Artie Ripp

Arthur Marcus "Artie" Ripp (born 1940) is an American music industry executive and entrepreneur and a record producer.

Ripp began his career as a singer, initially informally harmonizing rock and roll songs with friends from high school. In 1957, Ripp formed an official singing group with neighborhood friends; the group was signed by ABC Records as backup singers for ABC solo artists. The singers sang backup for Paul Anka on his 1957 hit "Diana" and broke up shortly thereafter.

Ripp rejoined with some of his informal singing partners (Mario "Skippy" Scarpa, Stu Silverman, and Joe Tedesco) to form "The Four Temptations". The quartet wrote its own songs and was signed by ABC Records, which released the group's first single in 1958. The A-side, "Cathy" (named after Scarpa's newly born niece), was written by Scarpa and Ripp; the B-side was "Rock & Roll Baby", written by Scarpa, Ripp, and Silverman. When the group rejected opportunities offered by the record company to record others' songs, the record company withheld further recording opportunities, and the group disbanded.

Ripp shifted from performing to being behind-the-scenes in the music business. About his potential as a performer, Ripp states, "I sucked. I was no Elvis Presley and I wasn't a writer." Additionally, Ripp states, "I started walking around Broadway and I’d see these kids who were making records and not getting paid. They could have a number one record on the charts and end up owing the record company a half a million dollars...I thought, 'This business has some system.'..."

In 1958, Ripp targeted George Goldner to be a potential mentor. Goldner, based in New York City, was a music industry entrepreneur who owned copyrights, produced records, and owned record companies. Goldner was, in the words of American blues singer and songwriter Jerome "Doc" Pomus, a "very hip, New York kind of tough guy." After Ripp spent weeks informally observing Goldner at work, Goldner formally hired Ripp to be a go-fer; Ripp worked with songwriter and producer Richard Barrett within Goldner's organization, where Ripp got a "street education in the record business equal to none". Ripp learned how Goldner worked a studio, structured a record contract, and got records played on the radio.

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