préfectures d'arrondissement, ar: عمالة دوائر)	Subdivisions (fr: Arrondissements, ar: دوائر)	Municipalities (fr: Municipalités, ar: بلديات )	Area	Population (2004)
	Aïn Chock		Aïn Chock
	Aïn Sebaâ-Hay Mohammadi		Aïn Sebaâ
	Hay Mohammadi
	Roches Noires (Assoukhour Assawda)
	Anfa		Anfa
	Maârif
	Sidi Belyout
	Ben M'sick		Ben M'sick
	Sbata
	(Sidi) Bernoussi		(Sidi) Bernoussi
	Sidi Moumen
	Al Fida-Mers Sultan		Al Fida		Mechouar
	Mers Sultan
	Hay Hassani		Hay Hassani
	Moulay Rachid		Moulay Rachid
	Sidi Othmane

Twin towns

Alexandria, Egypt Algiers, Algeria Athens, Greece Bordeaux, France, since 1988 Cairo, Egypt Chicago, USA, since 1982 Dubai, United Arab Emirates İstanbul, Turkey İzmir, Turkey Jakarta, Indonesia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Montreal, Canada New York City, USA, since 1998 Paris, France Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Saint Petersburg, Russia Rome, Italy Shanghai, People's Republic of China (1986) Sosnowiec, Poland Tokyo, Japan, since 2004

Education

Public Colleges and universities

Académie Mohammed VI Internationale de l'Aviation Civile (AIAC)

École Hassania des Travaux Publics (EHTP)

Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Electricité et de Mécanique (ENSEM)

École supérieure de technologie de Casablanca (EST)

École nationale des pilotes de ligne (ENPL)

École supérieure des industries du textile et de l'habillement (ESITH)

École nationale de commerce et de gestion de Casablanca (ENCGC)

École supérieure des beaux-arts de Casablanca (ESBAC)

École royale navale (ERN)

Institut supérieur d'études maritimes (ISEM)

Institut supérieur de commerce et d'administration des entreprises (ISCAE)

University of Hassan II - Ain Chock

University of Hassan II - Mohammedia

Private high schools and colleges

American Academy Casablanca

Babar land

Casablanca American School

George Washington Academy

Lycée Lyautey

Nelson C. Brown High School

Lycée Louis Massignon

Sports

Wydad Casablanca

Raja Casablanca

People born in Casablanca

Salaheddine Bassir - Moroccan footballer

Larbi Benbarek - Moroccan footballer

Jean-Paul Bertrand-Demanes - French footballer

Jean-Charles de Castelbajac - French fashion designer

Merieme Chadid - Moroccan astronomer

Gad Elmaleh - Moroccan-French one man show humorist/actor

Shatha Hassoun - Moroccan/Iraqi singer

Hicham Mesbahi - Moroccan boxer

Nawal El Moutawakel - Olympic champion

Mostafa Nissaboury - Moroccan poet

Hakim Noury - Moroccan film director

Maurice Ohana - French composer

Jean Reno - French Hollywood actor

Alain Souchon - French songwriter

Sidney Taurel - Naturalized American CEO of Eli Lilly and Company from 1998 to 2008

Richard Virenque - French cyclist

Abdallah Zrika - Moroccan poet

In fiction

Casablanca is the setting of the 1942 film of the same name starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. The film has achieved worldwide popularity since then, having also won three Oscars and been nominated in five additional categories.

Casablanca is one of the key locations in the 2006 video game Dreamfall, as it is where the primary protagonist of the game, Zoë Castillo, lives.

Casablanca is the setting for several chapters in Doubleshot, a 2000 James Bond novel by Raymond Benson. In the novel, one of the characters mentions that the 1942 film was shot in Hollywood and not on location.

The city is featured in The Mysterious Caravan, Volume 54 in the original Hardy Boys series.

A Night in Casablanca (1946) was the twelfth Marx Brothers' movie. The film stars Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, and Harpo Marx. It was directed by Archie Mayo and written by Joseph Fields and Roland Kibbee. The film contains the song "Who's Sorry Now?", with music by Ted Snyder and lyrics by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. It is sung in French by Lisette Verea playing the part of Beatrice Rheiner, and then later sung in English. Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" is played twice, once by Chico on piano as an intro to the "Beer Barrel Polka", and again by Harpo on the harp.

