Cecil Holmes (music executive)

In 1952, Holmes, Ron Moseley, Ron Anderson, and Lowe Murray formed the Cavaliers Quartet, singing on street corners. When Anderson left for the Army, Lloyd Davis and Gene Redd joined and the new group continued as the Fi-Tones. After signing a contract with Atlas Record, the high school buddies had several regional hits – Foolish Dreams, It Wasn’t a Lie, and I belong to You and performed the first of many shows at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. Holmes joined another group – The Solitaires – after high school, touring with them throughout the East Coast for a year.

Holmes’ first job in record portion was with Colpix Records handling promotions in New York City. With his success developing strong relations with the disc jockeys at Black audience powerhouse radio stations WWRL and WLIB, Mercury Records recruited Holmes to be its East Coast Regional Manager of Promotions. His first promotional hit was Mustang Sally by Sir Mack Rice[i] (later covered by Wilson Pickett).

Less than a year later, Cameo Parkway Records recruited Holmes to be National Director of Promotions for R&B where he met Neil Bogart handling Pop record promotions. Less than six months later, Bogart was promoted to Vice President and General Manager. When Cameo was sold, the two friends left to run Buddah Records, a new record label owned by Kama Sutra Records.

As Vice President of Buddah Records, Holmes signed the Impressions and curated an impressive roster of R&B acts, with million-sellers by the Edwin Hawkins Singers ("Oh Happy Day"), the Five Stairsteps ("Ooh Child"), and Gladys Knight & the Pips, whose Buddah debut Imagination (1973) marked a career resurgence with their chart-topping "Midnight Train to Georgia." While at Buddah, Holmes also produced two albums, , Music for Soulful Lovers (1973) and The Black Motion Picture Experience (1973).

In 1974, Bogart, Holmes, Larry Harris, and Buck Reingold founded Casablanca Records. Holmes was Senior Vice President, working closely with the company’s major talents. He was also President of Chocolate City Records, a label under the Casablanca brand. Casablanca became one of the most successful American labels of the 1970s. Remarkably, the former Buddah executivest had taken Casablanca from the brink of bankruptcy to a $100 million a year operation in less than five years.

Their artists included Cameo, Donna Summer, KISS, Parliament, and The Village People.

In 1980, the co-founders sold their interest in Casablanca to Polygram. After the sale, Bogart started Boardwalk Records before dying of cancer in 1982 at age 39. Holmes joined CBS Records, promoting top acts like Earth, Wind & Fire, Mtume, and Luther Vandross. He assisted in the production of Michael Jackson’s Thriller sessions. Holmes signed New Kids on the Block to their first record contract.[2] He was the Executive Produced of their second album Hangin' Tough (1988), which sold more than 14 million copies worldwide.

• Gavin Report's "Promotion Man of the Year" several years in a row
• Billboard Magazine’s "Promotion Man of the Year" in 1973
• Billboard's "One of Tomorrow's 200 Top Executives" Award (1976)
• New York City Black Radio's "Executive of the Year" Award (1976)
• National Association of Television & Radio Announcers (NATRA) "Executive of the Year" Award (1976)
• Black Radio Exclusive's "Executive of the Year" Award (1979)

• Mehr, Bob (June 27, 2016). "'Mustang Sally' author 'Sir' Mack Rice dies". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved February 27, 2023
• Jay Pharoah Signs New Kids On the Block In A-List Biopic. 2paragraphs.com. July 8, 2020.