Matthew King Kaufman
| Matthew King Kaufman | |
|---|---|
| Born |
May 19, 1946 Baltimore, Maryland, United States |
| Genres | Rock and roll |
| Occupation(s) | Record producer, record label owner |
| Labels | Beserkley Records |
| Associated acts |
Jonathan Richman Greg Kihn |
Matthew "King" Kaufman (born May 19, 1946 in Baltimore, Maryland) was owner and chief producer at leading independent label Beserkley Records in Berkeley, California from the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s, successfully producing records by Jonathan Richman, Greg Kihn and others.
Raised in Baltimore, Kaufman graduated from law school but never took the bar. Instead, convinced they were to be the next Beatles, Kaufman went to California to co-manage the San Francisco rock band Earth Quake. He helped the band get a two-record deal with A&M Records in 1970, and picked up production tips from Lou Adler and Glyn Johns. Also while at A&M, Kaufman helped organize the series of demos recorded by The Modern Lovers. These recordings were unreleased at the time, but would later form the basis of their acclaimed debut album.
After becoming frustrated with A&M, Kaufman decided to set up his own label in 1973. Beserkley Records (headquartered at John Doukas' house at 1199 Spruce St. in Berkeley, California). The first releases from the label, ignored in the United States, were embraced in the U.K. with Roadrunner reaching #11 on the UK singles chart. The follow-up single Egyptian Reggae reached #5 in the UK singles chart in 1977. By 1975, the label had an artist roster consisting of Earth Quake, Jonathan Richman (with and without the Modern Lovers), The Rubinoos and Greg Kihn. Kaufman co-produced album releases by all these artists, as well as acquiring the rights to the 1972 A&M Modern Lovers recordings, which were issued as an album in 1976. Beserkley also released singles and compilation tracks by a handful of other artists.
Buoyed by these successes, Kaufman opened a short-lived UK office of Beserkley, headquartered in Kingston-upon-Thames. They signed The Tyla Gang who released two albums in the US and the UK for the label, as well as The Smirks, who released two singles on Beserkley in the UK.
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