References

External links

Official web site of Casablanca

Official Casablanca Tourism Website

Casablanca entry in Lexicorient

Casablanca photo gallery (buildings and other landmarks with a history dating back to the French Protectorate)

Category:Greater Casablanca Region Category:Metropolitan areas of Morocco Category:Populated coastal places in Morocco Category:Populated places in the Greater Casablanca Region Category:Port cities in Morocco Category:Prefectures of Morocco

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Casablanca Records was an American record label started by Neil Bogart, who partnered with Cecil Holmes, Larry Harris, and Buck Reingold in 1973, and based in Los Angeles. The label was formed after all of them had left Buddah Records and secured financing by Warner Bros. Records to start the venture. Casablanca had become one of the most successful labels of the 1970s, signing and releasing albums by such acts as Kiss, Donna Summer, The Village People, Cher, and Parliament featuring George Clinton. The label's film division, Casablanca Filmworks, had hits with the movies The Deep and Midnight Express.

In 1977, PolyGram Records acquired a 50 percent stake of Casablanca for $15 million, and then in 1980 it purchased the other 50 percent. Also in 1980, one of the label's biggest acts, Donna Summer, left for another record company as she and Casablanca could not come to terms on her musical direction in the new decade. That same year, Polygram pushed Bogart out of Casablanca due to what it viewed as the label's overspending and accounting irregularities. In the early 80s, with Bogart no longer heading the label, Casablanca had hits with acts Lipps Inc and Irene Cara, but it did not have the same level of success it had in the 70s. The label was eventually shut down with some of the artist roster and catalogue absorbed into sister label Mercury Records.

In 1999, Polygram was purchased by Seagram and merged with its Universal Music Group. In 2000, the Casablanca name was revived for a joint venture between Universal Music Group and Tommy Mottola. In a Billboard article, Mottola said that he chose the name as an homage to the original label, but that there was no connection between the old and new labels. Casablanca is now a part of Universal Republic Records.

History

Neil Bogart was the head of Buddah Records, which was owned by the Viewlex Corporation. Also employed at Buddah Records were Holmes, Harris, and Reingold. Bogart had an unorthodox approach to the music business and he eventually grew tired of answering and conforming to Viewlex's business mode. In 1973, he arranged financing through Warner Bros. Records whereas he could start his own record label, which would be a sudsidiary of Warner Bros. After much back and forth, the green light was eventually given by Warner and Bogart started the new label, bringing Harris, Holmes, and Reingold with him. Bogart called the label Casablanca as it was the name of his favorite film, and he also had the same last name as its star Humphrey Bogart. Also, since Warner Bros. owned the rights to the title of the film Casablanca, Bogart knew there would be no lawsuit against him regarding the name Casablanca Records. The label's first signing was the rock group KISS, however, the label's first single was Bill Amesbury's Virginia (Touch Me Like You Do) which became a minor hit on the US Hot 100.

From the time of its inception, Casablanca didn't quite fit within the Warner scope of music, especially with the signing of a then-new act known as KISS. Neil Bogart was also quite brash and sure of himself, which rubbed some Warner staffers the wrong way. Thus, Casablanca experienced lukewarm relations with Warner Bros, its parent company. Warner manufactured and distributed albums for its own acts, as well as all its sudsidiary labels. Both Casablanca and Warner handled promotion for Casablanca artists. However, when Warner began experiencing manufacturing problems, it began focusing mainly on manufacturing albums by Warner acts and not so much the sudsidiaries. Thus, Casablanca found itself with only modest success with its releases as it had limited distribution. Once Bogart realized this, he took the issue to Warner head Mo Ostin who had not been aware of the lack of attention being given to the sudsidiary labels. Ostin, who didn't feel strongly about the Casablanca venture anyway, decided to handle the situation by completely breaking Casablanca Records away from Warner Bros. and giving Bogart ownership of the label, thus making Casablanca an independent label. Bogart was thrilled at the opportunity to own his own record company outright and being able to make all the decisions, but he did insist on paying Warner Bros. in installment payments for the Casablanca label as opposed to taking it for free.

The now independent Casablanca Records was suddenly put in a tenuous financial situation as it still had yet to score a major hit album, and now it no longer had the backing of Warner Bros. Records. Casablanca was banking on the success of an upcoming album it was planning; a two-record set of audio highlights from television's The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. The album was entitled Here's Johnny: Magic Moments from The Tonight Show and it was released in November 1974. Although the album was certified gold by the RIAA for shipments to stores of over 500,000 copies, the album did not sell well, and returns from retailers of unsold copies were high. Even the promotional copies were returned, initiating the joke that "it shipped gold and went back to the label platinum". Casablanca had realized that even though The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was immensely popular, the show didn't carry over well to recordings.

