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Kassner Music’s 75th Anniversary

Kassner and PRS for Music co-hosted a dinner to celebrate Kassner Music’s 75th Anniversary! With moving speeches from Managing Director David Kassner and PRS Chairman Nigel Elderton as its centrepiece, the event marked a proud milestone for the company and its seven decades of timeless songs.

Kassner Music is home to some of the most celebrated songwriters of all time but it was founder, Edward Kassner, that penned the company’s first hit, “How Lucky You Are”. The song rose to prominence when Dame Vera Lynn sang it on BBC radio shortly after the end of World War II and with this breakthrough, Edward was able to start building his business. By 1954 he had established Kassner Music on the international music publishing map with the explosive sensation of “Rock Around the Clock”. Bought for a mere $250 from an ex-U.S. marine, the song was featured in the film Blackboard Jungle and went on to become the iconic rock ’n’ roll number everyone knows today.

Further successes ranged from Elvis Presley’s recording of “I Feel So Bad” to Matt Monro’s “Portrait of My Love” and by the time the sixties were in full swing, Kassner Music had signed Sir Ray Davies, whose band, The Kinks, went on to have a string of chart hits including “You Really Got Me”, “All Day and All of the Night”, “Tired of Waiting for You” and “Set Me Free”.

Since those early days the company has expanded to incorporate a wide range of musical styles into its repertoire, such as the island beats of The Beginning Of The End’s “Funky Nassau”; the soulful funk of Leon Haywood’s “I Wanna Do Something Freaky To You”; Sam Brown’s pop-ballad “Stop!”; Paul Young’s 80’s triumph “Love of the Common People”; Kiss’ rock anthem “Crazy Crazy Nights”; and a strong representation from the hip-hop and dance scene of the nineties and noughties, providing a home for, amongst others, the catalogues of Joe Smooth, Sash!, Chicane and the Jungle Brothers. Fast forward to 2019 and Kassner has reignited its active roster with cuts on the latest releases by the likes of Dua Lipa, Alan Walker and Gorgon City. 

We teamed up with the UK and European Guild of Music Supervisors to talk about the history behind the hits of Kassner’s catalogue and what’s happening now. Read the full article here. In the days following our 75th anniversary, we were also given the playlist reins by M Magazine. Read more here and click to see our anniversary photos.