BMG is to take ownership of a brace of significant publishing and recording catalogs following its acquisition of New York independent Verse Music Group.
Verse, formed in 2010, owns rights to around 40,000 songs and recordings including such catalogs as: Salsoul Records, the legendary funk and dance label behind the first ever commercial 12“ single (Double Exposure’s ‘10%’) and Loleatta Holloway’s ‘Love Sensation’ (most famously featured in Black Box’s ‘Ride On Time’) together with its Latin offsheet Salsoul Lejendas featuring the 175m-album-selling Camilo Sesto; The Bethlehem Music catalog of classic jazz including works by Nina Simone (‘My Baby Just Cares For Me’), Duke Ellington, Mel Torme and John Coltrane; Golden Records, the first children’s record label in the U.S. with artists ranging from Danny Kaye to Roy Rodgers, Bing Crosby to Johnny Cash; West End Records, the influential label led by Paradise Garage founder Mel Cheren behind seminal tracks such as Taana Gardner’s ‘Heartbeat’ and the worldwide hit ‘Here Comes The Hotstepper’ by Ini Kamoze; and successful catalogs from the likes of long-time Rod Stewart collaborator Kevin Savigar, Grammy Award-winning Franne Golde and the much-sampled Linda Laurie & Camex catalog.
Verse Music Group was founded by songwriter/producers Curt Frasca and Sabelle Breer, who have worked with artists including Madonna, Avril Lavigne, Missy Higgins and Celine Dion.
Laurent Hubert, president creative & marketing of BMG Chrysalis U.S., said, “Verse has assembled an extremely varied and wide-ranging catalog which touches many of the most influential moments in popular music history. There are considerable synergies with existing BMG catalogs which make this acquisition particularly exciting.“
Steve McQueen Shows Wartime London Through A Child’s Eyes In “Blitz”
It was a single photograph that started Oscar-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen on the journey to make "Blitz." As a Londoner, the German bombing raids on the city during World War II are never all that far from his mind. Reminders of it are everywhere. But the spark of inspiration came from an image of a small boy on a train platform with a large suitcase. Stories inspired by the evacuation are not rare, but this child was Black. Who was he, McQueen wondered, and what was his story? The film, in theaters Friday and streaming on Apple TV+ on Nov. 22, tells the tale of George, a 9-year-old biracial child in East London whose life with his mother, Rita ( Saoirse Ronan ), and grandfather is upended by the war. Like many children at the time, he's put on a train to the countryside for his safety. But he hops off and starts a long, dangerous journey back to his mom, encountering all sorts of people and situations that paint a revelatory and emotional picture of that moment. SEARCHING FOR GEORGE AND FINDING A STAR When McQueen finished the screenplay, he thought to himself: "Not bad." Then he started to worry: Does George exist? Is there a person out there who can play this role? Through an open casting call they found Elliott Heffernan, a 9-year-old living just outside of London whose only experience was a school play. He was the genie in "Aladdin." "There was a stillness about him, a real silent movie star quality," McQueen said. "You wanted to know what he was thinking, and you leant in. That's a movie star quality: A presence in his absence." Elliott is now 11. When he was cast, he'd not yet heard about the evacuation and imagined that a film set would be made up of "about 100 people." But he soon found his footing, cycling in and out of... Read More