KISS

Casablanca had released three albums by KISS; Kiss (1974), Hotter Than Hell (1974), and Dressed to Kill (1975), but all had failed to make a big impact on the charts. The label also didn't experience heavy sales with albums by Angel who were introduced to the label by KISS's Gene Simmons, although that glam rock band did amass a cult following. The label would have been on the verge of bankruptcy, but Bogart decided to release a live album by KISS. Although the band's studio albums thus far had not been strong sellers, the band had a reputation of exciting live shows. Casablanca decided to try and capitalize off that reputation and it released the double-live Alive! (1975) album. It became both Casablanca's and KISS's first top ten album, being certified gold.

KISS's follow-up studio albums to Alive! were better sellers than its previous studio albums. Destroyer (1976), Rock and Roll Over (1976), and Love Gun (1977) were all certified platinum in the United States. The band would release several more albums with its last studio album on Casablanca being 1982's Creatures of the Night.

Donna Summer

In 1975, Casablanca had signed a new artist named Donna Summer and released her album entitled Love to Love You Baby which was certified gold. The title song would be over 17 minutes long, and Casablanca would release the song in its entirety as a single (a shorter version would also be promoted to radio). In releasing the 17 minute version as a single, Casablanca would help make popular a format that would become known as the 12 inch. The song, which featured Summer seductively moaning and groaning, would be banned by some American radio stations (as it had been in Europe) but still claw its way to #2 on the US Hot 100. Summer would have several gold and platinum albums on Casablanca from 1975-1979, and become the labels most successful act on the singles chart. At one point, she scored eight US top 5 singles within a two year period.

Summer would be deemed in the press as "The First Lady of Love", a moniker that she was not totally comfortable with, but one that Casablanca would continue to market to great success. Other Summer hits included "I Feel Love", "Bad Girls", the Oscar and Grammy winning "Last Dance", and the Grammy winning "Hot Stuff". Casablanca would release the Bad Girls album and watch it soar to double-platinum status. The label would follow that with a Summer greatest hits collection; a double-album entitled On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes 1 & 2, which would also be certified double platinum, and would be Summer's last album on Casablanca.

Parliament

Parliament was signed to the Casablanca label in late 1973, due to Neil Bogart's long standing relationship with group leader George Clinton. Their relationship dates back to Bogart's period at Buddah Records. Their first official release for the label was in 1974 with the album Up For The Down Stroke. The title song from the album gave Parliament its first top ten R&B; hit. Their next album, Chocolate City sold approximately 150,000 albums in the Washington, DC area alone. But it would be their next release, Mothership Connection, that would give the group its first gold and/or platinum album. Parliament would achieve either gold or platinum status with each album release up until 1980, as well as scoring hit singles with Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker), Flash Light, and Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop). The success of Parliament allowed George Clinton to develop another P-Funk spin off act known as Parlet.

Casablanca also financed the various extravagant P-Funk stage shows, including the "Mothership Connection/P-Funk Earth Tour" of 1976-77; as well as the Motor Booty Affair underwater tour of 1979. Parliament were later inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.

Other Events

Casablanca started a subsidiary label in 1975 called Chocolate City Records. It was mainly overseen by Bogart's partner Cecil Holmes and the label focused on R&B;, funk, and disco releases. Chocolate City's signings included the then-new acts of Cameo and Brenda & the Tabulations.

The offices of Casablanca Records moved onto Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles into the former A&M; Records offices. Casablanca' new offices were soon modeled after the movie set of the film of the same name. Later, the record company merged with the motion picture company Filmworks, Inc. that was headed by former Columbia Pictures executive Peter Guber. The new name of the company was now Casablanca Records and Filmworks, with Bogart still at its helm as President, and Gruber next in charge. Gruber would remain with the company for two years. In 1977, PolyGram acquired a 50% stake in Casablanca.

Casablanca's rise and fall were both dramatic instances. The rise came with the success of several acts such as Donna Summer, KISS, Parliament, and the Village People; as well as some success from its subsidiary label and its film division. The fall began when the 1980s rolled in. The label was also known to spend lavish amounts of money on parties, events, and promotion. Although this resulted in hit albums and singles, the profit margin suffered due to the care-free spending by the label. The label spent lavish amounts of money on promoting its releases, which made its artists happy, but not necessarily Polygram, which now owned a 50% stake in Casablanca. When Casablanca's lavish spending habits were realized by Polygram, it quickly purchased the other 50% of Casablanca in 1980, and Bogart was soon released from his post. He used the money he acquired from the sale to start Boardwalk Records and he signed rocker Joan Jett, who had experienced some success in Japan as a member of the group The Runaways. But Bogart died from cancer in 1982 and Boardwalk Records folded.

Casablanca Records was not as successful without Bogart running the company. Its only notable releases from 1980 onward were the Robin Williams debut comedy LP Reality, What A Concept! (1981), the soundtrack to the film Flashdance (1983), and the final three KISS LP's on Casablanca: Unmasked, Music from "The Elder" and Creatures of the Night. Dusty Springfield's sole release on Casablanca, 1982's White Heat, came and went with little notice due to the label's mounting internal problems. The last album released by the label was Animotion's Strange Behavior in 1986, which was a modest seller. By the mid-1980s, Polygram had folded the label and some of its acts were moved over to sister label Mercury Records.

Official Biography

In 2009, Casablanca co-founder Larry Harris released the definitive insider's history of the label with a book entitled And Party Every Day: The Inside Story of Casablanca Records.

2000 relaunch

In 1998, Seagram purchased Polygram Records and merged it with its own music division to create the Universal Music Group. In 2000, Universal and Tommy Mottola partnered to launch a new record label that would be headed by Mottola and be part of Universal Music Group. Mottola chose the name Casablanca, in homage to the Casablanca Records once run by Neil Bogart. There would be no legal issue with the name as Universal owns the Casablanca Records name. The label's first release was to be a girl-group first known as "iNK", but which later changed its name to "NSS (Not So Sweet) 16". The group, however, disbanded due to internal problems.

Some of Casablanca releases included albums by Lindsay Lohan in 2004, albums by Lohan and Brie Larson in 2005, and by Mika in 2007, who scored a hit with the song "Relax, Take It Easy". Mottola's label once again become inactive when Lohan and Larson moved to other labels within the Universal family. The current website is still active, but no longer has any news posted. For a while, it was unknown if the label was still active.

In the fall of 2009, Casablanca became active again with the releases of Mika's second album, The Boy Who Knew Too Much, and Ryan Leslie's second album, Transition.

Releases

Shall We Dance? Soundtrack - 2004

Speak - Lindsay Lohan - 2004

Pride & Prejudice Soundtrack- 2004

Finally Out Of P.E. - Brie Larson- 2005

A Little More Personal (Raw) - Lindsay Lohan - 2005

Life in Cartoon Motion - Mika - 2007

Ryan Leslie - Ryan Leslie - 2009

The Boy Who Knew Too Much - Mika - 2009

Transition - Ryan Leslie - 2009

Current Artists

Mika

Ryan Leslie

Past Casablanca Artists

Donna Summer (1975–1980)

KISS (1973–1982)

People's Choice

Bill Amesbury

Michael Sembello

Angel

Captain & Tennille 1980

Rodney Dangerfield

Irene Cara

Dennis Parker

Cher (1979–1981)

Space

Cameo

Mac Davis

Ritchie Family

Brooklyn Dreams

Kickin'

Fanny

Skatt Brothers

Trigger (1978)

Hudson Brothers

Platypus

Tony Joe White

Brie Larson (2004–2006)

Sylvers

Edmund Sylvers

7th Wonder

Lipps Inc (1980–1983)

Lindsay Lohan (2004–2006)

Meco

Patrick Juvet (1978)

David London

Buddy Miles

Sunshine (1978)

Love & Kisses

Sumeria (1978)

Stephanie Mills (1983–1984)

Giorgio Moroder

Parliament

Peter Noone

Parlet

Larry Santos

Stallion

Santa Esmeralda

Dusty Springfield (1982)

The Village People (1977–1980)

Robin Williams

Lightning

Pattie Brooks

Mantra

Teri DeSario (1978–1980)

Alec R. Costandinos (1977–1978)

D.C. LaRue (1979–1981)

Wade Nichols (1979)

Roberta Kelly (1976–1978)

Sunshine (1978)

Harvey Scales

Paul Jabara (1977–1979)

The Four Tops (1981–1982)

Dr. Hook (1980–1982)

Loose Change (1979)

Tony Orlando (1979–1982)

Gloria Scott (1974-?)

The Sylvers (1978-1979)

See also

List of record labels

External links

Official website

"The Casablanca story" at bsnpubs.com

Releases at discogs.com

Category:Record labels established in 1973 Category:Record labels disestablished in 1983 Category:Record labels established in 2000 Category:Re-established companies Category:American record labels Category:Vivendi subsidiaries Category:Labels distributed by Universal Music Group

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